Episode 93: Old Dogs and a Dead Horse

In the name of the glorious Trinity, Father and Son and Holy

Spirit, forever Amen. Glory be to the everlasting

mercies which sent you to us. O Christ, the light of the world

and the life of all. Give us wisdom by Your law and

enlighten our impulses by Your knowledge.

Sanctify our souls by Your truth and grant that we may be

obedient to Your words and may fulfill Your commandments at

every hour. O You who enlightens the

rationale with the knowledge of Your greatness, do enlight, O my

Lord, our thoughts, that we may meditate upon Your holy and

divine Scriptures at all times. O Lord of all, Father and Son

and Holy Spirit, forever. Amen.

saying you can't teach an old dog dogs that go after the last

four. You can't teach an old dog new

tricks. Now that saying is true in the

secular realm and within the limitations and the power of

men, and even going further to say in the desire of men, the

love of men, the care of men, the compassion of men, the mercy

of men. It is somewhat true within that

realm, however, when learning of the perfect, holy, sanctified,

everlasting, continuous will and desire of God in the name of

Jesus Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit.

We understand and are taught otherwise when we come across

such scripture characters as Zacchaeus.

Let's describing a little by the little information that we have

given him, given on about him in the Scriptures, yet the

interpretations of the fathers because they were there, they

had asked, they knew, knew the history.

Zacchaeus was basically we learn a fraudster, a thief, an

extortionist, a cheat. Remember, he was chief tax

collector, meaning in today's term the chief of IRS.

And he was so preoccupied and busy with his everyday deception

of people. Now he was the chief.

He must have had agents under him working for him.

So they were cheating people, They were extortionists.

So they were basically, lack of a better term, ripping people

off, deceiving people. And then when they got their

share, he would then they would give him what they were supposed

to give him after taking their share, obviously.

So what he got was not the real money or the the true amount.

Then he would also pocket. So it was deception upon

deception, extortion upon extortion on the people.

This was the type of man. Zacchaeus was a pretty old dog

to the Jews. He was a stink worse than a dead

animal corpse decayed for weeks. What we say in the Divine

Liturgy. Dreadful stench now when mum, my

Syrian brothers and sisters, when mum is cooking dolmat

kalama. Dolma from cabbage when she's

boiling the cabbage, right, That smell.

Putrid but beautiful taste afterwards, right, Dolma.

Don't ever knock Dolma. I love Dolma.

Zacchaeus to the Jews was worse than the smell of cabbage.

Kalama being boiled and made ready for Dolma.

No hope of changing, no way of being convinced to honesty and

integrity. Definitely, As I said, another.

An old God who couldn't be taught new tricks, that is, who

couldn't be made to change his established patterns of opinion

and behavior. And that couldn't be by man.

Man could not do this. No one could do this.

But yet however, when Jesus said in Matthew 19 verse 26 this is

Matthew 19:26

impossible with man, but everything is possible with God,

that changes the whole ball game.

Now we have a different look upon this old dog.

Now Zacchaeus must have heard about Christ while possibly in

the depth of His heart and intent.

And who better than Jesus our God to know what was in His

heart and His intent? Now there must have been a

desire to quit, to let it go, to make things right,

righteousness, to repent. He probably hated himself, he

probably was disgusted with, disgusted with himself, and he

wanted to change. With man it was impossible, but

with Christ and with God nothing is impossible.

Jeremiah chapter 17 verse 10 states I the Lord God searched

Jeremiah 17:10

into the heart and proved the kidneys, that is the rains.

And according to Grohl to Google, the rains, the inward

impulses, the affections and passions formerly supposed to be

located in the area of the kidneys.

So this is where the rains are now after the encounter of

Zacchaeus and Christ at home. The old Zacchaeus was certainly

made new by what he said, not just simply receiving Jesus in

his home or in his heart or in his mind.

No, it was actually after what he proclaimed that he would do.

And it was genuine because if it wasn't, Jesus then would have,

would not have declared that today salvation or life has come

into this, into this house. Why didn't Jesus declare that

when he entered or when Zacchaeus received Christ in his

house, in his heart, in his life, in his mind?

No, no, no. When he stood up and he

proclaimed, and he promised and he declared before Christ the

Lord God, then he was made anew, He received life.

So with men you can't teach an old dog new tricks.

But with Christ, that same dog cannot only be taught new

tricks, but moreover, it can be completely renewed.

Now there's the other saying, beating a dead horse that is

wasting time and efforts trying to do something that is

impossible. Once again, let's go to the

scripture characters. And who better than one person,

one woman who caused this idiom to somewhat be stand stood

corrected and that is the Samaritan woman at the well and

the dialogue with Christ the Lord as they say in Assyrian

told of her a Joe Bitcho. That is her insurance and her

outs. Now the church fathers write

about this woman that she was known to be a husband killer

since she had buried five of them and the one living with her

was not her husband but rather her partner in a de facto

relationship probably too scared to marry her.

She was known as the keep away from her type of woman.

She was known as the feet of the ground.

The husband killer is in town woman, yet after a short

religious conversation as recorded in the Gospel of John

John 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4, she causes a whole city to come to Jesus as in

verse 29 which states her saying come see a man who told me

everything that I have done is this the Messiah?

And the men departed from the city, and they came to Jesus

once again. With men beating a dead horse

may be a waste of time, but yet, however, with Christ's gracious,

merciful, loving, compassionate and righteous beating, that same

horse is brought to life. Why?

Because every word that proceeded from the mouth of

Christ while on earth, preached and practiced.

Proclaimed by the Apostles of the early Church immediately

after His ascension. Recorded in the Holy Scriptures

by the Evangelist Apostles and their disciples decades after

the dissension of the Holy Spirit.

Interpreted by the Fathers of the One Holy, Apostolic and

Catholic, that is Universal Church and active within the

framework and life of the same Church.

Taught and preached today is a lamp to the feet and light to

path according to Psalm 119 verse 105 goes forth like fire

Psalms 119:105

and like iron that cuts rock. According to Jeremiah chapter 23

Jeremiah 23:29

verse 29 will not return to God empty handed, but surely does

the thing that God pleases and accomplishes that for which God

had sent according to Isaiah chapter 55 verse 11.

Isaiah 55:11

So, beloved, let's take this message until the next episode.

Let's ponder on this message this coming week.

If you're trying to teach an old dog new, new tricks, don't.

Let's not try to, idiomatically speaking, that is, teach an old

dog new tricks when it comes to people we know, but rather allow

Christ to renew that entire dog. Let us not beat a dead horse,

but rather allow Christ to restore the entire life of that

horse. Because Christ is, and when we

state rightly that he is, we denote.

We mean we confirm He was. He is and will eternally be the

definite article, the Lord, God, King, Saviour, Life Giver and

the Forgiver of sins. Praise and glory be to His holy

name now and at all times and forever.

Amen. The We hope you enjoyed this

week's message. Please don't forget to rate and

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Until next time, God bless you all.