Tag: Hades

• Matthew 16:18: The Gates of the Netherworld

  
  

  Matthew 16:18: The Gates of the Netherworld

  Thursday, November 23, 2023

  

  There are days in our lives when we question God’s plan, nights when anxiety about the future haunts us. Where do we go when we have no recourse? What do we do when we have no power? On whom to do we call when we have no voice? On what do we rely when we see no clear path?

  On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. (NRSV)

  Jesus points out that he begins to build his church on the rock of Peter, a man who thrice will deny him and who thrice will proclaim his love for Jesus.

  I will build my church, and not even death will ever be able to overcome it. (GNT: Good News Translation)

  Jesus tells us that each of us stands on this rock that is Peter, a man who brings together Paul and James, a man who asks God’s counsel and listens to God’s word.

  Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (DRA: Douay-Rheims American)

  Jesus reminds us that each of us sins and each of us is imperfect, each needs redemption, each is called.

  This is the rock on which I will put together my church, a church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out. (THE MESSAGE)

  

  Where do we go when days are dark and nights are endless? Jesus explains that the foundation of our own temple stands on the rock of Peter’s return. Jesus calls us to place our own lives in God’s hands as Peter does, to open our own hearts to the Holy Spirit as Peter does. Jesus wants us to put aside our judging and our fears. Jesus calls us to convert a troubled world with acts of kindness, humility and compassion. Jesus tells us that love is a fortress against the powers of evil. Jesus embraces us and soothes troubled hearts. He calms tempestuous seas. He eases anger, fear and hatred. Jesus saves ,even against the darkness of Hades.

  For the faithful who place all hope in the power of Christ, evil will not prevail.

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  When we compare varying versions of this verse, the healing, saving power of God’s word brings us consolation and relief. Use the scripture link and the drop-down menus to explore.

  For a detailed study of Bosch’s Garden of earthly Delights, click on the image above, or visit: https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/renaissance-reformation/northern/hieronymus-bosch/a/bosch-the-garden-of-earthly-delights 

  For more on the life of the artist, click on Bosch’s portrait or visit: http://www.hieronymus-bosch.org

  For a slide show with full commentary on the painting, or to explore the symbolism and meaning of the images, visit: http://www.esotericbosch.com/Garden.htm

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  November 23, 2023

  anxiety and hope, Hades, Hieronymous Bosch, Jesus saves, Peter the Rock

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• Jeremiah 45: Weary from Groaning

  
  

  Jeremiah 45: Weary from Groaning

  Monday, January 21, 2019

  From Psalm 6, we hear a plaint from one who is weary from groaning, whose life has become a living hell.

  

  Do not reprove me in your anger, Lord, nor punish me in your wrath.  Have pity on me for I am weak; heal me, Lord, for my bones are trembling.  In utter terror is my soul – and you, Lord, how long . . . ?  Turn, Lord, save my life; in your mercy rescue me.  For who among the dead remembers you? Who praises you in Sheol? I am weary from sighing; all night long my tears drench my bed; my couch is soaked with weeping.  My eyes are dimmed with sorrow, worn out because all of my foes.  (Psalm 6:1-7)

  In the HARPERCOLLINS BIBLE DICTIONARY Sheol is described as a biblical term for the netherworld and even, in Isaiah 5:14, a reference to a power that can destroy the living.  Sheol is another word for Hades; it is a place where departed spirits live (Proverbs 9:18).  It may also be the deepest depths of the earth (Deuteronomy 32:22 and Amos 9:2) where there is no light, no joy, and no hope.  (Achetemeier 1011)  In Sheol there is only darkness and terror; and some of us have been there . . . and back.

  How do we humans climb out of the miry cistern in which we sometimes find ourselves?  What do we do to calm inner terror even though we manage to dry outward tears?  How is it possible for us to experience the happiness and warmth of a life lived in faith when all possibility of rescue seems gone?  What do we do to stop the chattering of trembling bones and chase away our too many foes?  How do we sleep on a bed that is drenched from our weeping?

  Jeremiah is a Book we will want to open when we find ourselves overcome with grief.  His prophecy is one that speaks to those who have visited the depths of despair or who are even beyond the place where all hope is abandoned.  Today we are told that Jeremiah’s words were recorded by his secretary Baruch and we might wonder why the prophet wishes to terrify us.  When we reflect further we know that Jeremiah’s real message is not fear; rather, it is this: with God there is hope for the hopeless, there is gain for those who have lost all, there is rescue for the weary, and there is planting where before there was only uprooting  . . .

  Jeremiah’s life and prophecy, we are told, require “us to face up more directly to the impediments and barriers along the way than to bask in the complete light at the end of the way . . . God intends prophecy to guide us through the path of human, emotional reactions, not round about them.  If we transfer this approach into New Testament thought, Jesus is ‘the way and the truth and the life’ (Jn 14,6) – therefore, as much the way through human life as its destination, as much the truth that gradually emerges along the way forward as its definitive statement, as much life in its stages of growth as it is life bearing fruit t harvest (Mt 4,26-29) . . . Jeremiah does not allow us to detour round a difficulty.  Persons gifted with keen, sensitive emotions, and thoroughly involved in their work and message, do not normally avoid the excesses of these virtues!  They plunge straight ahead”.  (Senior RG 305-306)

  Jeremiah speaks his words to us today through his faithful secretary Baruch.  When we feel ourselves sinking into the profundity of his muddy cistern, when our bed is drenched from our weeping, when we are weary from all of our groaning . . . let us plunge straight ahead and move toward God, singing as the psalmist sings:

  Away from me, all who do evil!  The Lord has heard my weeping.  The Lord has heard my prayer; the Lord takes up my plea.  My foes will be terrified and disgraced; all will fall back in sudden shame.  (Psalm 6:8-10)

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  A re-post from Monday, January 21, 2012.

  Images from: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+6%3A8-10&version=GNT;NRSV;CJB;MSG and http://www.alljewishlinks.com/steps-to-becoming-a-jewish-scribe/

  Achetemeier, Paul J. HARPERCOLLINS BIBLE DICTIONARY. 2nd edition. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1996. 1011. Print.  

  For more on the Book of Jeremiah see the page on this blog: Jeremiah – Person and Mesage

  For more information on Jewish scribes, click the images above or go to: http://www.mmiweb.org.uk/gcsere/revision/judaism/people/importantpeople.html or http://www.alljewishlinks.com/steps-to-becoming-a-jewish-scribe/

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  January 21, 2019

  Baruck, Hades, Jesus is the way, John 14:6, Matthew 4:26-29, Psalm 6, purpose of prophecy, Sheol

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