The Gospel In Our Life Experience
Hearsay in not admissible as evidence in court. But arguments as and debate outside the court may admit hearsay as evidence provided it can be established that there was no possibility of alteration of the message in the process of the transmission of the information.
King Herod's information about Jesus was hearsay. From it he was inclined to infer the coming back to life of H\John whom he beheaded. The good thing with King Herod was that he was anxious to find out about the veracity of the report. The Gospel describes him as "anxious to see him".
Our past actions hound us in the present. The past can so color the p[resent that, if we are not careful , it can be the reference point of all our interpretations of the present events in our lives. This was the reason why there were many perceptions about Jesus. To some he was John come back to life, to others he was Elijah, or one of the ancient prophets. Such perceptions were by the individual's state of mind as affected by his past.
Herod;s state of mind was affected by guilt. John the Baptist's blood was on him and he was never at peace. He related every event in his life to that murder. He became paranoid. And so when he heard about the word "prophet" which the people used to refer to Jesus, fear immediately descended upon him,anxious that John the Baptist came back to life to get back at him.
Paranoia can so color our interpretation of the present such that we live in fear even though Jesus lives right next door. How many of us are hound by past mistakes and could not move on in life because the ugly tentacles of paranoia refuse to let go of us? Indeed, many have come to Jesus through different charismatic communities. But spiritual fruits are wanting. An when paranoia shows its ugly head, they become monkeys in the back,drawing the whole charismatic community down.
We need to break loose from the deliberating effects of the past. Jesus is in our boat waiting for us to cry out for healing. Listen to him saying,
King Herod's information about Jesus was hearsay. From it he was inclined to infer the coming back to life of H\John whom he beheaded. The good thing with King Herod was that he was anxious to find out about the veracity of the report. The Gospel describes him as "anxious to see him".
Our past actions hound us in the present. The past can so color the p[resent that, if we are not careful , it can be the reference point of all our interpretations of the present events in our lives. This was the reason why there were many perceptions about Jesus. To some he was John come back to life, to others he was Elijah, or one of the ancient prophets. Such perceptions were by the individual's state of mind as affected by his past.
Herod;s state of mind was affected by guilt. John the Baptist's blood was on him and he was never at peace. He related every event in his life to that murder. He became paranoid. And so when he heard about the word "prophet" which the people used to refer to Jesus, fear immediately descended upon him,anxious that John the Baptist came back to life to get back at him.
Paranoia can so color our interpretation of the present such that we live in fear even though Jesus lives right next door. How many of us are hound by past mistakes and could not move on in life because the ugly tentacles of paranoia refuse to let go of us? Indeed, many have come to Jesus through different charismatic communities. But spiritual fruits are wanting. An when paranoia shows its ugly head, they become monkeys in the back,drawing the whole charismatic community down.
We need to break loose from the deliberating effects of the past. Jesus is in our boat waiting for us to cry out for healing. Listen to him saying,
"Fear is useless; what you need is Faith."
Jesus is Lord of yesterday, today and tomorrow. He can heal us of the binding effect of yesterday, restore us to the brilliance of today and ensure us with the promise of tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment