"On this day of celebration, let us abandon every desire for conflict, domination, and power, and implore the Lord to grant his peace to a world ravaged by wars… Not a peace imposed by force, but through dialogue! Not with the desire to dominate others, but to encounter them. We are growing accustomed to violence, resigning ourselves to it, and becoming indifferent. Indifferent to the deaths of thousands of people.” Pope Leo XIV
Luke 24:47
and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
If we place God above everything and in everything that the we do and we love and care for others as much as we do our own families we will fulfill the commands of God naturally. God so loved the world that He created that he gave us Jesus as a sacrifice for our sins. In Him and through the power of Holy Spirit we are transformed, precept by precept, we return to the fullness of the image of the Father in mankind. Everything necessary for restoration of the world was fulfilled in Jesus. Blessed be His holy name. Carla
Matthew 28:18-20
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. NKJV
All authority has been given to Jesus, although He is not yet exercising all of it. He will manifest this power when He returns in all His glory (19:28; 1 Corinthians 15:27, 28; Ephesians 1:10).
The word authority normally refers to delegated authority. The Father would give this authority to the Son (Philippians 2:9–11). Here the Lord Jesus may have been recalling the prophecy recorded in Daniel 7:13, 14.
Therefore shows that the Great Commission rests on the authority of Christ. Because He has authority over all, everyone needs to hear His gospel. While verses 18–20 are commonly known as the Great Commission, they should not be thought of as the first call for world evangelism. In Genesis 12:1–3 God commanded that Abraham and his descendants should be a blessing to all nations.
Making disciples involves three steps: going, baptizing, and teaching. It was assumed that when a person trusted in the Lord Jesus, he or she would be baptized. The word name is singular, although it is the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit together. This verse is another indication that God is one in three Persons. I am with you always demonstrates that Jesus is the true Immanuel, “God with us” (1:23; Hebrews 13:5, 6; Revelations 21:3). The NKJV Study Bible
The resurrection is the ultimate validation of Jesus’ divine authority. He extends this authority to His disciples to continue the work of the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew emphasizes this theme throughout his Gospel. Jesus has repeatedly demonstrated His authority over all things—the human body, demons, natural elements (such as wind and water), the Sabbath, sin, and even death.
The disciples’ task was to reproduce themselves by going, baptizing, and teaching. Baptism was a public signal of identification with Jesus and His kingdom (Matthew 3:11–17).
The end of the age is marked by Jesus’ second coming. Faithlife Study Bible
Mark 16:15–16
And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.
Daniel 7:13–14
“I was watching in the night visions,And behold,
One like the Son of Man,Coming with the clouds of heaven!
He came to the Ancient of Days,And they brought Him near before Him.
Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom,
That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
Which shall not pass away,
And His kingdom the one
Which shall not be destroyed.
Ephesians 1:20–23
which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come…
Philippians 2:9–10
Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,
My friends, we do live in a world where it can be easy to be befuddled. Or is it duped? After all, we live in a world with inverted price tags. And because of that, we give way to identities that diminish us—blocking empathy, humility, glad heartedness, contentment and yes, connection.
So. Here’s our paradigm shift: Rich is not about what we possess. Or own. In our culture, we’ve turned wealth into a way to objectify stuff and relationships, predicated on having, possessing and preening.
Let us embrace this: Rich is about the connections—with one another—that honor dignity, and promote the value of love, empathy, inclusion, and compassion. Connections that encourage us to struggle against what is artificial, mechanical and cold.
Rich is about the real connections that expand our life, and give us value.
And, rich is about personal renewal, nurturing a curriculum of a truly spiritual life; grounded in love, mercy, tenderness, compassion, forgiveness, hope, trust, simplicity, silence, peace, and joy; slowly transfiguring us. (Thank you Richard Rohr.)
“They serve one another.”
This week, I carry with me these words from Maria Shriver, “At its heart, Easter is a story of renewal. A reminder that even after darkness, doubt, and suffering, something new can emerge. I love that.
I want to rise in my work to make it matter and count. And I want to rise for my country. I want to stay present and vocal when I see things I cannot accept in silence. I want to rise in opposition to injustice, both in this country and in this world. I want to rise in love, in compassion, and in understanding. Like so many of you, I want to be a light in the darkness.
In that sense, life itself is a constant invitation. A constant beckoning. A quiet call to rise.
Easter reminds us that rising is not just something that happened once long ago. It is something we are called to do again and again in our own lives.” Sabbath Moments
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