Friday of the Fourth Week of Lent
Readings for Friday of the 4th Week of Lent? click here for the lectionary readings
First Published: Thursday, March 30, 2006
The Beginning of the End
Reflection:
I can't help but feel the Lord's pain as I read the Gospel for Friday. He knows this is the beginning of the end of his ministry and he sees the fear and anger he has inspired in the leaders of the people he came to lead into the light. He hears the people murmuring and discounting all the miracles, they are saying he is no one special. We can almost hear the frustration in his voice as he tells them:
"You know me and also know where I am from.
Yet I did not come on my own,
but the one who sent me, whom you do not know, is true.
I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me."
I cannot think of anything more depressing for the Son of God than to have traveled about teaching and healing for three years only to come to the end of his time among us to find such skepticism and out right hatred from the people he loves.
This feeling of sorrow ultimately leads us to the passion of Christ in the Stations of the Cross. The feeling here is leading us there.
If we were there, what would we have said or done? We hope we would have stood with the Lord and shouted down the skeptics and the hypocrites who were embarrassed by the purity of spirit of the Son of God whom the persecuted to his death (and their own). We hope we would be able to stand with him and not run away as his closest friends did when he was arrested. We hope we would step up and take the blows he felt and lift the cross he carried for all of us.
This is the start of that final journey. Here is the point of no return. Pax
I welcome your comments. If you would like to make one and are not registered on Myspace, you can email me at miles_jj@excite.com and, if you wish, I will post your response as a comment. Thanks.
Jerome Biblical Commentary Citations for Friday's Readings[1]
Wis 2:1a, 12-22
2:1. dying: The word "death" on the lips of of the wicked means, of course, physical death! 2. haphazard: The allusion is probably to the Epicurean doctrine that objects were formed by a chance combination of atoms. 2-3. smoke, spark, ashes: An allusion to a Gk theory that the soul is a fiery principle. 4. name will be forgotten: The wicked reject even the OT hope of remembrance by posterity as a reward for the just (Prv 10:7; Is 56:5; etc.) and state that the lot of the just and unjust is the same. Ironically, the statement is true on the lips of the wicked (cf. 4:19). 7-8. The emphasis on flowers is Greek. 11. weakness proves itself useless: Therefore, it has no right to exist. 12. Cf. Is 3:10 (LXX). From 2:12 to 5 :23, the author draws heavily on Is 52-66. His teaching on retribution is the fruit of meditation on these chapters in their LXX form, and he sets forth that teaching in a series of characters or types taken from Is, presented in their Isaian sequence and embellished with additional details from elsewhere (see P. W. Skehan, CBQ 2 [1940] 289-99; CBQ 10 [1948] 384-97; M. J. Suggs, JBL 76 [1957] 26-33; G. Ziener, TTZ 66 [1957] 138-43).
13. The picture of the just here and in 3 :1-9 is based on the fourth Servant Song (Is 52:13-53:12), as well as on Is 42:1 and Ps 22:8. 22. Announces the subject of the next section.
Ps 34:17-18, 19-20, 21 and 23
51 Ps 34. A wisdom Ps, although it is widely classified as a Ps of thanksgiving. It is alphabetical (cf. S. Holm-Nielsen in ST 14 [1960] 1-53, on acrostic Pss) and is filled with typical maxims in favor of the just against the wicked (13-22). The testimony in 5-7, which suggests a thanksgiving Ps, is really didactic in character. The reference to 1 Sm 21:10-15 in the Ps title as the life setting is unconvincing. Structure: 2-4, hymnic introduction that anticipates the lesson to be announced ("the lowly will hear me. . ."); 5-11, a brief mention of deliverance (5), which develops into didactic exhortation to trust and to fear the Lord; 12-22, the psalmist appears as a sage, inculcating typical wisdom lessons; 23, the Pe verse (it begins with that consonant) is a didactic device to arrive at a 22-23 line acrostic poem spelling out the root 'Ip (meaning "to teach"; see comment on Ps 25 :22). 3. The' anawfm (humble) are the dedicated, committed Yahwists, who hence have a claim to Yahweh's help. (cf. Ps 10); the term does not designate the virtue of humility. 5. A succinct description of deliverance (to which 7 is parallel) that serves as a spring board into the wisdom teaching. 8. angel oj the Lord: The metaphor is one of a divine messenger at the head of an army that surrounds and protects (cf.Ex 14:19; Jos5:14; etc.). 9-II. taste...: In the context, it does not refer to inner spiritual sweetness but to the concrete goods, which God gives "to those who fear him." holy ones: Perhaps the only time (but cf.-Ps 16:3) in the OT that qds stands for humans; usually "holy ones" designates the members of the heavenly court. The motive of material retribution in these verses, it should be. remembered, is extended to the poor (19-20), and it is not the same as current materialism, for it includes union with God and what might be called, with Cardinal Newman, a sacramental view of the universe. 12-22. The psalmist has become a wisdom teacher (in the style of Prv 1:7; 5 :7; etc.) inculcating "fear of the Lord" and offering "life" (explained by prosperous days); for a literal Egyptian parallel to 13, see B. Couroyer, RB 57 ([1950] 174ff.). The rest of the teachings deal with admonitions and statements of retribution. Although the doctrine of retribution follows the optimistic trend of wisdom tradition, there is a recognition that suffering is part of the lot of the just-but Yahweh "watches over." The Pe verse (23) takes up an idea ("guilt") from 22.
Jn 7:1-2, 10, 25-30
100 (c) TABERNACLES: LIFE AND LIGHT (7:1-8:59).
In this section John has assembled discourses of Jesus bearing on the themes of life and light, both of which are related to the Feast of Tabernacles with which the discourses are chronologically associated. The theme of Jewish opposition is repeatedly brought out in 7:1,13, 19,25,30,32,44; 8 :37,40,59.
1. On the relative chronology of this episode to the preceding, ? 81 above. the Jews were looking for a chance to kill him: See 5 :18. 2. the Jewish feast of Tabernacles: The autumn harvest festival (cf. Lv 23 :33-44; Dt 16:13-15; Ez 45:25); considered the most popular of the Jewish feasts (cf. Josephus, Ant. 8.4,1 § 100: "the holiest and greatest feast"), it was often called simply "the Feast." Besides the essential ritual it featured in Christ's time extensive water libations and the lighting of the Temple court. Allusions to these customs seem to appear in the discourses.
9-10. Jesus' departure for Tabernacles represents his farewell to Galilee and therefore the beginning of the final events of Jesus' ministry.
103 25. Again Jesus occasions a controversy: That his life is being sought (see v, 19) is at first indignantly denied but is now openly admitted. some of the Jerusalemites: Jn probably specifies by this word those among the festival crowds who would be in a position to know of the Jerusalem leaders' designs against Jesus. 26. maybe the authorities have realized: Doubtless this suggestion was made only half-seriously by those who knew only too well the dispositions of the authorities. 27. we know where this man comes from: An example of the Johannine irony (? 29 above), the point of which is quickly driven home (v. 28f). no one is to know where he comes from: In some Jewish circles it was believed that the Messiah would manifest himself suddenly and unmistakably, and that prior to this manifestation he would be completely hidden and unknown. In the view of the Jerusalemites, Jesus has made no such manifestation, besides, his Galilean origins are well known; therefore he cannot be the Messiah. 28. Jesus speaks ironically to those whom he has just adjured not to judge by superficial appearances (v. 24). Their confident claim to know his origins is the equivalent of the initial misunderstanding common in the Johannine dialogues (? 30 above). yet I have not come on my own: The Jerusalemites' superficial knowledge of
Jesus' person is not sufficient to make him truly known to them; he can be truly known only when he is recognized as the One sent by God. there is truly One who sent me: Lit., "true is the one who has sent me" (see comment on 1:14). The true origins of Christ cannot be known by those present since they do not know God (cf. 8 :19,55), the One who sent Christ. Did they know him, they would know that he is true (alethinos): They would recognize the trustworthiness of his testimony to Christ
(cf. 3 :33). 29. Because Christ has come from the Father he is uniquely the One who can reveal God to man (cf. 6:46; Mt 11:27 pal).
104 30. they started trying to arrest him: The Jerusalemites now incensed by what they conceive as the blasphemy of his claim (v. 29), set out to apprehend Jesus.
no one laid a finger on him: As the following verse makes clear, the crowd itself was divided in its attitude toward Jesus, hence the people's demonstration against him failed. his hour had not yet come: Cf 7:6,8 and see comment on 2:4.
[1] All references to Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, Inc.© 1968
Readings for Friday of the 4th Week of Lent? click here for the lectionary readings
First Published: Thursday, March 30, 2006
The Beginning of the End
Reflection:
I can't help but feel the Lord's pain as I read the Gospel for Friday. He knows this is the beginning of the end of his ministry and he sees the fear and anger he has inspired in the leaders of the people he came to lead into the light. He hears the people murmuring and discounting all the miracles, they are saying he is no one special. We can almost hear the frustration in his voice as he tells them:
"You know me and also know where I am from.
Yet I did not come on my own,
but the one who sent me, whom you do not know, is true.
I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me."
I cannot think of anything more depressing for the Son of God than to have traveled about teaching and healing for three years only to come to the end of his time among us to find such skepticism and out right hatred from the people he loves.
This feeling of sorrow ultimately leads us to the passion of Christ in the Stations of the Cross. The feeling here is leading us there.
If we were there, what would we have said or done? We hope we would have stood with the Lord and shouted down the skeptics and the hypocrites who were embarrassed by the purity of spirit of the Son of God whom the persecuted to his death (and their own). We hope we would be able to stand with him and not run away as his closest friends did when he was arrested. We hope we would step up and take the blows he felt and lift the cross he carried for all of us.
This is the start of that final journey. Here is the point of no return. Pax
I welcome your comments. If you would like to make one and are not registered on Myspace, you can email me at miles_jj@excite.com and, if you wish, I will post your response as a comment. Thanks.
Jerome Biblical Commentary Citations for Friday's Readings[1]
Wis 2:1a, 12-22
2:1. dying: The word "death" on the lips of of the wicked means, of course, physical death! 2. haphazard: The allusion is probably to the Epicurean doctrine that objects were formed by a chance combination of atoms. 2-3. smoke, spark, ashes: An allusion to a Gk theory that the soul is a fiery principle. 4. name will be forgotten: The wicked reject even the OT hope of remembrance by posterity as a reward for the just (Prv 10:7; Is 56:5; etc.) and state that the lot of the just and unjust is the same. Ironically, the statement is true on the lips of the wicked (cf. 4:19). 7-8. The emphasis on flowers is Greek. 11. weakness proves itself useless: Therefore, it has no right to exist. 12. Cf. Is 3:10 (LXX). From 2:12 to 5 :23, the author draws heavily on Is 52-66. His teaching on retribution is the fruit of meditation on these chapters in their LXX form, and he sets forth that teaching in a series of characters or types taken from Is, presented in their Isaian sequence and embellished with additional details from elsewhere (see P. W. Skehan, CBQ 2 [1940] 289-99; CBQ 10 [1948] 384-97; M. J. Suggs, JBL 76 [1957] 26-33; G. Ziener, TTZ 66 [1957] 138-43).
13. The picture of the just here and in 3 :1-9 is based on the fourth Servant Song (Is 52:13-53:12), as well as on Is 42:1 and Ps 22:8. 22. Announces the subject of the next section.
Ps 34:17-18, 19-20, 21 and 23
51 Ps 34. A wisdom Ps, although it is widely classified as a Ps of thanksgiving. It is alphabetical (cf. S. Holm-Nielsen in ST 14 [1960] 1-53, on acrostic Pss) and is filled with typical maxims in favor of the just against the wicked (13-22). The testimony in 5-7, which suggests a thanksgiving Ps, is really didactic in character. The reference to 1 Sm 21:10-15 in the Ps title as the life setting is unconvincing. Structure: 2-4, hymnic introduction that anticipates the lesson to be announced ("the lowly will hear me. . ."); 5-11, a brief mention of deliverance (5), which develops into didactic exhortation to trust and to fear the Lord; 12-22, the psalmist appears as a sage, inculcating typical wisdom lessons; 23, the Pe verse (it begins with that consonant) is a didactic device to arrive at a 22-23 line acrostic poem spelling out the root 'Ip (meaning "to teach"; see comment on Ps 25 :22). 3. The' anawfm (humble) are the dedicated, committed Yahwists, who hence have a claim to Yahweh's help. (cf. Ps 10); the term does not designate the virtue of humility. 5. A succinct description of deliverance (to which 7 is parallel) that serves as a spring board into the wisdom teaching. 8. angel oj the Lord: The metaphor is one of a divine messenger at the head of an army that surrounds and protects (cf.Ex 14:19; Jos5:14; etc.). 9-II. taste...: In the context, it does not refer to inner spiritual sweetness but to the concrete goods, which God gives "to those who fear him." holy ones: Perhaps the only time (but cf.-Ps 16:3) in the OT that qds stands for humans; usually "holy ones" designates the members of the heavenly court. The motive of material retribution in these verses, it should be. remembered, is extended to the poor (19-20), and it is not the same as current materialism, for it includes union with God and what might be called, with Cardinal Newman, a sacramental view of the universe. 12-22. The psalmist has become a wisdom teacher (in the style of Prv 1:7; 5 :7; etc.) inculcating "fear of the Lord" and offering "life" (explained by prosperous days); for a literal Egyptian parallel to 13, see B. Couroyer, RB 57 ([1950] 174ff.). The rest of the teachings deal with admonitions and statements of retribution. Although the doctrine of retribution follows the optimistic trend of wisdom tradition, there is a recognition that suffering is part of the lot of the just-but Yahweh "watches over." The Pe verse (23) takes up an idea ("guilt") from 22.
Jn 7:1-2, 10, 25-30
100 (c) TABERNACLES: LIFE AND LIGHT (7:1-8:59).
In this section John has assembled discourses of Jesus bearing on the themes of life and light, both of which are related to the Feast of Tabernacles with which the discourses are chronologically associated. The theme of Jewish opposition is repeatedly brought out in 7:1,13, 19,25,30,32,44; 8 :37,40,59.
1. On the relative chronology of this episode to the preceding, ? 81 above. the Jews were looking for a chance to kill him: See 5 :18. 2. the Jewish feast of Tabernacles: The autumn harvest festival (cf. Lv 23 :33-44; Dt 16:13-15; Ez 45:25); considered the most popular of the Jewish feasts (cf. Josephus, Ant. 8.4,1 § 100: "the holiest and greatest feast"), it was often called simply "the Feast." Besides the essential ritual it featured in Christ's time extensive water libations and the lighting of the Temple court. Allusions to these customs seem to appear in the discourses.
9-10. Jesus' departure for Tabernacles represents his farewell to Galilee and therefore the beginning of the final events of Jesus' ministry.
103 25. Again Jesus occasions a controversy: That his life is being sought (see v, 19) is at first indignantly denied but is now openly admitted. some of the Jerusalemites: Jn probably specifies by this word those among the festival crowds who would be in a position to know of the Jerusalem leaders' designs against Jesus. 26. maybe the authorities have realized: Doubtless this suggestion was made only half-seriously by those who knew only too well the dispositions of the authorities. 27. we know where this man comes from: An example of the Johannine irony (? 29 above), the point of which is quickly driven home (v. 28f). no one is to know where he comes from: In some Jewish circles it was believed that the Messiah would manifest himself suddenly and unmistakably, and that prior to this manifestation he would be completely hidden and unknown. In the view of the Jerusalemites, Jesus has made no such manifestation, besides, his Galilean origins are well known; therefore he cannot be the Messiah. 28. Jesus speaks ironically to those whom he has just adjured not to judge by superficial appearances (v. 24). Their confident claim to know his origins is the equivalent of the initial misunderstanding common in the Johannine dialogues (? 30 above). yet I have not come on my own: The Jerusalemites' superficial knowledge of
Jesus' person is not sufficient to make him truly known to them; he can be truly known only when he is recognized as the One sent by God. there is truly One who sent me: Lit., "true is the one who has sent me" (see comment on 1:14). The true origins of Christ cannot be known by those present since they do not know God (cf. 8 :19,55), the One who sent Christ. Did they know him, they would know that he is true (alethinos): They would recognize the trustworthiness of his testimony to Christ
(cf. 3 :33). 29. Because Christ has come from the Father he is uniquely the One who can reveal God to man (cf. 6:46; Mt 11:27 pal).
104 30. they started trying to arrest him: The Jerusalemites now incensed by what they conceive as the blasphemy of his claim (v. 29), set out to apprehend Jesus.
no one laid a finger on him: As the following verse makes clear, the crowd itself was divided in its attitude toward Jesus, hence the people's demonstration against him failed. his hour had not yet come: Cf 7:6,8 and see comment on 2:4.
[1] All references to Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, Inc.© 1968
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