Also known as All Hallow’s Day, Hallowmas, Feast of All Saints, or the Solemnity of All Saints is a distinctly Christian festival celebrated in honor of all the saints, known and unknown. It is celebrated on November 1 by the Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Church, Methodist Church and the Lutheran Church among other Protestant churches. Christian celebration of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day stems from a belief that there is a powerful spiritual bond between those in heaven (also known as the Church Triumphant), and the living (those we call the “Church Militant”). In Roman Catholic theology, the day commemorates all those who have attained the vision of Heaven.

“Jesus is deeply mysterious. This isn’t just because, like any figure of ancient history, we don’t now as much about him as we might like. Jesus is mysterious because what we do know—what our evidence encourages us to see as the core of who he was and what he did—is so unlike what we know about anybody else that we are forced to ask, as people evidently did at the time: who, then is this? Jesus puzzled people then, and he puzzles us still.” . (“The Three Puzzles”, Simply Jesus, N. T. Wright, p. 9)

Why would some consider Jesus mysterious? You may think that you know enough about Jesus to form your own opinion, and if that is the case, I give you a lot of credit. Me, on the other hand, I continue to read and research Jesus because I want to know more about this mysterious “Son of G-d”. But getting to know Jesus will require getting to know the context in which he lived, including his worldview and the Jewish “spiritual” worldview. Each carries their own effort – both of which there is plenty of written material to review. We know who the Roman Emperor was at the time Jesus lived: Tiberius – we know who the Roman prefect of Judea and Idumaea was when Jesus was tried and convicted: Pontius Pilate – we know who the Jewish Tetrarch of Galilee was when Jesus was tried and convicted: Herod Antipas — and we know who the “high priest” was at the time of his death: Caiaphas. These are historical facts.

Things really become mysterious with Jesus when he appears seemingly “out of nowhere”, somewhere in his thirties, to do quite remarkable things, which led the Roman and Jewish authorities to send him to his death on a cross, seemingly as a way to keep him from claiming the title “Son of G-d”. Yet we today, as have so many over the centuries, call Jesus “Son of G-d”. They never saw anyone do the things Jesus did – we have not seen anyone do the things Jesus did. But the more I study, pray, and discern the works of Jesus, the more I appreciate the mystery, the majesty, and the love of Jesus.

Pastor Dave