The Bethlen Home Messenger, 1998 (1-2. szám)
1998-03-01 / 1. szám
(Eljaplaht's (Eaxmx By Rev. Nicholas Novak HALLELUJAH! FOR HE SHALL REIGN FOR EVER AND EVER Jesus said: "FULL AUTHORITY in heaven and on earth as been committed to me. Go forth therefore and make all nations my disciples...And I am with you always, to the end of time." Matthew 28:19 ~ 20 (NEB) FIFTY-FIVE YEARS AGO, on Easter Sunday of 1943, these words were the text of the very first sermon I have preached. By then the Second World War was raging all over the globe. Hitler took over the supreme command of his retreating armies; Stalin elevated himself to the rank of "generalissimus" Japanese Kamikaze pilots cow-towed before their emperor, who was - allegedly - god". In Britain, and I quote: "Democracy suspended itself in the face of mortal danger" and Churchill assumed the role of a dictator. At no time in history before was absolute power, total authority assumed by men as in those fateful, tragic days of humanity. Even a mere glance at the map of Europe in 1939, explains without words why Hungary was left with no choice in entering the war. All men of military age were drafted and sent into battle in the Russian front. Students of my age - I was 17 - were regimented into pera military duty - and, in my case, preparing for theological college, also assigned to church service in the short-handed pulpits of towns and villages. So I went to Alsodabas and Gyón on Easter of 1943. "ALL AUTHORITY IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH" - I have read to the congregation, was in the hands of Jesus." Now, and forever to the end of time." In the face of the present, cruelly blood-chilling reality, I have said, can we believe this: Do we have a shred of evidence that our Faith has not deluded us, Christians, into a non-existent fantasy, and; the death of Jesus on the Cross of Calvary, was the true, unchangeable end of His mission, and thus also the end of any hope for a better future of mankind? By now, we know, of course, just what has finally happened to all the above mentioned bearers of unlimited power and authority. They all died, and millions wish that they could somehow erase even their memory from the pages of history... But Jesus did, in fact say these words. Out of the more than 3,000 surviving manuscript copies of the Bible, there is not one which would not have this awesome, unconditional claim on record. Here all human reasoning is silenced, and even the most profound faith is put to a staggering test. We can lay our doubts to rest, however, when we consider the time, the occasion, the all-difference making fact behind this passage. For this was the final proclamation of the Christ who died, and WHO, ON THE THIRD DAY, ROSE AGAIN FROM THE DEAD. OF THIS, the risen and living Christ is written: He is the King of Kings, the Lord of lords, the Supreme Ruler of the Universe. For He conquered Death itself, the last and most dreaded of His enemies. And He shall reign for ever and ever - as one day, I dream, miriad voices will sing His praises, to the immortal tune of the Fifth Gospel - as Handel's Messiah is often called. We celebrate His coming in human form as the Babe of Bethlehem, every Christmas. And we recall His fateful, last journey to Jerusalem. How His enemies conspired against Him, how His friends abandoned Him, how He died alone, "forsaken by God" as well, on the cross all sinful mankind has helped to raise. And we shake our heads in disbelief as the cheap, perverted peddlers of art "try to drag Him down again and again to their own level in the gutters of a new paganism. What a sad certificate of moral depravity they add to the pages of modern history! Scandalized we may be, but not discouraged. His sacrifice, the Bible says, happened once and for all. Jesus cannot be crucified again! Thinking of this, I have words of praise for the Episcopal and Orthodox churches, who in their church-art put the image of CHRIST ENTHRONED in the center of their worship. We should all join them in this fully correct, Biblical emphasis. Because the last chapter of history will be enacted when the Son of Man comes in His glory and all "the angels with Him, He will sit in state on His throne, with all the nations gathered before Him - the Day of Judgement at the End of Time. And the King will say: Come, blessed of my Father, and inherit the Kingdom which is prepared for you from the Traditions of the World." My Christian Friends, let us all hope and pray that we shall all be there! Eternal God, our Gracious Heavenly Father, make our hearts sincerely penitent for all our sins we have committed against each other, and thus deserved Thy righteous judgement. May the merits of the Eternal Sacrifice of Jesus cleanse us and receive us into Thy Kingdom, here, and in Eternity. In Jesus name we pray, Amen
