“HE WAS ABOMINABLE FOR YOU”
Saint Matthew 24. 15-28
The Third Last Sunday in the Church Year: 8 November Anno Domini 2009
Fr Watson, S.S.P.
The Lord is the author of all Holy Scripture. You believe the Hebrew Bible was written by the hand of men and by the Mind of God: the Holy Spirit inspiring, breathing the Word into the writers so that it would be truthful and effective for the Lord's purposes. "I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life, Who spake by the prophets." Amen.
The Holy Ghost is the author of all sacred writ. The Holy Comforter testifies only to Jesus, only of Jesus, only by Jesus. The Paraclete is the white hot spot-light shining on the Pierced Lamb. The Spirit is the microphone found in paper, water, bread & wine, and absolution that broadcasts forth the Word of God: Christ the God/Man.
So, yes Jesus is the author of all the Hebrew and Greek revelations of God the Holy Trinity. Jesus is the author of Daniel as surely as He is of His Apostle Matthew's writings. The Word does not contradict itself because Jesus does not lie to you.
Christ said to His 12, and to you, their extended parish "in Time," that the 'abomination of desolation' would stand in the holy place. It did.
Approximately 40 years after the Lord's victory of sin, death, and Satan, the Romans came and destroyed the Jewish holy place-the Temple.
Luther and others correctly point out that Roman images, military accoutrements and other secularly pagan bric-a-brac wound up in the holy environs of Jesus' Father's house. This was blasphemy. The abominable one is Satan. But Satan has servants who are equally abominable. There will be ONE "THE" ANTI-CHRIST but there will also be many anti-Christs.
Those who are not with us are against us the Lord once spoke. This will always be true. That which does not testify to Christ Crucified for the forgiveness of Sin is against and opposed to Christ; is anti-Christ.
Islam, Judaism, Atheism, and other pagan belief systems are all anti-Christs. They are all abominable.
But Jesus was not perfect for just the imperfect and evil anti-Christs. Jesus did not suffer, bleed, agonize, and die for just the malevolent Sanhedrin and Roman occupation forces. Jesus died for the anti-Christ that you carry deep in your bosom. Your old Adam sinful nature also is at war, is at enmity with the Way, The Truth and the Life. When you sin every day, every way, you are abominable to the Holy Ghost Who dwells in you. That which is of God, and IS GOD does not desire for your bodies, your temples, to be anything other than Holy.
This is important because things are winding down, drawing to a close. It is not natural and random entropy that is turning out the lights and rolling up the carpets, it is the Lord's Will and Way that this world is passing away. The days are evil. Change and decay is in all you see and experience.
But lift up your heads for your Redemption is at hand.
When Jesus predicts the fall of Jerusalem and the obliteration of the Temple, He is also predicting the end of time by way of a "telescoping" prophecy. The first has occurred and the last, is at hand.
You wait in some apprehension, of course, for the final Advent. You are human; you are sinful, so of course you have mixed feelings from time-to-time about the End. But He Who is IN YOU is mightier than he who is in the rusting and rotting world. Your new man and new woman, birthed by the Water of Regeneration, fed by the Word, nourished by the Body and Blood of God Himself, IS eager, anxious, and trusting that the DAY OF THE LORD IS AT HAND.
You have been called by the Good News that Christ loves you. You have been given to believe, as a free gift, that He has fulfilled all of the Commandments' duties and obligations, and that you have received His credit for total compliance. You are Graced to hold on tightly to the Salvation He purchased for you at Calvary by faith. You receive this New Testament of Joy and Peace every Mass Day as you receive Him.
Be on guard for false Christs and for anti-Christs. Be aware that THE anti-Christ, as troubling as he is, is probably far less dangerous to you than your own sinful flesh. Repent. Repent and believe.
Jesus defeated the devil. Jesus destroyed death. Jesus has paid for sin and fulfilled righteousness. Jesus has come to you when you were His enemies, lost and condemned, and rescued you from your deserved fate. Jesus picked you up and breathed life back into you. Jesus washed you clean and put His own perfect garments around you. Jesus feeds you, Himself, and oh… you are what you eat and drink: beloved, Holy, one with your Heavenly Father, through the Son + and in the Holy Ghost.