As I pen this blog post, it is Friday, March 15, 2019. The day after tomorrow is, of course, St. Patrick’s Day. And it goes without saying that this was always one of those special days that we looked so forward to as children in primary school. On this special day, we always made certain to dress in green. That way, we could not be pinched.
But woe be unto any classmate who failed to remember, and mistakenly showed up with no green on. By the end of the school day, he or she would invariably be more red than any other color – mostly from whelps as a result of having been pinched so often by so many.
Of course, St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated in many places across the western world - especially in places where there is a large concentration of people of Irish decent. The reason for this is that Ireland is known as the Emerald Isle due to the fact that it is so green as a result of the nourishing rain it receives from the northern Atlantic Ocean, making it a verdant place indeed.
The connection to St. Patrick is that Patrick (or rather Patricius) was the individual who introduced Christianity to Ireland in the fifth century. For this reason, the feast day associated with the patron saint of Ireland is celebrated festively by people of Irish descent. While few actual historical records from Patrick’s time have survived to the modern era, there are some stories that have come down to us. One such story concerns the conversion of the King of Ireland.
Specifically, the story has to do with the baptism of King Aengus by St. Patrick in the middle of the fifth century. Apparently, sometime during the baptismal rite, St. Patrick leaned on his sharp-pointed staff and inadvertently stabbed the king's foot. Blood colored the baptismal water red. It was only after the after the baptism was over that Patrick looked down and saw all the blood.
Realizing what he had obviously done, the preacher begged the king's forgiveness. “Why did you suffer this pain in silence? Why did you not cry out?” Patrick wanted to know. To which the king replied, "I thought it was part of the ritual!"
Christian Baptism, of course, does not occur in blood, but rather in water. But in a technical sense, Christian Baptism is reserved for those who have been washed in the blood of Jesus. As the author of the New Testament Book of Hebrews (chapter 9, verse 22) tells us: “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.”
The Apostle John adds to this by telling us (in chapter 1, verse 7 of his eponymous first New Testament Letter that “the blood of Jesus, God’s Son, purifies us from all sin.”
In light of this, the question asked by hymn-writer E. A. Hoffman of old bears repeating this St. Patrick’s Day…
Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Are you fully trusting in His grace this hour?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Are you washed in the blood,
In the soul cleansing blood of the Lamb?
Are your garments spotless?
Are they white as snow?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Are you walking daily by the Savior's side?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Do you rest each moment in the Crucified?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
When the Bridegroom cometh will your robes be white?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Will your soul be ready for the mansions bright,
And be washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Lay aside the garments that are stained with sin,
And be washed in the blood of the Lamb;
There's a fountain flowing for the soul unclean,
O be washed in the blood of the Lamb!
I hope so. If not, then ask yourself one last question – that posed by the Ethiopian eunuch in the New Testament Book of Acts (chapter 8, verse 36): “What prevents me from being baptized?”
And then hear Philip’s answer and the Ethiopian’s’ response in verse 37: “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
STORY SOURCE:
Available widely on the internet in varying forms. See, for instance:
https://bible.org/illustration/king%E2%80%99s-baptism;
https://www.libraryireland.com/HistoryIreland/Baptism-Aengus.php;
http://www.markfisherauthor.com/2017/04/king-aengus-baptism-rock-of-cashel/.
SCRIPTURE SOURCES:
https://biblehub.com/hebrews/9-22.htm;
https://www.biblehub.com/1_john/1-7.htm;
https://biblehub.com/nasb/acts/8.htm.
HYMN LYRICS SOURCE:
https://hymnary.org/text/have_you_been_to_jesus_for_the_cleansing.
FOR MORE ON ST. PATRICK HIMSELF, SEE:
https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/2008/august/real-st-patrick.html;
https://www.history.com/topics/st-patricks-day/who-was-saint-patrick;
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Patrick.
But woe be unto any classmate who failed to remember, and mistakenly showed up with no green on. By the end of the school day, he or she would invariably be more red than any other color – mostly from whelps as a result of having been pinched so often by so many.
Of course, St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated in many places across the western world - especially in places where there is a large concentration of people of Irish decent. The reason for this is that Ireland is known as the Emerald Isle due to the fact that it is so green as a result of the nourishing rain it receives from the northern Atlantic Ocean, making it a verdant place indeed.
The connection to St. Patrick is that Patrick (or rather Patricius) was the individual who introduced Christianity to Ireland in the fifth century. For this reason, the feast day associated with the patron saint of Ireland is celebrated festively by people of Irish descent. While few actual historical records from Patrick’s time have survived to the modern era, there are some stories that have come down to us. One such story concerns the conversion of the King of Ireland.
Specifically, the story has to do with the baptism of King Aengus by St. Patrick in the middle of the fifth century. Apparently, sometime during the baptismal rite, St. Patrick leaned on his sharp-pointed staff and inadvertently stabbed the king's foot. Blood colored the baptismal water red. It was only after the after the baptism was over that Patrick looked down and saw all the blood.
Realizing what he had obviously done, the preacher begged the king's forgiveness. “Why did you suffer this pain in silence? Why did you not cry out?” Patrick wanted to know. To which the king replied, "I thought it was part of the ritual!"
Christian Baptism, of course, does not occur in blood, but rather in water. But in a technical sense, Christian Baptism is reserved for those who have been washed in the blood of Jesus. As the author of the New Testament Book of Hebrews (chapter 9, verse 22) tells us: “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.”
The Apostle John adds to this by telling us (in chapter 1, verse 7 of his eponymous first New Testament Letter that “the blood of Jesus, God’s Son, purifies us from all sin.”
In light of this, the question asked by hymn-writer E. A. Hoffman of old bears repeating this St. Patrick’s Day…
Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Are you fully trusting in His grace this hour?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Are you washed in the blood,
In the soul cleansing blood of the Lamb?
Are your garments spotless?
Are they white as snow?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Are you walking daily by the Savior's side?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Do you rest each moment in the Crucified?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
When the Bridegroom cometh will your robes be white?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Will your soul be ready for the mansions bright,
And be washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Lay aside the garments that are stained with sin,
And be washed in the blood of the Lamb;
There's a fountain flowing for the soul unclean,
O be washed in the blood of the Lamb!
I hope so. If not, then ask yourself one last question – that posed by the Ethiopian eunuch in the New Testament Book of Acts (chapter 8, verse 36): “What prevents me from being baptized?”
And then hear Philip’s answer and the Ethiopian’s’ response in verse 37: “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
STORY SOURCE:
Available widely on the internet in varying forms. See, for instance:
https://bible.org/illustration/king%E2%80%99s-baptism;
https://www.libraryireland.com/HistoryIreland/Baptism-Aengus.php;
http://www.markfisherauthor.com/2017/04/king-aengus-baptism-rock-of-cashel/.
SCRIPTURE SOURCES:
https://biblehub.com/hebrews/9-22.htm;
https://www.biblehub.com/1_john/1-7.htm;
https://biblehub.com/nasb/acts/8.htm.
HYMN LYRICS SOURCE:
https://hymnary.org/text/have_you_been_to_jesus_for_the_cleansing.
FOR MORE ON ST. PATRICK HIMSELF, SEE:
https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/2008/august/real-st-patrick.html;
https://www.history.com/topics/st-patricks-day/who-was-saint-patrick;
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Patrick.