Is our commemoration biblical?

Batas Mauricio

NOW that millions and millions of Filipinos–and other believers from all over the world–are commemorating Holy Week once more, there is a question that must be answered by them and their spiritual leaders in connection with this yearly event: is this biblical? I will not say, “it is”, or “it is not.” I will let the Bible answer this question by its own verses.

For today’s column, I will quote Hebrews 10:1-18 of the Bible, while I will quote another part of the Bible in the next issue, so this matter is addressed by the one, single, authority on spiritual matters–the Bible. Here is Hebrews 10:1-18: The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming–not the realities themselves.

For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, ‘Here I am–it is written about me in the scroll–I have come to do your will, my God.

First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”–though they were offered in accordance with the law. Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second.

And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.

But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: `This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.’ Then he adds: `Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.’ And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary…”

“The message is clear: yearly sacrifices or rituals for penitence can not cleanse those do them of their sins; that these annual events only serve as a yearly reminder of the unforgiven sin of men; that the only sacrifice necessary for sin to be forgiven is the sacrifice of Jesus, our God and Savior; that, therefore, what man must do so his sins can be forgiven is to believe in Jesus.”

Now, what really did the Bible mean when it said that “whoever believes in Him will not perish but will have eternal life”? This clarification of what this phrase really means is important because it is indubitable that while many are saying they already believed (or are believing) in Him, they are not even aware of who or what they should believe in.

This makes these supposed “believers” fake or spurious believers, who are as unsaved as those who do not believe at all. There is in fact no difference between the unbelievers and those who say they believe but do not really know who or what they should believe in, because they are both destined to die a fiery and slimy death in hell.

Towards this end, my challenge has always been this: ask any self-professing Christian about how they became Christians in the first place, and you would be met with blank stares and incoherent babbling about being born again, with 100 % of them unable to say what being born again really meant, and who or what they must believe in to become true Christian believers.

So, let us clarify, for purposes of Holy Week 2016, to make this season more relevant to all. The Bible in its John 3:16 (The Only Way translation) says that “For God so loved the world He Himself came down from heaven in human likeness and form, so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but will have eternal life.”

Indeed, what this commands us to do is to believe in God, and accept Him as God and Savior. This entails knowing that God has a Name, and it is Jesus. According to the Bible, Jesus Himself says that He is “I Am” (John 8:24). “I Am”, of course, is the Name of God in the Old Testament, the Name He identified Himself with when He was sending Moses to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.

In sum, therefore, what we are being commanded to do is to accept and have faith in Jesus as God and Savior, and it is this acceptance and having faith in Jesus that does wonders to our lives, both here on earth and in eternity. When we accept and have faith on Jesus as God and Savior, we will receive power from God Himself, which will set us up above all others!

E-mail: batasmauricio@yahoo.com