JESUS CHRIST OUR ETERNAL REST

ST. ANTHONY, ABBOT

Heb 4:1-5,11; Ps 78:3-4,6-8; Mk 2:1-12

Seeking and Entering God’s Rest

The author of the letter to the Hebrews talks about the place of rest for God’s people. He refers to the Israelites and their journey to the Promised Land God gave them. Employing the text Psalm 95, where God swore that the disobedient children of Israel would not enter his land of rest, he argues that the promise of entering God’s presence still stands for all believers. “Be careful: the promise of reaching the place of rest that God had for the Israelites still holds good, and none of you must think that he has come too late for it.” Understanding that Hebrews was a letter to Hebrew Christians excluded from their traditional worship in the Temple of Jerusalem because of their faith in Jesus Christ, the explanation becomes even more meaningful. These early Jewish Christians felt so distraught and alienated from their root that they were tempted to abandon their Christian faith and return to their traditional practice of Judaism. The author tries to bring them to understand that the Promised Land was not a geographical place but a relationship with the God of Israel. Thus, presented or interpreted, it follows that those who entered and possessed the Promised Land did not enter God’s rest, which is the real promise, for lack of faith in the Gospel.

To make sense of the presentation, the author highlighted the rest of God in place of the Promised Land. Those who truly entered the Promised Land enjoyed the rest of God in the land he promised their fathers: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. By referring to the Psalm in question, he showed that those who lacked faith in God did not enter the rest of God, which is the essence of the Promised Land. “And so, in anger, I swore that not one would reach the place of rest I had for them.” God's promise to Abraham is the place of rest, where he will inherit God. Everyone who has faith in God receives this promise like Abraham, not only the children of Abraham by the flesh. Faith defines the true children of Abraham. Our faith includes us among the recipients of this promise, which is the basis of the author's explanation to the Hebrew Christians. “We must therefore do everything we can to reach this place of rest, or some of you might copy this example of disobedience and be lost.” This explanation helps us to see Jesus Christ as the new Moses who leads the new people of God into their rest in the Promised Land.

The author emphasized the necessity and importance of focussing on Jesus Christ. He is the new Moses, leading the people of God to their rest, their rest, and salvation. God established his kingdom among men with the Incarnation of the Eternal Word. The invitation to enter the rest of God is issued to all men in a definitive and lasting manner with the appearance of the Son of Man. It is by faith in his name that we enter the rest. The Gospel illustrates the power of faith to bring us into the blessed presence of God furnished by the Son of Man. “He was preaching the word to them when some people came bringing him a paralytic carried by four men, but as the crowd made it impossible to get the man to him, they stripped the roof over the place where Jesus was; and when they had made an opening, they lowered the stretcher on which the paralytic lay. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, ‘My child, your sins are forgiven.’” Jesus forgave his sins and granted him complete healing because of the faith of his friends. Let us nurture our faith by spending time daily with Jesus Christ, meditating on his life and teaching. It is the way leading into the eternal rest of God. Saint Anthony of Egypt did this when he heard the words of our Lord in the Gospel to the young man to sell everything and follow him. He sold everything, gave the money to the poor, and lived alone in the wilderness in communion with God. He is the originator of the monastic life, for many disciples came to join him later to live under his guidance. He was born in 251 and died in 356 AD. May his prayer aid us in seeking the heavenly rest of God.

Let us pray: O God, who brought the Abbot Saint Anthony to serve you by a wondrous way of life in the desert, grant, through his intercession, that, denying ourselves, we may always love you above all things. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.