Br. John R. Barker, OFM

Jan 12 2025

Scripture Study for

The context of Isaiah’s oracle is the siege of Jerusalem by Assyria around 701 B.C. Shebna, a scribe, holds the office of “master of the palace” or “royal steward,” a position of high authority. Apparently at some point he brought scandal to the royal household and was replaced by Eliakim, a move here attributed to the judgment of God on Shebna. As royal steward, Eliakim will now hold “the key of the House of David,” a symbol of his high authority. Such is the honor of this post that his family’s glory will depend on him (“hang” from him), who is fixed like a peg in the wall, holding “descendants and offspring” like “little dishes” (22:24).

Paul knows that God’s word has not failed, so Israel’s refusal to accept Jesus as Messiah must be part of God’s intention from the beginning. It has allowed for the extension of salvation to the Gentiles. This plan for the salvation of the world reveals God’s wisdom, which remains inscrutable and unsearchable, even as the outlines come slowly into view. Ultimately, Paul cannot know exactly what God is up to in all the details, but believes that what God is doing is good and it ultimately means mercy for all, including the currently “disobedient” Israel. This is cause for wonder and reasons to give glory to God, whose ways may not be known, but can be trusted.

When Jesus asks his disciples who people say he is, they give the standard conjectures that he is a forerunner, but not the Messiah himself. Because Simon has received from God the insight that Jesus is in fact the Christ and Son of God, he receives the name by which he has been known to the reader, but never called by anyone in the Gospel until now: Petros, or “rock.” As elsewhere in the Bible, the new name reflects both a change of status and the meaning of that change. The notion that the gates of the netherworld will not prevail against the church can mean that the dark powers thought to emerge from them will not be able to defeat the church, or that they will not be able to prevent the church from defeating them.

Jan 12 2025

Scripture Study for

The final chapters of Isaiah come from the post-exilic period, a time of struggle, in which God’s promises of restoration were slow in coming to fruition. The prophetic exhortation encourages continued hope in God’s salvation and justice. The promises now extend not just to ethnic Israel, but to all who come to God’s “holy mountain” (the temple in Jerusalem) to worship God and to abide by the covenant. This passage is one of several that appear in the post exilic period that refer to God’s larger plan to bring “all peoples” into relationship through Israel. Those who would join themselves to God will also be expected to love, serve, and obey.

Paul has been grappling with the question of Israel’s role within God’s plan, in light of the fact that so many Jews have not accepted Jesus as the Messiah (Romans 9–11). Knowing that God has not rejected the chosen (11:1), he suggests this (temporary) rejection was part of the plan to carry salvation beyond Israel. Those Gentiles who have accepted Christ should not judge Jews who have not, for their own salvation is only possible because they have been “grafted” onto Israel and received the benefits of their covenant relationship with God. Paul’s hope is that Israel has been allowed to disobey so that, like the Gentiles, they too can receive God’s mercy.

While in Gentile territory, Jesus encounters a woman who calls him “Lord” and “Son of David,” terms one would expect only from Jews who recognized him as Messiah. Uncharacteristically, Jesus ignores her. Yet when his disciples ask him to send her away, he doesn’t; he simply says he was not sent to the Gentiles. Perhaps recognizing that this objection does not constitute an outright refusal, the woman persists. Once again Jesus merely offers an objection: what is meant for the children (Israel) should not be given to the dogs (Gentiles). She persists, pointing out that there is enough of his salvific power to go around. This insightful retort wins the day. Jesus rewards her persistence, a sign of her faith.

Jan 12 2025

Scripture Study for

After the seventh trumpet has blown, signaling God’s triumph over diabolic powers, the temple opens and the ark of the covenant is revealed. This scene of divine victory immediately shifts to an image of Israel giving birth to the Messiah. The child is saved from Satan, the huge red dragon attempting to destroy him. One sees here a reference to the attempt of the powers of hell to destroy Jesus through his death on the cross, only to be foiled when he is raised from the dead and ascends to heaven. The woman, who now represents the persecuted church, is protected by God just as Israel was protected in the wilderness after the Exodus.

Some Christians in Corinth apparently denied the resurrection of the dead, to which Paul responded that if there is no resurrection, then obviously Christ was not raised from the dead, making their faith in him pointless. They are still in their sins, have no hope beyond this life, and those who have already “fallen asleep in Christ have perished.” But Christ was raised from the dead, and his resurrection was not just for him but for all who have received life in and through him. At his second coming, those who are “in Christ” will be resurrected, too. Christ alone will be sovereign, the only authority, and all powers will be subject to him, including and especially the power of death.

Mary expresses prophetically in her Magnificat the meaning of the coming of the Messiah. True to character, God has shown mercy not just to her, but to all who have remained faithful and waited in hope for the longed-for salvation, making good on the ancient promises. The fulfillment of God’s promise of salvation, however, will not be good news for everyone. Those who do not fear God, the proud and the rich, those who are satisfied with a world just the way it is, in which some have and others do not—for these, the coming of the Messiah will be a time of judgment on them and on their way of life.

Jan 12 2025

Scripture Study for

After besting Jezebel’s prophets, Elijah runs away to Horeb, where God appears, accusingly asking him why he is there. He responds that his life has been threatened. The command to “stand before the Lord” means to serve God; Elijah is in effect being told to get back to work. Yet before he returns to the task, God has a lesson for him. Visible phenomena that regularly accompany God are not God, who is found in silence, barely perceptible, but nonetheless present. God again asks, so why are you here? Although Elijah’s role as God’s prophet endangers him, God’s protecting presence is with him, even when he cannot see it. He must learn to trust in it.

Paul has proclaimed that God has predestined and foreknown those who would be conformed to Christ and become heirs with him to glory. Thus a difficult question: what to make of the fact that so many Jews have not accepted that Jesus is the Messiah? To speak of the divine plan is to speak of God’s history with Israel, beginning with God’s “adoption” of Israel and culminating in the promised Messiah. Accordingly, they should be receiving the adoption, the inheritance, and the glory now coming to those who have been conformed to Christ through baptism. It would appear that something has gone horribly wrong with God’s plan. Paul will go on to develop his argument that this does not mean that “the word of God has failed” (9:6).

The multiplication of the fish and loaves showed that in Jesus God was providing, something God regularly does in the scriptures. Today’s reading, which immediately follows, features another action associated with God: salvation from chaos, often portrayed as dangerous waters. Just as in the Old Testament God proclaims that in the divine presence there is nothing to fear from chaos, so does Jesus. But it requires faith to believe that Jesus can save from chaos. Thus it is not so much that Jesus has walked on water that causes those in the boat to exclaim that he is the Son of God, as their witness that he has saved Peter from the chaotic waters (despite his lack of faith).

Jan 12 2025

Scripture Study for

Chapters 40–55 of Isaiah, which emerged out of the late exilic period, insist that God is bringing an end to the period of judgment and will restore Israel beyond its former glory. This judgment came about because of Israel’s persistent refusal to believe that God alone, and not other gods, could provide all that Israel needed. In other words, they offered to other gods worship and sacrifice and received nothing in return. Now they are being offered a chance at real bread, at true satisfaction. All that is required is trust and fidelity that God, and God alone, is the source of life for Israel.

Paul has assured the Romans that they are the recipients of God’s gracious plan to bring them into conformity with the image of Christ, fulfilling their destiny to be God’s adopted children and heirs with Christ to glory. Knowing this, and that “all things work for good for those who love God,” they have nothing to fear. They have been baptized in Christ because of God’s own plan, and God will not allow that plan to go awry. They are secure in Christ and thus in Christ’s love. Absolutely nothing on earth, not angelic or other powers, not death itself can separate Christians from God. (Height and depth, as creatures, may refer to hostile forces associated with zodiacal signs.)

When Jesus hears that Herod’s impulsiveness and pride have led to the death of John the Baptist, his response is to withdraw in solitude. Yet when the crowds pursue him his pity for them recalls him to ministry. This is, after all, what he has come to do. The miracle of the fish and loaves reflects the abundance of God’s care and provision for the people, seen in Israel’s history and often imagined as a banquet in the eschaton (end of time). God’s abundant generosity is seen in the fact that they have more left over than they began with. Scholars note that the word for “fragments” here is the same as the word used in early Christian sources for the broken bread in eucharistic celebrations.