Br. John R. Barker, OFM

Jan 27 2025

Scripture Study for

Peter’s speech is a response to the request of the Gentile Cornelius to meet with him. Peter himself has had a vision in which it has now become clear to him that the work God has done in Christ is meant to extend beyond the ethnic boundaries of Israel (10:9–17). The emphasis in the speech is on what Jesus did (“doing good and healing”) and on to Jesus’ fate, which is in stark contrast to the good he did. Yet the good Jesus was doing did not end with his death. Now those who knew him have been sent to continue “doing good and healing,” specifically by calling people to believe in Jesus as God’s Messiah and to receive the gift of forgiveness, of deliverance and release from evil forces.

Paul’s exhortation to the Corinthians about clearing out the old yeast has a simple point: Things have changed for you, since you are now new people in Christ, so act like it. The metaphor of yeast is connected with the image of Christ as the Paschal (or Passover) Lamb. In preparation for Passover, all yeast and leavened bread is cleared out of the house; after the feast new leavened bread is prepared. The Corinthians have failed to do the necessary “house cleaning,” both in their own hearts and within their community, and are therefore not properly celebrating the Paschal feast, begun with the sacrifice of the Paschal Lamb.

The report of the empty tomb proceeds in three stages that represent a progression of belief. First, Mary discovers that the stone has been rolled away from the tomb and assumes that Jesus’ body has been stolen. The second stage is the discovery by the Beloved Disciple, who enters the tomb and spies the burial cloths. The third stage is the entrance into the tomb by Peter, who not only sees the burial cloths but notes the detail that the head covering has been neatly rolled up and is separate from the others, an observation that suggests the body was not stolen, but rather that Jesus himself has removed them. We are told that the Beloved Disciple “saw and believed,” but that none of them yet understood that he had been raised from the dead. What the disciple believes at this point is that Jesus has conquered death. Only with the appearance of the risen Lord will he and the others come to believe in the Resurrection itself.

Jan 24 2025

Scripture Study for

The Servant of God in this passage from Isaiah has been equipped for the specific task of “speaking a word to the weary,” a work directed toward the well-being of God’s people, especially those who suffer. This word is not the Servant’s own, but the word of God, which the Servant seeks to hear “morning after morning.” Although in the hearing of the word the Servant knows speaking it will bring pain and rejection, he remains steadfast, not shirking his painful role, rebelling by refusing to speak. The strength required to carry out this thankless role comes from God alone, not from any inner strength or self-assurance possessed by the Servant himself.

In his Letter to the Philippians, Paul exhorts the contentious community to have in their relations with one another the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. The focus here is on the very fact of his existence in the human realm and the way he acted while on earth. This earthly presence was marked by profound, even unimaginable humility, in the very act of “emptying” himself, voluntarily depriving himself not only of his divine prerogative (not to suffer at all), but also of human dignity and security. This he did not have to do, but he did it out of willing obedience to a divine plan, which called for this sacrifice (for the good of God’s people).

The Markan account of Christ’s passion carries forward the theme of the first two readings, which is the willingness to forego human power to take on suffering. The repeated reference to Jesus as “the king of the Jews” or “the king of Israel” alludes to earthly power. Yet these expressions are uttered when he is completely powerless. It is at this moment that we hear the centurion proclaim Jesus Son of God. Mark tells us that the centurion came to this realization when he “saw how [Jesus] breathed his last,” yet what he has seen is Jesus crying out in pain and an apparent sense of being abandoned by God. Mysteriously, what the centurion sees in this dereliction, humiliation, and pain leads him to conclude that Jesus was in fact the Son of God.

Jan 24 2025

Scripture Study for

In Ezekiel’s time, Israel was in exile, estranged from God. Thus in his vision of the “dry bones” (37:1–14), he sees Israel as truly dead. This “death” easily led to despair of eventual reconciliation with God and a return to life. In response to doubts of God’s continued love of them, Israel receives divine assurance that although they are dead now, the time of alienation will come to an end. Israel will be restored to God and to the land. This spiritual rebirth is characterized as resurrection from the grave. God confirms that Israel remains “my people,” and will certainly bring them back to life: “I have promised, and I will do it.”

For Saint Paul, physical and spiritual death are inherently related. Bodily death is ultimately the result of sin—the body is dead because of sin. In Christ, the Spirit of God brings life first by attending to the condition of sin, conquering it and “replacing” it with righteousness, spiritual life. This same Spirit is also able to raise the physical body from the dead, as the Spirit did for Jesus. The Spirit of Christ, belonging to those who have turned away from “the flesh” (a metaphor for all that is in us opposed to the will of God), resurrects us from both spiritual and physical death.

When Jesus hears that his friend Lazarus is ill, he first says that the illness will not end in death. One gets the impression from this that he is not worried that Lazarus will actually die, which would explain his delay of two days before returning to Bethany. Yet Jesus knows in fact that Lazarus has died in that time, and we realize that he has allowed this to happen so that he can “awaken him.” In this final and most dramatic sign, Jesus allows the death of Lazarus so that he can publicly raise him from the dead. Such a feat is intended to provoke belief that he is who he has been claiming to be all along, the one sent by God, who alone has the power to give life.

Jan 24 2025

Scripture Study for

The first readings for Lent have focused on God’s covenant relationships, with all “mortal creatures,” with Abraham, and then with Israel. In the case of Israel, this relationship has often been marked by human infidelity and divine patience (not endless, but renewable). Now, as Israel enters into a period of judgment, God promises that the relationship has not come to an end. The covenant will be renewed, but this time things will be different: Israel will be transformed so as to be able to know, understand, and live according to God’s expectations. The judgment is not punishment for wrongdoing but is intended to prepare Israel for a new phase in its relationship with God, one that is the fruit of repentance, forgiveness, and transformation.

The reading from the Letter to the Hebrews moves us toward Palm Sunday by focusing on the obedience of Christ to the mission given by the Father to save God’s children from their sins. The passage is part of a larger discourse on the role of Christ as God’s great high priest (5:5–6). Just as the high priests of Aaron’s line offered sacrifice for Israel, so Christ offers himself in obedience to his mission. Besides the fact that Christ is God’s Son, his perfect obedience qualifies him as high priest, whose intercession on our behalf merits God’s hearing. In the same way, those who are obedient to Christ receive from him the salvation he has merited for all.

In response to the request of the Greeks (that is, Gentiles) to “see” him, Jesus makes the enigmatic statement that it is now the hour for the Son of Man to be glorified. He immediately identifies this “hour” with his approaching death, which itself will give life. In other words, the Gentiles along with everyone else will truly “see” Jesus when he undergoes his passion, death, and resurrection; they will know who he is. But Jesus does not speak only of his own death; he frames his saying about dying and giving life, or preserving eternal life, in terms of “whoever” is willing to undergo death. This death, like Jesus’ own, is a form (or consequence) of service to Christ.

Jan 24 2025

Scripture Study for

In the Bible, God typically chooses leaders who, while always flawed and sometimes sinful, nevertheless are fundamentally obedient and loyal to God. An exception to this rule was the first king chosen to lead Israel, Saul, who proved to be unwilling to listen to God’s spokesman, the prophet Samuel. Now God chooses another king, the youngest son of Jesse, who will turn out to be a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22). God looks past David’s youth and sees a child who, with divine help, will be capable of following God “wholeheartedly.” And so immediately the newly chosen king receives God’s Spirit, equipping him to rule God’s people.

The New Testament letters make it clear that receiving new life in Christ entails personal transformation right now, not just forgiveness of past sins and future beatitude. To be reborn in Christ is to be rescued from the darkness of the world and to live in the light of the Lord. This light allows Christians to assess reality from the divine perspective, exposing “the fruitless works of darkness.” It also allows for transformation, producing in the individual “every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth.” It is in this sense that Christians have already awakened from the death of darkness and now walk in the life of Christ’s light.

At the end of today’s Gospel, Jesus says he came so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind. The blind man received healing because he knew he could not see (i.e., was a sinner), and knowing it left him open to spiritual healing. The physically sighted leaders, who do see, paradoxically do not see their sinfulness. Their “sight” is illusory; they are just as “spiritually blind” as the blind man, but they don’t know it. Jesus forces a choice on them. Will they recognize that they do not see, or will their hardheartedness lead them to reject the light of the world (John 1:9) and thus become truly blind?