Br. John R. Barker, OFM

Dec 05 2024

Scripture Study for

The prophet Micah, along with Isaiah and other prophets, expected that one day God would raise up a righteous ruler in the line of David. (Before the end of the monarchy, a long line of “bad kings” gave rise to this hope. Later, this hope remained alive after the destruction of the monarchy.) David’s ancestral home was the insignificant and tiny Bethlehem, which was part of the clan of Ephrathah (Ruth 1:2; 1 Samuel 17:12). Davidic rulers were representatives of God and thus the ideal ruler would be a righteous and caring shepherd of God’s people, protecting them against foreign and domestic enemies that threatened their well-being and peace. As such, the Davidic ruler is the agent of God’s own care for the people in times of weal or woe.

In his exploration of what God has accomplished in Christ, the author of the Letter to the Hebrews draws extensively on the Jewish scriptures to make the case that Jesus has been sent to fulfill God’s will completely and perfectly. Here the author draws on the Greek version of Psalm 40 to argue that Jesus came into the world (with a body) to do away with inadequate sacrifices and replace them with the sacrifice of his own body, thus accomplishing perfectly God’s will: behold, I come to do your will. This will is not specifically that Jesus should sacrifice himself, but that through his sacrifice all people would be “consecrated” to God in him.

An overarching theme throughout all of scripture is the divine desire that human beings learn to be able to trust in God, specifically that God has their welfare in mind and desires what is good for them, all of them as individuals and as a single people. This trust also entails believing God’s promises of future blessedness for all of creation. Such trust, or faith, is difficult for humans to “achieve,” which is why God and then Jesus emphasize it so much. It is not surprising, then, that Elizabeth rejoices that Mary believed—trusted—that what God had announced to her would come to pass. It is Mary’s trusting faith that prepares her to give birth to God’s Messiah.

Dec 05 2024

Scripture Study for

The book of Zephaniah is marked by a strong and graphic emphasis on the destructive consequences of Israel’s infidelity to their relationship with God. One gets the clear impression from the rhetoric of the first part of the book that this relationship has come to a definitive end. This dire scenario nevertheless gives way to an ebullient oracle of hope, in which the divine protector of Jerusalem assures the holy city that God remains committed to the relationship. Indeed, God will rejoice over this people with gladness and joyfully renew them in love. The divinely ordained response: “shout for joy,” “be glad and exult,” “be not discouraged.” Judgment, as merited as it may be, is never final in God’s intentions.

Despite the troubles Paul has found in Philippi, which largely stem from the inability of some in the community to overcome their differences and to be united in Christ, the Apostle urges all of them to “rejoice,” and again, “rejoice.” Human troubles and infidelities must be attended to, but in the end, they must not be allowed to bring anxiety, because “the Lord is near.” While the Philippians, along with all Christians, await the consummation of God’s promises, they should ground themselves in trust in the Lord, turning to God for all their needs. If they can do this, then instead of anxiety they will experience God’s peace, which will keep them safe in Christ Jesus.

Although all four Gospels feature John offering a baptism of repentance, only Luke gives us a sense of what such repentance looks like, and it is unsurprising to anyone familiar with Israel’s scriptures. When the crowd asks what they should do to prepare for the coming of the Messiah, John reminds them of God’s expectation that those who have should take care of those who have not (Deuteronomy 15:10–11; Tobit 4:7). Tax collectors, who made their fortunes by collecting more than the Romans required, should stop, and soldiers (and everyone else) should likewise obey the Law and avoid greed. When the Messiah comes, John insists, he will bring salvation to those who have reformed their lives, but judgment to those who have not.

Dec 05 2024

Scripture Study for

The scriptures tell us that in the beginning God made a “good” world and when humans entered the scene, they were at first well integrated into this harmonious creation. Indeed, Genesis portrays the relationship between God and humans as unusually intimate and personal. It is only when the snake induces the humans to doubt God’s good will toward them that the relationship is ruptured. The effects cascade as the intimacy between humans is damaged (passing the blame) and then the relationship between humans and the earth also becomes disharmonious (it is now difficult to till the soil). This tale suggests that human ignorance gives rise to suspicion and then to division, the cause and the effects of human sin.

The Letter to the Ephesians begins with a blessing of God, which emphasizes that what God has done in Christ is not an accident or “add-on” to a human history gone wrong, but is in fact part of a divine plan “before the foundation of the world.” Humans, despite the sins they will commit, have been loved by God from before all creation and have been destined to be “adopted” as God’s children from the beginning. Even human sin cannot derail the plan “of the one who accomplishes all things” as intended. That God’s desires for all humanity cannot be undone by millennia of sin attests to the glory and power of God.

Gabriel’s greeting to Mary, rendered in our Lectionary as “full of grace” (from the Latin gratia plena), can also be understood as “highly favored one,” and indeed, the angel assures the young woman that she has found favor with God. This should be understood not as an indication that Mary has somehow earned God’s favor, but that she has been “favored by God,” in the sense that she has been given a special role in God’s plan (as was the case also for Israel and Moses, neither of whom could be said to have earned God’s favor; see Exodus 33:16). The passage makes it clear that it is God’s unmerited choice of Mary to fulfill a long-standing plan, “prepared” well before she was born.

Dec 05 2024

Scripture Study for

Scholars date the composition of Baruch several centuries after the end of the Babylonian Exile. Much of the language in this passage, however, sounds like the end of the book of Isaiah, which was composed shortly after the Exile, when hopes for the immediate restoration of Jerusalem were still high. Baruch reveals that centuries later Israel still hoped in God’s promises. A key idea in this passage is God’s “glory,” which is mentioned several times. The word refers to God’s honor and reputation, but also God’s power and authority, manifested primarily in God’s intervention in human affairs. Baruch assures Jerusalem that she will in fact display God’s glory, that her renewal in justice and peace will be accomplished for and by the glory of God.

Paul begins his Letter to the Philippians by giving thanks that they have responded to the call to live and proclaim the gospel. This gospel as well as their response to it has been “the good work” of God, which will continue until the “day of Christ Jesus.” This term, taken from the Old Testament concept of the “day of the Lord,” refers to the culmination of God’s definitive intervention in the world, which will take place when Christ returns. Paul does not know when this will be, but in the meantime, the Philippians enjoy the benefits of Christ’s “righteousness,” which bears the fruit of purity and blamelessness. Thus, the transformation and the continued fidelity of the Philippians redound to the praise and glory of God.

Luke begins his Gospel by situating the arrival of the Messiah firmly within human history. The definitive intervention of God in human affairs is not something that disrupts history, even as it changes its course, but flows out of the history of Israel and, indeed, of the whole world. The passage from Isaiah, now seen to refer to John the Baptist, stems from the end of the exilic period and tells of the intervention of God to heal Israel’s past and to give Israel a future. Now God is about to do the same in Jesus, who will heal the past of the entire world and give it also a future.

Dec 05 2024

Scripture Study for

Jeremiah’s oracle of salvation stems from the period right before the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon, which the prophet understands to be the just judgment of God for repeated violations of the covenant relationship. In particular, the prophet has accused the Davidic kings of failing in their task of ensuring justice among God’s people (22:1–9). The oracle assures the people, however, that the period of judgment is temporary. In time, God will not only restore Israel, but will also raise up a just Davidic king who will himself “do what is right” and ensure justice in the land, so much so that Judah and Jerusalem will even be called (symbolically), “The Lord our justice.”

Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians was written to strengthen a persecuted and maligned community. Written from an apocalyptic perspective, the letter assumes that the world is presently in a middle period between the first and the second comings of Christ. During this time, it is easy to grow disheartened and to lose one’s way. Paul has just affirmed the faith of the Thessalonians despite these challenges and prays not only that God strengthen this faith, but also increase the preeminent sign of faith, which is love. This love is not a “feeling,” but a stance that pleases God, an expression of “blameless holiness,” which manifests itself in care for “one another and for all.” Such a stance can be particularly difficult in the face of both the delayed return of Christ and the experience of persecution.

Jesus’ warning of the coming judgment and redemption reflects Jewish apocalyptic expectations in the first century. By this time, prophetic pronouncements of God’s restoration of Israel had come to be seen as pointing toward a turning point, even an end, of history. The “signs,” which involve the dissolution of the stable cosmic order, foretell the coming of the Son of Man, a figure derived from the vision of Daniel 7:13, who represented the divine Messiah. The arrival of the Son of Man initiates the period of judgment for the wicked, but redemption for the just. Only those who have persevered in righteousness despite the long wait for that redemption will experience it when they find themselves standing before God’s appointed judge.