Br. John R. Barker, OFM

Dec 11 2024

Scripture Study for

The personified figure of Lady Wisdom, who speaks in this passage, is found in several places in the biblical wisdom books (Sirach, Proverbs, Wisdom). Everywhere she is portrayed as she is here: an emanation of God’s glory and the image of God’s goodness (Wisdom 7:25, 26), “poured forth from of old.” When one contemplates the created world, one notes the harmony that exists among its parts, everything working together to advance life. Biblical Wisdom understands this to be the work of God’s wisdom, which underlies the “logic” and the beauty of the world. The whole earth was created through and in God’s wisdom. Proverbs notes especially that Wisdom delights in human beings and seeks to find a home among them, so that they may know God and God’s ways—and therefore find life—through her (Proverbs 8:35).

Thus far in his Letter to the Romans, Paul has argued that those who wish to inherit the promises given to Abraham can, and must, do so through faith in Jesus Christ. Faith in Christ entails believing that he died and was raised to make us righteous before God; this gracious gift of righteousness brings peace between God and the individual and is the basis of hope in future glory. To “boast” of this hope is not to brag of it, but to gladly lay claim to it or possess it. In the same way, to boast of one’s afflictions is to gladly accept them as the means to grow in hope. Finally, Paul notes that the Holy Spirit received by the baptized is the source of the “love of God,” which can mean both the baptized person’s love of God and, especially in this context, confidence in God’s love for us (5:8).

Jesus’ promise of the Holy Spirit takes place within the extended Last Supper discourse. This is the same “Spirit of truth” who proceeds from the Father, of whom he has already spoken (14:17; 15:26). The gift of the Spirit is to ensure that the apostles continue to be formed in the truth that Jesus has taught them and, as Advocate, to strengthen them and console them in times of trouble. Because the Spirit proceeds from the Father and is sent by the Son, who himself is the image of the Father, the Spirit “speaks” for both the Father and the Son. In this context, to “glorify” is to reveal (God’s glory in the Old Testament refers to God’s mysterious, visible presence [Exodus 40:34]). Just as the Son glorifies/reveals the Father, so the Spirit glorifies/reveals the Son, and therefore also the Father.

Dec 11 2024

Scripture Study for

Pentecost comes from the Greek word for the Jewish Festival of Weeks, which took place fifty days after Passover. By the first century, this ancient harvest festival was also a time for Jews to celebrate the Noahic covenant, which God made through Noah with “every living creature” after the flood (Genesis 9:1–17). In the scene from Acts, Jews from all over the world represent the universal scope of this covenant and of God’s dominion and care. It is no surprise, then, that the Holy Spirit descends at Pentecost, bestowing on the church the power to spread the gospel to the ends of the earth. The
tongues of fire and the driving wind are classic biblical images of divine theophany, in which the powerful and life-changing power of God descends into the world to set it on a new course.

In his letter to the Romans, Paul has been exploring the dilemma all faithful humans find themselves in: while wanting to live within God’s will, they nevertheless continually encounter a “flaw” in their human nature that resists God’s will and seeks selfish desires instead. This flaw Paul calls “the flesh.” The divine solution to this dilemma is Christ, in whom the flesh is crucified, and who bestows on the baptized his Spirit. Paul uses the language of debt to make his point. Christians “owe” nothing to the flesh; they are not “slaves” to it, such that they must do what it demands. In the Spirit, they are free children of God who can, if they wish, refuse the demands of the flesh. In doing so—even when it involves great struggle—they show themselves to be God’s children and heirs with Christ to his glory.

In his Last Supper discourse, Jesus assures his disciples that although he is returning to the Father, he will not abandon them. If they are faithful to him by heeding his commandments (the primary one being to love one another as he has loved them [John 13:34–35]), he will ask the Father to send the Advocate, or paracletos. This Greek term, drawn from the legal world, means an intercessor, spokesperson, comforter. All of these roles describe that of the Spirit, who will also teach the disciples and ensure their fidelity to Jesus’ teaching. Thus Jesus has equipped his followers to carry on his work by modeling his love for others and by faithfully teaching in his name.

Dec 10 2024

Scripture Study for

Stephen was the first deacon chosen by the apostles, and we hear that he was “a man filled with faith and the holy Spirit” (Acts 6:5). We also hear that he was “filled with grace and power” and that he worked “great wonders and signs among the people” (6:8). This, along with his preaching, earned him the distrust and ire of some powerful people, who incited others to accuse him of blasphemy (6:9–15). His lengthy response to the charge ends with a reminder that his accusers’ ancestors had also persecuted the prophets (7:51– 53). He further infuriates the crowd with his claim to see “the glory of God” (that is, a visible sign of the presence of the unseen God) with Jesus at his “right hand,” a position of power and authority. This would seem to confirm the charge of blasphemy (which is why they cover their ears), the penalty for which was stoning (Leviticus 24:13–16). Stephen’s death conforms to that of Christ when he asks Jesus to “receive my spirit” and he prays that Jesus will not “hold this sin against them” (see Luke 23:34, 46).

The book of Revelation ends with the creation of “a new heaven and a new earth” and a new Jerusalem, “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (21:1–2). This city represents the church of God, formed around the “God and the Lamb,” from whose throne flows “a river of life-giving water” that waters the tree of life, bringing the biblical story back to its beginning in the Garden of Eden (22:1–2; Genesis 2:9; 3:22–23). Now the human race, banished from the source of life ages ago, can return home. The book also ends with the reminder that this vision, while trustworthy, is only “near” and awaits fulfillment with the final coming of the Lord of history, the Alpha and the Omega. Both the Spirit and the church pray for this coming, and the author exhorts his hearers to do the same. Christ himself, who gives the testimony of this final victory, affirms that he will certainly return, bringing with him the fulfillment of all of God’s plans and promises for all of creation.

In the Gospel reading, John’s characteristic intertwining and repetition of themes is on full display, a rhetorical device that mirrors the close connection among those themes, which are “abiding,” faith, and witness. In the first place, Jesus prays that his followers “may all be one,” just as he and the Father are “one” because they are “in” each other. In this Gospel that means not only an ontological identity (being of the very same nature) between Jesus and the Father (1:1), but also a union of wills and a sharing of the bond of love (15:9). Jesus thus prays that the church will “abide” in him and so also in the Father through the bond of love, manifested by, among other things, a visible unity. This unity is a sign of the divine origin of the church because it is a sign that Jesus was sent from the Father. Christian unity thus has a crucial function for evangelization, giving plausibility to Christian claims about Christ. Division and lack of love among Christians makes it impossible to accept their testimony about Christ. Thus the mutually “abiding” in love of the Father, the Son, and the church is a witness to the truth, and so a firm foundation for belief and faith.

Dec 10 2024

Scripture Study for

The ascension of Jesus to the Father takes place forty days after his resurrection. Forty days is, of course, a common time frame in the Bible, often signifying a complete time of “training” in the ways of God (think of Moses on top of Mt. Sinai, Elijah at Horeb, or even Jesus in the wilderness). Having taught his apostles for forty days, Jesus departs from them, leaving them the task of carrying on his work (as Moses, Elijah, and Jesus had done God’s work before). The apostles, despite their instruction, are still not clear on at least one point and wonder if now is the time when God will reestablish the temporal kingdom of Israel. Jesus corrects them by emphasizing that God’s reign will be reestablished through their preaching “to the ends of the earth” until he returns again.

A central point of the letter to the Hebrews is that Christ, as the great High Priest, has rendered former temple sacrifice unnecessary. Whereas the earthly high priest entered into the earthly sanctuary to offer sacrifice, Christ has entered into the true, heavenly sanctuary to “appear to God on our behalf.” This is not an appearance that takes place regularly, as on earth, but continually, as he now resides in that sanctuary. In the end, Christ will bring his faithful into the sanctuary with him. Those faithful have no fear of approaching God through Christ, as long as they do so “with a sincere heart and in absolute trust,” purified by Christ from sin and its effects.

In his final appearance before his ascension, Jesus instructs his disciples about the scriptural testimony to him, as he had for the disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:27). The suffering and death of Jesus were not accidents but part of a mysterious divine plan. Also part of that plan is the preaching of repentance for the forgiveness of sins to all the nations, the task now being handed on to the disciples. To do that, they will be “clothed with power from on high” by the Holy Spirit, “the promise of my Father.” They are not to do anything until that time, lest they attempt to act under their own power and inspiration rather than God’s. With this instruction Jesus departs, leaving the startled but overjoyed disciples to return to Jerusalem to await the Spirit.

Dec 10 2024

Scripture Study for

Today’s reading recounts what is often called the Council of Jerusalem, the earliest instance of the church debating and clarifying matters of doctrine and practice. The issue at hand is the status of certain aspects of the Mosaic law: are they required of disciples of Christ? At this point, Christianity is not a distinct religion, but understood by followers of Christ to be a living out of the covenant relationship with God. Some understandably take this to mean that followers of Christ have to become Jews. Paul and others disagree (as we know from Paul’s letters). The leaders in Jerusalem determine that those who are not already Jews need not become Jews, and thus take on all covenant responsibilities, but they must avoid ethical transgressions of the Law, which would be considered binding on anyone following Jesus.

An angel takes John to a high mountain so that he will be able to behold in a single vision the sight of the new Jerusalem, a representation of the totality of God’s holy people. It is envisioned here as an idealized earthly Jerusalem, God’s holy city. The city, or people, of God encompasses both Israel and the entire world, as represented by the twelve gates, all facing in one of the four cardinal directions. The foundation of this holy people created by God is the proclamation of the gospel by the apostles. Unlike the earthly Jerusalem, this new city has no need of a temple, a sacred precinct set apart for God to dwell in nearly inaccessible holiness. The new people itself has been made holy by God, who now dwells with the Lamb in the midst of the people.

In his final words to his disciples, Jesus returns to the topic of love. Love, here as in the rest of the Bible, is not so much an emotional attachment (although it can be that) as it is a firm commitment to the good of another, or—in the case of love for God—a commitment to living in God’s will. Especially in his imminent death, Jesus demonstrates his love for his own in the world, for which he is willing to die, even though many have rejected him (John 1:11; 3:16). Those who are able to love others make it possible for both the Son and the Father to dwell within them, giving them fullness of life. Jesus does not leave his disciples with commandments alone, but also with the promise of the Spirit and the inestimable gift of peace, which surpasses any “peace” the world has to offer.