overcome

it's been almost a full year that i started reading through the book of John and being Type A i've determined that i must stay here until the new year.  the Type B part doesn't have any problem with this.  i've seen things i never saw before, found treasure troves in the most unexpected places, and now i'm not even sure i could move on once january does makes its appearance.

all this, plus a new year's resolution to start memorizing more, plus recent events, plus a super phone app that makes memorizing a challenge i gladly accept mean that when i need them the words are there. 

i don't pay for tv services.  so not worth it, especially when facebook is faster and just as accurate.  and free.

but overnight thousands of lives were changed in Europe, just like has happened in too many other countries, and a new tidal wave of fear, anger and grief hit the shores of America. 

suddenly, profile pictures are covered with red, white and blue stripes, hashtags light up screens and even some atheists i know are "praying for Paris." but one picture i scrolled past caught my eye because i knew the overlaying quote, and the broader context.

"But take heart; I have overcome the world."

it's like magic, isn't it?  the chapter break comes at just the right point, almost making you stop and read it again.  and again.

"But take heart.  I have overcome the world."

i have no idea who first posted that on social media or if they had any idea of the context. that quote is from Jesus.

Jesus said that.

Jesus said that as he was physically walking from the borrowed upper room to the borrowed tomb, via a garden, a jury and a cross.  Judas Iscariot had just run out on them, the other 11 completely lost in confusion.  they finished their Passover feasting and Jesus, knowing everything past, present and future suggests an evening stroll to their favorite nearby hangout spot in the Garden of Gethsemane. 

one of my favorite pastors once said that you oughta pay attention to someone's last words.  if there's any place to say what's really important, deep deep down, that you want so desperately for someone to remember, that's what you're going to say when you know the end is coming.

that's what Jesus is doing right here.  Chapters 14 through 17 are Jesus's last chance to reinforce everything vital that He's been trying to get them to understand for the past couple years.  and He's doing it quite calmly so far, given that He knows what's going on and they don't.

not a word is written here about their reactions to His discourse here, but from past chapters, i'd bet a nickel that it was pretty similar to His other bold statements: most of them sitting (or walking) in stupefied silence until Peter recovers enough to open his mouth and start rambling nonsense. 

it could be that Peter didn't really recover from this one until after Judas showed up.  i don't think i would, either. 

mostly because the majority of this section at first read is bad news. really bad.  this is Jesus's "get ready" speech.

"you've seen what they've done; you're gonna see what they're about to do...you're next. they hate Me.  they're gonna hate you. I'm leaving; you're gonna miss Me. you're going to leave Me, deny Me, desert Me.  things are bad- they're going to get worse."

four chapters of this! four chapters of bad news as they casually stroll through the darkening streets of the city crammed full of celebrating Jews.  four chapters of increasingly depressing information that is completely out of place for a festive holiday season. 

kinda like right now.

even though i'm sitting here in a Panera sipping cooling coffee out of a seasonally-decorated cup (not red…), i have been at a loss for words reading small tidbits of news as it flies over from Paris.  this, on top of what we already know from a dozen other countries.  just like Jesus promised.

in a silent show of solidarity, i am currently wearing a t-shirt with a flaming red arabic N on it. the fact does not escape me that this would get me killed in all those dozen other countries.  just like Jesus promised.

families are being torn apart.  lives are being lost.  fanatics are holding hostages, selling humans and ransacking villages in the name of their religion. just like Jesus promised.

this is probably why Jesus wasn't interrupted.  how do you respond to this? how could He say all this so calmly like He was commenting on the robe sale at the tailor's place?

it's because of what else He promised.

that He's going to make a place for you and for me- a place where He is- where we will someday be with Him forever.

that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life.  He is the visible face of the Immortal, Invisible God.

that every single prophecy about Him from the beginning of time would be fulfilled- the ones we like, and the ones we don't like or understand. 

that we would not be alone, because the Helper was coming.

that if we abide in Him, we can ask whatever we wish in His name and it will be done for us. 

that a peace is coming unlike any peace we've known before, that cannot be duplicated or forged or destroyed or stolen or erased or damaged.

that our sorrow will be turned to joy, and that this joy would overflow, and that this joy would never, ever be taken away.

that we should take heart, because He has overcome the world.

and then Jesus Christ does something that i have read dozens of times and still haven't gotten over:

He prays for us.

He prays for His disciples… and then He prays for US.

"When Jesus had spoken these words, He lifted up His eye to heaven and said, "Father the hour has come; glorify Your Son that Your Son may glorify You, since You have given Him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom You have given Him.  And this is eternal life, that they know You the One true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I glorified You on earth, having accomplished the work that You gave Me to do. And now, Father, glorify Me in Your presence with the glory that I had with You before the world existed.

I have manifested Your name to the people whom You gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they know that everything You have given Me is from You. For I have them the words that You gave Me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from You; and they have believed that You sent Me. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.  All Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, which You have given Me, that they may be one, even as We are one.  While I was with them, I kept them in Your name, which You have given Me.  I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scriptures might be fulfilled.  But now I am coming to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.  I have given them Your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  I do not ask that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.  As You sent Me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.  And for their sake I consecrate Myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.

I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word, that they may all be one, just as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You have sent Me.  the glory that You have given Me I have given to them, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that You sent Me and loved them even as You loved Me.  Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, may be with Me where I am, to see My glory that You have given Me because You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O Righteous Father, even though the world does not know You, I know You, and these know that You have sent Me.  I made known to them Your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which You have loved Me may be in them, and I in them."

 Jesus is literally minutes away from arrest and torture, but He takes this time to pray for us.  the Holy Trinity is having a conversation about us, and i love how the Helper nudged John and helped him write it down, after 'bringing to his remembrance all that He had spoken'.  (just like Jesus promised!)

i don't know everything that's going to happen.  we knew Islam was spreading all over Europe, that governments are closing their eyes, hearts and borders, and that the attacks will only continue as long as we do nothing.  we knew that Christianity was losing ground in this country and probably won't gain any back.

but i also know that i can't read those four chapters in John without being strangely calm.  because every prediction of heartache is met with a promise that far surpasses the trials coming our way.

we grieve this shameful nonsense occurring on a near-daily basis.  we mourn so many lives lost because they chose to follow the Way, Truth and Life.  those are my family members- my brothers and sisters- that are being murdered.  we support the victims and their loved ones any way we can.

but we do it all knowing that if those promises were kept, we can trust that ALL the promises He made are guaranteed us as well. 

we can lose heart when the task at hand dwarfs those available to help, when we see the enormous need and have so little to offer by ourselves.  when our neighbors are on the other side of the world and we don't even know how to begin the job of bearing their burdens with them.  Asia, South America, know that we are praying for you.

we take heart because the Helper is coming- has come.

we sometimes lose heart when we see each new report of torture and murder, as terrorist organizations indiscriminately wipe out pastors, farmers, wives, children, neighbors, churches, homes, entire villages as the world steps back.  Africa, Asia, know that we are praying for you.

we take heart because His hope and His healing are coming.

we'd lose heart if all we read was the newspaper.  some days you can't even read the comics without putting them down depressed.  this world is a mess. a gut-wrenching, tear-jerking mess. Europe, Syria, China, Korea, Ukraine, Russia, India, Iraq...brothers and sisters everywhere… please know we are praying for you.  we are praying that you remain steadfast, keeping your eyes on your King, your hope in your first citizenship in Heaven, your life in His hands, and your soul under His pinions.  take heart, because you are not alone- not even close to it. you have so many promises to stand on, each one a rock in the wall of protection surrounding you.

take heart- because He has overcome this world.

2 am theology

editor's note: there's a good chance i may have misunderstood, misquoted or misrepresented the perspectives or words of my companions mentioned here.  if i did so, my deepest and humblest apologies.  feel free to correct me!

***

this past week has been a killer.  worse than a killer, because actually it's been almost 2 weeks long.  and in those 1.7 weeks, i worked the equivalent of 3 weeks' worth of work.  9 shifts in 11 nights, and i'm ready for a break! 

like, for realzies.

i do not remember how this all came about because the nights have all run together in my head, but somewhere several nights ago at work a random question popped up between 2 other super-cool nurses about the end times and persecution and one of them casually asked my opinion, listened for a minute and then went back about her work.  the other nurse couldn't escape me because we were in the same area ;)  it helped immensely that she has a working knowledge of the Bible and basic Christian principles and holds to her faith, so we had a common ground- which hasn't been the case with anyone who's recently asked me a question about faith or spirituality. 

i'm not good with my spoken words.  kinda like Moses only worse, i believe. my brain turns into macaroni and cheese, my words get jumbled and lost and half the time i just give up talking altogether.

but i loved the talk anyway, which continued and ranged over several topics and hours.

the question centered on my belief in either the pre- or post-Tribulation rapture (whether i thought Christians would be called up to heaven before or after the "end times", namely the time of great evil and trials that the Bible says will happen as/just before the physical world ends)- and why.

oh boy.

oooooooh, boy!

the short answer, as of right this moment before more study, is that i am led more towards a post-tribulation rapture.  i have heard strong, and strongly-worded, cases for both sides, and several more sides that it would just take too long to think about here. i forget what my first coworker said, but the second seemed to hope that it was a pre-trib rapture.  i don't know if she has actually read, or if she only knows of, the Left Behind series- but i'm just gonna say now that i have read all of them (excepting the very last one, after Jesus comes back), and i disagree with the authors on several points.  mainly, i object to the way it seems they pick and choose prophecies from all throughout the Bible and interpret them in ways that make for a great story, but not *necessarily* the truth. 

she said first of all

1)that she's a fighter (she is- really.  i wouldn't push it ;) )and that she hoped she'd be able to stay strong against those who challenged her faith, 

2) that she honestly hadn't thought things would get as bad as they have for Christians in America so soon, and also

3) that she knows a bit more about the Old Testament than the New.

to the first point, i hope the same.  but i also know myself enough to know that i do have a breaking point and i do sometimes wonder how much i could really handle. i do concede that a lot of me hopes that i do get raptured first, or that my persecutor just whips out a gun so we can skip the whole fighting, bribing, blasphemy, physical torture and all similar trauma.  not to be glib, but to be real. i have a high pain tolerance, but … evil minds go deeper and darker than i can fathom. and there are evil, evil minds at work in this world today.

to the second point, nothing encouraging there.  sorry. because i really don't things will get better.  i really do things will get worse.  possibly faster than i think.

to the third, finally… i do think i have an answer.  and it means that i can accept the first two points and hold to the hope in the truths i see here.

for a book with so many authors and written over so many years, the Bible is a remarkably put-together read!  because really, it only has one Author and He's brilliant and He put all kinds of allusions and illustrations all over the Old Testament so that even the fishermen we read about in the New Testament were able to understand the connections.

and one of my favorite Old Testament stories is also one of the most well-known.

it's the story of the Exodus, and i think it illustrates in many ways the coming "exodus," or rapture.

back in Egypt's grand day, this guy who was admittedly not an orator but rather an exiled, rejected, simple, OLD shepherd was told by a burning scrub bush to do the impossible- rescue God's people from their 400-year long slavery. after much convincing, he agreed.

he went back to the land that had his face on wanted posters, walked up to the pharaoh (who was held to be deity to the Egyptians) and told him to give up his entire workforce, because a Voice was telling him to.  a Voice who said He was the ONLY GOD. 

now, Moses had already been told that there was going to be a struggle.  and a struggle there was.  10 seconds after that first encounter, pharaoh made the labor worse so that even the slaves hated Moses, who was genetically one of their own.

then the plagues came, each one a little worse, and (i read from a Jewish rabbi) each pointedly showing Yahweh's superiority over a different Egyptian god. 

i read about the Nile turned to blood and the plague of frogs and want to puke. 

i read about the gnats and the boils and want some benedryl and a shower. 

i read about the hail and fire and loss and resulting poverty, destruction and hunger and want to cry.

but alongside the plagues, there's a promise.  starting with the 4th (of 10) plagues, God promises that they WILL NOT TOUCH HIS PEOPLE.  hate them all you want, but not a single hailstone  or locust landed in Goshen.  search the barracks, and you will not see a boil or blemish on a Jew's face.  even the 3-day darkness that every Egyptian physically felt didn't affect those the I AM said were His.

then the final blow to the king who would call himself a god: the loss of every single first-born child in Egypt…

except those who heard and heeded Moses's warning by wiping the blood of a spotless lamb on their doorposts.

at that point, not only were the Jews let go, they were commanded to flee and sent on their way with their arms full of gold and jewels, effectively looting the mighty nation that had already lost everything else because of their impenitent hearts.

those Jews were physically present for all the plagues- but were protected for the worst, and served as an example to the Egyptians .  when the judgement was complete, His people were called out of their bondage and led to the Promised Land.

thus, the first "Passover" celebration, where God's people remember how He passed over those covered by the blood.

i think in the same way, we (meaning, "Christians living during the coming of the 'Great Tribulation' ") will be left on earth when the final judgements come.  but in Revelation, there is a point at which everyone will be marked- those who follow Jesus the Lamb being covered by His blood, and everyone else receiving the "mark of the beast."  Christians will face persecution, but those "coming out of the great tribulation" will be given white robes and a front seat in the amphitheater of martyrs praising Jesus for the rest of eternity. (see Revelation 7: 13-14, and note: it does not say "hauled out as a group before the tribulation")

before the white robes, they will be on the earth, serving as shining lights in a dark, dark world and pointing the lost to the Savior, though those with impenitent hearts will suffer for, but not turn from, their sins.

***

a New Testament parallel would be the very last Passover mentioned.

when Jesus tells His faithful few yet again that persecution will come.

this spotless Lamb was heading for that wooden crossbeam so the wrath of God would pass over those who claimed refuge under it, while the rest of the outwardly religious city was trying to destroy the I AM and set up their own religion as they wanted.

not very many verses later, all four of the Gospels tell how those faithful few run like jackrabbits as their leader is arrested by murderous scoundrels.

and Peter?… good, lively, adamantly pro-Jesus Peter?... guy with Christian bumper stickers all over his fishing boat? that Peter?!?- at the very first test of his devotion to Christ, he caves to fear and lies to save his own skin, just like Jesus said he would. 

just like i could see myself doing, if pushed too far.

and yet a few days later, the newly-risen Savior meets him again and in one of the most touching bonding moments in the history of EVER, Peter is forgiven.

redeemed, restored, refreshed.

the first to recognize Jesus as the Son of God was (essentially) the first one to face persecution, the first to face arrest and possible death for his devotion to Jesus, and the first one to fail -not even once, but 3 times- and was the first to be met with unparalleled grace and love from the One he denied.

those who are truly His are not lost.

the Blood never fails.

i don't have many answers, but i do see an awful lot of Bible verses about spiritual warfare, preparedness, promises that persecution WILL COME to any who hold fast to the name of Jesus, knowing that we are never tempted beyond what we can bear *through His strength.* and that we are also promised mercy and forgiveness for our failings, which happen when we do things *in our own strength.*

and there are just as many Bible verses about the victory coming, eternal rest in the heavenly Promised Land, and the promise that those "passed over" will not have any regrets afterwards.  the book of Revelations ends much the same way Moses's exodus does, which should give us all the hope and encouragement we need as we follow our Leader towards whatever does happen.