JOHN THE BAPTIST (Cycle B)

Homily for the Sunday on the Feast of John the Baptist (Cycle B)

Based on Lk 1:57-66, 80 (Gospel), Is 49:1-6(First Reading) and Ac 13:22-26 (Second Reading)

From the Series: “Reflections and Teachings of the Desert”

JOHN THE BAPTIST

“He is to be called John” (Lk 1:60)

The gospel narrative for this Sunday on the feast of John the Baptist is the one taken from Lk 1:57-66, 80. Let us now go verse by verse on this gospel narrative, including their parallel texts and footnotes.

Verses 57 and 58 say:  Meanwhile the time came for Elizabeth to have her child, and she gave birth to a son, and when her neighbors and relations heard that the Lord had shown her so great a kindness, they shared her joy.

Parallel text for verse 58 is Lk 1:8-16 that says: “Now it was the turn of Zechariah’s section^e to serve, and he was exercising his priestly office before God (v. 8), when it fell to him by lot, as the ritual custom was, to enter the Lord’s sanctuary and burn incense there.^f (v. 9). And at the hour of incense the whole congregation was outside, praying (v. 10). Then there appeared to him the angel of the Lord, standing on the right of the altar of incense (v. 11). The sight disturbed Zechariah and he was overcome with fear.^g (v. 12) But the angel said to him, ‘Zechariah, do not be afraid, your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth is to bear a son and you must name him John.^h (v. 13)He will be your joy and delight and many will rejoiceⁱ at his birth (v. 14), for he will be great in the sight of the Lord; he must drink no wine, no strong drink.^j Even from his mother’s womb he will be filled with the Holy Spirit (v. 15), and he bring back many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God (v.16)”.

Footnotes for Lk 1:8-16 are:

^e - Each section was responsible for a week’s service. Cf 1 Ch 24:19; 2 Ch 23:8.

^f- It was the priest’s duty to keep the brazier burning that stood on the altar of incense in front of the Holy of Holies; he would also sup[ply it with fresh incense. Once before the morning sacrifice, again after the evening sacrifice, cf. Ex 30:6-8.

^g - Lk is fond of mentioning religious dread and terror; 1:29-30,65; 2:9-10; 4:36; 5:8-10,26; 7:16; 8:25; 33-37,56; 9:34,43; 24:37; Ac 2:43; 3:10; 5:5,11; 10:4; 19:17.

^h - The name means ‘Yahweh-is-gracious.’

ⁱ - Joy is the keynote of ch. 1-2; 1:28,46,58; 2:10. Cf 10:17,20f; 13:17; 15:7,32; 19:6,17; 24:41,5. Ac 2:46+.

^j - Several OT texts lie behind this remark, especially the law of the nazirite, cf. Nb 6:1+.

Verses 59 to 62 says: “Now on the eight day they came to circumcise the child; they were going to call^y him Zechariah after his father, but his mother spoke up, ‘No,’ she said ‘he is to be called John.’ They said to her, ‘But no one in your family has that name’, and made signs to his father to find out what he wanted him called.”

Footnote on Lk. 1:59  states that ^y-  The name was normally given when the child was circumcised, cf. 2:21.

Parallel texts for Lk 1: 59 are:

a.       Gn 17:10 - Now this is my Covenant which you are to maintain between myself and you, and your descendants after you; all your males must be circumcised.^e  Footnote ^e - Circumcision was originally a rite initiatory to marriage and to the life of a clan, Gn. 34:14; Ex. 4:24-26; Lv. 19:23. Here is becomes a ‘sign’ which, like the rainbow of 9:16-17, is to remind God of his covenant and man of the obligation deriving from his belonging to the Chosen People. Nevertheless, the legislative texts allude to this injunction only on two occasions, Ex. 12:44; Lv. 12:3; cf. Jos. 5:2-8. It is only at the Exile and after that it receives its full prominence, cf. 1 M. 1:63, 2 M. 6:10. St. Paul explains it as a ‘seal of the righteousness of faith’, Rm. 4:11. On the ‘circumcision of the heart’, see Jr. 4:4+.

b.      Lv 12:3 - On the eight day the child’s foreskin must be circumcised.

Verses 63 and 64 say: The father asked for a writing-tablet and wrote, ‘His name is John’. And they were all astonished. At that instant his power of speech returned and he spoke and praised God.

Parallel text for verse 63 is Lk 1:13 that says “But the angel said to him, ‘Zechariah, do not be afraid, your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth is to bear a son and you must name him John.^h”

Footnote ^h says “The name means ‘Yahweh-is-gracious.’”

Verse 65 says All their neighbors were filled with awe and the whole affair was talked about throughout the hill country of Judaea.

Parallel texts are:

a.       Lk 1:12 - The sight disturbed Zechariah and he was overcome with fear.^g  Footnote ^g says  “Lk is fond of mentioning religious dread and terror; 1:29-30,65; 2:9-10; 4:36; 5:8-10,26; 7:16; 8:25; 33-37,56; 9:34,43; 24:37; Ac 2:43; 3:10; 5:5,11; 10:4; 19:17”.

b.      When the eight day came and the child was to be circumcised they gave him the name Jesus, the name the angel had given him before his conception.

Verse 66 says:  All those who heard of it treasured it in their hearts. ‘What will this child turn out to be?’ they wondered. And indeed the hand of the Lord was with him.^z  Footnote ^z – “I.e. protected him: a biblical expression, Jr 26:24; Ac 11:21”.

Parallel texts are:

a.       Lk 1:80 - Meanwhile the child grew up and his spirit matured.^gg and he lived out in the wilderness until the day he appeared openly to Israel. Footnote ^gg says: “A kind of refrain: 2:40,52; cf. 1:66 and cf Ac 2:41+; 6:7+.”

b.      Ac 11:21 - The Lord helped them, and a great number believed and were converted to the Lord.

Verse 80 says: Meanwhile the child grew up and his spirit matured.^gg And he lived out in the wilderness until the day he appeared openly to Israel.  Footnote ^gg says: “A kind of refrain: 2:40,52; cf. 1:66 and cf Ac 2:41+; 6:7+.”

Parallel texts are:

a.       All those who heard of it treasured it in their hearts. ‘What will this child turn out to be?’ they wondered. And indeed the hand of the Lord was with him.^z Footnote ^z – “I.e. protected him: a biblical expression, Jr 26:24; Ac 11:21.”

b.      Meanwhile the child grew to maturity, and he was filled with wisdom; and God’s favor was with him.

c.       Lk 3:1-18 - The preaching of John the Baptist - In the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar’s reign,^a when Pontius Pilate^b was governor of Judaea, Herod^c tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip^d tetrarch of the land of Ituraea and Trachonitis, Lysanias^e tetrarch of Abilene (v. 1), during the pontificate of Annas and Caiaphas,^f the word of God came to John son of Zechariah, in the wilderness (v. 2). He went through the whole Jordan district proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins^g(v. 3) as it is written in the book of the sayings of the prophet Isaiah: A voice cries in the wilderness: Prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight. (v. 4)  Every valley will be filled in, every mountain and hill be laid low, winding ways will be straightened and rough roads made smooth (v. 5) And all mankind shall see the salvation of God (v. 6). He said, therefore, to the crowds who came to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers, who warned you to fly from the retribution that is coming? (v. 7) But if you are repentant, produce the appropriate fruits, and do not think of telling yourselves, “We have Abraham for our father” because, I tell you, God can raise children for Abraham from these stones (v. 8). Yes, even now the axe is laid to the roots of the trees, so that any tree which fails to produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown on the fire’ (v. 9). ^hWhen all the people asked him,’ what must we do then? (v. 10) he answered, If anyone has two tunics he must share with the man who has name, and the one with something to eat must do the same (v. 11) . These were tax collectors too who came for baptism, and these said to him, ‘Master, what must we do?  (v. 12) He said to them, ‘Exact no more than your rate? (v. 13) Some soldiers asked him on their turn,! What about us? What must we do? ‘He said to them, “No intimidation! No extortion! Be content with your pay! (v. 14). A feeling of expectancy had grown among the people, who were beginning to think that John might be the Christ (15), so John declared before them all, ‘I baptize you with water, but someone is coming, someone who is more powerful than I am, and I am not fit to undo the strap of his sandals; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire (v. 16). His winnowing fan is in his hands, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn; but the chaff he will burn in a fire that will never go out’ (v. 17). As well as this, there were many other things he said to exhort the people and to announce the Good News to them (v. 18).

Footnotes a to h of Lk 3:1-18 are:

^a - Here, as in 1:5 and 2:1-3, Lk dates his narrative by secular events. Tiberius succeeded Augustus, 2:1, on 19 August 14 AD. The 15^th year, therefore, is from 19 August 28 AD to 18 August 29 AD. Alternatively, if the Syrian method of calculating the year of a reign is being followed, the 15^th year is from Sept-Oct 27 AD to Sept-Oct 28 AD. At that time, Jesus was at least 33 years old, possibly 35 or 36. The indication of v. 23 is approximate, and perhaps it only means that Jesus was old enough to exercise a public ministry. The mistake in calculating the ‘Christian Era’ results from taking 3:23 as an exact figure: the 15^th year of Tiberius was 782 ‘after the foundation of Rome’; Dionysius Exiguus subtracted 29 full years from this, arriving at 753 for the beginning of our era. Actually, it should have been 750 or even 746.

^b - Procurator of Judaea (including Idumaea and Samaria) 26-36 AD.

^c - The Herod referred to is Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great and Malthake; he was tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea from 4 BC to 39 AD.

^d - Son of Herod the Great and Cleopatra, tetrarch from 4 BC to 34 AD.

^e - Known from two inscriptions. Abilene was in Anti-Lebanon.

^f-  The high priest in office was Joseph, called Caiaphas; he exercised this function from 18-36 AD and played a leading part in the plot against Jesus, cf. Mt 26:3; Jn 11:49; 18:14. His father-in-law, Annas, who had been High priest from 6 (?) to 15 AD is associated with him and even named first, cf. Ac 4:6 and Jn 18:13,24, as if his prestige was such that he was high priest in all but name.

^g - Probably in the neighborhood of Jericho.

^h- Vv. 10-14 (Lk only) emphasize the practical and positive side of John’s teaching. Salvation is for all classes of men but justice and charity are necessary in every walk of life.

The following are the excerpts from the Internet regarding the topic “John the Baptist:

a.       “Long before the appearance of John the Baptist, the Jews had been taught to expect that the God of heaven would… set up a kingdom, which would never be destroyed. This heavenly kingdom was the economy of assortment which John introduced, and the baptism of John is called the beginning of the gospel, the epoch from which the New Testament dispensation is to be computed…in the beginning of the gospel, John did baptize. John was born at Hebron, and if a judgment of his education may be formed by the character of his parents, he was trained up in the habits of piety and virtue, for they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. How he was employed in his youth; whether he were single or married; a man of property, or poor; with many other such questions, must ever remain unanswered, for his historians did not think it necessary to mention them. They thought, however, of consequence to affirm, that his conduct originated in a divine call. Three of the evangelists observe, that the coming of this extraordinary man had been foretold by the prophet Isaiah, and the fourth described him as a man sent from God, that the baptism of John was from heaven, and not of men.” (From Google eBooks. Robert Robinson, “The History of Baptism” (David Benedict, AM, editor).

b.      The same source as above continues: “When John was about thirty years of age, in obedience to the heavenly call, he entered on his ministry, by quitting to the hill-country, and going down the wilderness to the plains of Jordan, by proclaiming the kingdom of God, the near advent of the Messiah, and the necessity of preparing to receive him by laying aside sin, superstition, and by an exercise of universal justice, and lastly, by identifying the person of Jesus as the Messiah. His dress was plain, his diet abstemious, and his whole deportment grave, serious and severe. Multitudes…were baptized by him in the river Jordan, but the Pharisees and lawyers are to be excepted, for they rejected the counsel of God against themselves, and were not baptized by him. It is uncertain by what means John obtained an interview with Herod; but certain it is, re reproved him for living in adultery with Herodias his brother Philip’s wife…and told the king, “it is now lawful for thee to have they brother’s wife. Herodias was extremely displeased with John for his honest freedom, and determined to destroy him; but though she prevailed on the king to imprison him, yet she could not persuade him to put him to death. He sent an executioner, and commanded the head of the prophet to be brought, and John was assassinated in the prison.”

c.       What do some sources say about John the Baptist:

“John the Baptist was sent by God to spread the news of the coming Messiah—Jesus Christ. John was directed by God (John 1:33) to baptize those who accepted his message. John’s baptizing is called “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” Mark 1:4 (NIV). Those baptized by John acknowledged their sins and professed their faith that through the coming Messiah they would be forgiven. Baptism then is significant in that it represents the forgiveness and cleansing from sin that comes through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.”  (Online article “What is Baptism?”by Mary Fairchild)

d.      John the Baptist…“was the first performer of this sacred rite (baptism), and who administered it to the great Messiah and to multitudes of repenting Jews. This singular person is supposed to have been born in Hebron; he began preaching the doctrine of repentance in the wilderness of Judea, and soon multitudes, from the entire region round about, flocked to the harbinger of the Messiah, and confessing their sins were baptized by him in Jordan and Enon. But John’s ministry was of short duration. By some means he was introduced to king Herod, whom he reproved for living in adultery with his brother Philip’s wife. For this honest freedom John was cast into prison, where he was assassinated by the means of the guilty and enraged Herodias.” (An online article “A General History of the Baptist Denomination in America, and other parts of the World,” a book by David Benedict (1813), London: Printed by Lincoln & Edmands, No.53, Cornhill, for the author.

e.      The same source as above from the book by David Benedict continues:

“We have seen, not long since, that John the Baptist has been most extravagantly extolled by the Roman Catholics; but it appears that many modern Pedo-baptists very lightly esteem both John and his ministry. They would fain make us believe that the baptism which he administered was not gospel baptism, but was merely a continuation of Jewish ablutions, and that the gospel dispensation did not commence until after his death. By this supposition, John is left in a forlorn condition, for he is neither a Jew nor Christian, he is neither an Old Testament priest, nor a New Testament minister, but stands like the young ass-colt, where two ways met and is not permitted to go in either…The Jews sent priests and Levites to ask of him, Who art thou? And at another time they acknowledged they knew not whether his baptism was from heaven or of men. But notwithstanding all this the Pedo-baptists of the present day turn him over to the Jewish side. Such attempts are worthy the cause which requires their aid. Mark calls John’s ministry, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God….The Pedo-baptists are at liberty to make their own expositions; but the Baptists are willing to believe that Mark’s statement is correct. This novel notion of placing John under the law, leads to another absurdity respecting the baptism of the Savior.

f.        “John the Baptist was the second ‘Elijah’ (Matt. 17:12-13)…John was a type of the future ‘Elijah’—one who would also be sent by God to the world in the spirit and power of the Elijah the prophet, this time just before Christ’s Second Coming to rule the earth.“As John prepared the way for Christ’s first coming, so the prophesied Elijah to come would prepare the way for Christ’s Second Coming to earth. Jesus said that this man would ‘restore all things,’ referring to God’s Government in His Church and Christ’s Gospel of the Kingdom of God.“Malachi 4:5 is a prophecy being fulfilled in your lifetime—right now! ‘Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.’ Luke 1:17 says that John the Baptist came ‘in the spirit and power of Elias [Elijah]’ to prepare the way before the first coming of Christ. Another ‘Elijah’ is prophesied to warn the world ‘before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord’—the return of Jesus Christ in power and glory to punish the unrepentant nations of the earth! “You are being warned in advance! The Day of the Lord is coming.” Note that Christ is not speaking of the original Elijah. John the Baptist, who was a type of ‘Elijah,’ came ‘in the spirit and power of Elijah’ (Luke 1:17). John the Baptist did a one-man work.

The original Elijah was well known to all Israel. And the second Elijah, John the Baptist, also virtually “shook” the whole nation (Mark 1:5, “Then ALL the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins”). Not one soul was spiritually converted under John—though many were, no doubt, later converted on or after Pentecost A.D. 31, and the birth of the New Testament Church. John the Baptist warned one king in Judea. Elijah apparently worked with two or three kings in Israel, and perhaps certain others. John the Baptist did die through beheading after barely reaching beyond age 31. But he was also taken away from having to witness the horrible crucifixion of Christ, 2½ years later, and the catastrophic destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple a little more than 40 years later. Again, many Jews today are awaiting the fulfillment of Malachi 4:5-6. The Scribes and Pharisees of John the Baptist’s time rejected him because he did not fit their description of this passage. He did no miracles and did not sweep away the Roman legions from Jerusalem and Judea. He announced the Coming of a Christ they were unwilling to receive, whom they found to be a “stumbling block” (I Cor. 1:23; I Pet. 2:7-8). As a result, they rejected John and Christ, and went back into a waiting mode for the Elijah. Even today, many orthodox and conservative Jews put an empty place setting for Elijah at their Passover tables.(From rcg.org. “I Will Send Elijah to Restore All Things” by David C. Pack).

g.       An article from an online source regarding the “Biblical and Archaeological evidence of John the Baptist”  The Gospel of Matthew describes John the Baptist as being a contemporary of Jesus. He preached "...in the wilderness of Judea."1 He urgently called on people to repent because he believed that the kingdom of heaven was in his immediate future. The author of the Gospel of Mark relates that John survived by eating locusts and wild honey. He recognized Jesus as the "...one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose."  He baptized Jews by full immersion in the Jordan river, or in a stream that flowed into the Jordan, "...in that part of the Jordan valley (Luke, iii, 3) which is called the desert (Mark, i, 4)." The Gospel of John mentions that the baptisms were "done in Bethabara (Bethany) beyond Jordan." …John's spiritual movement survived his execution. When Paul visited Ephesus, he found a group of John's followers there. The modern-day Mandeans believers regard John the Baptist as their founder. They live in southern Iran and Iraq and number about 25,000.

The First Reading for this Sunday is taken from Is 49:1-6. This is about the Second song of the servant of Yahweh^a . Footnote ^a – “Some reckon v 7 or 7-9a as part of this song.” Parallel text is Is 42:1, which says: First song of the servant of Yahweh:^a Part One - Here is my servant^b whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom my soul delights. I have endowed with my spirit^c that he may bring true justice to the nations. Footnotes ^a says “The Book of consolation often speaks of Israel as a ‘servant of Yahweh’, chosen, set apart, saved to be God’s witness before the nations, cf. 41:8+. But the four ‘songs of the servant of Yahweh’, 42:1-9, 49:1-6; 50:4-11; 52:13-53:12, present a mysterious ‘servant’ who is some ways is like the servant-Israel of the other passages (a gloss in 49:5-6 actually identifies him with Israel); in 49:5-6 however he is distinguished from his servant-Israel and contrasted with him by other qualities which show that this mysterious servant is a particular individual. Called by Yahweh while still in his mother’s womb, 49:1,5 (cf. Jr 1:5), ‘formed’ by him, 42:6; 49:5, filled with his spirit, 42:1, the servant is  ‘disciple’ and Yahweh has opened his ears, 50:4-5, so that, by establishing justice on earth, 42:1,3, he may instruct mankind, 42:4; 50:4, sort them and judge them by his word, 50:10-11. He performs his task gently and  without display, 42:2-3; even appears to fail in it, 49:4. He accepts outrage and contempt, 50:5-6; 52:14; 53:2-3; he does not succumb because Yahweh sustains him, 42:4; 49:5; 50:7,9. The fourth song, some details of which may have been inspired by the life of Jeremiah (cf. also Ps 22), considers the suffering of this servant: like Job he is innocent, 53:9, but treated as an evil-doer whom God has punished, 53:4,12, condemned to a shameful death, 53:8-9. In fact, however all this is his own free offering for sinners whose guilt he takes on himself and for whom he intercedes, 53:4-5,8,11-12; and hitherto undreamed-of act of power, 52:15-53:1, from this atoning suffering Yahweh brings the salvation of all men, 53:6,10-12. Therefore, the servant will grow great, 52:13; he ‘will see posterity’, 53:10, and hordes of his redeemed will be his, 53:12. He will not only ‘gather’ Israel, 49:5-6, but he will be the light of the nations, 42:6; 49:6, cf. 50:10. The New Testament, cf. Mt. 3:17+; Lk 4:17-21; Ac 3:13+; 8:32-33, sees Jesus as this servant in his person the attributes of the King-Messiah, Son of David, 2 S 7:1+; Is 7:14+, are united with those of the suffering servant”; Footnote ^b says “Yahweh is speaking. He designates and consecrates the servant’; and Footnote ^c says “The spirit of the prophets, cf. Is 11:2+, the outpouring of which is the clearest sign of the messianic age, Jl 3:1-5, cf. Ac 2:16-21”.

Let us go verse by verse for this reading:

Verse 1 says: Islands, listen to me, pay attention, remotest people. Yahweh called me before I was born, from my mother’s womb he pronounced my name.

Parallel texts are:

a.       Is 41:1 - The calling of Cyrus^a Islands, keep silence before me, let the people renew their strength. Let them come forward and speak, let us appear together for judgment. Footnote ^a says: “Cyrus, the future liberator of the people of Judah exiled in Babylon, plays a prominent part in the Book of Consolation. Yahweh establishes him, not to punish (like a Sennacherib or Nebuchadnezzar), but to set free. An ancient Jewish tradition applied this passage to the call of Abraham. St Jerome (who in v. 2 translates ‘who has aroused the Just One from the East) applied it to the Messiah, who would once for all bring deliverance. Cyrus who is later called ‘the anointed of Yahweh’, 45:1+, is in any case a foreshadowing of the Messiah”.

b.      Ps 2:7 - Let me^b proclaim Yahweh’s decree; he told me, You are my son, today I have become your father. Footnote ^b says “The rebel speaks, v. 3, the Yahweh himself, v. 6, finally the Messiah, v. 7f. By consecrating him king of Israel, v. 6, God pronounces him ‘his son’; the phrase in this context is familiar in the ancient East, but in conjunction with the messianic promise of 2 S 7 it will be given a deeper meaning; Heb 1:5, followed by Christian tradition and liturgy, applies v. 7 to the eternal generation of the Word.”

c.       Jr 1:5 - Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;^e before you came to birth I consecrated you; I have appointed you as prophet to the nations. Footnote ^e– says that: “To ‘know’ means for God, to choose and predestine, cf. Am 3:2; Rm 8:29. On man’s ‘knowledge’ of God, cf. Ho 2:22.”

d.      Ga 1:15 - The God, who has especially chosen me while I was still in my mother’s womb, called me through his grace and chose to reveal his Son in me,ⁱ so that I might preach the Good News about him to the pagans. I did not stop to discuss this with any human being. Footnote ⁱ states that “Others translate ‘reveal his Son to me’. Paul is not denying that his vision was real, 1 Co 9:1; 15:8; cf. Ac 9:17; 22:14; 26:26, he is stressing the inwardness of this real vision and relating this inwardness to his call as apostle of the gentile”.

Verse 2 says:  He made my mouth a sharp sword, and hid me in the shadow of his hand. He made me into a sharpened arrow, and concealed me in his quiver.

Parallel texts are:

a.       The word of God^e is something alive and active; it cuts like any double-edged sword but more finely; it can slip through the place where the souls is divided from the spirit, or joints from the marrow; it can judge the secret emotions and thoughts. Footnote ^e says that “All that God has revealed through the prophets or through his Son, 1:1-2; 2:1-4; 3. Since the promises and threats of the message are still ‘alive’ and in force, they make it impossible for human beings to avoid declaring their intentions, i.e. they ‘judge’ them.”

b.      In his right hand he was holding seven stars, out of his mouth came a sharp sword, double-edged, and his face was like the sun shining with all its force.

c.       From his mouth came  sword^j to strike the pagans with; he is the one who will rule them in an iron scepter, and tread out the wine of Almighty God ‘s fierce anger.^k Footnote ^j  says that “ Lit. ‘a sharp blade issues out of his mouth’, symbol of the destroying Word; cf. Is 11:4; Ws 18:16 and also Ho 6:5; Rv 1:16; 2 Th 2:8”; and  ^k says that “The winepress is a common image in prophetic literature for God’s destruction of his people’s enemies on the Great Day of his revenge; cf. Gn 49:9-12; Jr 25:30; Is 63:1-6; Jl 4:13. On the ‘wine of anger’, cf . 14:8+ and Is 51:17+.”

d.      But he,^l is he not something precious to me,^m sealed inside my treasury? Footnote ^l says : “‘he’, i.e. Israel whom God keeps in readiness for a time. The canticle now tells of Israel’s deliverance and of the punishment of his enemies; cf. Is 14:47; 51; and the prophecies of Jr and Ezk against the nations”; and ^m  says “Lit. ‘like a tribute with me’. It was the custom of vassal nations to pay tribute in precious stones, etc”.

Verse 3 says that: “He said to me, ‘You are my servant (Israel)^b in whom I shall be glorified;”  Footnote  ^b - This identification of the servant, hard to reconcile with vv.5,6, cf. 42:1+, is probably a gloss suggested by 44:21.

Parallel texts are:

a.       Mt 3:17 - And a voice spoke from heaven, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; my favor rests on him’ⁿ Footnote ⁿ says that: “The immediate purpose of this sentence is to declare that Jesus is in truth the servant foretold by Isaiah, but the substitution of ‘Son’ for ‘servant’ (made possible by the double sense of the Greek word pais) underlines the relationship of Jesus with the Father, which is that of anointed Son, cf.4:3+.”

b.      2 Th 1:10 – “…on that day when he comes to be glorified among his saints and seen in his glory by all who believe in him;^d and you are believers, through our witness. ^e” Footnote  ^d  says: “Paul here seems to be thinking of angels (the ‘saints’, cf. Ac 9:13+) and Christians (‘those who believe’); and ^e-   states that “Vv. 6-10 form a parenthesis, v.11 follows on from v.5.”

Verse 4 says that: While I was thinking, ‘I have toiled in vain, I have exhausted myself for nothing’; and all the while my cause was with Yahweh, my reward with my God.

Parallel texts are:

a.       Is 53:10-12 - Yahweh has been pleased to crush him with suffering.^h If he offers his life in atonement, he shall his heirs, he shall have a long life and through him what Yahweh wishes will be done. His soul’s anguish over he shall see the lightⁱ and be content. By his sufferings shall my servant justify many,^j taking their faults on himself. Hence I will grant whole hordes for his tribute, he shall divide the spoil with the mighty, for surrendering himself to  death and letting himself be taken for a sinner, while he was bearing the faults of many and praying all the time for sinners.  Footnote ^h –“‘with suffering’ corr., cf. versions; ‘he has pierced him’ DSIa, cf. v. 5.”; ⁱ- “‘the light’ Greek, DSIa and DSIb; absent from Hebr.”; and  ^j – “‘By his suffering’ corr. following one  Hebr. MS; ‘By his knowledge’ Hebr. Before ‘servant’ Hebr. inserts ‘the just one’.”

b.      Jn 17:5 - Now, Father, it is time to glorify me with the glory I had with you^f before ever the world was. Footnote ^f – says that: “Var. ‘the glory which was with you’ or ‘the glory with which I was’ or ‘the glory with you’.”

c.       Ph 2:8-11 - …he was humbler yet, even to accepting death, death on a cross (v. 8).But God raised him high and gave him the name which is above all other names (v. 9) so that all beings in the heavens, on earth and the underworld,ⁿ should bend the knee at the name of Jesus (v. 10) and that every tongue should acclaim ^o Jesus Christ as Lord, ^p to the glory of God the Father.^q  (v. 11). Footnote  ^k- states that “Lit ‘super-raised him’; by the resurrection and ascension.”; ^l states that “Named him ‘Lord’, v. 11; or, at a deeper level, gave him an ineffable and divine name which, through the triumph of the risen Christ, can now be expressed by the title Kyrios, Lord, cf. Ac 2:21; 3:16+”; ^m states  “Greater even than the angels, cf. Ef 1:21; Heb 1:4; 1 P 3:22. ⁿ - The three cosmic divisions that cover the entire creation, cf. Rv 5:3,13. ^o –  Var. ‘and every tongue shall acclaim’”; ^p states  “Om. ‘Christ’. This proclamation is the essence of the Christian creed, Rm. 10:9, 1 Co. 12:3, cf. Col. 2:6. The use of Is. 45:23 (in which this homage is addressed to Yahweh himself) is a clear indication of the divine character that is meant to be understood by the title Kyrios, cf. Jn. 20:28, Ac. 2:36; and ^q states that “Vulg. Interpretation is ‘proclaim that Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father’”.

Verse 5 says:  I was honored in the eyes of Yahweh, my God was my strength. And now Yahweh has spoken, he who formed me in the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, to gather Israel to him^c. Footnote ^c says that “‘gather to him’ following some MSS and Syr.”

Parallel text is Jr 1:5, which says: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;^e before you came to birth I consecrated you; I have appointed you as prophet to the nations. Footnote ^e states that “To ‘know’ means for God, to choose and predestine, cf. Am 3:2; Rm 8:29. On man’s ‘knowledge’ of God, cf. Ho 2:22.”

Verse 6 is a  ‘It is not enough for you to be my servant, to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back the survivors of Israel; I will make you the light of the nations so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth’.

Parallel texts are:

a.       Tb 13:11 - A bright light shall shine over all the regions of the earth; many nations shall come from far away. From all the ends of the earth, to dwell close to the holy name of the Lord God, with gifts in their hands for the King of heaven. Within you, generation after generation shall proclaim their joy, and the name of her who is Elect shall endure through the generations to come.

b.      Ps 2:8 - Ask and I will give you the nations for your heritage, the ends of the earth for your domain.

c.       Lk 2:32 - …a light to enlighten the pagans and the glory of your people Israel.

d.      For this is what the Lord commanded us to do when he said:  I have made you a light for the nations, so that my salvation may reach the ends of the earth.^ff Footnote ^ff says: “LXX text quoted freely: The words may be taken either as referring to Paul himself (cf. 26:17-18), apostle and teacher of the pagans (cf. Rm 11:13; 1 Tm 2:7; Ep 3:8 etc.), or to the risen Christ (see Ac 26:23 which also, it seems,  is based on Is 49:6; and see Lk 2:32, dependent on Is 49:6,9): Christ is the light of the pagans, but since only the apostle’s witness can spread this light, cf. Ac 1:8+, Paul considers this prophecy as a command that he must carry out.”

Second Reading for this Sunday is taken from  Ac 13:22-26. Verse by verse this scripture  says:

Verse 22 says: [In those days, Paul said:] he (God) deposed him (Saul) and made David their king, of whom he approved in these words, “I have selected David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who will carry out my whole purpose’.

Parallel texts are:

a.       1 S 13:14 - But now your sovereignty will not last; Yahweh has searched out a man for himself after his own heart^l and designated him leader of his people, since you have not carried out what Yahweh ordered you.  Footnote ^l says: “The tragedy of King Saul: though he is Yahweh’s chosen one and the savior of his people, ch 1 and 14, Yahweh casts him off, ch 13 and 15. The Bible, from the preference shown to Jacob rather than to Esau, Gn 25:23, cf. Rm 9:13, from Israel’s election, Dt 7:6, Am 3:2, to the calling of the apostles, teaches the free bestowal of God’s choice. But it teaches also that persistence if God’s favor depends on the faithfulness of the chosen one: Saul betrayed his choice.”

b.      Ps 89:20 - I have selected my servant David and anointed him with my holy oil.

c.       Is 44:28 - I am he who says of Cyrus, “My shepherd- he will fulfill my whole purpose, saying^p of Jerusalem, “Let her be rebuilt”, and of the Temple, “Let your foundation be laid”. Footnote ^p– says: “Or, following the version, “I it is who say’”.

Verse 23 says: To keep his promise, God has raised upⁿ for Israel one of David’s descendants, Jesus as Saviour. Footnote ⁿ–Or ‘raised from the dead’. The Greek verb can mea either and this ambivalence is exploited in the argument, as in 3:20-26; the promise finds fulfillment in Christ’s resurrection, vv 32-33; see also 26:6-8; moreover, it is by his resurrection that Jesus is established as savior, cf. 5:31; see also 2:21; 4:12; Rm 5:9-10; Ph 3:20, etc. Thus the verb which means ‘raise up’ in v. 22 unequivocally means ‘raise from the dead’ from v. 30 onwards. In v 23 it is transitional and ambiguous.

Parallel texts are:

a.       Ac 13:32 - We have come here to tell you the Good News. It was to our ancestors that God made the promise but…

b.      Ac 19:3-4  - ‘Then how were you baptized?’ he asked. ‘With John’s baptism’ they replied.

Verses 24 and 25 are: …whose coming was heralded by John when he proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the whole people of Israel. Before John ended his career he said, “I am not the one^o you imagine me to be; that one is coming after me and I am not fit to undo his sandal”. Footnote ^o – Var ‘what’.

Parallel texts are:

a.       Ml 3:1-2 - Look, I am going to send my messenger to prepare a way before me.^a And the Lord you are seeking will suddenly enter the Temple: and the angel of the covenant^b whom you are longing for, yes, he is coming, says Yahweh Sabaoth. Who will be able to resist the day of his coming? Who will remain standing when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and a fuller’s alkali. Footnote ^a – says that: “The precursor of Yahweh, already spoken of in Is. 40:3, will be identified with Elijah, Ml. 3:23. Mt. 11:10 applies text to John the Baptist, the new Elijah, Mt. 11:14; ^b  says: “The angel of the New Covenant is not the precursor spoken of above, since his arrival at the Temple is simultaneous with that of Yahweh. It is probably an enigmatic designation of Yahweh himself, derived from Ex. 3:2; 23:20, cf. Gn. 16:7+. Mt. 11:10 implies its implication to Jesus.”

b.      Lk 1:76 - And you, little child, you shall be called Prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord^dd to prepare the way for him.  Footnote ^dd says: “i.e. God, as in 1:16-17, not the Messiah.”

c.       Mt 3:11 - I baptize you in water for repentance, but the one who follows me is more powerful then I am, and I am not fit to carry his sandals; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ^hFootnote ^h – In the OT, fire, a purifying element more refined and efficacious than water, was already a symbol of God’s supreme intervention in history and of his spirit, which comes to purify hearts, cf. Is. 1:25, Zc. 13:9, Ml. 3:2-3, Si. 2:5, etc.

d.      Jn 1:20 - …he not only declared, but he declared quite openly, ‘I am not the Christ’.

Verse 26 says: My, brothers, son of Abraham’s race, and all you who fear God, this message of salvation is meant for you.^p  Footnote  ^p–Var ‘for us’.

Parallel text is from Ac 5:20 that says: ‘Go and stand in the Temple, and tell the people all about this new Life.”^g  Footnote ^g–Lit. ‘all the words (cf. v. 32; 10:37) of this Life’. This means the same thing as ‘the message of salvation’, 13:26. The purpose of Christian preaching is the ‘salvation’, cf. 4:12; 11:14; 15:11; 16:17, 30-31, and ‘life’, cf. 3:15; 11:18; 13:46,48, promised to those ‘who invoke the name of the Lord’, 2:21,40,47; 4:12.

CORPUS ET SANGUIS CHRISTI (Cycle B)

Homily for Corpus et Sanguis Christi Sunday (Cycle B)

Based on  Mk 14:12-16, 22-26 (Gospel),  Ex 24:3-8 (First Reading) and Heb 9:11-15 (Second Reading)

From the Series: “Reflections and Teachings of the Desert”

CORPUS ET SANGUIS CHRISTI

“New Covenant with His Body and Blood”

Today’s gospel reading is taken from Mk 14:12-16, 22-26. It is titled: Preparations for the Passover supper.

This title has two parallel texts:

a.        Mt 26:17-19 - Now on the first day of the Unleavened Bread^d the disciples came to Jesus to say, ‘Where do you want us to make the preparations for you to eat the passover?’  He replied, ‘Go to so and so in the city and say to him, “The Master says: My time is near. It is at your house that I am keeping Passover with my disciples”’. The disciples did what Jesus told them and prepared the Passover. Footnote ^d- The ‘first day’ of the week during which unleavened loaves (azymes) were eaten, cf. Ex. 12:1+; 23:14+, was normally that which followed the Passover supper, i.e. the 15^th of Nissan; the Synoptics however give this title to the preceding day, thus attesting the wider use of the term. Further, if we take account of Jn 18:28 and of other details connected with the Passion, it is fairly certain that in this particular year the Passover supper was celebrated on the evening of Friday (or ‘Preparation Day’, Mt 27:62; f. Jn 19:14,31,42). Christ’s Last Supper, which the Synoptics put on the day before, i.e. on the Thursday evening, must therefore be explained in one of two ways: either a whole section of the Jewish people thus anticipated the rite, or (and this is referable) Christ anticipated it on his own initiative. In this second hypothesis Jesus, unable to celebrate the Passover on the Friday (though, indeed, he celebrated it in his own person on the cross, Jn 19:36+; 1 Co 5:7), instituted his new rite in the course of a supper which, in consequence, became endowed with the characteristics of the old Passover. Nisan 14^th (the day of the Passover supper) fell on a Friday in 30 and 33 AD; interpreters therefore take one or other of these years as the date of Christ’s death according as they assign his baptism in 28 or to 29 and reckon a longer or shorter public ministry. Note: the Dead Sea scrolls have recently revealed a community which, following a solar calendar, always celebrated the Passover supper on a Tuesday evening, it is possible that Jesus did the same. If so, the Synoptics have fitted into a few hours juridical processes which in fact took days.”

b.      Lk 22:7-13 - The day of the Unleavened Bread came round, the day on which the Passover had to be sacrificed, and he sent Peter and John saying, ‘Go and make the preparations for us to eat the passover’. They asked, ‘Where do you want us to prepare it?’ He said, ‘Listen, as you go into the city you will meet a man carrying a pitcher of water. Follow him into the house he enters And tell the owner of the house, “The Master has this to say to you: ‘Where is the dining room in which I can eat the Passover with my disciples?’ The man will show you a large upper room furnished with couches. Make the preparations there”. They set off and found everything as he had told them, and prepared the Passover.

Verse 12 and 13 say: On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb was sacrificed, his disciples said to him, "Where do you want us to go and make the preparations for you to eat the passover?" So he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, "Go into the city and you will meet a man carrying a pitcher of water. Follow him.

Parallel text is 1 S 10:2-5 that says: … “when you leave me now, you will meet two men near the tomb of Rachel, on the frontiers of Benjamin…^b and they will say to you, ‘The she-donkeys you went in search of have been found and your father has lost interest in the she-donkeys and is worrying about you, thinking ‘What am I to do about my son?” Going further from there you will come to the Oak of Tabor where three men will meet you, going up to God at Bethel; one will be carrying three kids, one three loaves of bread and the third a skin of wine. They will greet you and will give you two loaves of bread which you must accept from them. After this you will go to Gibeah of God^c (where the Philistine pillar^d is).” Footnote ^b – “The word omitted is incomprehensible in Hebr. The ‘frontiers’ are those between Benjamin and Ephraim: Saul is on his way from there. Ancient traditions (and cf. Jr 31:15) located Rachel’s tomb there: later it was said to be near Bethlehem where it is still shown, cf. the gloss of Gn 35:19”; Footnote ^c – “Another name for Gibeah, Saul’s home, vv 10f; 11:4; 15:34”; and Footnote ^d – “Others translate ‘governor’. The parenthesis is a gloss preparing the reader for 13:3”.

Verses 14, 15 and 16 say: And say to the owner of the house which he enters, 'The Master says: Where is my dining room, in which I can eat the passover with my disciples?' He will show you a large upper room, furnished with couches, all prepared. Make preparations for us there." The disciples set out and went to the city and found everything just as he had told them, and prepared the Passover.

Parallel texts are:

a.       Mt 26:26-29 - Institution of the Eucharist - Now as they were eating,^f Jesus took some bread, and when he had said the blessing he broke it and gave it to the disciples. He said, ‘Take it and eat; this is my body’ (v. 26).  Then he took a cup, and when he had returned thanks he gave it to them. He said, ‘Drink all of you from this (v. 27).  For this is my blood, the blood of the ^gcovenant, which is to be poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.^h (v. 28). From now on, I tell you, I shall not drink wine until the day I drink the new wine with you in the kingdom of my Father.’ After psalms had been sung they left for the Mount of Olives. Footnote ^f– “They have come to the Passover supper itself. The rubrics for this solemn blessing of bread and wine are laid down exactly; on to this ceremony Jesus grafts the sacramental rites of the new religious order of things which he institutes”; Footnote ^g – “Add (Vulg.) ‘new’, cf. Lk 22:20; 1 Co 11:25”; Footnote  ^h  - “As at Sinai, the blood of victims sealed the covenant of Yahweh with his people, Ex. 24:4-8+, so on the cross the blood of Jesus, the perfect victim, is about to seal the ‘new’ covenant, cf. Lk. 22:20, between God  and man - the covenant foretold by the prophets, Jr 31:31+. Jesus takes on himself the task of universal redemption that Isaiah assigns to the ‘servant of Yahweh’, Is. 42:6; 49:6; 53:12, cf. 41:8+. Cf. Heb 8:8; 9:15; 12:24.”

b.      Lk 22:14-20 - When the hour came he took his place at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them,^d ‘I have longed to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; because, I tell you, I shall not eat it again until it is fulfilled^e in the kingdom of God’. And taking the cup,^f he gave thanks and said, ‘Take this and share it among you, because from now on, I tell you, I shall not drink wine until the kingdom of God comes’. The he took some bread and when he had given thanks, broke it and gave it to them saying, ‘This is my body which will be given for you; do this as a memorial of me.’ He did the same with the cup after supper, and said, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood which will be poured out for you.’ He then left to make his way as usual to the Mount of Olives, with the disciples following. Footnote ^d–“In Lk. Christ’s discourses at the supper play a more important part than in Mt and Mk, preparing us for those in Jn 13:31-17:26”; Footnote ^e– “The first stage of fulfillment is the Eucharist itself, the center of spiritual in the kingdom founded by Jesus: the final stage will be at the end of time when the Passover is to be fulfilled perfectly and in a fashion no longer veiled; and Footnote ^f -Lk distinguishes the Passover and the cup of vv. 15-18 from the bread and the cup from vv. 19-20 in order to draw a parallel between the ancient rite of the Jewish Passover and the new rite of the Christian Eucharist. Some ancient authorities, failing to understand this theological device, and disturbed to find two cups mentioned, quite mistakenly omitted v. 20, or even v. 20 with the second part of v. 19 (i.e. ‘which will be given…of me’).”

c.       1 Co 11:23-25 - For this is what I received from the Lord, and in turn passed on to you: that on the same night that he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread, and thanked God for it and broke it, and he said, ‘This is my body, which is for you;ⁱ do this as a memorial of me. In the same way he took the cup after supper, and said, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do this as a memorial of me.’ Footnote ⁱ– “Var. ‘This is my body, broken for you.’”

Verse 22 to 25 say: As they were eating, he took bread, and when he had said the blessing he broke it and gave it to them, ‘Take it’ he said ‘this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, and when he had returned thanks he gave it to them, and all drank from it. And he said to them, ‘This is my blood, the blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,’ "I tell you solemnly, I shall not drink any more wine until that day when I drink the new wine in the kingdom of God.’

Parallel texts are:

a.       Lk 22:18 - …because from now on, I tell you, I shall not drink wine until the kingdom of God comes’.

b.      Mt 8:11 - And I tell you that many will come from east and west to take their places with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob at the feast^c in the kingdom of heaven… Footnote ^c –“Basing their idea on Is 25:6, the Jews often described the joyous messianic era as a banquet (cf. 22:2-14; 26:29p; Lk 14:15; Rv 3:20; 19:9)”.

Verse 26 says: When psalms had been sung they left for the Mount of Olives.

Parallel text is from Jn 18:1-2 that says: After he had said all this Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kedron Valley. There was a garden there, and he went into it with his disciples.  Judas the traitor knew the place well, since Jesus had often met his disciples there…

This Sunday’s First Reading is taken from Ex 24:3-8. This reading is entitled: The Covenant Ratified^a. This title has a footnote ^a says: “This ch. seems to combine two traditions. In the ‘Yahwistic’ tradition (vv.1-2, 9-11) the Covenant is confirmed by a meal in the presence of God; in the ‘Elohistic’ tradition 9v. 3-8) by the sprinkling of blood  in the presence of the people at the foot of the mountain.”

Verse 3 says: Moses went and told the people all the commands of Yahweh and all the ordinances.^b In answer, all the people said with one voice, ‘We will observe all the commands that Yahweh has decreed’.  Footnote ^b – says “The commands (or words, debarim) which alone are referred to in what follows, may indicate the Decalogue. The ordinances (mishpatim) are possibly those of  21:1-22:17.

Parallel texts are:

a.       Dt 5:27 - You, then, go near and hear everything Yahweh our God will say and tell us all that Yahweh our God says to you: we will listen and observe it.

b.      Jos 24:16-24 - The people answered, “We have no intention of deserting Yahweh and serving other gods! Was it not Yahweh our God who brought us and our ancestors out of the land of Egypt, the house of slavery, who worked those great wonders before our eyes and preserved us all along the way we travelled and among all the peoples through whom we journeyed? What is more, Yahweh drove all those peoples out before us, as well as the Amorites who tried to live in this country. We too will serve Yahweh, for he is our God.’ Then Joshua said to the people, ‘You cannot serve Yahweh, because he is a holy God, he is a jealous God, who will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. If you desert Yahweh to follow alien gods he in turn will afflict and destroy you, after the goodness he has shown you.’ The people answered Joshua, ‘No; it is Yahwehwe wish to serve’. Then Joshua said to the people, ‘You are  witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen Yahweh, to serve him.’ They answered, ‘We are witnesses’. ‘Then cast away the alien gods among you and give your hearts to Yahweh, the God of Israel!’ The people answered Joshua, ‘It is Yahweh our God we choose to serve, it is his voice that we will obey’.

Verse 4 says: Moses put all the commands of Yahweh into writing, and early next morning he built an altar at the foot of the mountain, with twelve standing-stones for the twelve tribes of Israel.

Parallel texts are:

a.       Ex 34:27-28 - Yahweh said to Moses, ‘Put these words in writing, for they are the terms of the covenant I am making with you and Israel’. He stayed there with Yahweh for forty days and forty nights, eating and drinking nothing. He^h inscribed on the tablets the words of the Covenant - the Ten Words. Footnote ^h - Moses, cf. v. 27.

b.      Jos 4:1-9, 20-24 - When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, Yahweh spoke to Joshua, (v. 1) ‘Choose out twelve men from the people, one from each tribe, and give them this command: ‘Take from here, from mid-Jordan, twelve stones;^a carry them with you and set them down in the camp where you pass the night’’ (vv2-3). Joshua called the twelve men he had marked out among the Israelites, one from each tribe (v. 4), and told them, ‘Pass on before the ark of Yahweh your God into mid-Jordan, and each of you take one stone on his shoulder, matching the number of the tribes of Israel (v. 5), to make a memorial of this in your midst; for when in days to come your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean for you?’ (v. 6) you will tell them, ‘The waters of the Jordan separated in front of the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, and when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the river vanished. These stones are an everlasting reminder of this to the Israelites.”’ (v. 7) The Israelites did as Joshua told them; they took twelve stones from mid-Jordan to match the number of the tribes of Israel, as Yahweh had told Joshua, they carried them over to the camp and set them down there (v. 8). Then Joshua set up twelve stones in mid-Jordan in the spot where the feet of the priests who carried the ark had rested; they are there even now.^b (v. 9). As the stones that had been taken from the Jordan, Joshua set them up at Gilgal(v. 20). Then he said to the Israelites, “When your children in days to come ask their fathers, ‘What is the meaning of these stones?” (v. 21) tell them this, “You see the Jordan, Israel had crossed it over dry-shod (v. 22), because Yahweh your God dried up the waters of the Jordan in front of you until you had crossed, just as Yahweh your God had done with the Sea of Reeds, which he dried up before us till we had crossed it (vv. 23); so that all the peoples of the earth may recognize how mighty the hand of Yahweh is, and that you yourselves may always stand in awe of Yahweh your God’’ (v. 24)’. Footnote ^a–“‘from mid-Jordan, twelve stones’ Greek;” Footnote ^b says “The narratives shows signs of two distinct traditions which it has placed side by side. The first account, deriving from the sanctuary at Gilgal, connects the circles of stones that were to be seen there, 4:19+, with the crossing of the twelve tribes. The second account, ‘Priestly’ in origin, locates the twelve stones in the Jordan itself, so that henceforth they were invisible; this account evidently dates back to the time when the prophets were attacking the heterodox worship at Gilgal.”

c.       Jos 24:26-27 - Joshua wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God. Then he took a great stone and set it up there, under the oak in the sanctuary of Yahweh, (v. 26) and Joshua said to all the people, ‘See! This stone shall be a witness against us^c because it has heard all the words that Yahweh has spoken to us: it shall be a witness against you in case you deny your God.’ (v. 27). Footnote ^c-  “Cf. the heap of stones, Gn 31:48,52, the altar JOs 22:26f, and the stele, Is 19:19-20, set up as ‘witnesses’.”

d.      1 K 18:31 - Elijah took twelve stones , corresponding to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of Yahweh had come, ‘Israel shall be your name’.

e.      Zc 9:11 - As for you. Because of the blood of the covenantⁿ I am sending your prisoners from the pit ( in which there is no water). Footnote  ⁿ – “Allusion either to the ceremony at Sinai, Ex. 24:5f, or to the sacrifice offered in the temple.”

Verses 5 and 6 says: Then he directed certain young Israelites to offer holocausts and to immolate bullocks to Yahweh as communion sacrifices. Half of the blood Moses took up and put into basins, the other half he cast on the altar.

Parallel text is from Ex 29:16-18 that says: You are to immolate the ram, take out its blood and pour it out on the surrounds of the altar (v. 16). Next, divide the ram in pieces and wash the entrails and legs and put them on top of the pieces and the head (v. 17). Then burn the whole ram on the altar. This will be a burnt offering whose fragrance will appease^d Yahweh; it will be a holocaust in honor of Yahweh (v. 18). Footnote ^d - An anthropomorphism for God’s acceptance of the offering, cf. also v. 25,41, etc.; Gn 8:21; Lv 1:9; Nb 28:2.

Verses 7 and 8 says: And taking the book of the Covenant he read it to the listening people, and they said, ‘We will observe all that Yahweh has decreed; we will obey.’ Then Moses took the blood^c and cast it towards the people. ‘This’ he said ‘is the blood of the Covenant that Yahweh has made with you, containing all the rules.’ Footnote ^c –“Moses is the mediator between God and the people; he unites them symbolically by sprinkling the blood of a single victim first on the altar, which represents Yahweh, and then on the people. In this way the pact is ratified by blood,  cf. Lv 1:5+, just as the New Covenant is ratified by the blood of Christ.”

Parallel texts are:

a.       Ps 50:5 - Assemble my people before me who sealed my covenant by sacrifice!

b.      Mt 26:28 - For this is my blood, the blood of the^gcovenant, which is to be poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.^h Footnote ^g – “Add (Vulg.) ‘new’, cf. Lk 22:20; 1 Co 11:25”; Footnote ^h  - “As at Sinai, the blood of victims sealed the covenant of Yahweh with his people, Ex. 24:4-8+, so on the cross the blood of Jesus, the perfect victim, is about to seal the ‘new’ covenant, cf. Lk. 22:20, between God  and man - the covenant foretold by the prophets, Jr 31:31+. Jesus takes on himself the task of universal redemption that Isaiah assigns to the ‘servant of Yahweh’, Is. 42:6; 49:6; 53:12, cf. 41:8+. Cf. Heb 8:8; 9:15; 12:24.”

c.       Heb 9:18-20 - Christ seals the new covenant with his blood^h

That explains why even the earlier covenant needed something to be killed in order to take effect (v. 18), and why, after Moses had announced all the commandments of the Law to the people, he took the calves’ blood, the goats’ blood and some water, and with these he sprinkled the book itself and all the people, using scarlet wool and hyssop; (v. 19) saying as he did so: This is the blood of the covenant that God has laid down for you (v. 20). Footnote ^h - This section is parallel to 8:6-13: it shows that the death of Christ was essential for him to act as mediator. It does this by making use of a pun: the Greek word diathḕkḕ can mean ‘pact’, as in v. 15, 18-20, or ‘last will and testament’ as in vv. 16-17; this makes it possible for the author to argue that the ‘pact’ or covenant suggests the death of a ‘testator’. All pacts were sealed with the shedding of blood, Ex. 24:6-8.

d.      Heb 10:29-30 - And you may be sure that anyone who tramples on the Son of God, and who treat the blood of the covenant which sanctified him as if it were not holy, and who insults the Spirit of grace, will be condemned to a far severer punishment (v. 29). We are all aware who it was that said: Vengeance is mine; I will repay. And again: The Lord will judge his people. (v. 30).

e.      1 P 1:2 - …by the provident purpose of God the Father, to be made holy by the Spirit, obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood.^b Grace and peace be with you more and more. Footnote ^b – “Trinitarian formula, cf. 2 Co 13:13+.”

f.        Heb 9:9 - It is a symbol of this present time.^d None of the gifts and sacrifices offered under these regulations can possibly bring any worshipper to perfection in his inner self… Footnote ^d – “The spiritual meaning of this ceremonial arrangement is that under the old covenant the people had no access to God. Under the new covenant, Christ himself is the way to the Father, Jn 14:6; cf. Heb 10:19+. The abrogation of the old worship can thus be appropriately symbolized by the Temple curtain splitting wide open at the death of Jesus, Mt 27:51p.”

The Second Reading for this Sunday is Heb 9:11-15.”

Verse 11 says: But now Christ has come, as the high priest of all blessings which were to come.^e He has passed through the greater, the more perfect tent, which is better than the one made by men’s hands because it is not of this created order. Footnote ^e – “Var. ‘blessings already won’.”

Parallel texts are:

a.       Heb 4:14 - Since in Jesus, the Son of God, we have the supreme high priest who has gone through the highest heaven, we must never let go of the faith that we have professed.

b.      Heb 9:24 - It is not as though Christ had entered a man-made sanctuary which was only modeled on the real one; but it was not heaven itself, so that he could appear in the actual presence of God on our behalf.

c.       Heb 10:20 - …by a new way which he has opened for us, a living opening through the curtain, that is to say, his body.

d.      Ac 7:48 - Even so the Most High does not live in a house that human hands have built or as the prophet says..

Verse 12  says: And he has entered the sanctuary^f once and for all, taking with him not the blood of goats and bull calves, but his own blood, having won an eternal redemption for us. Footnote ^f - In his ascension Christ ‘passed through’ all the successive heavenly spheres that form the ‘Holy Place’ of the celestial Tent, and so came into the presence of God in the celestial “Holy of Holies’.

Parallel texts are:

a.       Heb 7:27 - …one who would not need to offer sacrifice every day, as the other high priests do for their own sins and then for those of the people, because he has done this once and for all^g by offering himself.  Footnote ^g–“The one and only sacrifice of Christ is the center of salvation history, Ac 1:7+. It closes a long epoch of preparations, 1:1f, cf. Rm 10:4; it occurs ‘at the appointed time’, Ga. 4:4+, Rm 3:26+, and it begins the eschatological epoch. Though the Last Day, 1 Co 1:8+; Rm 2:6+, will follow, 2 Co 6:2+, only at some unspecified, 1 Th 5:1+, time in the future; salvation for the human race has been in essence certain from the moment when, in the person of Christ, it died to sin and rose to live again. Heb makes a special point of how the whole of this hope flow from the absolute, unique, unrepeatable sacrifice of Christ, 7:27; 9:12,26,28; 10:10; cf. Rm 6:10; 1 P 3:18. Being unrepeatable, 10:12-14, this sacrifice is different  from all others in the O.T. that had to be repeated again and again because they were unable to actually to save anyone.”

b.      Mt 26:28 - For this is my blood, the blood of the ^gcovenant, which is to be poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.^h Footnote ^g says: “Add (Vulg.) ‘new’, cf. Lk 22:20; 1 Co 11:25”; Footnote ^h  says: “As at Sinai, the blood of victims sealed the covenant of Yahweh with his people, Ex. 24:4-8+, so on the cross the blood of Jesus, the perfect victim, is about to seal the ‘new’ covenant, cf. Lk. 22:20, between God  and man - the covenant foretold by the prophets, Jr 31:31+. Jesus takes on himself the task of universal redemption that Isaiah assigns to the ‘servant of Yahweh’, Is. 42:6; 49:6; 53:12, cf. 41:8+. Cf. Heb 8:8; 9:15; 12:24”.

c.       Rm 3:24 - And both are justified through the free gift of his graceⁱ by being redeemed^j in Christ Jesus. Footnote ⁱ says  “This word (charis) when used with reference to human relationships can mean as the quality that makes a person attractive (Ac. 2:47), or it can mean thank for a gift (Lk. 6:32-34; 17:9); or it can mean something given free and unearned (Ac. 25:3, 1 Co. 16:3, 2 Co. 8:6-7, 19). This last sense predominates in the NT and especially in Paul. (John uses agape), who uses the word to describe the way God saves through Jesus: it is a work of spontaneous love to which no one has any claim It was an act of ‘grace’ for Jesus to come on earth (2 Co. 8:9, Tt. 2:11, Jh. 1:14,47); to die (Heb. 2:9), for his Father to give up as a gift that includes all divine favors (Rm 8:32; cf. 1 Co 2:12; Ep 1:8f): justification, salvation, and the right to inherit by having faith in him, without having to perform the works of the Law ( Rm 3:24; 4:4f; Ep 2:5,8; Tt. 3:7; cf. Ac 15:11): it will also be an act of ‘grace’ for Christ to come again at the end of the world and for us to receive everlasting glory (1 P1:13; 2 Th 1:12). It was by grace that Abraham received the promise (Rm 4:16; Ga 3:18) and that a few Israelites were chosen to survive  (Rm 11:5f). Since grace is God’s love for us, it is inexhaustible (Ep 1:7; 2:7; cf. 2 Co 4:15; 9:8,14; 1 Tm 1:14) and it conquers sins (Rm 5:15,7,20). The one word ‘grace’ is so useful and full of meaning that it can be used to indicate the entire messianic era that was once proclaimed by the prophets (1 P.1:10) and is now proclaimed as the  Good News (Col 1:6; cf. Ac 14:3; 20:24,32). The word sumps up the gifts of God so well that Paul begins and ends his letters by wishing ‘grace’ to all his readers (1 Th 1:1 and 5:28, etc.; cf 1 P 1:2; 5:10,12; 2 P 1:2; 3:8, 2 Jn 3; Rv 1:4; 22:21). It is by an act of grace that ‘the God of all grace’ (1 P 5:10) calls men to salvation (Ga 1:6; 2 Tim 1:9; 1 P 3:7), leads them with all spiritual gifts (1 Co 1:4-7; cf 2 Th 2:16; Ac 6:8), makes Paul an apostle of the pagans (Rm 1:5; 12:3; 15:15f; 1 Co 3:10; Ga 1:15f; 2:9; Ep 3:2,7,8; Ph 1:2) and assigns to each Christian a part he has to play in the life of the Church (Rm 12:6; 1 Co 12:1+; 2 Co 8:1;  Ep 4:7;  1 P 4:10); similarly, it is a ‘grace’ to suffer for Christ (Ph 1:29; 1 P 2:19-20). Mary ’found grace’ with God (Lk 1:30; cfAc 7:46; and LXX passim); Jesus himself received the ‘grace’ of the highest name of all (Ph 2:9; cf. Lk 2:40). For human beings to be agreeable to God depends primarily on God’s initiative and secondarily on human response. It is possible to receive grace I vain (2 Co 6:1; cf. 1 Co 5:10), to fall from grace (Ga. 5:4), to forfeit grace (Heb 12:15), and thus to insult the Spirit of grace (Heb 10:29). Grace obtained must be carefully guarded (Rm 5:2; Heb 12:28; 1 P 5:12) and used wisely (1 P 4:10); it is not enough to remain in grace (Ac 13:43; cf 14:26;  15:40), it  must increase (2 P 3:18), to strengthen us (2 Tm 2:1), and help us to persist in our good intention (Heb 13:9). This divine help is given to the humble (Jm 4:6; 1 P 5:5) and is obtained by prayer, since this is to approach ‘the throne of grace’ confidently (Heb 4:26). Grace will be granted and will be found sufficient; it is the power of Christ operating in weak man (2 Co 12:9; cf/ 1 Co 15:10) and this grace of Christ triumphs over unspiritual wisdom (2 Co 1:12). The same word charis is also used for thanksgiving (Rm 6:17; 7:25; 1 Co 10:30; 15:57; 2 Co 2:14; 8:16; 9:15; Col 3:6; 1 Tm 1:12; 2 Tm 1:3;and cf. the verb eucharistein), since gratitude to God is the fundamental and necessary disposition for grace. From all these shades of meaning, it is clear that the word charis is always used to emphasize that the gift  is absolutely free: to bring out its power and its inwardness Paul also uses the word pneuma (cf. Rm 5:5+)”; Footnote ^j says: “Yahweh had ‘redeemed’ Israel by delivering her from slavery of Egypt, to provide himself with a nation for his ‘inheritance’ Dt 7:6+. When the prophets spoke of the ‘redemption’ from Babylon, Is 41:14+, they hinted at a deliverance more profound and less restricted, the forgiveness that is deliverance from sin, Is 44:22; cf Ps 130:8; 49:7-8. This messianic redemption is fulfilled in Christ, 1 Co 1:30; cfLk 1:68; 2:38. God the Father through Christ - and indeed Christ himself- has ‘delivered’ the new Israel from slavery of the Law, Ga 3:13, 4:5; and of sin, Col 1:14; Ep 1:7; Heb 9:15, by ‘acquiring’ her, Ac 20:28, making her his own, Tt 2:14; purchasing her, Ga 3:13; 4:5; 1 Co 6:20; 7:23; cf. 2 P 2:1. The price was the blood of Christ, Ac 20:28; Ep 1:7; Heb 9:12; 1 P 1:18f; Rv 1:5; 5:9. This redemption, begun on Calvary and guaranteed by the present gift of the Spirit, Ep 1:14; 4:30, will be complete only at the parousia, Lk 21:28, when deliverance from death is secured by the resurrection of the body, Rm 8:23.”

Verse 13 says: The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer are sprinkled on those who have incurred defilement and they restore the holiness of their outward lives.

Parallel texts are:

a.       Heb 10:4 - Bulls’ blood and goats’ blood are useless for taking away sins…

b.      Nb 19:1-10, 17-20 - The ashes of the red heifer^a Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said (v. 1): ‘This is a statute of the Law which Yahweh has prescribed. Say this to the sons of Israel. ‘They are to bring you a reed heifer without fault or blemish, one that has never borne the yoke (v.2). You will give it Eleazar the priest. It must be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence (v. 3). Then Eleazar the priest is to take some of the victim’s blood on his finger, and sprinkle this blood seven times towards the entrance to the tent of Meeting (v. 4). The heifer must then be burned in his presence; hide, flesh blood, and the dung too, must be burnts (v.5). Then the priest is to take cedar wood, hyssop and cochineal red, and throw them on the fire where the heifer is burning (v. 6). Then he must wash his clothing and bathe his body in water; after which he may go back to the camp, though he will remain unclean until evening (v. 7). The man who has burnt the heifer must wash his clothing and bathe his body in water and will remain unclean until evening (v. 8). The man who gathers up the ashes of the heifer must be ritually clean; he will deposit them outside the camp, in a clean place. They must be kept for the ritual use of the community of the sons of Israel for making lustral water; it is a sacrifice for sin (v. 9). The man who gathered up the ashes of the heifer must wash his clothing and will remain unclean until evening. For the sons of Israel as for the stranger living among them, this will be a perpetual law (v. 10).  For a man thus unclean, some of the ashes must be taken from the victim burnt as a sacrifice for sin. Spring water must be poured on them, in a vessel (v. 17). The man who is ritually clean shall take hyssop and dip it in the water. He must then sprinkle the tent, all the vessels and everyone there, and also the man who touched the bones, or the body of the persons, whether he was killed or died of natural causes, or the tomb (v. 18). The man who is clean must sprinkle the unclean of the third and the seventh day, on the seventh day he will have freed him from his sin. The man who is unclean must wash his clothing and bathe himself in water, and by evening he will be clean (v. 19). If an unclean man fails to purify himself in this way, he must be cut off from the community, for he would defile the sanctuary of Yahweh. The lustral waters have not flowed over him, and he is unclean (v. 20).  Footnote ^a – “Ch. 19 is one connected whole: the water of purification, vv. 17-20, mixed with the ashes of a red heifer that had been slain and burnt outside the camp (vv. 1-10) is used to remove the defilement incurred through contact with the dead, vv. 11-16. The rite is alluded to only once elsewhere, Nb 31:23 (and see Heb 9:13); it gives a legal status to an ancient, half-magical, custom by giving it the character of a sacrifice of atonement for sin, v. 17 and cf. vv.4-5 with Lv 16:27; v. 8 with Lv 16:28. Certain other practices of this kind were taken over by the Mosaic Law, Lv 14:2-7; Nb 5:17-28; Dt 21:1-9.”

c.       Ps 51:7 - Purify me with hyssop^e until I am clean; wash me until I am whiter than snow. Footnote ^e - Plant used for sprinkling in purification, Lv 14:4; Nb 19:18.

Verse 14 says: How much more effectively the blood of Christ, who offered himself as the perfect sacrifice to God through the eternal Spirit,^g can purify our inner self from dead actions so that we can do our service to the living God. Footnote ^g – “Var. ‘the Holy Spirit’, cf. Rm 1:4+.”

Parallel texts are:

a.       Heb 10:10 - And this will was for us to be made holy by the offering of his body made once and for all by Jesus Christ.

b.      2 Co 13:13 - The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.^e Footnote ^e says “This Trinitarian formula, probably derived from liturgical usage, cf also Mt 28:19, is echoed in many passages of the epistles where the several functions of the three Persons are referred to as the various  contexts suggests: Rm 1:4+; 15:16,30; 1 Co 2:10-16; 6:11,14,15,19; 12:4-6; Tt 3:5f; Heb 9:14; 1 P 1:2; 3:18; 1 Jn 4:2; Rv 1:4f; 22:1; cf Ac 10:38; 20:28; Jn 14:16,18,23. Note in 1 Co 6:11; Ep 4:4-6; the triple formulations emphasizing the Trinitarian thought. Cf also the trio of Theological virtues in 1 Co 13:13+.”

c.       1 P 1:18-19 - Remember, the ransom that was paid to free you from the useless way of life your ancestors handed down was not paid  in anything corruptible, neither silver nor gold,  (v. 18), but in the precious blood of a lamb without spot or stain, namely Christ^e (v. 19). Footnote ^e says “Or, ‘by the precious blood of the Christ, this spotless lamb.’”

d.      Heb 6:1 - Let us leave behind us then all the elementary teaching about Christ and concentrate on its completion, without going over the fundamental doctrines again: the turning away from dead actions^b and towards faith in God. Footnote ^b – “Anything done without faith and the divine life is called a ‘dead’ action because it is done in the context of sin, Rm 1:18-3:20, which leads to death, Rm 5:12,21; 6:23;7:5;1 Co 15:56; Ep 2:1; Col 2:13; cf. Jm 1:15; Jn 5:24; 1 Jn 3:14.”

e.      Heb 12:28 - We have been given possession of an unshakeable kingdom. Let us therefore hold on to the grace that we have been given and use it to worship God in the way that he finds acceptable, in reverence and fear.^g Footnote ^g says “This is the real conclusion, and an apt one for a letter that lays such emphasis on the liturgy. The ‘unshakeable’ kingdom summarizes vv. 22-24. God reigns over both his angels and his saints in the kingdom of heaven, the eternal and spiritual Jerusalem. From now on Christians are able to enter this kingdom and live there a life that is a Eucharistic liturgy.”

f.        Rm 1:9 - The God I worship ^f spiritually ^g by preaching the good News of his Son knows that I never fail to mention you in my prayers. Footnote ^f says “Lit. ‘I offer worship offered to God, cf. 15:16, like the Christian life itself, since both depend on charity, 12:1; Ph 2:17; 3:3; 4:18, Ac  13:2; 2 Tim 1:3; 4:6; Heb 9:14; 12:28; 13:15; 1 P 2:5”; Footnote ^g says “By spirit (pneuma) Paul sometimes means the highest element in a human being, Rm 1:9; 8:16; 1 Co 2:11; 16:18; 2 Co 2:13; 7:13; Ga 6:18; Ph 4:23; Phm 25; 2 Tm 4:22; cf. Mt 5:3; 27:50; Mk 2:8; 8:12; Lk 1:47,80; 8:55; 23:46; Jn 4:23f; 11:33; 13:21; 19:30; Ac 7:59; 17:16; 18:25; 19:21. This  he distinguishes from the flesh, the lower element (1 Co 5:5; 2 Co 7:1; col. 2:5; cf. Mt 26:41p; 1 P 4:6; Rm 7:5), from the body (1 Co 5:3f; 7:34; cf Jm 2:26; Rm 7:24), and from the psyche also (1 Th 5:23+; cf. Heb 4:12; Jude 19); it bears some relationship to nous (Rm 7:25; Ep 4:23) Cf also ‘dispositions of the spirit’ in 1 Co 4:2); 2 Co 12:18; Ga 6:1; Ph 1:27. By choosing this traditional term (Cf. Is. 11:2+) instead of the nous of the Greek  philosophers, the NT can suggest a deep affinity between the human spirit and the Spirit of God that stimulates and guides it, Rm 5:5+; Ac 1:8+. There are many texts where it is hard to tell whether it is the natural or supernatural spirit that is referred to, the personal or the indwelling spirit- cf. e.g. Rm 12:11; 2 Co 6:6; Ep 43:23; 6:18; Ph 3:3 var. Col 1:8, Jude 19, etc.”

Verse 15 says: He brings a new covenant, as the mediator, only so that the people who were called to an eternal inheritance may actually receive what was promised: his death took place to cancel the sins that infringed the earlier covenant.

Parallel texts are:

a.       Heb 8:6 - We have seen that he has been given a ministry of a higher order, and to the same degree it is a better covenant of which he is the mediator,^b founded on better promises. Footnote ^b says “Technically, Christ is the one and only true mediator: he is the true man and true God. Col. 2:9, and so the one and only intermediary, Rm 5:15-19, 1 Tm 2:5; cf. 1 Co 3:22-23, 11:3, between God and the human  race. He unites them and reconciles them,2 Co. 5:14-20. Through him come graceJn 1:16-17; Ep 1:7; and complete revelation, Heb. 1:1-2. In heaven he continues to intercede for those who are faithful to him, 7:25+”.

b.       Ga 4:1-7 - Let me put this another way:^a an heir, even if he has actually inherited everything, is no different from a slave for as long as he remains a child. (v. 1) He is under the control of guardians and administrators until he reaches the age fixed by his father. (v. 2). Now before we came of age we were as good as slaves to the elemental principles of this world,^b (v. 3). But when the appointed time^c came, God sent his son, born of a woman, born a subject of the Law. (v. 4) To redeem the subjects of the Law and to enable us to be adopted as sons ^d (v. 5). The proof that you are sons is that God has sent the Spirit of his son into our hearts: the Spirit that cries, ‘Abba, Father’ (v. 6).And it is this that makes you a son, you are not a slave any more, and if God has made you a son, then he has made you heir (v. 7). Footnote  ^a says “A further comparison, again taken from the law courts. Though the Jews are chosen as the heir presumptive, yet they are only slaves, v. 3, top the Law; a Christian who wants to submit to this slavery is going back to a state of childhood, cf. v. 9; Footnote ^b says “Reference to the elements that make up the physical universe, cf. v. 9; Col 2:8,20; Paul uses the phrase to indicate both the Law that minutely regulated the use of these elements, v. 10; Col 2:16, and the spirits that used the Law, Ga 3:19+; Col 2:15+, to dominate the universe, Col 2:18+;” Footnote ^c says “Lit. ‘fullness of time’; the phrase indicates how when the messianic age comes it will fill a need felt for centuries, rather like filling up a jug. Cf. Ac 1:7+ and Mk 1:15; 1 Co 10:11; Ep 1:10; Heb 1”2; 9:26; 1 P 1:20” and Footnote ^d – says “The two aspects of redemption, negative and positive: the slave attains freedom by becoming a son. First and foremost the adoption to sonship is not simply a legal right to inherit, v. 7, but the real and inward giving of the Spirit, v. 6.”

The following extensive quotations are what some oppositionists of the Roman Catholic Church say about her doctrine on transubstantiation and also their opinion pertaining to the teachings about the Lord’s Supper:

1.       From the History of the Waldenses, “Chapter IX - Characteristics of the Apostolic Church,” J. A. Wylie.pdf: http://www.pbministries.org/History).

“The Lord’s Supper is nowhere in the scriptures called a “sacrament or seal” of salvation, an effective “means of grace,” nor do the scriptures teach the gross material Catholic doctrine that the bread and wine become the veritable body and blood of Christ (transubstantiation), or the almost equally gross Lutheran doctrine that the real body of Christ is in, with and under the bread and wine (consubstantiation)…. And so when Christ says, “This is my body—this is my blood,” referring to the bread and wine in His Supper, He speaks, not literally, but figuratively, meaning, “this represents my body—this represents my blood.” The bread and wine are the blessed emblems and memorials of our once dying but ever-living and ever-loving Lord, who is now bodily absent from us, and whom we are thus to remember, and show His death till He come (1 Cor. 11:25-26). They are in no sense to be deified and idolized, as in the Catholic pretended sacrifice of the “Mass” which has become a chief element of Romish worship. The monstrous papal doctrine of the “Mass” is not only a contradiction of our senses and reason, but a contradiction of our faith, which assures us that the offering of the body of Christ was made once for all, by that one offering forever perfecting them that are sanctified, and that His glorified humanity is seated at the right hand of The Father upon His mediatorial throne (Heb. 10:10-14; 1:3; 7:24-27).

“The idolatrous doctrine of transubstantiation was first explicitly taught by Paschasius Radbert, A.D. 831 and was first decreed as an article of faith at the instance of Pope Innocent III., by the fourth “Lateran Council,” A.D. 1215. This was more than a Millennium too late for it to be a doctrine of the apostolic church. Neither the apostles nor any of their real spiritual successors or followers could tolerate for a moment the idea of “crucifying the Son of God afresh” (Heb. 6:6); only a man made, carnal, unbelieving, unfeeling, ambitious, covetous “priesthood” could ever have devised or sanctioned the gross heathenish idolatry of the “Mass,” which they pretend to be an efficacious sacrifice for the sins both of the living and the dead, and which they assiduously use for the purpose of replenishing their purses and perpetuating their power over a superstitious people.

“The bread used by Christ was “artos”—a pure unleavened wheaten loaf (Ex. 12:8-20; Matthew 26:17; Ex. 29:3) and the wine was the “fruit of the vine,” the pure fermented juice of the grape. Unfermented juice of the grape is but a mass of leaven—it is must, and not wine; fermentation is the natural clarification of the juice. Paul exhorts the Corinthian church to “keep the feast”, not with the old leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Cor. 5:8). Paul’s expression is figurative; and Christ seems to have used unleavened bread because it was on hand during the Passover. It is probable that the disciples in Acts 2:46 and 20:7 used common, that is leavened bread; this, however is not certain. The Greek Catholics used leavened, and the Roman Catholic unleavened bread, the latter being in the form of small, thin, round wafers, introduced in the eleventh century, and bearing upon them either the initials of Christ or the initials I.H.S. (IESUS HOMINUM SALVATOR, Jesus the savior of men); the Greek loaf is stamped with the characters I C X C N I K A (Iesous Christos Nika, Jesus Christ Conquers). These are human devices of an idolatrous character, utterly unknown to the apostolic church. The Greek “Church” gives in a spoon the eucharistic bread and wine sopped together; beginning in the twelfth, and fully establishing the innovation in the thirteenth century, the Latin “Church” gives the wine to the priest only, on the pleas that the body (represented by the bread) contains the blood, and that there is danger of spilling the blood if passed from one communicant to another, and that the “church” only sanctioned that which had become a custom, and that the priest being, as they pretend, successors to the apostles, should drink the wine. But the Apostles, at the Last Supper, represented the whole church; and Christ, speaking of the wine, says, “Drink ye all of it” (Matthew 26:27); and Mark says “They all drank of it” (14:23); and, instead of the body containing the blood, the very separation of the two elements, the bread from the wine, the body from the blood, indicates the death of Christ. This withholding of the wine or cup from the “laity” or private members caused the Hussite War in Germany (A.D.1420-1433). Men thus make the commandments of God void by their traditions. —As infant baptism was introduced in the third century, so was infant communion; and the latter continued in the Latin “Church”; the Pedobaptist Protestant “Churches,” through professedly baptizing (but really rhantizing or sprinkling) infants, inconsistently withhold communion from infants—every argument for or against the one practice is equally valid for or against the other; there is no reason or scripture for either. Through the fascinating eloquence of Robert Hall (1764-1831), an Arminian “Baptist” preacher of England, the most of the English churches called Baptist practice open or general communion; but the “Strict Baptist” in England practice close communion. In America the Baptist who first settled here suffered so much from the persecutions inflicted upon them by other denominations that they were at first compelled to observe close communion; and those adhering to the scriptures and the apostolic precepts still practice, not a general or open, but a strict close communion.

2.       From the book on the History of the Waldenses , “Chapter XIII - Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Centuries,” J. A. Wylie.pdf: http://www.pbministries.org/History:

In 831 Paschasius Radbert, a French monk, published a book in which he promulgated and expounded his monstrous theory of transubstantiation that the bread and wine in the Lord’s Supper, after having been consecrated by the priest, became the actual body and blood of Christ, the same flesh in which He was born and died and rose; and not simply the commemorative emblems of Christ’s body and blood. This amazing innovation produced great opposition at first, but gradually gained ground, and was decreed as an article of faith by the Romish “Church,” at the instance of Pope Innocent III., in the fourth Lateran Council, A. D. 1215.

3.       The following are from the book, “A History Of The True Church,” Andrew N. Dugger and Clarence O. Dodd:

“The initial point of the debate was the denial (about 1050) by Berengar of Tours that the bread and wine in communion are changed into the real body and blood of Christ; Lanfranc and Anselm, of Canterbury, endeavored, in reply, to establish the doctrine of transubstantiation (that, while the sensible properties of the elements are not changed, their underlying “substance” is changed into the “substance” of Christ’s body). Twice was Berengar forced by the Catholic authorities to sign a recantation, which he twice revoked, “leaving a memory curiously mingled of veneration and abhorrence.” Under the influence of the Nominalism of William Occam, Martin Luther substituted for transubstantiation the doctrine of “consubstantiation” (that the body of Christ is actually, substantially present with the bread and wine); but, “as the logic of Protestantism became clear and self-consistent, this weak compromise faded away quietly.”

Wycliffe in 1381 boldly declared his disbelief in the doctrine of transubstantiation, the chief support of mediaeval Catholicism; he maintained that, in the elements of the Lord’s Supper, Christ was not bodily, but only spiritually and sacramentally present.

Luther and Zwingli agreed in fourteen and a half articles; but in the last half of the article, in reference to the nature of Christ’s presence in the Lord’s Supper, they did not agree. Luther maintained the doctrine of consubstantiation (the next thing to the Roman Catholic dogma of transubstantiation), that the true body and blood of Christ are present in, with and under the bread and wine; while Zwingli maintained that the body and blood of Christ are only spiritually or emblematically present with the literal elements—that the Greek verb esti (translated is—“This is my body”) means signifies, as it does in numerous other passages in the New Testament, as well as in other Greek literature.

CHAPTER XXX.— OF THE LORD’S SUPPER.

1. The Supper of the Lord Jesus was instituted by Him the same night wherein he was betrayed, to be observed in His churches unto the end of the world, for the perpetual remembrance and showing forth the sacrifice of Himself in His death, (1 Cor. 11:23-26) confirmation of the faith of believers in all the benefits thereof, their spiritual nourishment and growth in Him, their further engagement in and to all duties which they owe unto Him, (1 Cor. 10:16, 17, 21) and to be a bond and pledge of their communion with Him and with each other.

2. In this ordinance Christ is not offered up to His Father, nor any real sacrifice made at all for remission of sin of the quick or dead, but only a memorial of that (Heb. 9:25, 26, 28) one offering up of Himself by Himself upon the cross, once for all, and a spiritual oblation of all (1 Cor. 11:24; Matt. 26:26, 27) possible praise unto God for the same. So that the popish sacrifice of the mass, as they call it, is most abominable, injurious to Christ’s own and only sacrifice, the alone propitiation for all the sins of the elect.

3. The Lord Jesus hath in this ordinance appointed His ministers to pray, and bless the elements of bread and wine, and thereby to set them apart from a common to an holy use, and to take and break the bread, to take the cup, (1 Cor. 11:23-26, etc.) and, they communicating also themselves, to give both to the communicants.

4. The denial of the cup to the people, worshiping the elements, the lifting them up or carrying them about for adoration, and reserving them for any pretended religious use, (Matt. 26:26-28, 15:9; Ex. 20:4, 5) are all contrary to the nature of this ordinance and to the institution of Christ.

5. The outward elements in this ordinance, duly set apart to the uses ordained by Christ, have such relation to Him crucified, as that truly, although in terms used figuratively they are sometimes called by the name of the things they represent, to wit, the (1 Cor. 11:27) body and blood of Christ, albeit in substance and nature they still remain truly and only (1 Cor. 11:26, 28) bread and wine as they were before.

6. The doctrine which maintains a change of the substance of bread and wine into the substance of Christ’s body and blood, commonly called transubstantiation, by consecration of a priest, or by any other way, is repugnant not to Scripture (Acts 3:21; Luke 24:6, 39) alone, but even to common sense and reason, overthroweth the (1 Cor. 11:24, 25) nature of the ordinance, and hath been and is the cause of manifold superstition, yea, of gross idolatries.

7. Worthy receivers, outwardly partaking of the visible elements in this ordinance, do then also inwardly, by faith really and indeed, yet not carnally and corporally, but spiritually, receive and feed upon Christ crucified (1 Cor. 10:16, 11:23-26) and all the benefits of His death; the body and blood of Christ being then not corporally or carnally, but spiritually, present to the faith of believers in that ordinance as the elements themselves are to their outward senses.

8. All ignorant and ungodly persons, as they are unfit to enjoy communion (2 Cor. 6:14, 15) with Christ, so are they unworthy of the Lord’s table, and cannot, without great sin against Him, while they remain such, partake of these holy mysteries (1 Cor. 11:29; Matt. 7:6) or be admitted thereunto; yea, whosoever shall receive unworthily are guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, eating and drinking damnation to themselves.

Charlemagne, emperor of Rome, called a council of 300 bishops, 794 A.D., to consider the subject of images in the churches, and some other matters. The first teaching of transubstantiation appeared during this century in the teaching of the Roman church, says Hugh Smith, page 222.

"About 1160, the doctrine of transubstantiation was required by the court of Rome to be acknowledged by all men. This led to idolatry. Men fell down before the consecrated host and worshiped it as God. The impiety of this abomination shocked the minds of all men who were not dead to a sense of true religion. The mind of Peter Waldo was aroused to oppose the abomination, and to strive for a reformation. A fear of God, in union with an alarming sense of the wickedness of the times, led him to conduct with courage in opposing the dangerous corruptions of the hierarchy. He abandoned his mercantile occupation, distributed his wealth to the poor, who flocked to him to share his alms, received the best instructions he was capable of communicating, and reverenced the man, of whose liberality they partook, while the great and the rich both hated and despised him.

4.       To give further light on this topic of the Eucharistic Feast of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, let us quote heavily the article from www.rcg.com. “How Often Should the Lord’s Supper Be Taken?” by David C. Pack. It says:

“Millions of people regularly take the Lord’s Supper! The great counterfeiter—who counterfeits all the Bible’s truths—has confused them about when and how often one should observe this “supper.” What does the Bible teach about this misunderstood subject? What is the truth of this matter?

“Jesus Christ said, “Howbeit in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men…Full well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your own tradition” (Mark 7:7-9).

“That is a strong statement! But it describes the way many professing Christians approach their beliefs. Various traditions now exist regarding when and how often the Lord’s Supper should be observed. Some churches take this “supper” once a month on Wednesday night, while others take it every Sunday. Still others take it twelve times a year on Sunday. Some believe it should be taken at night, while others prefer the morning (Sunday).

“But, we need to ask, “What does God say?”—not “What do men say?” We must set aside all of the traditions of men and examine the Bible!

The Original Lord’s Supper

“There was a specific time that Christ first introduced the symbols of the bread and the wine and how often they were to be taken. In doing this, He set an important example: “And when the hour was come, He [Christ] sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him…And He took bread, and gave thanks, and broke it, and gave unto them, saying, This is My body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of Me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you” (Luke 22:14, 19-20).

“Jesus referenced a specific “hour was come” to partake of the bread and wine. The example He set involved a definite time, or hour, for this supper. The phrase, “in remembrance of Me,” connotes, in this case, a MEMORIAL OF HIS DEATH. Also, He commanded the disciples by saying, “this do.” Matthew’s account of this same night states that this ordinance was instituted “as they were eating” (26:26). Compare Matthew 26:17 and Luke 22:15. These verses plainly show that what they were eating was the Passover Supper!

Christ understood that the time for His sacrifice was come and that He was our Passover—who was to be sacrificed for us (I Cor. 5:7). Matthew 26:2 refers to this event as the “feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified.”

“The disciples asked Christ, in Matthew 26:17, “Where will You that we prepare for You to eat the passover?” Mark 14:15 shows that it was to be held in a “large upper room furnished and prepared.” The disciples were to get ready for this important event.

“It should now be clear that the Lord’s Supper was really the Passover Supper! Now read the rest of Matthew 26:26: “Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is My body. And He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink you all of it; for this is My blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”

“To better understand what Christ was introducing, we need to briefly study the Passover of the Old Testament. This will directly connect the Old Testament Passover to the New Testament “Lord’s Supper.”

The twelfth chapter of Exodus explains the key events of this original Passover.

God told the Israelites to take a young lamb, without spot or blemish, to represent a type of Christ—the Lamb of God. This was always to be done on the tenth day of the first month of the Hebrew sacred year. Unlike all humanly-devised calendars that begin the year in mid-winter, the sacred year began in the spring, around the equinox, with the new moon.

Four days later, on the 14th day of Abib (the first Hebrew month), the lamb was to be killed. Exodus 12:6 says that it was to be killed “in the evening,” but the original Hebrew means “between the two evenings.” Some Bible margins plainly state this. The Jewish Encyclopedia explains that this is the period commonly referred to as twilight or dusk. This period is described as the time after sundown but before full darkness has occurred. In other words, it was at the very beginning of the 14th that the lamb was killed—and soon thereafter, the blood of the lamb was sprinkled above the doorposts of the Israelites’ houses. At midnight, the death angel struck dead all the firstborn of Egypt. But God had told the Israelites, “when I see the blood, I will pass over you”—hence, the well-known term Passover.

Israel continued to observe the Passover season for hundreds of years!

From the 15th through the 21st of Abib—a period of seven days—Israel always kept the Days of Unleavened Bread. This meant that only unleavened bread could be eaten with meals for this one-week period following the Passover. The first and last of these days, the 15th and the 21st, were to be annual Sabbaths. Deuteronomy 16:6 shows that the lamb was always slain as the sun was going down, yet it was always eaten during the 14th day, not afterward (Lev. 23:5-6). The time is once a year, at night, in the beginning of the 14th of Abib—after the sun has set! 

There can be no doubt that God ordained the Passover as a permanent ordinance—forever (Ex. 12:17,24)! (But) Christ altered the way Passover was to be kept. Christ is the Lamb of God. He was slain for us, doing away with the need for a literal young lamb to any longer be sacrificed. As Christ explained, the bread and wine, symbolizing His broken body and shed blood, was to be an annual “look back” to His death—on our behalf!

Jesus kept the Passover once a year at an established—a set—time (Luke 2:42), and true Christians follow His example (I Peter 2:21). In fact, Christ Himself was following the example of Exodus 13:10, which explained that the Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread were to be kept annually. It says there, “You shall therefore keep this ordinance in his season from year to year.” Do you see these two phrases? It does not say “week to week” or “month to month”—or “pick any season you wish.” All humanly-devised traditions of time violate this basic instruction!

For the Israelites to have kept this at any other time would have literally jeopardized their firstborn from protection from the death angel. There was no room for miscalculation on their part or they could not have expected to be “passed over”—protected!

Is there anywhere in the New Testament where clear instructions are given regarding how often the Passover ordinance should be observed? There is!

I Corinthians 5:7-8 sets the stage for later instructions from the apostle Paul that we will review momentarily. These verses state, “Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven…but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

Here, in the New Testament, Paul plainly calls Christ the Passover and gives instructions to Christians to observe the Days of Unleavened Bread. In this same epistle, he gives further instructions about the Passover observance.

I Corinthians 11:23-28 is often misunderstood by people to be a license from Paul to observe the Passover as often as one wishes to do it. The phrase “as oft as you do it” is said by many to mean that Christians may take the bread and the wine as often as they choose! The proper explanation of these verses springs from verse 24. Notice that the Passover is a memorial, “a remembrance.” Memorials are observed on an annual basis. Verse 26 shows that this memorial refers to “the Lord’s death,” which occurred on the Passover (remember, Christ is our Passover [I Cor. 5:7]). In ancient Israel, the Passover was always kept once a year. Verse 28 shows that the Passover ceremony is preceded by careful self-examination—which could not logically be done every day or every week, even if a person did wish to do it this often.

I Corinthians 11:29 warns of Christians taking the Passover “unworthily.” And it can be taken improperly—or unworthily. Self-examination was tied to this warning (vs. 28), just as was the issue of when it was taken (vs. 23). Christians must properly discern the symbols that represent Christ’s sacrifice.

It should be clear by now that the New Testament Lord’s Supper is a direct continuation of the Old Testament Passover, except that different symbols, commemorating Jesus’ death, have replaced the slaying and eating of a young spring lamb. As we have seen, Christ is slain for us in place of a literal lamb. This ordinance should still be observed on the 14th of Abib. Nowhere did God change this instruction! Recall that Christ readied His disciples for the Passover—“when the hour was come.” It was taken at the right time and on the right day. Certainly Christ never substituted this ceremony with the modern popular celebration of Easter.

Coming out of Egypt was a type of coming out of sin. The Passover memorialized God’s deliverance of Israel from sin. Christ’s sacrifice, through the New Testament ordinance of the bread and wine, does exactly the same thing for Christians today. Christ was seized, falsely accused and imprisoned, examined, tortured, beaten and crucified—to pay for and cover our sins—all in the following daylight portion of the exact same day of the month Abib! Scholars do not dispute this time sequence. Hence, this all occurred on the 14th of the month of Abib.

Remember, Christians copy the example of Jesus Christ (I Pet. 2:21)—and Christ set the example of keeping the Passover. Christians are commanded to keep it forever—as were the Israelites when God first instituted it. To observe it daily, weekly or monthly is to trivialize this deeply important and solemn annual occasion. The Passover was always intended to be a yearly memorial. Christ, as our Passover, was crucified at the time of the Passover—which is observed once a year. Men are never permitted to arbitrarily place Christ back on the cross, even symbolically, as often as they choose! This does not “glorify Christ”—it disobeys Him and dishonors His sacrifice (Notice Hebrews 6:6).

Herbert W. Armstrong concluded his booklet “How often should we partake of the Lord’s Supper?” with this statement:

“Let us return to the faith once delivered. Let us humbly and obediently observe this solemn, sacred ordinance as we are commanded, and at the time set apart in the Bible, after sundown on the 14th of Abib, or Nisan, sacred Hebrew calendar.

“The first day of the new year begins near the spring equinox when the new moon usually is first visible to the naked eye at Jerusalem (not the United States). The Jewish calendar as used by Jews today is correct. But it must be remembered that ‘in the 14th day of the first month at even is the passover, and in the 15th day of the same month is the feast.’ The Jewish people no longer observe the Passover on the 14th. They observe the FEAST—one night after the Passover, on the eve of 15th Abib. The ‘Lord’s supper’ or New Testament Passover should be observed after sunset on the evening before the Jewish people of today celebrate their feast.”