Why Sunday Is the Lord's Day for Christians Instead of the Saturday Sabbath

WHY SUNDAY IS THE LORD'S DAY FOR CHRISTIANS INSTEAD OF THE SATURDAY SABBATH — A BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE

By Dominick Nelson Lobo

Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labour and do all your work; but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work....( Exodus 31:15 ).

THE NEW TESTAMENT

1. The reason why the Jews were even more determined to kill Jesus was that He was not only BREAKING THE SABBATH, but He was also calling God His own father. thereby making Him equal to God ( John 5:18 ).

2. "The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath" (Mark 2:23-28 ).

3. Jesus is God. "Truly You are the Son of God." (Matthew 14:33 ). "My Lord and my God" (John 20:28).

4. "The Father Himself judges no one, but has assigned all judgment to the Son." ( John 5:22 )

It is very clear that Jesus observed the Saturday Jewish Sabbath because He was born and raised a Jew. He went to the Temple on the Sabbath to worship.

However, at the time of His public ministry, He was accused of violating the Sabbath by curing many people, and allowing things not permitted. In Mark 1:21, Jesus cured a demoniac in the synagogue, then went on to cure the mother-in-law of Simon Peter at his house. Yet, on other occasions, Jesus cured the man with a withered hand ( Mark 3:5 ), and another man born blind ( John 9;14), and a crippled woman (Luke 13:10-13 ) all on the Sabbath. And, in Mark 2: 23-28, Jesus allowed His disciples to break the Sabbath by pulling off the heads of grain and eating them.

NOTE: If Jesus our God and Judge broke tfte Sabbath Law, what can Otrisiums deduce from tihss? Only God can change a Commandment. And Jesus was nullifying this Law. -2-

5.. Jesus declared " Egweyau a NEW Commandment" ( John 13:34 )

Jesus was fine-tuning the Old Commandments to the point that they had become almost unrecognizable. In Matthew chapters 5, 6 and 7, Jesus was raising the bar to such a high level in order that, "You must be made perfect as vour Heavenly Father is perfect." ( Matthew 5:48 ).

The Old Commandment, " Thou shall not commit adultery " was raised to the New, '''Thou shall not even look -with hist.'" Similarly, the Commandment, "Thou shall not kill," was upgraded to " Everyone who grows angry shall be liable to judgment." Jesus, "The Lord of the Sabbath" was giving a new teaching, and was making the Old Commandments just the basics of His New Commandments.

When we begin to learn to read, we have to first master the letters of the alphabets. Then we proceed to string these letters together to form words, like C-A-T is "cat", M-A-T is "mat", etc. After a while we perfect ourselves by reading whole words without consciously being aware of the individual letters that form each word. We thereby read "words" and become blind to the individual "letters" that comprise the words.

Jesus is "The Word of God" and was bringing the Jews to a new consciousness by making them aware of the Spirit of His new Law. This required going beyond the keeping the letters of the old law, which were just like the letters of the alphabet

His 3 year ministry was significant in bridging the prior period of the "Letter of the Law" given to the Jewish nation by Yahweh, the First Person of The Trinity, to the new time when the "Spirit of the Law" would take its place when it was launched by the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of The Trinity. This started at Pentecost and still continues with the Universal Church composed of Jews and Gentiles. Clearly, Jesus was "perfecting" the Old Commandments and Laws and replacing and amalgamating them with just 2 new ones requiring the total and unconditional Love of God and Neighbour, the latter even applying to strangers and enemies.

Jesus declared His New Commandments, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your sou!, and with all vour mind. This is the greatest and first commandment The second is like it You shall love your neighbour as yourself ( Matthew 22:37-39 \

In John chapter 15:9 -10, Jesus declared, "If you keep MY commandments, you will abide In MY love, iust as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love." Jesus was clearly stating mat, as a Jewish man, He had faithfully kept the 10 Commandments given by Yahweh to the Jewish people. However, being "The-Judge-To- Come," Jssas required His Apostles and Disciples to obey His own Commandments which went bevond the Mosaic Law. Thus Jesus was making a DISTINCTION between -3- wfaat was expected by Yahweh to the Jewish nation, and what Jesus expected of His followers.

The Old Law was one of RACE, the New Law of GRACE or G(od's) RACE, which include bom the Jews and non-Jews or Gentiles. The Jewish people were "a kingdom of priests, a holy nation"- (Exodus 19:6) whereas Christians are "A chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation." And by the Kingship of Jesus, Christians have become "ROYAL" and, with Ihe value-added " a people He claims for His own", have come more responsibilities "to proclaim the glorious works of ihe One who coiled you from darkness into His marvelous tight" (1 Peter 2:9).

.THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS

The words "sleep" and "rest" apply to ihe Living differently than when applied to the Dead. These words speak of periods of refreshment and renewal before ihe next period of work, play or other human activity to those Living. Jfo this context, they do not apply to the Dead Let us examine how they apply to Jesus.

1. Jesus was crucified and died on Friday, the Day of Preparation for the Sabbath.

2. He remained dead on Saturday the Sabbath. .The Lord of The Sabbath was DEAD on The Sabbath, and thus DEAD TO THE SABBATH. What an AMAZING statement!

3. He rose tmd RESURRECTED from the DEAD on THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK, tftates on SUNDAY, or as I prefer to coil "SON-dav" or what Christians refer t® m "The Dm of The Lord "

Previously, Jesus was preparing His disciples and those around Him to the importance of His Resurrection. The opportune time arose when the Sadducees challenged Jesus about the Resurrection with Hie story, true or contrived, about the woman who married seven brothers and questioned Him about whose wife she would be at me Resurrection.( Luke 20:27-38).

This was a GREAT TEACHING moment Jesus responded with "Sons of the RESURRECTION, they are sons of God." Jesus did NOT call them sons of the Sabbath. Christians are thereby children of the Resurrection, and worthy to become like angels and to be present at the Heavenly Wedding Banquet, when the saved will be married to Christ... .(Revelation 19:7). What a Revelationl

In John 11:25, Jesus declared, "I am the RESURRECTION and the LIFE; whoever believes in Me. though he should die, will come to life." Jesus was giving a NEW teaching and turning His disciples from the Old Way to a new. In John 14:6, Jesus declared (hat, "I am the WAY, and the TRUTH, and the LIFE; no one comes to The Father but through Me." That new way was through the RESURRECTION, not the SABBATH!

The NEW way that Jesus was proclaiming was hated by the Jewish authorities. Christians should definitely NOT observe the old ways. "Whoever puts his hand to the plough but keeps l&oMMg back is unfit far the reign of God," Jesus declared (Luke 9:62)..

In Romans 6:3-4, Paul declared, "Do you not know that all of us who have been bap&Z&d into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried m$h Him by baptism into death, so that., just as Christ was raised from the dead by tke glory of the Father) so too we might walk in newness of life." Paul was confirming, in an interesting way, that through Baptism, we died and were buried with the Lord of the Sabbath and then raised from the dead to NEW life with the Lord of the Resurrection by me glory of the Heavenly Father.

In John 5:17. Jems declared "Mv Father is at work until now, and I am at work as well"

These words of Jesus should be placed in the context of God's relationship with mankind.

The Garden of Eden was a luxurious piece of real estate that God had marked off for Adam and Eve to dwell and cultivate. The food was plentiful and the animals docile. Even God walked with them. Life was idyllic. Then came "The Fall" after which Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden, and settled to the east of it where they were condemned to live in an environment of thorns and thistles.

Later on, God The Father summoned Abraham, seemingly from the area Adam and Eve were resettled after The Fall, and directed him to me location of Israel. A covenant was established whereby Yahweh would walk with Abraham's descendants in a special way. Circumcision was the mark and manifestation of tins covenant The Israelites were required to keep the letter of the law and also keep away from inter-marrying non- Israelites. They were a consecrated people, a people God called His own whereby they would fee instrumental in RE-CREATING the Garden of Eden. God therefore called Israel His choice vineyard. And like any vineyard, work involved hoesns, nrunina. -5- binding, harvesting and related work, for which the end of the week was given as a welcome rest. The Sabbath was made for the Israelites. The Old Testament, in the main, relates God's walk with the Jewish people. God gave them victories over overwhelming foes when they were faithful to Him, and punished them by allowing easy defeats, destruction and even exile in times of disobedience and unfaithfulness,

In the fullness of time, Jesus was bom and later took up Bis public ministry. He started "working" and doing things that were not lawful on the Sabbath. Jesus was thereby making His disciples aware that He was changing things, bringing in the new whilst perfecting the old. And while His own mission was to the lost House of Israel, His directive to His disciples was to go out to all the world, Jewish and pagan.

He then issued uTke Great Conamssion {Matthew 28:10) - 'Go. therefore, and make disciples of ALL the nations." This required haste and speed and dedication. The time for sleep and rest was over. The harvest was ripe. Christians were now children of the Resurrection, and a "SENT" people. We have the example of Paul who boasted of fighting the good fight and finishing the race.. He pressed on despite beatings, imprisonment, being stoned and left for dead, snakebite, storms at sea, persecutions and calamities. He was on a missionary field. And there was NO SABBATH rest for him in his undertakings. Paul was a true disciple and "slave" of Jesus who left us Christians THE EXAMPLE of His own sufferings and death (1 Peter 2:21) so that we could walk in His footsteps. Bearing our cross is part of our missionary journey!

THE FATHER & JESUS WERE NOW WORKING TO SAVE THE WHOLE WORLD. Jew and Gentile alike!

Basically, Jesus died a JEW and rose up as a CHRISTIAN. In other words, He died to the Sabbath and rose to new life on The First Day of The Week. Godwastunvkattffwing tfte first day of the week, not the last 1. "Now after He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene"...Mark 16:9

2."On the FIRST day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them"...( Acts 20:7 ). The Apostle to the Gentiles, Paul, observed "The Lord's Day" on Sunday, the First day of the week, and God ratified this by a tremendous MIRACLE, by restoring the life of young Eutychus who fell to his death and was brought to life. -6-

3. Circumcision was the sign and seal of the Old Covenant. The New Covenant requires Baptism. The Old Covenant provided the Sabbath rest at the end of the week. The New Covenant observes the "Dav of The Lord" by the "Breaking of Bread,"

4. The early Christians devoted themselves to tite Apostles' instructions, and to the c®msnu&alBfe, to THE BREAKING OF BREAD, and to the prayers (Acts 2:42),

5. On the first Sunday, The Day of Resurrection, the two disciples recognized Jesus at Emmaus in "The Breaking of Bread" ( Luke 30-31)

Jesus was making the tremendous statement that The Day of The Lord would not remain a PASSIVE one of no work, but a PASS-OVER to a new one which entailed "The Breaking of Bread." Jesus started this tradition at The Last Supper and urged Bis disciples to " Do this often in remembrance of Me. " In 1 Corinthians 11:23-34, Paul details this tradition, including participation in a worthy manner otherwise it would bring condemnation.

We know that God does things purposefully. It was no accident that Jesus was walking through standing grain on the Sabbath with His disciples who began to pull off heads of grain as they went along - the act which brought condemnation from me Pharisees (Mark 2: 23-26). The breaking of grain was a TEACHING moment by which Jesus was preparing His disciples to the time when He would give them His own flesh and blood through the breaking of bread and drinking of wine.

Another TEACHING moment occurred when Jesus caused the Miracle of the Multiplication of Loaves in John chapter 6. He instructed the thousands present then to " Work not for perishable food but for food that remains for life eternal, food which me Son of Man wfflgive, If is on Him that God The Father has SETHIS SEAL " (John 6:27).

When the same crowd asked Jesus, "What must we do to perform the WORKS of God?" Jesus replied that they should have faith in Him who was SENTby God. And that He, Jesus, was the Living BREAD come down from Heaven, and that "If you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, vou have no life in YOU."

Jesus was thereby contirmine mat for Christians to nerform Ihe WORKS of God, mey must firstly* have FAITH in Him, and secondly, must eat anddrinkHis body and Mood.

When Jesus had declared the above requirement, we read in John 6:66. many of Jesus' disciples BROKE away from Jesus because they could not accept this 'difficult' teaching. Instead of keeping faMi and BREAKING bread, tiiey BROKE away! -7-

This was despite the fact that they had seen and/or heard Him do the 'works' of God by raising the dead, casting out demons, curing and restoring the sick, the lame, the blind, the mute and the leprous, miraculously feeding on two occasions the 5000 and later the 4000, change water into wine, calm the raging tempest and walk on water, instructing the ignorant, and fast for 40 days and nights in the desert.

With God there is no question of coincidence or chance! The Apostle John declared in the Gospel, chapter 6:66 of Jesus' disciples breaking away It is the same Apostle John who also wrote The Book of Revelation and stated in chapter 13:18, that the mark of the Anti-Christ is the number 666. It is amazing that the number "666" can refer firstly to those who break away from Jesus and His requirement of faith in Hun and of partaking in His 'REAL' presence in the bread and wine and secondly, to those who are followers of and brand themselves with the mark of Anti-Christ,

The question arises, why would the many disciples leave Jesus despite His many miracles as proofs that He was The Son of God, if He was only referring to the "symbolic" partaking of His body and blood, not to Hie real? And then, why would Paul require participation in a "worthy manner" to avoid condemnation, if this participation was "symbolic?"

In the Old Testament, Moses sprinkled the blood of sacrificed young bulls on the people saying, " This is the blood of THE COVENANT which me Lord made with you." (Exodus 24:8). This was REAL blood At the Last Supper, Jesus took the cup of wine saying, " This up is the NEW COVENANT in My blood, do this as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me " (1 Corinthians 11:25).

It should be absolutely dear to ALL Biblical scholars that both Jesus and Paul were referring to She "REAL" and not "symboKc" presence.

In the Gospel according to Johnl:14, we learn that, "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us." No doubt this relates to Jesus' Incarnation and bodily presence of God among mankind. However, in Matthew 28:20, Jesus declared before His ascension into Heaven that, "Know that "I AM" with vou always until the end of this world." Thus the only way Jesus can continue to be with us bodily is through His real presence in the "Breaking of Bread." And, also to a lesser degree, with the Church, which is His body. Are those who do not believe in me REAL PRESENCE only 'symbolic' members of the Church?

Jesus declared, in John 6:51. that He had descended FROMHeaven as LIVING -8-

Altogether, Jesus declared that, as living bread, He had come down from Heaven to be broken firstly by death on fee cross to expiate for our sins, and to be broken secondly to provide spiritual nourishment for our journey TO Heaven.

Here we find a parallel with Moses who was leading the Israelites away from slavery in Egypt and on to the Promised Land. Qa the journey through the desert, the Israelites were fed 'manna' from Heaven.( Psalm 78:24 ) This was perishable 'bread from Heaven.' Jesus self-declared that He was "The Living Bread from Heaven" and which He was inviting us to partake of on our earthy journey to Heaven from whence He had come.

And the disciples at Emmaus declared, "Were not our hearts burning inside us as He talked to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?" ( Luke 24:32)

Jesus, at Emmaus, took bread, and then pronounced a Blessing ( a Prayer of Thanksgiving ) before He broke and distributed THEBREADf Luke 24:30).

And this is what the early Christians did. They "Broke Bread" and listened to the Apostles' instructions, as Jesus was not physically available to them. And they participated in "The Prayers" which speak of a set group of Prayers, Jesus thus hallowed the First Day and requires our Communion with Him by "Eating His flesh and drinking His blood" so that we become Eke Him in our spiritual journey. The end of our journey is the Heavenly Wedding Banquet (Revelation 19:7). And like any wedding banquet, the closest and best seats are given to those closest and those most like-minded to the wedding couple. The best seats in Heaven will be given to those who resemble Christ the most. The lukewarm will not come within spitting distance. So Christ has prepared, on earth, the means whereby we are empowered to resemble Him. After all, we become wk&t we eattmd drink. So the more we partake of Christ's body and blood, the more we have "communion" with and thereby become like Him.

NOTE: The Msdfles at Emmaus recognized Jems with the breaking of bread. The early Christians also broke bread The absence of "drinking -wine" which refers to Jesus' blood drives kerne the fact that a Living Body also contains Mood. So by just " we have the understanding that we are partaking BOTH in the body

6. Jesus declared, in Matthew 19:28-30, "Many who are first shall come last and the last shall come first" when He takes His seat upon a throne befitting His glory. This was a clear reference to the fact that the observers of the Old Laws, the people of Israel, would be placed last in the Kingdom of God. The Christians, on the other hand, would merit the first and best places. This is because Christians had to reach a greater spiritual maturity that required fliem to place EVERYTHING and EVERYONE in second place for "Mv sake." Moreover, they were required, among other things, to not only abstain from Jailing and adultery, but even from becoming angry and looking with lust - -9- emoiions that were twice, ten and even hundreds of times more difficult Also they were required to love their enemies and strangers which the Israelites were exempt from. (NOTE;- It is recommended to read carefuily Matthew chapter 5 verse 13 onwards to the end of Matthew chapter 7 to fliliv understand the requirement of Christ's discipleship.)

7. In Colossians 2:16, Paul declares, "Afo one is free, therefore, to pass judgment on you in terms of what you eat or drink... .on the Sabbath. " Paul also states in Romans 7:6 - "Now we have been released from the lew -for we have med to wheg bound us - and we serve in me new spirit, not the antiquated letter."

S.Jnl Corinthians 15:12-58, Paul holds forth that Christ's Resurrection is central to OSJF faith which would otherwise be futile and we would still be in our sins.

9.Paul urged the collection for the saints take place on the First day of the week, Sunday ( ICorinthiaus 16:2 ) It is clear tfiat the early Christians used to continue to meet in the synagogue on Saturdays, the Sabbath. It was the only public place that could accommodate such a large mass of converts, 3000 of whom were baptized on the day of Pentecost itself ( Acts 2:41) They however, broke bread at home. It was later, when persecution started, that they stopped attending the synagogues. However, Paul and the other disciples continued to attend the synagogues on the Sabbath so they could meet and instruct, for the purpose of conversion, the Jews so that they could meet them at a suitable time and location - in fact to meet them where they were. Later on Churches sprung up to repkce Synagogues so as to facilitate Christian worship just as Baptism and The Lord's Day replaced Circumcision and The Sabbath.

It is well to note that Jesus founded the Church as IBs body of which He is the head (Ephesiaas 5:23), against which the gates of Hades ( or 1h© "jaws of death" in some translations) will not prevail (Matthew 16:18). The word "Church" was initially used to refer to a congregation of Christian believers ( Matthew 18:17, Acts 5:11, Acts 11:22 & 26). Later on, it also came to describe the building where they gathered to break bread, participate in the communal life, devote themselves to the teaching of the Apostles, and the prayers. It also became the place where Christians declared their sins (James 5:16) to tiiose who took the place of the Apostles and were authorized to forgive them or hold them bound ( John 20:23.). God has authorized humans to forgive sins just as He authorized an Angel to do so in the Old Testament ( Exodus 23:20-21), Sins are distinguished between deadly/mortal and non-deadly ( 1 John 5:16-17 ). It is highly possible that 'The Prayers' of the early Christians included petitions for sinners as the beloved Apostle must have urged alter making this distinction. It is therefore amazing that there are those who declare mat they don't need to belong to a church, they don't need to confess or that ihey can be OK even whilst being 'spiritual but . ' These are those who have lulled themselves into a spiritual coma and have become spiritual wimps. They have cut off all spiritual ties and believe what they want to and discard the rest. Declaring that Jesus died for their sins and thus their sin debt is forever covered, they go about their lives devoid of all spiritual growth and its demands. The cross, their cross, has now become foolishness in their sight. Their ticket to Heaven, in their eyes, is a given. They will not listen to Peter when he stated in 1 Peter 4:18 that "the just man is s&vedonfy with t&fftculiy.'" They cheerfully ignore Paul's admonition in Philippians 2:12 " to work with noxious concern t® achieve your salva&on" and then again in Hebrews 12:25-29, "For if the Israelites did not escape punishment when they refused t& listen as God spoke to them on earth, howmuch GREATER punishment mil be &KTS (referring to Christians) if we turn away from Him who speaks pom Heavenl"

The death of Jesus on the cross opened the gate to Heaven which was closed by Adam's sin. The spiritual man atoned for the sin of the natural man. However, we are still responsible for our sins. There are consequences for disobedience. We have the case of hmsband&ndmfe Ananias andSapphira (Acts 5:1-11) who were executed by Divine justice imt a few weeks after Jesus' death and Resurrection for a seemingly MINOR The Bible tells us that they sold their property, which was legitimately theirs, and connived to donate only part of the proceeds to the Apostles and to the FIRST Christian community, instead of the whole amount. This brought about swift Divine retribution ! This should alert us to the fact that Christ's death has not rescinded God's justice, but instead has confirmed it in a mighty way\ It should make us aware that Christianity and Baptism does not confer any license to sin but enable us to become new spiritual beings that seek to "Be holy and blameless in His sight " (Ephesians 1:4).

Purgatory is the temporary after-life place of confinement to those who do not truly satisfy Divine justice while on earth. For example, if I rob you of your life savings and do not restore these to you, but express deep sorrow and ask God for forgiveness, I will not be condemned to Hell. In the Old Testament, King David was granted forgiveness for the murder of Uriah and adultery with his wife Bathsheba. But because there was no way of reconciling with the dead Uriah, David was informed that his repentance was accepted by God -'•The Lord forgives you"- but Divine Justice to the dead and wronged Uriah demanded that the penalty to David would result in "The sword shall not depart from your house and others will take away your wives" (2 Samuel 12:10-11),

In Matfliew 18:21-35, Jesus' parable of the unforgiving official teaches that Our Heavenly Father will, 'in anger, ' hand the guilty over to the torturers until the repayment of 'the last peimv. '" While Jesus' death brought about "/ cancelled your entire debt' (verse 32), God still has expectations of us. And if we do not fulfill those expectations, then God who is the same yesterday, today and forever, will mete out justice similar to that of King David in the Old Testament and Ananias and Sapphira in the New! And while "AH have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God" we know that there are those who are more sinned against than sinning. And like the widow, ( Luke 18:1-7 )5 in Jesus' parable who kept pestering for justice until it was granted, will not God grant "swift" justice to those who are wronged! Certainly, Christianity is NOT a Religion of License. -11- . Ne>bo$p should accept ike fact that Christians me saved if they disdain their Baptism if

The words, " you -mil not be released until you pay the last penny " are twice stated by Jesus in Matthew 5:26 and Matthew 18:34. Release after true to the 'last penny9 justice can only refer to Purgatory. It eliminates Hell where there IS true justice but NO release. It also eliminates this earth where there IS release but NO true justice and where there are countless instances of the rich and powerful walking away free with blood on their hands! Jesus also declared in John 8:34-35, " I give you My assurance, everyone who lives m place there forever" This refers to the day when God in Heaven will judge each person upon death, and sinners will then be relegated to Hell or Purgatory. Jesus warned, in Luke 12: 46-48, about the degrees of punishment, the more severe being meted out to those to whom much has been entrusted (referring to Christians ). As Hell is an eternal place of unremitting torment, these degrees of punishment can only refer to Purgatory. This admonition is confirmed by Paul who declared, "For whom the Lord loves, He Ssdpimes. He scourges every son He receives"" ( Hebrews 12:6 )„ Scourging, chastising, pruning ( John 15:2 ), carrying our crosses and accepting the WILL of God in every circumstance, whether convenient/inconvenient, in season or out, or even if reasonable or unreasonable., are all God's ways of " You must be made perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 6:48), It is clear that the more perfectly and willingly we carry out the Will of God in our lives and the more we participate in the "Breaking of Bread" in a worthy manner, the greater will be our merit and awarding of the best seats in Heaven, as well as the lessening of or even the complete remission of our imprisonment in Purgatory!

Bread was the pillar of Jesus' physical life just as prayer and temple -worship were the pillars &fHss spiritual life. Jesus was born in Bethlehem which means "House of Bread." Jesus was constantly "breaking bread" which in the Middle East refers to sharing a meal. In fact, Jesus was accused of being a "glutton and a drunkard" because He kept a bond of sharing and caring even with those who were social and religious outcasts! And the last thing that Jesus performed before His Passion and Death was breaking bread at The Last Supper with His Apostles. As Jesus was "The Living Bread from Heaven," He was making His followers aware that "Man does NOT live on bread alone" and that we must partake of "Eating His flesh and drinking His blood" so as to be worthy of being present at His Heavenly banquet and obtaining the best and nearest seats there. And while there are many mansions in Heaven, obviously all will not be on Main Street, and there will be lesser mansions away and further away. Justice will flourish and the best mansions will be given to those who resemble Christ the most. -12=

Christians should participate in the "Breaking of Bread" on Sunday, the Lord's Day, and also observe the spirit of the "Sabbath Rest" on the same day by "breaking" away from the normal routine of the work week like Sunday shopping and unnecessary labour. Even Missionaries need rest.

The following provides an interesting footnote.

Those who ask and seek for signs and wonders are the very ones weak in Faith. When God Himself initiates and provides signs and wonders, it is to augment our own Faith.

1. The "Real Presence" of Jesus in the Breaking of Bread has been manifested through many miracles, including the greatest Catholic one at Lanciano, Italy.

( Seafch the Internet for "The Eucharistic Miracle ofLaRdano, Italy" }

A search for "Eucharistic Miracles" on the Internet can display other similar miracles. It is also worth reading Joan Carroll Cruz' book titled "Eucharistic Miracles.".

2. In Acts 2:27, we read mat David prophesied about the death and Resurrection of Jesus with words, "For you mil not abandon my soul to the nether world, nor -will you suffer your Hofy One ( some translations have Faithful One ) to undergo corruption.'"

Corruption is a natural process of decay for corpses. Incorruption, without artificial means like embalming, etc., are God's ways of ratifying corpses of those "Faithful Ones." Catholicism has a history of some saints whose corpses did not corrupt immediately. Most of them lived and died 100 years or more ago.

She ImStwnet for 'Incorruptible B&dies. ' )

Also, look up St. Francis Xavier's body as well as Saint Charbel Maalouf. Alternatively, read the book "The Incorruptibles" by Joan Carroll Cruz

3. Jesus declared to His disciples that they would be able to do greater things than even He had done ( John 14:12 ) Father Albert J, Herbert's book "Raised from the Dead" tells of Catholic saints who raised the dead to life.

((N&te that many of above miracles occurred in the ages past, and to NOT apply end-time scenarios to them when the Anti-Christ to-come will perform miracles and lying wonders which will deceive the very elect)) -13- liicorruptibiiitv. Eucharistic Miracles, and the raising of the dead are marks of Divine favosir to Catholics who observed The Lord's Day.

These marks of favour tell of the overwhelming revelation of Almighty God uniquely to Christians in general and Catholics in particular. We have been favoured, like no other, by a God who has revealed Himself as "A Living God." The Bible Is His Word. It is also THE FIRST AND THE LAST WORD OF A LIVING GOD. ( Rev 22:13 ). Nabocfy? else can make this claim.

There are those non-Christians who teach that when Jesus returns, He will proclaim that He did not die on the Cross, and that Christianity is false and that He is a servant of another God and Messiah, This Is FALSE, FALSE, FALSE. These non-Christians do NOT have a Living God. And they do NOT have any record of God's living presence in the past thousand years or more. Jesus is true God, yesterday, today and forever. And Christianity, especially Catholic Christianity, is His Religion since the time He walked the earth 2000 years ago. There are those who call themselves atheists. They do so because they mostly cannot deal with the reality of suffering. If God is living, they state, then there should be no suffering, no diseases, no genocide, no tsunamis, etc. The following reasons militate against atheism. 1. The FIRST Law of Commonsense states that' Nothing comes from Nothing!' If, by chance, a wheel comes into existence, then it would be hard to imagine that from this wheel, other wheels, then a car and then a parking lot of cars will emerge, followed by a whole galaxy of planets, and then a driver and multiple drivers, etc! From inanimate objects, animate and living organisms cannot evolve!

2. The FIRST Law of Science states that "Matter cannot be created.' Science is stating at the outset that Creation is outside of its scope. This Law clearly declares that "We don't do Creation" just as it cannot foretell the future. Science is limited to what is already created. Only God, who is outside of mis Law, is Creator! S.The world is worth trillions upon multiple trillions, in today's dollars. To state that the vast quantity of gold, diamonds, precious stones and precious metals came into being by chance is simplistic. If these evolved by chance, then what are the chances of a trillion dollars, in today's value, appearing today in my bank account or in yours? The ONLY possible answer is "There's No hope in Heli!" -14-

CMstianity, ultimately, is proof that God is not only living but also has shared in our common humanity by entering into human history and then dying the most shameful and painful death on the cross. Christ, the God from Heaven, had come down to earth to show us the way TO heaven. He did not come to make earth a Garden of Eden or Paradise. We have to follow in His footsteps and bear our own burdens and crosses so that we, who resemble Jesus the most, will be rewarded with the best mansions and seats in Heaven.

The world is a mine-field of trials and tribulations, of calamities and heart-ache. These are placed or allowed by God in His wisdom, so that even while we walk through these circumstances "in the valley of death", we are able to rise above these with gratitude and thankfulness. Truly, the GREATER THE CROSS. THE GREATER THE GLORY! Students who study to become doctors and lawyers know from the outset that they will have to sacrifice and shun most social and other activities that will come in their way of preparation. Yet they will gladly forfeit and abstain from present pleasures whilst keeping their focus on their studies of many years duration because they realize that the rewards of graduation will erase and more than make up for all the time of sacrifice. PAY NOW AND PLAY LATER is not a dreadful slogan to them, but a clarion call.

(( A doctor informed his assistant that a fellow doctor had flown from Toronto to Florida for the week-end just to play a round of golf! Talk about earthly rewards!))

The spiritual life is the same. We have to sacrifice and make ourselves spiritual beings by "not being conformed to this age, but by renewing otsrsdves to become pleasing and k&ly to God" God has allowed trials and temptations to be a part and parcel of our lives. The more we rise above these, even when they are UNREASONABLE, and accept the WILL of God, and strive to imitate Christ, the greater will be our Heavenly reward.

Jesus assured His Apostles the Heavenly reward they would be given (Luke 22:28-30 ) when He declared, "'You have stood by Me m My temptations. I for My part assign to you 1he dominion My Father has assigned to Me. In My Sdngdom, you mil eat and drink at My table, and you mil sit on thrones judging tike twelve tribes of Israel

ULTIMATELY, WHAT IS TRUE AND WITHOUT DOUBT IS THAT CHRISTIANITY UNIQUELY OFFERS PROOF OF A LIVING GOP.

It is advisable to read the book. 'Divine Mercy in Mv Soul.' which is the Diary of recently declared Catholic Saint, Sister Faustina. She was a Polish nun and was visited from 1930 to 1938 almost daily by the Living Jesus. -15-

Also check the Internet for "Marian Apparitions." Mary, the mother of Jesus has visited many people through the ages and has ALWAYS pointed to Her Son Jesus as Our Living Lord and God.

Non-Christians should endeavor to find out for themselves whv The Living God has only manifested His presence to Christians in such remarkable ways and which He has NOT., done for others. Religion Is a path to God. And if God, has not mightily manifested His presence to non-Christians, then perhaps they should seriously coaslder becoming Christians and followers of Christ, the Living God!

Christians, especially Catholics, should immerse themselves in our Living Faith. Cagk&Mes sh&sdd attend mare Masses, which celebrate the breaking of bread and tike W&?d ofGod, and daily read The Bible especially The Gospels.

Finally, Christians should always find time to "Break Bread" on Sundays and then spend the rest of the day in learning more about OUR LIVING GOD and exploring ways of spiritual growth. For truly, the REWARDS ARE OUT OF THIS WORLD!

GOD BLESS