“IN CHRIST DWELLS THE FULNESS”
Saint John 3: 1-15
The Feast of the Holy Trinity: 22 May Anno Domini 2016
Father Jay Watson SSP
Why not “in The Name of The Father and of + The Son and of The Holy Ghost?” Well, yes, that’s what was said: In The + Name of Jesus.
Or do you not believe The Apostle when he writes: “[Christ]…for in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” [Col 2.9] Have you been with The Lord so long and you do not understand His words to you? Are you like the dim Disciples? Are you as slow as Thomas and Philip (and the other ten)? “Thomas saith…Lord, we know not whither Thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I AM the Way, The Truth, and The Life; no man cometh unto The Father but by Me. If ye had known Me, ye should have known My Father also. Philip saith unto Him, Lord, shew us The Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip? He that hath seen Me, hath seen The Father.” [John 14 vv]
One is either given to believe the “mystery of Love” or one cannibalizes oneself on the sewage of personal “reason.” Which is it? If The Holy Trinity had to be grasped by your intelligence and cognitive abilities than you would be damned and your deity would be a worthless idol.
Do not be like Nicodemus. Do not be ashamed of your Lord and visit Him only under cover; only at night, for fear of the “Jews” of this day and age—i.e. the scoffers, unbelievers, and opinion makers. You, like Nicodemus know that Jesus is a teacher from God but that isn’t enough. The Pharisee knew that Jesus did miracles but did not understand the kingdom of God; i.e. did not understand how one is born again; did not understand God The Holy Ghost. If one does not see The Blessed Trinity in the face of The Nazarene one is damned. NOTE: “see”—i.e. “believe” not understand with science and reason. You confess the Athanasian Creed and the Nicene Creed, and the Apostle’s Creed. You do not quantify, qualify, analyze, weigh, parse, and control. You speak back the Word that was given to you in Holy + Baptism, and Catechesis, and Absolution, and Holy Supper. You grasp and confess The Faith you do not supervise or manipulate it.
The silly and heretical examples that dense, and maybe not “well-meaning” but vain and pompous, people have been using for centuries to “explain” the Trinity are worthless at best and dangerous at worst. The Lord is not a triangle, apple, or three-leaf clover. He is not a three tiered snowman. These examples are the damnable heresy of Modalism and lead people away from Christ Who is God in the flesh, to dark places where ditches are abounding. Do not follow blind guides into dangerous sinkholes. One is given to believe the “mystery of Love.” Even the famous diagram that is attributed to Saint Augustine has a major flaw. While it does illustrate Who is Who and Who is not Who, there is, at the heart, the center, of the chart, something which simply not exist. There is NO Deus, no God, as a separate “thing” or “person.” Even as there is no generic person, or generic humanity, walking down the street (EVER), but only actual, real, substantive, individuals…a man, a woman, a son, a daughter, a boy, or a girl…with a name, so too there is no generic “God” there is only The Father and + The Son + and The Holy Ghost. Two of the three are invisible Spirits. One is The Son Who is Incarnate and Who comes from outside of you to be in you with His Word and His Word made Sacramental flesh. His is mysterious Flesh…and mysterious Blood, to be sure, but nonetheless Jesus’ real Body and true Blood—not symbol but reality.
The giving, the sharing, and the sacrificing of This God/Man in your ears, hearts, souls, spirits, minds, and yes, on your very tongue—in your mouths—is the “mystery of Love.” This is the Holy Trinity in action, in “doing” for you. You worship The Father in The Son by The Holy Spirit. Confess it and believe it and worry not that you can’t fully, or hardly partially, wrap your brain around it.
Yes, Nicodemus evidenced a deficiency when he exclaimed: “…how can these things be.” Even The Mother of God, the most Blessed Virgin struggled with the “mystery of Love” when she said: “how shall this be, seeing I know not a man.” Saint Gabriel’s answer stands forever: “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee…for with God nothing shall be impossible.” [Luke 1]
The Blessed Trinity comes to you, the Bride of Christ, in the “mystery of Love,” which is Christ’s Words and Words attached to elements. In the Sacramental union of Groom and Bride there is found the great song of praise and adoration…Father, Son + and Holy Spirit. This heavenly Sanctus which breaks forth, and into this reality every Mass, joins you in a harmony as beautiful as any SATB hymn. You have the descants of the Seraphim joining: Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of sabaoth, heaven and earth are full of Thy Glory. And Who did Esaias see seated on the heavenly Throne receiving the Trisagion? The Lord Christ. Dr. Scaer is correct: “all Theology is Christology!”
The Word of The Lord, The words of Jesus the messenger of the Trinity, in Sacred Writ, The Word of His forgiveness spoken to you in Absolution, the Word of His Holy Name washed on to you in a tri-fold anointing + of regeneration, and His Name, Savior—“my God and my Lord” placed upon your tongue, give you this three-in-one and one-in-three “mystery of Love.”
“For of Him, and through + Him, and to Him, are all things; to Whom be glory forever.”
Gaze not into “God” but into the face of your Heavenly Father and the face of your Holy Comforter when you behold, like Nicodemus, the Face of your Lord Christ. Nicodemus did so visible visage to visible visage, but you His New Testament lambs do so in His invisible presence in His New Testament of Body and Blood given and shed for you for the remission of sins.
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up”…to suffer and die and pay and atone for your sins. And as pastor lifts up The Resurrected Lamb in Host and Cup to show you your Triune treasure of life, salvation, and peace.
In The Name of The Father and of + The Son and of The Holy Ghost yes, yes, yes…because…
In the Name of + Jesus
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