Understanding the Word

By Br. John R. Barker, OFM

As the Lamb breaks open the seals on the scroll, the world enters  a prelude to the final divine judgment, in which those who have been  faithful to God will receive their reward. In preparation for that  judgment, an angel comes forth to sign and protect the saved from  the impending disaster. The number 144,000 (twelve squared times  one thousand) is symbolic of the saved of Israel, which is joined by  a vast multitude from all the nations. The focus in Revelation is on  those who have suffered for their faith, thus the imagery of white  robes and palms that has become associated with martyrs. Those  who have been saved offer eternal worship to the God and the Lamb  who have saved them. 

The central theme of the First Letter of John is the reciprocal love  of God for humans, love of humans for God, and love of humans  for one another. The love of God, which is primary, has been made  manifest in Christ. Those who accept this love will love in return  through obedience to God and care for neighbor. This love is what  allows us to abide in God and in Christ, which in turn perfects us  and makes us children of God. This is the unimaginable promise of  what is to come. But, in addition to abiding in Christ, believers must  also be wary of the “world,” that social reality that is hostile to God  and which constantly seeks to draw us away from God.  

Near the beginning of his ministry, Jesus presents the fundamental  themes of his teaching in the Sermon on the Mount. Portrayed as  the “new Moses” in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus stands as the definitive  interpreter of the Law and of God’s will. The Beatitudes are a  classic wisdom form, in which the ways of the righteous are laid  out for those who would be “blessed” (or “happy”). Jesus’ version  of this wisdom theme signals that his teaching and his ministry will  focus less on perfection of religious observance (which one might  mistakenly consider the equivalent of being “righteous”), and more  on qualities associated with humility, vulnerability, and openness to  God’s will and action in their lives.

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