During the Lenten Season to Reflect on the Way of the Cross. It Is Becoming Popular to Reflect, During Advent, on the Way of the Nativity
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
During the Lenten season to reflect on the Way of the Cross. It is becoming popular to reflect, during Advent, on the Way of the Nativity. That leaves off a big time of the year and of the life of Jesus. With the start of Ordinary Time this year, we began a new series of posts. During June, we presented reflections on the "Way of the Life" of Jesus. These posts offered fourteen reflections and scriptural passages on key points during the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. Station 1 The account of the baptism of Jesus appears in the synoptic (Mark, Matthew, and Luke) gospels. In Mark’s gospel it opens the story and in Matthew and Luke it is placed after the infancy narratives. Each briefly describes the preaching and baptismal ministry of John the Baptizer. The baptismal narratives produce the symbolic image of the Holy Spirit as a dove. Only in the gospel of Matthew does the text attest to the protest by John that Jesus should baptize him. Upon coming up from the waters of the Jordan, Jesus hears the words from heaven “You are my beloved son; with you I am well pleased.” In Matthew’s account the words are heard by the crowd as the text reads “This is my beloved son…” At the Transfiguration, God’s words spoken from heaven would come in a similar manner. At the beginning of his ministry, as was also stated in the infancy narratives, Jesus is proclaimed to be the Son of God. This sets the tone for the remaining text, as the reader is to understand the divine nature of Jesus in the text. In a similar fashion, the prologue to John’s gospel establishes Jesus as the Word of God. Although the baptism is not directly recounted in the fourth gospel, John the Baptizer alludes to the baptism by stating that he saw the Spirit coming down from the sky and remaining on Jesus. We ask the Spirit to descend upon us and guide us to live lives that will make God well pleased with us. Station 2 Like the baptism of Jesus, the temptation in the desert is depicted in the synoptic gospels. After his baptism, Jesus is led into the desert by the Holy Spirit. Throughout Mark’s gospel events happen quickly and the account of the temptation is no exception; only two verses are needed to tell the story before moving on to the beginning of the ministry of Jesus. All three synoptic gospels tell of Jesus being in the desert for forty days, symbolic of the forty years of wandering in the desert by the Jewish people after the exodus from Egypt. Also like the time of the exodus, and the time Elijah spent in the desert, angels come to minister to the needs of Jesus. Continuing with the Jewish theme started in the infancy narratives, the gospels of Matthew and Luke have both the devil and Jesus quoting from Hebrew scripture. The devil’s use of scripture is symbolic of the trickery of Satan and the ease one can use holy scripture out of context to attach to it a nefarious meaning. The devil’s appearance is after Jesus had fasted for forty days. Luke points to the significance of the baptism by stating that Jesus is “filled with the Holy Spirit” after it descended upon him upon coming up from the waters of the Jordan. Luke also foreshadows the events of the passion by declaring that the devil departed from Jesus, but only for a time. The devil would return to the narrative to enter Judas (Lk 22:3) and tempt him to betray Jesus, to lead Peter (LK 22:31) to deny Jesus, and to coerce the people (LK 22:53) to condemn Jesus. We ask the Holy Spirit to lead us in our times of temptation. Station 3 It is commonly accepted among biblical scholars that the authors of Matthew and Luke used the gospel of Mark as a source. In the usual style of the text, Mark’s gospel moves rather quickly in the narrative of the calling of the disciples. Jesus calls the men and they leave everything behind to follow him. An important theme is that they immediately abandoned family and careers to follow Jesus. No backstory or reason is offered as to why they would do this. Matthew’s gospel does not change much from the story offered in Mark. Four men are called from their fishing boats and another at a customs post. Names are changed slightly form Mark’s account, as Simon is called Simon Peter and Levi, the tax collector, is called Matthew. After Matthew, or Levi, leaves his customs post behind to follow Jesus, they go to his house for a meal with other sinners and tax collectors. The scribes question why Jesus would eat with such a crowd. It is not clear, in Mark or Matthew, why the scribes would even have noticed Jesus yet and be concerned about his dining partners. At this point Jesus was merely calling for repentance because the kingdom was at hand. Luke’s gospel puts the calling of the first disciples after Jesus healed several people and had a substantial following. Unlike Mark and Matthew, Luke does not mention Simon Peter’s brother Andrew, but does mention James and his brother John. The tax collector is again called Levi. Only in Luke’s gospel are James and John called partners of Simon Peter. Luke also offers more of a story as to why the men would leave everything behind to follow Jesus. He preaches from Simon Peter’s boat to a large crowd and asks the fishermen to go into deep waters where they have substantial catch of fish. This miracle is similar to the account in John’s gospel that takes place after the Resurrection. The fourth gospel offers more of a backstory as to why the disciples followed Jesus and left everything behind so quickly. In John’s gospel the men are followers of John the Baptizer and he refers to Jesus as the Lamb of God. This prompts Andrew and an unnamed disciple to follow Jesus. It is Andrew who tells his brother, Simon, about Jesus, declaring that he had found the Messiah. In John’s gospel, Jesus declares that Simon shall be called Kephas, which is translated as Peter. Jesus then finds Philp, who follows him in the same immediate fashion as told in the Mark and Matthew. It is Philip who finds Nathanial. May we have the insight to recognize and follow Jesus and the courage to give everything up to do so. Station 4 The account of the miracle of turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana is only documented in the gospel of John. Jesus had already gathered his disciples and presumably already had the baptism encounter with John, although the fourth gospel does not specifically mention the baptism. Like many theologians and biblical scholars have done, two of the most influential Roman Catholic and Protestant scholars have commented on the story of the miracle at the wedding at Cana. Thomas Aquinas points to the roles in this miracle that Mary, Jesus, and the disciples. Mary superintended the miracle; she interceded with kindness and mercy. The mother of Jesus regarded another’s distress as her own, while showing reverence for Jesus. The role of Jesus, of course, is to perform the miracle. It is the disciples’ role to bear witness to the miracle. According to John Calvin it is doubtful that Mary expected a miracle from Jesus since the gospel is clear in stating that he had not yet performed any miracles. It is possible that she expected him to calm the guests’ annoyance with some godly exhortation, as the people would likely have been annoyed at running out of wine in the middle of dinner and the groom would have been embarrassed. In saying that his time had not yet come, Jesus is demonstrating that he had not yet performed any miracles because he operates on God’s time and according to God’s plan. “Wine cheers the hearts of [people]” — Psalm 104.15 Station 5 The Sermon on the Mount (as it is called in the gospel of Matthew) and the Sermon on the Plain (as it is called in Luke’s gospel) offer what are often referred to as the Beatitudes. There are eight blessings recounted in Matthew’s gospel and Luke’s gospel list four of them. Biblical scholars are divided on whether the blessings all come from one sermon, were told at different times in the ministry of Jesus, whether or not Matthew and Luke are referring to the same event, or if the sermon was offered numerous times by Jesus. However, there is universal acceptance that the words of these passages offer inspiration and hope. Popular Jesuit priest and author James Martin, SJ points out that Matthew’s gospel extends the theme of the Beatitudes beyond the Sermon on the Mount. Chapters five through seven offer various condemnations of the rich and complacent, as well as teachings on judging, anger, adultery, serving two maters, and anxiety. Father Martin offers some interpretations of what Jesus’s words can mean in contemporary society. “Pure in heart” is not about ritual cleansing, be it first century Jewish ritual cleaning or 21st century Christian ritual. The phrase is about pure motives, not acting out of excessive self-interest. “The poor” in contemporary Western culture are often deemed to be lazy and even an embarrassment to society.