Drunk with Love

"And she [Delilah] made him [Samson] sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his hair. Then she began to afflict him, and his strength left him." (Judges 16:19)

Surely the stories of the Old Testament find their fruition and full meaning in the life of Christ. How else can we understand, say, the apparent stupidity of Samson with Delilah than by realizing that he is a type of the Messiah mad with lovesickness for his people? What possible explanation is there for his handing the secret of his life over to her despite her obviously treacherous heart except that he was a Nazirite drunk with love instead of alcohol?

"And she [Delilah] made him [Samson] sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his hair. Then she began to afflict him, and his strength left him." Just as Samson goes to Delilah in a state of total submission, so Jesus came to us and our sin without protest, "like a lamb that is led to the slaughter" (Isaiah 53:7), because he is drunk with love for us.

[PV, (c)2002]

Where Is Our Brother?

"Then the LORD said to Cain, 'Where is Abel your brother?'" (Genesis 4:9)

"Where is Abel your brother?" Abel is identified as, "your brother." But brother here has a very broad sense. It means "the other." God asks Cain, 'Where is the other?' Where is the other?

And God's question to us today is, where is the other in our life? All of us have to have another. Is he or she here? A friend, to take care of us spiritually. Where is the other? We have to have another. We have to search for another, to find him or her. Another brother.

There is just one question around the Christian churches. This one question being asked of us is, "Where is Abel your brother?" You know that Abel is a prefiguration of Jesus. The people, I am convinced, are very interested in our brother, Jesus. They are maybe not interested in my Christian life. I can see this. But they are interested in our brother, Jesus. In this great brother. And everything, our liturgy, our gatherings, has to not cover up this other brother but has to uncover Him, reveal Him. Our way of life has to cover up ourselves in order that this brother, Jesus, can be discovered.

[AV, (c)2002]

Sheep and Shepherd

"And all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near him to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, 'This one receives sinners and eats with them.' And he spoke to them this parable, saying, 'What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbours, saying to them, "Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!" I say to you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous men who have no need of repentance.'" (Luke 15:1-7)

The tax collectors and the sinners go to Jesus to listen to Him. But there are also others around Him; the scribes and the Pharisees who go to Him to silence Him. Jesus asks them, "What man among you?" He does not regard them as murderers and wolves in sheep's clothing but as sensitive people. "Could you sleep quietly, or could you swallow a bit of bread if you knew that one of your sheep had been lost?" As if to say, "I do not believe that you could do that."

The question can be put in another way. "Can he who lets the other one suffer be a man among you? Can he who does not feel pain for the other one be a man? Can he who is quiet while thousands and thousands suffer and are lost around him be regarded as a human being?" There is no greater sin than this, to not care for the lost one. There is no greater sin than for a man, a community, a pastor, a people to not care for the one who suffers and wrestles, for the one who is lost and unhappy. "Who is weak, and I am not weak?" says Paul. (2 Cor 11:29) "Who cries and my eyes are not filled with tears? Who suffers and I do not suffer together with him?" Let our Lord give us the ability to cry together with those who have been entrusted to us.

One has been lost. This one is not a number. In prison, they did not call us by our names but by numbers. One means unique. There is not another one. We are not cloned Dolly-sheep. We are irreplaceable. And if one is lost, the marvelous world of God is damaged. (...)

The shepherd goes after the lost sheep "until he finds it." How far has the shepherd to go to find the lost one? Until the shepherd himself gets lost. So now there are two who are lost; one has been lost as a sheep, the other one was lost as a Lamb. How far did He have to go? As far as the cross. He was lost insofar that He could be mocked. "He saved others and He cannot save Himself." If we do not realize that we are lost and that the Shepherd was lost, we will never belong to Him, and the Church will never become the body of Christ. It is He who saves us; He who was lost and died for us. Let us kneel down before this mystery reverently. (...)

The pain and suffering of seeking is counterbalanced by the great happiness of recovery. There is happiness in heaven and in the house of the shepherd when the sheep is found. Heavenly and earthly happiness cannot be separated. There is only one happiness. Happiness in heaven is happiness on earth also; and happiness on earth is happiness in heaven. Happiness on earth, that is not happiness in heaven at the same time, destroys us.

[FV, (c)2003]

To Have Believed Is Enough

Once, having passed through a terrible torture [in a communist prison], I tapped through to a pastor near me: "What can I do? I have lost my faith." He tapped back: "But did you ever believe?" I replied; "Certainly I did." His answer was: "It is written, `Blessed is she that believed.' The verb is in the past tense. To have believed is enough. Rely on this."

[RW, SISC, (c)1969]