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Sacred Scripture
is made up of a number of books, different in many ways, but all brought
together in Jesus Christ. From Genesis to the Apocalypse or the book of
Revelation, Jesus Christ is the center. The story of the Bible is the story of
Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament we are prepared for the coming of Jesus
Christ. In the New Testament Jesus Christ is with us, in His life on earth in
the Gospels, in His life in the Church in the rest of the books.
To grasp then what Jesus Christ was and what He came into the world to
accomplish, we must study all of the Old Testament and the New Testament. No one
passage gives us the whole story of Jesus Christ. In the study of the human body
the various members must be seen in relation to the body itself. So, too, the
various passages in the Bible must be seen in relation to the whole Bible.
We must remember, too, that the picture of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament is
a sketch, to be filled in the New Testament. A quick glance at the passage in
the Old Testament will show us Jesus Christ as the descendant of Abraham, Isaac,
Jacob, Juda, and David. It will show us that He is to be a king, with divine
qualities or characteristics. Thus He is called Emmanuel, that is, God with us
(Isa. 7:14). He is called Mighty God, Wonderful Counsellor, the Father of the
world to come, the Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6). He will have the spirit of God
(Isa. 11:2; 61:1). He shall be give the title “The Lord, our Just one” (Jer.
23:6).
In the New Testament the angel Gabriel tells
Mary that her son “shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High;
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father... the Holy One to
be born shall be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:32,35). When Joseph, the
foster-father of Jesus, was told of the origin of his foster-son, he was told to
“call his name Jesus” (Matt. 1:21), in fulfillment of Isaias 7:14, “and they
shall call his name Emmanuel, which is, interpreted, God with us.” At his birth
the shepherds were told by the angel that “today in the town of David a Savior
has been born to you, who is Christ the Lord” Then they heard this praise of
God: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men of good will”
(Luke 2:10-14).
At the age of twelve Jesus and His
parents went up to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast of the Passover, St. Luke
records for us the first words from the lips of the youthful Jesus, speaking of
God as His Father. “Did you not know that I must be about my Father’s business”
(Luke 2:41-50)? When Jesus began His public life one of the first scenes is that
of His baptism by John the Baptist. A voice from Heaven speaks to Him: “Thou art
my beloved Son, in thee I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22).
In two of the three
temptations recorded in the desert, the devil begins “if thou art the Son of God
...” (Luke 4:3, 9). Upon our Lord’s return to Nazareth, he entered the synagogue
and read from Isaias: “The spirit of the Lord is upon me ...” (Luke 4:18).
Thou
are the Christ
Jesus began to manifest Himself through His teaching and miracles. As He did so
the people came to realize that “if this man were not from God, he could no
nothing” (John 9:33). The Apostles came to realize that this was not a mere man
Who had called them. They came to believe as Peter said for all of them: “Thou
art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16). So, too, did the
leaders of His own people realize that He was claiming for Himself more than any
one of their Prophets had ever claimed for themselves. They accused Him of
claiming to be “equal to God” (cf. John 5:18), of claiming to be God (cf. John
10:33). Christ’s answer to this claim was that His words indicate “that the
Father is in me and I in the Father ... for the Father and I are one” (John
10:30, 38).
There came a time, however, when Jesus
Christ proclaimed His divinity in all solemnity. He stood before the Great
Council, the Sanhedrin, that had the right to judge in religious matters. Here,
in answer to the question put to Him by the High Priest, “I adjure thee by the
living God that thou tell us whether thou art the Christ, the Son of God,” Jesus
answered, “thou hast said it”; Jesus was the Son of God (Matt. 26:63-64). It was
for this that He was put to death.
The Apostles had
come to believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of the living God (Matt. 16:16). A
clear expression of this belief is to be found on the lips of doubting Thomas.
Eight days after His Resurrection, when our Lord appeared to His Apostles,
Thomas was absent. On this occasion, Thomas was there. Our Lord appeared and
offered His hands and side for Thomas to examine. Then there burst from the
heart and lips of Thomas: “My Lord and my God.” “Because thou hast seen me, thou
has believed,” so spoke Christ. He accepted the titles, for He was truly the
Lord and the God of Thomas as well as all the Apostles (John 20:26-29).
Son of God, Lord, God: these are names for Jesus Christ. To put it in another
way: Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He is Lord, He is God. The people of His
time knew that He claimed to be equal to God (John 5:18). He claimed the same
honor that was given to God the Father (John 5:23), the same right to judge all
men that belongs to God (John 5:22,27), the same life that God the Father had
(John 5:26). He went further. He said that to see Him was to see Go the Father
(John 14:9).
Jesus Christ is by nature God. By
nature God the Father is God; so, too, is the Holy Spirit by nature God. There
is, however, but one God; there are not three Gods. There is but the one divine
nature. Therefore He is God as is God the Father, as is God the Holy Spirit.
“The Father and I are one.” They are one in nature. Hence it is as right and
just to apply the name of God to Jesus Christ as it is to the Father and to the
Holy Spirit. It is as right and just to adore Jesus Christ as it is the Father
and the Holy Spirit. Thus St. Paul says that “at the name of Jesus every knee
should bend of those in heaven, on earth and under the earth, and every tongue
should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father”
(Phil. 2:10-11).
This is the doctrine taught by the
Catholic Church. In her prayers the Catholic Church adores, thanks, asks, and
begs pardon of Jesus Christ as she does of God the Father and God the Holy
Spirit. It is true that the Church also prays through Jesus Christ, for as man
He is the mediator between God and all men (cf. 1 Tim. 2:5). It is for this
reason, too, that we read of our Lord saying that the Father is greater than He
(John 14:28). Jesus Christ is true God; He is also true Man. As God He is one
with God the Father.
Jesus Christ is also called the
Word. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God ... And the Word was made flesh” (John 1:1,14). The Word existed with
God in the beginning, that is, in the beginning of time. Genesis begins by
saying, “In the beginning God created heaven and earth.” John is referring to
this and he is telling us that the Word was with God before the creation. As God
existed before creation, so did the Word. What existed before creation is
eternal, for there was no time. The Word then is eternal. Jesus Christ is the
Word, therefore He is eternal. But the Word is God. Jesus Christ therefore is
God.
Meaning of the “Word”
For the origin and meaning of the concept “word,” we must look to the Old
Testament. The Old Testament frequently expresses the idea of God’s word. When
God created, He is described as saying ... and it was done: “And God said...”
When God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses, the phrase “and the Lord spoke all
these words” is used to introduce them. Again we read: “And the Lord spoke to
Moses saying: Speak to Aaron and his sons, and to all his sons, and to all the
children of Israel, saying to them: “This is the word which the Lord had
commanded.’” In the Prophets it is common to read expressions such as this: “The
word that came to Jeremias from the Lord, saying: Stand in the gate of the house
of the Lord, and proclaim there this word, and say: Hear ye the word of the
Lord...”
In Psalm 118, one of the words used for the
law is “word.” God’s law is then God’s word: it is God’s revelation given to the
Chosen People through His word. St. Paul has summed up this thought and at the
same time has shown where the Son fits into this idea at the beginning of his
epistle to the Hebrews: “God who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in
time past to the fathers by the prophets, last of all in these days has spoken
to us by his Son...” (Heb. 1:1-2).
The Son then is
the Word, and the Word is God, and the Word was made flesh. Jesus Christ then is
both the Word and the Son. The term “Word” is very apt to express the Second
Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Son. When we think of something we express
our idea in a word. At times this word is only in the mind, at other times we
express the word externally; that is, we speak. God thinks of Himself; He
expresses His thought of Himself in the Word, the Second Person, His Son. With
us the word is separate from the idea and is different from our human nature.
Our word is not another self or another person. In God, however, the Word is
another person for it is a perfect expression of the thought that the Father has
of Himself. Mysterious, yes; profound, yes.
As was
said, at times we speak the word in our mind. St. Paul writes that “last of all
in these days (God) has spoken to us by His Son.” God first spoke to us through
the Word in the work of creation, as St. John says (1:3): “All things were made
through him (the Word).” Last of all He spoke through the Word in the
Incarnation: “The only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has
revealed him” (John 1:18). The Word made flesh is the revelation of God to man,
for the Word is God, and He reveals God through His life and through His
teaching. Let us red what He said: “I have manifested thy name to the men whom
thou has given me out of the world. They were thine and thou has given them to
me, and they have kept thy word. Now they have learnt that whatever thou hast
given me is from thee; because the words that thou hast given me I have given
them. And they have received them (the words) and have known of a truth that I
came forth from thee...” (John 17:6-8).
St. John has
summed up the revelation of the Word to God: “In the beginning was the Word, and
the Word was with God and the Word was God” (John 1:1). The Word is eternal; He
is with God, that is, in the company of God the Father, yet distinct, or as we
say, another person whom we call the Son, or the Second Person of the Trinity.
He is God, one with the Father, consubstantial with the Father. This Word became
flesh; therefore Jesus Christ Who is this Word made flesh is God; He is eternal;
He is the Son, the Second Person of the adorable Trinity.
“Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord” (Deut. 6:4). One Lord: one God,
the God of Israel! This is fundamental to the revelation made by God to the
Chosen People. The exclusive unity of God was the first doctrine of the covenant
between God and His People.
When Jesus Christ claimed to be God, it would seem that this claim attacked the
very basis of the Jewish religion. But strong was monotheism, the Jews could not
overlook certain passages in the Old Testament in which the divine name was
given to others. In what is called the Book of Emmanuel (chapters 7 to 12),
Isaias is speaking of a child who “is born to us,” and of a son who “is given to
us.” In chapter 7 he write that “his name shall be called Emmanuel,” that is,
God with us. And in chapter 9 he adds that “his name shall be called ... Mighty
God.”
As the name, God, is applied to the Father, so
is it applied to the Son. But Jesus Christ is the Son; therefore He is God.
Hence our Lord could say as He did: “I and the Father are one.” There is but one
God, as we have already said. Even though “God” is applied to both the Father
and the Son, there is but one God. Both the Father and the Son are divine, both
have the divine nature, both are eternal, omnipotent, infinite. In all of these
things they are one. Ye they are distinct, for God the Father is the First
Person, and God the Son, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. Hence Jesus
could say: “I and the Father,” that is, two persons, “are one,” that is, one in
nature.
Jesus Christ therefore is one with the
Father because together with His human nature he has the divine nature; He is
distinct from the Father because He is the Son, the Second Person of the
Trinity. There is only one “I” in Jesus Christ; that “I” is a divine person. But
there are two natures in Him, the divine nature and the human nature. In us
wherever there is a human nature, there is an “I,” one person; but in Jesus
Christ there are two natures, yet only one “I” or person, and that is the divine
person of the Son.
All of this is very profound; it
is mysterious. Yet those who wish to appreciate and understand Jesus Christ must
know Who He is, what He is, and what He means to them. We have seem Who He is,
and what He is. Now let us reflect on what He means to the human race.
Jesus Christ is God, our Creator, our Maker, our beginning and end. We came from
Him and we must go to Him; He has destined us for an eternal life with Himself.
We must pay Him homage, honor, adoration, obedience. Since Jesus Christ is God,
all of this belongs to Him as much as to the Father. So in the Apocalypse, St.
John “beheld and I heard a voice of many angels around about the throne, and the
living creatures and the elders, and the number of them were thousands an
thousands, saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the lamb who was slain to
receive power and divinity and wisdom and strength and glory and blessing ... To
him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb, blessing and honor and glory and
dominion, forever and ever’” (Apoc. 5:11-13).
This
is the worship that the Catholic Church gives to Jesus Christ. It prays to Him
as it does to God the Father. It gives to Him the same adoration that it gives
to God the Father. It gives to Him the same adoration that it gives to God the
Father. Since there is but one God, any honor paid to God the Son (or God the
Holy Ghost) is paid to God the Father; to honor one person is to honor all
three, for the three persons are one God.
Yet, we
find Jesus Christ praying to God as creatures pray to Him: “Father, the hour has
come. Glorify thy Son, that thy Son may glorify thee.” “I pray for them ... Yet
not for these only do I pray ...” “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.”
He goes so far as to tell the Apostles that “if you loved me, you would indeed
rejoice that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I” (John
14:29). Jesus Christ as a human being is not as great as the Father, even
though, as divine, He is equal to Him.
St. Paul who wrote of Jesus Christ
“who though he was by nature God,” also wrote: “For there is one God, and one
Mediator, between God and man, himself man, Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5). He also
said that Jesus Christ as high priest “is able at all times to save those who
come to Go through Him, since he lives always to make intercession for them”
(Hev. 7:26). He added: “For Jesus, in the days of his earthly life, with a loud
cry and tears, offered up prayers and supplications to him who was able to save
him from death, and was heard because of his reverent submission. And he, Son
though he was, learned obedience from the things that he suffered...” (Heb.
5:7-8).
It is through Jesus Christ that God is
revealed to man. Eternal life, the destiny of all men, comes to us through Jesus
Christ because He has redeemed us through His blood. He Himself said: “Now this
is everlasting life, that they may know thee, the only true God, and him whom
thou hast sent, Jesus Christ” (John 17:3). There is no other way to eternal
life, for “I am the way,” says Jesus Christ.
"My children, I have come to earth from the beautiful realms of Heaven to warn you as a Mother. The Eternal Father has sent Me as a Mediatrix between God and man--neither seeking to take the glory from My Son, as many make accusations of. No, My children, I come in support of My sacrificed Son, for He is being resacrificed by mankind. My children, I have been through this whole ordeal in the past, and I watch now as you recrucify My Son. Is this how you have set yourselves about to repay Him for His sacrifice: by blaspheming His name, destroying His divinity, destroying the sheep?" - Our Lady of the Roses, March 18, 1978
Our Lady of
the Roses Bayside messages:
These messages came from Jesus, Mary, and the saints to Veronica
Lueken at Bayside, NY, from 1968 to 1995.
OLD BIBLES
"You must all obtain a copy of the Book of life and love, the Bible. Do not
accept the new mods. Try to find in your bookstores the old Bibles, My children,
for many are being changed to suit the carnal nature of man. I repeat, sin has
become a way of life." - Our Lady, October 6, 1992
FEW SHORT CHAPTERS
"I must ask you all to read but a few short chapters a day now, the Book of
life and love, your Bible. Knowledge must be gained for all the disciples of My
Son, for you will be attacked by scientific minds. But do not be concerned what
you will say to them when accosted, for the words will be given to you by the
Spirit." - Our Lady, April 10, 1976
UNDERSTAND
"Your Bible must be studied well, and you will understand that the Eternal
Father gave you truly a simple way to follow. It goes far beyond much human
understanding, because without prayer and suffering and penance, you will not
have the gift from the Eternal Father to understand even the Sacred Scriptures."
- St. Theresa, October 2, 1979
IN YOUR HEART
"The Book of life and love, the Bible, shall never be taken from you. And
the words once read will remain in your heart. Fathers of families, and mothers,
give the example of this knowledge to your children. Take them with you to a
quiet corner and read, for in this manner will they learn the truth and be given
the light." - Our Lady, March 18, 1974
THEOLOGIANS
"There are many theologians, even in My Son's House now, that are bringing
to mankind doctrines of demons. They are teachings of man and not of God. Many
have set themselves in their arrogance to change the wordings in the Book of
love and life, the Bible. These changes were to seduce mankind into bondage of
sin." - Our Lady, June 2, 1979
SODOM AND GOMORRHA
"Your word of homosexuality can be explained by the story of Sodom and
Gomorrha. Read in your Bibles...." - Our Lady, October 6, 1992
FIFTEEN MINUTES
"I say now, My children, that you must understand there are great graces
given for reading the Bible, even a short time of fifteen minutes; you will be
graced by indulgences.* Have you forgotten, My children, in the modernization of
My Son's Church, have you forgotten the meaning of indulgences? They are
applicable to the time you may have to put in purgatory, My children." - Our
Lady, July 25, 1985
*The exhortations to the faithful from the Vicars of Christ to read the Word of God have resounded in unison the last 100 years. Numerous letters, discourses and especially the granting of indulgences bear out their ardent desire to encourage this pious exercise.
INDULGENCES
"Much of your Faith in graces and indulgences, My child, they have been
removed, Gather the books given to you in the past. Though mankind has set
himself above His God to remove these from among you, know that in the will of
the Father, they have not been removed. You will receive all the numerous graces
of indulgences as directed by your good leaders of old." - Our Lady,
September 13, 1974
HEIRLOOM
"The road to the Kingdom of God is found in the reading of the Scriptures.
Man does not know God. He no longer looks for Him in the revelations of the Holy
Bible.
"The soul in exile can only be nourished by the word of God, through Jesus
and His sacrifice on the cross. The Holy Bible is your family heirloom." -
Our Lady in locution, April 7, 1970
GOSPELS
Veronica - Theresa said she has always carried this small Book in the fold
of her garment. (She means her habit.) I can see now she is holding it very
close to me. It is the Gospels. Now Theresa said: "I was not a learned person or
a scholar upon earth, but all I had and all I needed was this little Book. And I
also treasured the Imitation of Christ." - St. Theresa, December 31, 1972
HEAD COVERINGS
"It is a defiant act, My children, that women no longer cover their heads at
the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. They will not obey, for they cannot understand
that man must not change the wording of the Bible. Man and the hierarchy must
not change the wording of the Bible to suit mankind's instincts." - Our Lady,
July 15, 1978
AS A WHOLE
"Those who have little knowledge of the Book of life and love, the Bible,
will fall easy prey to false witnesses who go about the world now, deceiving
even some of the elect. You must read your Bible so that you will not be deluded
by the written word. The Bible cannot be taken as sectional or piece by piece,
but you must know the whole, for satan has poisoned many minds. And Satan, too,
can expound the Scriptures." - Our Lady, May 26, 1979
Directives from Heaven
D33 - The Holy Bible PDF
D87 - Divinity of Jesus Christ PDF
D123 - Catholic Church, Part 1 PDF
D124 - Catholic Church, Part 2 PDF
D182 - Bible Rewritten PDF
Articles
The Primacy of Peter
http://www.nuestrasenoradelasrosas.org/news1/PrimacyOfPeter.htm
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Revised:
April 11, 2018