MASADA HEROISM AND TRAGEDY

J

I

t is very interesting to know the history of the man who was freed in the place of Jesus.

His real name was Samuel, who later became Jesus - Barabbas. Samuel was born in Jerusalem.

He was a good business man. He used to go to all the places around Jerusalem on business.

He happened to go to Nazareth also. His regular visit to Nazareth resulted in meeting Joseph,

the foster father of Jesus. He became a good friend to Joseph. By that time Joseph was

already engaged to Mary, the virgin mother of Jesus. Samuel used to be a good advisor to

Joseph. There were no secrets between them. So their friendship continued for some years.

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem his parents came to Jerusalem on the 8 day celebration

th

to offer worship. Samuel also came to that function.

As time went on, he had been watching the movements and ill treatment of Jews by the

Roman government. Samuel saw even killing of many Jews without reason. Just at that time,

the young people who were dissatisfied with the cruel nature of the Romans, forced into the

rebel groups. The Romans came to know that they had caught about 2000 revolutionists at a

time and Samuel was one of them. They wanted to kill all of them on the cross.

Samuel somehow escaped from them and came to his friend Joseph in disguise. He told

him about the political conditions and the cruel nature of the Roman government under King

Herod. He also told him that he stopped his business and became a revolutionist. Since then

he changed his name from Samuel to Jesus Barabbas in the presence of Joseph.

Along with Samuel, many young people from Nazareth, Galilee and Samaria joined the

revolutionary group. As time went on, he became a notorious thief, got, caught, and imprisoned

by the Roman government. On the Passover day, every year, it was a custom to free one

criminal from punishment. This time, the high priests like Anna and Caiaphas planned for the

crucifixion of Christ and free the criminal, Barabbas. Mary recognized Jesus Barabbas as

Samuel, a close friend of her late husband, Joseph.

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K

A

bout 400 years after the construction of the temple of Jerusalem by King Solomon,

the king of Babylon Nebuchadnezzar happened to destroy the city Jerusalem and the temple

completely. This happened in about 586 B.C. In the first century B.C king Herod came and

renovated God’s temple along with other cities. He was neither a Jew nor a Roman, but a

circumcised Arab from “Ashkelon tribe”. Though he built the God’s temple he was not allowed

into it. He was a great warrior, but a cruel king. Samuel, a close friend of Joseph, gave a clear

picture of King Herod. According to his statement people were terribly afraid of this king

even to utter his name. So when they talked among themselves they used a code name

“RebNaaman”.

He was more than a beast even to shame the tiger. But still he was a brilliant leader and

powerful military general. He had a ghastly sister, who was like himself in all things. Her

name was Salome. He was 59 years old when Christ was born. He had 9 wives and some

concubines. His activities were too many. He even killed his own wife and two sons for no

reason. He was a mad man. Joachim, father of Mary gave his own statement about King

Herod. He said the king was a monster. He was once feasting with his concubines while 800

Jews were crucified at a time. People were slaughtered like animals in his time. In those days

there was a joke about him. “Better to be born as a pig than the son of King Herod”.

When Christ was born as the king of Jews, he was upset by the news and sent captains

to all cities in search of Joseph’s family. When they could not find them he gave a declaration

that all male children below the age of two years should be killed in Bethlehem. In his last days

he realized that nobody would weep for him in his kingdom if he dies. So he had a master plan.

He arrested about 200 Jews and imprisoned them. The idea behind their arrest was that after

the death of the king those Jews would be killed one after another. While their family members

would be weeping over their deaths, the other people might think that they were weeping for

the death of their king. And the king died after a few days. Then the soldiers started killing

them who were put in the prison. After some of them were killed, the death of the king was

announced. So the mourning of the Jewish women and their children over the death of their

men coincided with the death of the king.

People who saw it might think there they were weeping over the death of King Herod.

He ruled Judah for 37 horrible years. People experienced hell in his regime. The people

commented about the king by saying, “he stole the throne like a fox”. He ruled like a tiger and

he died like a dog. Only after his death Joseph, Mary and Jesus returned from Egypt to

Nazareth. According to historical evidence, King Herod died in 4th B.C as Christ was there

before his death.

It is said that Christ was born in 5th B.C but not on the day we observe today. The king

made many constructions in his time among them, Masada rock fortress, was one. It was

near the Dead Sea. It was very strong with narrow and snake like steps, very difficult for the

enemies like Romans and Greeks to enter.

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M

M

asada is to the Israel what Alamo or Pearl Harbor to America. It is a symbol of

dynamic leadership and stalwart defense in the face of insurmountable odd certain death.

Masada is half a mile long, 220 yards width. It is a rock fortress. It is near a deep valley

1320 feet below the sea level. It appears to be the lowest part of the earth. Masada is also

spelled as “Massada”, in the Bible. (Samuel 24:22 and Chronicles 12:8). David fled from the

threat of the jealous king, Saul who tried all means to kill him. David and his 600 men went up

to the strong holds. The word “strong holds” is from the Hebrew word “metsede”, which

means Masada.

This place became important and popular at the time of King Herod who ruled in first

century B.C. He was a great builder. He built Caesarea Samaria and Jericho. He also

established a winter palace in Masada. In addition to it he built 18 feet high wall around this

rock fortress with 38 towers and each one with 75 feet height. After construction of the wall,

it became impossible to the people especially to the Greeks and Romans to enter.

MASADA HEROISM AND TRAGEDY:

When Jerusalem was seized and destroyed by Titus in 70 A.D, the rebellious Jews took

shelter in this fortress. The impossible task of attacking and destroying this fortress fell on the

Roman General

“Flevious salva”

He seized the

fortress for three

years, 70 to 73 AD.

But the general

became unsuccess

ful to go inside and

catch the out law

Jews and drive them

away. The Romans

tried every device,

but in vain. They

tried through rock

bombardment

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battering rams flaming touches seize machines and so on. But of no use. Then, they under

took the task of building the earthen ramp to reach the zealots in side. We can see even today

how the Romans moved tons and tons of earth in order to build the ramp. The building of ramp

is an amazing feat to the Romans. And they were almost at the door of the zealots. The Jews

came to know that the Romans had reached their place. Then their leader ‘Eliezer Ben Yair’

made an appeal to the fortress followers saying, it would be far more honorable for Masada

doomed defenders to die, by their own hands rather than to be tortured and sold into slavery

by the Romans.

All agreed to kill themselves. There was no resistance from them but only a defending

silence and suddenly a horrible truth was evident. One of the histories mass suicides had

taken place during night

time. The bodies of 960

men women and children

were lying side by side,

in family groups. The

Romans did not realize

that Christ way of peace

and love was stronger

than their swords. This is

an important incident of

the Jewish history.

After King Herod,

his son Herod Antipas,

ruled Judah. This king

beheaded John the

Baptist, killed James one

of the Disciples of Christ

to please the Jews and

imprisoned Peter also.

After him his son

Agrippa I came to

power. And after him his

son Agrippa II became

the king.

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P

P

ilate played an important role at the time of Christ’s trial and crucifixion along with

Anna’s and Caiaphas, the two high priests. They were father-in-law and son-in-law who tried

with all their power and influence to prove Christ guilty of something. They appointed seventy

judges and six witnesses against Jesus. Nicodemus was one of the judges who ried to defend

Jesus in the trial. After they failed in their trials the chief priest and the elders brought Christ

to the governor Pontius Pilate. When the Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat his wife

“Claudias Proculah” said “killing of Jesus of Nazareth was unthinkable for his simple

saying. I am the son of God”. She sent for Pilate and asked him if he could do anything to

that just man, because of him she suffered many things in her dream.

Pilate thought that if he failed to defend Jesus Christ from the critical condition, his life

with his wife would be different, because she had high opinion for Christ. At the same time

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Pilate did not want to displease his wife. So he said he did not want to punish Christ as he was

an innocent man. But the chef priest and the elders persuaded the multitudes to shout to free

Barabbas and to crucify Christ. At the time of the birth of Christ, Annas was the high priest of

Jerusalem temple. He was also a popular politician of the city of Jerusalem. He had the power

even to arrest the rebelled people from the city.

Annas means “grace of Jehovah”. He was a fearless and dangerous man. He was

born to money, married money, and cultivated money. He knew the power of money. He had

no friends. But only rich people of his cadre. He taught his sons and son-in-law Caiaphas that

every body in this world is a hypocrite and a liar. Caiaphas became high priest at the time of

Christ’s crucifixion. Both father-in-law and son-in-law joined together to find fault with Christ

and to crucify him at any cost.

Pilate, at last, asked them what evil the man had done. There was no answer for that

question, but only shouting to crucify him. The Pilate had really soft corner for Christ but

helpless, at the shouts of the multitudes. It became a tradition, in those days to free one

criminal on the occasion of the Passover feast. And the Pilate asked them whom he should

free, either Barabbas or Jesus? They all shouted that he should free Barabbas a notorious

thief and Christ must be crucified. So, he handed over Christ to the public and washed his

hands to show that he had nothing to do with the crucifixion of Christ.

When Christ was taken to Golgotha mount (a place of skull) for crucifixion a young girl

by name Veronica saw him on the way. She wept for him and bathed his sweating face, with

her veil and Jesus’ face was imprinted on her scarf. The Pilate put a banner on the cross with

his own writing. It was in three languages, Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. He wrote “Ishu

Nazaranus Rex Judayarum” which means Jesus of Nazareth, king of Jews. The high priest

requested Pilate not to write the king of Jews but he replied, “What I have written, I have

written” (John 19:22). Pilate felt extremely sorry for the injustice done to Christ. Who was

innocent? He told his wife that he had killed a prophet. But she replied in agony “you killed a

God”.

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D

The following books were banned by the religious authorities and not added to the Bible.

They are:

1. The Book of Adam and Eve

2. The Book of Enoch

3. The Gospel of Thomas

4. The Gospel of James

5. The Gospel of Philips

6. The Book of Necodemus

7. The Gospel of Mary Magdalene

8. The Acts of Peter

9.The Apocalypse of Peter in 2 books and 100 more as some writers say.

1.The infancy Gospel of Thomas : This Book tells us about Christ’s early life. His foster

father Joseph’s life could also be found in the Quoran. This book became very popular in

185 A.D. It tells us how Jesus helped his foster father in carpentry work. He did miracles

even as child.

For example, Jesus put together two wooden

pieces of different sizes. They became equal

without cutting. In his leisure time, he made

some pigeons with clay and commanded them

to go and they flew away. Thomas wrote this

type of incidents of Christ life.

He was the only disciple who came to India

to preach God’s word and to spread

Christianity. He visited India frequently as a

Missionary. One day he was caught while

preaching and ripped off with a spear. He was

killed in India in Madras.

2. The Gospel of James: This book is

mostly dealt with the family of Jesus Mother

Mary and her parents. Mary’s parents did not

have children for a long time. Then one day

Mary’s mother, Anna prayed to God humbly

for a child, God heard her prayer and sent an

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angel to her. The angel told her that she would get a child and Mary was born. So, Mary

was God’s gift to her parents.

James also wrote about Mary that she was a virgin even after giving birth to Jesus. It

was only God’s spirit but not with the touch of any man.

James was fisherman originally by trade. Jesus found him and called for full time Ministry.

As a strong leader of the church, James was brutally beheaded by Herod Antipas, son of

King Herod to please the Jews in Jerusalem. The Roman soldiers, who guarded him,

were amazed as he defended his faith even during his trail.

Later, the Officer who walked with James to the place of execution, overcome by

conviction. He declared his new faith to the judge. The Officer knelt before James to

accept beheading as a Christian.

3. The Gospel of Mary Magdalene: She said about the role of women in the society and

in the churches. Her upholding of women was quite opposit to the sentiments of Apostle

Paul, his preaching stated that women should not take part in the church matters. St.Paul

also said it was shameful to a woman to go to the stage in the churches and speak.

4. The Gospel of Necodemus: He was a Jew. The name Necodemus means one who is

notorious to the people. He enjoyed the highest position in the Jewish council. He was a

good lawyer. He met Christ, on certain occasions. He was crucified just before Christ

though he defended himself. It was the belief in those days that one should go to the

place of destination before he was decided whether to go to hell or heaven.

5. The Acts of Peter: Peter did more work

than any other disciple after the death of

Christ. We know, how he moved with Paul

to different places, how was arrested with

Paul and imprisoned. He was also

persecuted. He raised a dead woman by

name “Tabitha” who was also called

“Dorcas” in Joppa.

6. The Apocalypse of Peter: It means

revealing the secrets of heaven. It is said

peter wrote two books of this type. They

were like the book of Revelation by St.

John. The books tell us about the Sermons

of Christ, about the punishment of the

people if they do not follow the teachings

and possible methods of avoiding the

punishment.

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Peter was of the opinion that nobody should go to hell. All must be saved and go to

heaven. He argues this point once with Christ also. He was a faithful disciple. He was

called the “Father of Roman Catholic Mission”.

He was the most obedient of all disciples. He lived for 129 years; perhaps the longest

lived among the disciples. He was crucified on an ‘X’ shaped cross upside down. According

to the church traditions he told the terminator he was unworthy to die in the same way as

Jesus Christ died.

Jesus prophesied about some of the disciples who came to him for the first time. John

and Andrew were the first who met him. They were fishermen from Galilee. They were

with John the Baptist for some time. When John told them about the greatness of Christ,

they followed him. John told them, “Christ was the Lamb of God” and “He was the

Messiah”.

6. Andrew: Christ said about Andrew as he would be crucified on an ‘X’ shaped cross in his

later days in “Patmas”, Greece. He was whipped by seven Roman soldiers. Later they

tied his body to the X shapped cross with cords to prolong his pain.

His followers reported when he was led towards the cross Andrew, saluted with these

words. “I have long desired and expected this happy hour”. The cross was sanctified

with the hanging of Jesus Christ’s body. He continued preaching the people who were

tormenting him for two days till he died.

7. John: When Jesus looked at his face, he prophesied. John would see visions in his old age

and write “The Book of Revelation”, the last book of the Bible.

He faced Martyrdom when he was boiled in a huge basin of boiling oil at the time of

persecution in Rome. However, he was miraculously delivered from death. Then he was

sentenced to the mines on the prison Island of Patmas and there he wrote the book of

Revelation. He was later freed and served as a Bishop of “Edssa” in Turkey. In his old

age, he was the only disciple who died peacefully.

8.Barthalomea: He was known as Nathaniel. He was a Missionary to Asia. He witnessed

for the Lord in Turkey. He was martyred for preaching in Armenia. He was killed by

whipping.

9.Matthew: He recorded more prophesies of Christ than any other Apostle. He suffered

Martyrdom in Ethiopia. He was killed by the wound of the sword.

10. Mark: He died in Alexandria, Egypt. He was dragged by the horses in the streets till he

died.

11. Luke: He was hanged to death in Greece for his wonderful preaching till the end of his

life.

12. Jude: He was killed with arrows when he refused to deny his faith towards Christ.

He was stoned and then beheaded.

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14. James: He was a leader for the church in Jerusalem. He was thrown over a hundred

feet down from the South West Pinnacle of the temple. Still he refused to deny his faith

in Christ and did not die. Then they beat him to death.

15. Barnabas: He was one of the seventy additional Disciples of Christ. He wanted to send

them in groups to different places with 8 rules called Beatitudes: He wrote an “Epistle of

Barnabas”. He preached in Italy and Cyprus. He was stoned to death in Salonica.

16. St.Paul: He was tortured and beheaded by the cruel Roman Emperor “Nero” in Rome in

67 A.D. He bore a lengthy imprisonment. In the prison, he wrote all the Epistles to

different churches; he had established in the Roman Empire. These Epistles taught the

fundamental doctrines to Christianity. They were really laid the foundation for Christian

faith and life.

We can find his entire

letter (Epistles) in the

New Testament. If we

compare our present

persecution with that of

the Disciples of Christ

ours is really nothing

before theirs. They faced

cruel death while

defending their faith

towards Christ, so he

said, “You will be hated

by all men for my sake”.

17. Stephen: He was

one of the 7 deacons of

the church. He was a

God fearing man. He was

full of faith and power.

He was filled with the

Holy Spirit. Even the

council members of the

church saw the face of

an angel in his face.

But the Jews, under the leadership of Saul, who became Paul later, took him out of the

city and stoned him to death. At that time he prayed to God and said “Lord receive my

spirit”. Then the devoted men carried his dead body for burial. With this brief information

about the Disciples of Christ we can understand, how happily they accepted the punishment

for the sake of Jesus Christ.

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E

– 325 A.D.

C

onstantine was the emperor of the Byzantine Empire. It was the Eastern part of the

Roman Empire. The capital city of this empire was Constantinople. After some centuries the

name was changed to Istanbul, and that was also changed to the present Turkey. This

Constantinople became world famous in those days for art and architecture. He was originally

a heathen king, but latter became a true Christian. His mother Heliona also became a devoted

Christian, and the Catholics made her saint after some time. After both embraced Christianity,

they did many things for the spreading of Christian religion.

Let us see under what conditions he became a Christian.

One day the emperor dreamed a dream. In that dream, he saw in the heaven, a cross

was hanging and a voice was heard saying “on my name go and win the war”. He woke up

from the dream and was surprised for getting that kind of dream, He became restless. He

wanted to know about the dream and also to know who the Christ was. He called for a

meeting of all elders of different churches.

Many elders and priests attended that meeting. The emperor called that meeting “the

Council of Messiah’s” The counsel members discussed among themselves and came to a

conclusion. They told the king that Christ was "the son of God and son of man". The king

was enlightened by the statement of the elders and there was a change in him. Then he

converted himself into Christianity along with his mother Heliona. After sometime, they came

to Jerusalem on a pilgrimage. The king saw the pathetic condition of the city Jerusalem, how

it was ruined by the Romans in 70 A.D. He renovated the city to some extent. He built shrines

and inscribed the life history of Jesus. In addition to that he did many more things for the

spreading of Christianity.

1.Until that time, Saturday was observed by the people every where as Sabbath day.

He changed it and made Sunday as Sabbath day

2.He declared Christianity as an official religion through out his kingdom

3.The Roman government was killing many Jews in those days on the cross with out

reason. If we look into the history, we can know that the purpose of cross punishment was

long suffering. They would be hanging on the cross for hours, from suffering and pain and the

Romans would enjoy that. This emperor abolished such cross punishment for ever.

4.He prepared the Bible of his own. It is named “The Bible of Constantine” which

became very popular for 40 years especially in Ethiopia.

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5.He verified the 27 books of the New Testament before they were printed as a book.

6.He constructed churches

at different places with Persian

architecture which we can see

them partially damaged even to

day.

Some of them are:

1. The Church of

Annunciation

This was constructed in

Nazareth. The cave like house of

Joseph and Mary was changed

into the church. The meaning of

it is how Gabriel angel came and

announced the birth of Christ.

2. The Church of Holy

Sepulcher

It was built on the way to the

Golgotha mount. This was also

called “Dolorosa.” It was in the

Christian quarters. As old

Jerusalem was divided into 4

quarters depending upon the

people that lived at that particular

area. They are Jewish quarters,

Muslims quarters, Armenian

quarters and Christian quarters.

3. The Church of Heliona

It was built on the Mount of Olives. It was one of the eight churches built by people of

different countries. Constantine built this church in memory of his beloved mother, Heliona,

who became a saint latter.

4. The Church of the Nativity

In Bethlehem the Church of the Nativity is the best example for the architecture. The

door of the church was from Byzantine Empire. Constantine’s mother identified the site as the

birth place of Christ and ordered for the construction of a church there.

So a beautiful church was built there. In 326 A.D, with stone flooring which looked like

mosaic flooring. It has been rebuilt in every few hundred years. And they maintained the

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height of the door of the church always 4 feet only. It was maintained like that to prevent

people from entering the church on horse back.

To the right side of the church there is a Greek church. To the left of that church there is

an Armenian Church. In 2001, the Israel army surrounded the church, after the Palestinian

army barricaded themselves in side the church, with 160 hostages. For their symbolic 40 days,

the prisoners slept in the corners of the church losing 30 pounds each. A priest made soup for

the inside people. It is said he used the leaves of the lemon trees and oil from the lamps. And

they ate it every 3 days. The church had a wonderful history; we can see even today, partly

ruined mosaic floor and the Persian art on the walls of the church.

The king found a place called Baalbek, full of heathen temples, of the gods and goddesses

of Romans. There were also some temples built by King Solomon to please his heathen

wives. He made sacrifices which made God angry. The emperor destroyed all the temples,

and built wonderful churches.

We can understand the greatness and glory of the Emperor Constantine by looking at the

old city of Constantnople, as an underground city with partly destroyed structures under modern

Turkey. The visitors who ever go to Turkey will certainly see the monuments. Constantine

showed more interest to the spreading of Christianity in his kingdom. The Jews and Christians

enjoyed real freedom during his rule. The Jews were particularly thankful to the emperor for

abolition of cross punishment.

Bethlehem is to day unfortunately under the control of Palestinians. So if the people

wanted to go to the birth place of Christ, and to see the Church of the Nativity, they have to

take the permission from the Palestinian government. The actual distance between Jerusalem

and Bethlehem is just 5miles. At the time of the Roman rule, the Philistines lived in that place.

And the Romans called the place Palestine.

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H

st

(1 Peter: 4: 14)

H

appiness is a gift of God. Any one

who wants to be happy depends upon his/

her mental, setup. We may thank the rich

people with huge money and other things are

happy. We are wrong. They will have their

own problems and they can never be happy.

We may also think that celebrities are happy

with their handsome personalities, and money.

They too have many problems in their lives

only a common man with a little income and

with limited wants can be happy. For the rich

people if one wants is satisfied, another want will be in its place. But Christian view of happiness

is different. Once Mother Theresa said “true happiness consists in doing the will of God with

a smile”.

The happiness can be illustrated in many ways, the temporary or superficial happiness.

This, we get when we meet our dear friends, after a long time or if we see a good movie or

beautiful things in nature etc. This happiness we get from them remains with us only for some

time and goes away like the morning fog, when the sun light comes. The second type of

happiness is ever lasting that touches our inner joy, and grows at all times. That ever lasting

happiness and peace we get from God only. So the key of our happiness is with God. He is the

answer for our search of happiness.

Many people died in search of happiness, peace, joy and peace of soul. They did not

realize that all those things are with God only. God created man in his own image and had

perfect relationship with him. And that should continue forever.

Jesus said “happy are ye” (1 Peter 4.14) these three words are the answer for our

st

spiritual, happiness and peace. Who is Christ? “He is the image of an invisible God and “he is

divinely appointed savior for sinners.” Christ deepest hunger and his thirst on the cross his one

hand with God and the other hand with humanity and his way of life, all these things bring

peace, with God, peace within, peace with human life and peace on earth.

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Many Christians suffered in this life due to some reason or other A true Christian will

follow the principles of Christ and his foot steps with his spirit. . So we want more Christians

of Christ way of living but not Christianity. Let us read the following whether we can find true

happiness through them.

1. Happiness through poverty:

We are not concerned with physical poverty but spiritual poverty. The first one is

concerned to this material world. And the second one is concerned to the next world that is

heaven. Spiritual poverty means the poverty of soul. It is said that “for the love of money is the

root of all evil (1 Timothy 6:10) but a man who has contentment in his life is the happiest man.

st

Only this kind of man can think of spiritual poverty. The Bible says that our souls have a

disease called “sin” as all are born sinners. It is said “all have sinned and come short of the

glory of God”. (Romans 3:23) So what we have to do for our spiritual poverty God asks us

to confess our spiritual poverty is to stop doing anymore sin and turn by faith towards His son,

Jesus Christ said “happy are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God”.

2. Happiness through love:

In Hebrew Bible the word” agape” is used for love. God is love. Therefore ‘agape’

means God’s Love. The most important point in the preaching s of Christ is love. The word

love is used many times in the Bible, particularly in the book of John. God said “love thy

neighbor as thyself”. Every thing that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He who

loves God will love his brother, loves his enemy and loves everything. If you do not love a man,

whom you see every day, how can you love God whom you never saw? God said “love your

enemy, if he is hungry, feed him with bread, and if he is thirsty give him water and pray for

him”

A true Christian must posses love, compassion, kindness etc. Through love, one can

achieve any thing in life, and he is the happiest man with no problems and worries. He will

have no enemies, as love conquers all. Devine love is like the sun beam that reflects and

penetrates into our body. We can get happiness by showing our love to others. God’s love

towards his children is wonderful. Even if we do not love God, He loves us because His love

is unconditional. So by loving everybody, we can be happy in our life.

3. Happiness through prayers:

God wants us to spend our time, in non stop prayers so that we can have direct contact

with him. If we pray with the spirit, we can even talk with him. And get our needs for our day

to day lives. God wants us to pray whole heartedly and with concentration. We must pray to

God with repenting spirit God said “turn to me with all your heart with weeping and fasting!”

We can get happiness with prayers. God is with us always.

4. Happiness through suffering:

There is comfort in suffering because Christ is with us; we know how much he suffered

on the cross for the sake of humanity. He suffered and brought us happiness and made us

immortals. God loves our suffering because it helps us in the next world.

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Suffering is a required qualification, for our eternal life, We know how all his disciples

and others like Stephen and Paul were made suffer before their death, Hence happiness

comes through suffering.

5. Happiness through repentance:

This is the most essential part of Christian life. God wants us to repent for any wrong

thing in our daily lives. John the Baptist used to say to the people that went to him for baptism,

“repent for your sins and come to me”. Let us see an example of a cancer patient; many

people are dying of cancer nowadays. Now it is a dangerous disease. The doctors can tell

them in advance, when they are going to die. So, the doctor told a cancer patient that he would

live only for a week. Until then, he never thought of death. When he came to know this, he

thought he should repent and confess before God. God gave him one week time to repent for

his past life. Then he said “merciful God gave me time to think and to repent for my past

life in frustration, anger, fear, and bitterness. God gave me time to think about him and

to pray to him for my salvation before I die”.

We can also remember one of the criminals on the cross with Jesus. . In the last hour, he

repented and asked Jesus with that spirit if he can remember him in his paradise. For that

Christ replied he shall be with him in the paradise. So repentance is a powerful weapon that a

Christian can defend himself always. Therefore, we can be happy through repentance.

6. Happiness through persecution:

Happy are they who are persecuted for righteous sake, their is the kingdom of heaven. A

true Christian is he, who lives his life with honesty, kindness, and unselfishness. If we take

Christ as a symbol of suffering for our sins we must also suffer in this world to achieve his

kingdom. In China, it is said about 30 to 50 million people were persecuted. But they took it as

a great honor to suffer for Christ. In all ages, and in all countries, the Christians maintained the

spirit of joy and happiness at the time of persecution. So suffering with happiness is a true

spirit of a Christian life. In this context the persecution of three Hebrew kids Shadrach, Meshach

and Abednego, how the king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon put them in the fiery burning furnace

when they did not worship the heathen idol. But nothing happened to them as God was with

them. The king was surprised at this and said “Lo! I saw four men walking freely in the fire,

no hurt, the fourth one is the son of God” (Daniel 3:25)

King Darius also punished Daniel by putting him in the lion’s den for a simple reason. He

prayed to God three times a day against the declaration that no body should appeal to his God

for thirty days. At that time also an angel came and saved Daniel from the danger of the lions.

We can find more examples in the Bible how they were persecuted and even killed during the

time of Romans .The Christians also believed that the suffering of this life should not be

compared with the reward we get in heaven after death. A true Christian should live with the

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spirit of God. And the fruit of the spirit is a long suffering. It is said in the book of Revelation

as “These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes and

made them white in the blood of the lamb”. (Revelation 7:14)

7. Happiness through purity:

Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. Our heart can be called a seat of

emotions, like fear, anger, love, courage, joy, sorrow, hatred etc. At all times, God will look into

our thoughts and emotions. God wants our heart must help others and care for others. We

must have the attitude of helping others and doing good to others. He wants our heart must

posses the above such qualities but not evil thoughts. God said “I will give you a new heart and

put a new spirit and take away your stony heart out of thy flesh” (Ezekiel 11:19).

Purity of heart is really a new birth, and a new creation. When we receive that peace of

heart we can know the secret of happiness .so we must pray and struggle in our lives for

physical purity spiritual purity mental purity and moral purity.

God said “be ye holy. For I am holy” (1st Peter 1:16) and also said “keep thy self pure” (1st

Timothy 5:22) therefore the out come of all these examples is that the purity of heart is God.

And the secret of seeing and knowing God is the pure heart and we can get the pure heart

from God only. Once we get the pure heart from God we will be the happiest people on the

earth.

8. Happiness through peace - making:

Blessed are the peace makers for they shall be called the children of God. We can never

expect peace as long as they are war mongers. It is said “war is the child of pride and

pride the daughter of riches”. Today some countries with modern technology, wanted to

feel the superiority over the other countries and such proud thinking sometimes lead to war.

It is proved historically that in four thousand years people were with out war only for

three hundred years. Such is the present day position regarding people in the world.

But every one of us can experience the peace of God through Christ because peace

comes from God only. Before we think of peace with others or with other countries, let us

think of peace at home, with out peace at home among the family members or in the churches

we can not expect peace elsewhere. It is said “let peace prevail at home”.

For example, at the time of marriage three people are involved. They are the pastor, the

bride and the bride groom. The pastor can be a peace maker for any family. Because through

the pastor only, we take oath in the name of God in the church at the time of marriage so if we

do not stick on to the oath, then no God,, hence no peace at home. If the wife and husband

follow God at home, there will be ever lasting peace in the house. There by we can be peace

makers, in the churches also as a builder builds the house, with a group of people we too can

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do many things in groups. To make peace on earth, we must make peace with God. He is

always merciful towards the poor because they remember him when ever they are in troubles.

Happy are the merciful if we help the needy, help less and down trodden, God will give us

greater rewards. We can show our mercy to them by telling about God because spiritual

poverty is worse than physical poverty.

If we think about Joseph for a while, we can understand. How much merciful he was

towards his jealous brothers. His ungrateful brothers sold him to an Egyptian of course for his

betterment. God was with him. And he was filled with Godly Spirit. He had the forgiving

nature. He was faithful, with all those noble qualities; he could forgive his cruel brothers and

felt for them more than themselves. With these qualities, Joseph could reach the highest

position in Egypt, next to Pharaoh.

Christ in his sermon on the mount gave some examples to his disciples and to the

multitudes. They were for the Christian way of living. But the disciples could not understand

the inner meaning of his sermons. He spoke about the spiritual Promised Land and high moral

values, of the society in which they were living. The Sermon on the Mount made them open

their eyes and understand the practical life. It made them look seriously what kind of life they

lived all those days. Finally, the disciples decided to live Christ way of living how much more

difficult it might be, in order to get salvation.

What impression the multitude had about Christ? For them, Christ was like an attractive

and miracle man. He was magnetic with unusual powers. To them he appeared like a teacher,

a preacher, a master, a gentleman and a straight forward man. They never come across such

a man in their life time. They dreamed of a day spending with him by walking with him into the

villages. And see how the Galilean is healing the sick, and blessing the innocent children. They

wanted to hear what he would say about God, about salvation, and about his kingdom. All

these things remained in the minds of the innocent multitudes as dreams only.

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