2633AFC081426 – Strangers No More ← PODCAST LINK 😊

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Matthew 15:21 – ²¹ Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon.

Psalm 67:4 –
⁴ Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
    for you judge the peoples with equity
    and guide the nations upon earth.   Selah

Romans 11:29-32 – ²⁹ for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. ³⁰ Just as you were once disobedient to God but have now received mercy because of their disobedience, ³¹ so they have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now^[a] receive mercy. ³² For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all.

Isaiah 56:6-7 ^a –
⁶ And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,
    to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord,
    and to be his servants,
all who keep the sabbath, and do not profane it,
    and hold fast my covenant—
⁷ these I will bring to my holy mountain,
    and make them joyful in my house of prayer

Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, in Truth and Love. I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him. Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Today I would like to begin with the Key Verse from the Gospel of Matthew. We’ve taken a look at Jesus' trip to Tyre and Sidon, but there’s no harm in looking at it again since it is always helpful to understand anything better. Let’s start with a map of that area to get a sense of what Jesus and the Disciples were up to.

  [1] ^{For the map} Jesus' journey to the regions of Tyre and Sidon began in the area of Galilee, somewhere around Gennesaret, Bethsaida, and Capernaum. There is no specific starting point described in the Gospels. It was quite a hike! The Sea of Galilee is the lowest freshwater lake in the world – close to 700 feet below sea level. They traveled up toward Lake Hulei – a marshy area thick with reeds and papyrus – and then skirted west through the upper Galilean Hills or the foothills of the Lebanon Range, and then traveled downhill toward the Phoenician Coastline. That’s a trip of about 45 miles walking from, say, Bethsaida to Tyre.

They turned northward along the coast and walked another 23 miles or so coming to Sidon. After spending a few days there, they walked back along the coast to Tyre, and then headed back into the foothills toward Caesarea Philippi – another serious hike of about 45-50 miles. It was around Caesarea Philippi that The Apostle Peter made his declaration that he and the Disciples believed Jesus was the Messiah, the Christ of God. That, of course, elicited Jesus' statement about the Church and the gates of Hell (See Matthew 16:13–20).

From Caesarea Philippi they headed to the southeast about another 30-35 miles possibly as far south as Ha’On. That’s a downhill trek from around 1100 feet above sea level near Mount Hermon (peak elevation around 7300 feet), through the upper Jordan Valley (a bit below 250 feet above sea level), past the very impressive Golan Heights – towering basalt cliffs topping out roughly 4500 feet overhead – and rapidly downhill after reaching the Korazim Block  (you may remember Jesus' lament over Chorazin  a.k.a. Korazim) close to 700 feet above sea level. From there it is a steep downhill jaunt to Ha’On which is again about 680 feet below sea level. It makes my calf muscles ache just to think about that!! All-in-all, they traveled about 130 miles, fed at least 9000 people with just a few loaves of bread and some salted fish, established the ekklesia, and Jesus healed and preached to tens-of-thousands of people – MOST OF THEM Gentiles – until he and his disciples returned to the region of Galilee. And that is why this trip is so important in his ministry, which of course makes it important for us to understand.

Messages and Miracles Among the Gentiles

Because why? Because even this early in his ministry, Jesus was making contact with, and preaching to, GENTILES. Despite his earlier instructions to the Disciples not to share the Good News with the Gentiles or the Samaritans (See Matthew 10:5–6), Jesus himself began to expand his contact with people throughout the Gentile localities as well. He deliberately relocated to the “Galilee of the Gentiles” by setting up in Capernaum. That move, the long hike to Tyre and Sidon, the miracles in Gentile regions ~~ ALL to fulfill Old Testament prophecies about the Servant of God, the Messiah. Check out this very short list, and PLEASE use the links provided:

•         Isaiah 9:1-2 → Jesus left Nazareth and settled in Capernaum. This town on the northern shores of the Sea of Galilee is in the ancient tribal territories of Zebulun and Naphtali. The Gospel of Matthew attests that Jesus' move to that spot fulfilled an old prophecy from Isaiah about a great light shining in a dark region. Read the passage for more information.
•          Isaiah 42:1-6 & Isaiah 49:6 → Luke 2:29-32 Simeon’s Prophecy that Isaiah's Prophecies were fulfilled as “a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”
•          Isaiah 42:1-4 → Matthew 12:9-21 Jesus heals the man with a withered hand on the Sabbath, then shuts down the Pharisees who confronted him about that. They left to conspire against him, and the Gospel of Matthew specifically cites this prophecy.
•   Amos 9:11-12 → Acts 15:10-17 – The Apostles Paul and Barnabas are telling the Disciples in Jerusalem about how their ministry to the Gentiles has resulted in many conversions and miracles. This Prophecy is cited as proof that God has approved the role of the Messiah as the rebuilder of all nations beginning with the Kingdom of David.

Every move, every action, every journey, every miracle, every moment of loneliness and suffering, all the pain of Calvary – all of everything he did was to fulfill the role of The Suffering Servant, the King of kings, Emmanuel, the Messiah, Yeshua, The Promised of Ages, and The Ancient of Days. You see? God wasn’t just whistling “I'll be standing on the Mountain when I come.” He was demonstrating that he is God and there is no other. Jesus. The Only Begotten Son of The Living God – whatever the Prophets said got them killed, and Jesus' prophecies – his words and promises to the Peoples – got him killed as well. It’s all in the Absolutely Perfect Plan, and if we know as much as possible about what God was doing in the ministry of Jesus, the better we can understand that the APP is the Beginning and the End of EVERYTHING. God's Will was that the strangers who would accept his Law, do his Will, and Love him and each other as he himself Loves them, they would then share in the inheritance of the Throne of David and the One who was called to occupy that Throne forever.

I am, you are, we are those strangers called to be sons and daughters of the Father.

I invite you to take a deep breath and contemplate that last sentence. In this, we can see why all the Nations will be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth.   Selah Indeed. Pause and reflect on that, then look at all the evil, the violence, the blatant hypocrisy, and flagrant sins of the Nations – including ours – and one might wonder what good can come from all of those prophecies. The answer is in one word: Redemption. God will redeem all that is against his Will. “It’s always good in the end. If it isn’t good yet, it isn’t the end yet.” God will redeem – set to Right and Holy – all that is Wrong and Profane. Can we believe that? I certainly do. I'm pretty sure you do as well, and if you don’t then you need to ask – and answer – yourself five times in a row, “WHY?” It would start like this: “You believe God will not redeem all that is Wrong and Profane. Why?” Whatever that answer is, it becomes the next statement for the next “Why?” Try it sometime when wrestling with a decision and you’ll be surprised at what can be uncovered.

A house of prayer for all Peoples

In the Eucharist, we see how Jesus' actions set the Standard for the APP. He breaks the bread which is His Body broken and shared. We, too, are broken to be shared as in this cycle: soil is broken once → seed is sown→ the soil is broken again as the seed sprouts → stalk ←\→ grains are the fruits of the soil → harvested → threshed → milled → batched → baked → bread → broken → shared. And why is it important for us to realize that we are broken and shared? Because that’s the way it works for everyone – strangers or not! We are blessed and broken (← Music Link), mixed and measured, shaped and shared to be “a light to the nations,” and “the salt of the earth,” and “the redeemed who say so.” (See Psalm 107:2-3) After going through all of that, how can any of us be strangers? Are we not – each and every soul – the Adelphoi of the Lord? Isn't’ it true that, just as The Apostle Paul told us, “For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all.”? Everyone, ev-ry-ONE, gets a shot at redemption before it’s too late! IS today the next-to-the-last day to repent? (← Check it out!)

Are we not grafted into the Root of Jesse? As The Apostle Paul said in Romans 11:16 ^c -18 – if the root is holy, then the branches also are holy.

¹⁷ But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in their place to share the rich root of the olive tree, ¹⁸ do not boast over the branches. If you do boast, remember that it is not you that support the root, but the root that supports you. Certainly if we are grafted in, we cannot be strangers. And El Shaddai-Olam – in our Old Testament Key Verse – said for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. If that’s what God wants, would it be unwise to want something different? (“God I know what you want but, …” Remember? Eh! No forgeh!) Here are a few things to think over before answering:

Proverbs 9:4-6 –
⁴ “You that are simple, turn in here!”
    To those without sense she says,
⁵ “Come, eat of my bread
    and drink of the wine I have mixed.
⁶ Lay aside immaturity, and live,
    and walk in the way of insight.”

Proverbs 21:2 –
² All deeds are right in the sight of the doer,
    but the Lord weighs the heart.

Proverbs 21:16 (GNT) [2] – ¹⁶ Death is waiting for anyone who wanders away from good sense.

We walk by faith, not by sight.
We walk by faith, not by fright.
We walk by faith, not by might.
Yet, because we walk by faith,
we walk in Light,
in Truth,
and in the Power of
the Holy Spirit, because
WE are the ἀδελφοί (adelphoi – brethren) of the Only Begotten Son of the Only Living and True God – the Lord who created Heaven and Earth

We Are the Body of Christ (← Music Link)

And oh! How beautiful that is! (← Music Link) Because why? Because, Belovéd, we are
Strangers no more!  

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!

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Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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