Dianne Bergant, C.S.A.

Jan 30 2025

Scripture Study for

The depiction of the coming and arrival of the Son of Man is colored with both mythic and royal tones. The figure comes with the clouds, which are the most frequent accompaniment of a theophany or revelation of God. He comes riding the clouds as one would ride a chariot. He is presented before God in the manner of courtly decorum. The one who sits on the throne is called the “Ancient One.” This implies that God is the one who has endured and, presumably, will continue to endure. In other words, God is everlasting. The mysterious Son of Man is installed by God as ruler over the entire universe.

Jesus is first identified as the anointed one (the Christ) and then described as such. He is a witness who faithfully mediates to others the message that he has received from God. He is the firstborn, the one to whom belong both priority of place and sovereignty. He is the ruler of all the kings of the world. These epithets sketch a “high” Christology, one that emphasizes the more-than-human aspects of Jesus. The final statement reinforces this more-than-human character. Alpha and Omega connote totality, suggesting that Jesus comprises everything that is; he transcends the limits of time; he is the almighty, the ruler of all things.

For the Jewish people, King of the Jews was a messianic title. Pilate considered it a challenge to Roman political authority. The Roman asks about a political reality that may have a religious dimension, while Jesus speaks about a religious truth that certainly has political implications. By describing his kingdom through negative contrast, Jesus has indirectly admitted that he is a king. His answers show that both the Jewish leaders and the Roman officials had reason to be concerned about his claims. Though not of this world, his kingdom would indeed challenge both messianic expectations and the powers of this world.

Jan 30 2025

Scripture Study for

Today’s apocalyptic scene is part of the revelation granted to the prophet Daniel. It depicts the final struggle at the end of time and the subsequent resurrection to a life of horror or one of glorification. The distress is probably that final tribulation that will come to pass before the appearance of the final reign of God. Known as the “birth pangs of the messiah,” the agony preceded the birth of the reign of God. Daniel is told that those whose names appear in the book (the Book of the Righteous) will be spared. They may have to endure the agony of the endtime, but they will escape ultimate destruction.

This explanation of the unique sacrifice of Christ re-interprets an understanding of the Jewish practice of sin offering. The singular status of Jesus the priest and the inestimable value of Jesus the victim set his sacrifice apart from all others. Total and complete expiation has been accomplished through him. There is no need for Jesus to stand and offer another sacrifice. Therefore, he takes his seat next to God in glory. Jesus has decisively expiated all sin and conquered all evil. He has been able to accomplish what the sacrificial system of Israel, despite its preeminence, has been unable to achieve.

Mark describes the character and appearance of the end of time through allusions to earlier apocalyptic traditions. Chief among them are the reference to the tribulations that precede the advent of the new age and the coming of the Son of Man in the clouds. Cosmic occurrences will accompany the distress that will take hold of the world. The coming of the Son of Man in the clouds, an allusion to the mysterious figure found in the book of Daniel (7:13), heralds the advent of the new age. The exact time of the coming of the new age is shrouded in mystery. The lesson to be learned from all this: Be prepared!

Jan 30 2025

Scripture Study for

The woman in the first reading is in a perilous situation. As a widow in a patriarchal society, she has no male protector and very few resources to call upon. She is in such dire straits because God withheld the rain, and her reserve of water and flour and oil is depleted. The prophet’s request is not selfishly insensitive. Rather, it becomes the avenue through which God provides for the woman and her son. She follows the word of the prophet, and God’s word spoken through the prophet comes to pass. Her miraculous supply of flour and oil lasts for a year.

The second reading contrasts the temple in Jerusalem with the heavenly temple. While the high priests performed their sacrificial duties in the earthly temple, the exalted Jesus entered the true sanctuary. The former cultic system enabled the people to participate in cosmic events by reenacting them. However, it was only able to actualize these events for a short period of time. This explains why the Day of Atonement ritual was reenacted year after year. In contrast to this, Jesus offered himself once for all. His sacrifice, like all cosmic acts, was unrepeatable. Earthly ritual may reenact his sacrifice, but there is no need for Jesus himself to repeat it.

Jesus condemned the ostentatious piety of the scribes. He further accused them of exploiting widows. This condemnation was called down on them because they had deprived the widows in the name of religion. Sitting in the temple, Jesus then contrasted donations of the wealthy with that of a poor woman. The wealthy loudly donated from their surplus; they gave what they did not need. The woman quietly donated the little that she had; she gave what she needed. Her wholehearted generosity demonstrated her absolute trust in God. The passage that opened with a condemnation of the false piety of the unscrupulous closes with praise of the genuine piety of the simple.

Jan 30 2025

Scripture Study for

The most significant prayer of Israel’s religion is found in Deuteronomy. It is a profession of faith in the one God to whom Israel owes exclusive and undivided commitment and worship. This is the God who drew the people out of Egyptian bondage, led them through the perils of the wilderness, and brought them into the land of promise. This is also the God within whom all the attributes of deity can be found. It is not a divided deity whose various characteristics are worshiped at various shrines. This profession of faith is found within a summons to obedience.

The tradition that surrounded the enigmatic Melchizedek has been reinterpreted in order to typify particular aspects of Jesus’ divine nature. First, his priesthood is permanent, enabling him to intercede without interruption, while the Levitical priests were all subject to death. Jesus’ holiness is the second characteristic that distinguishes his priesthood from the other. He did not have to atone for his own sins, as the Levitical priests did. Finally, his priesthood is not traced back to the religious institution founded on Aaron. Rather, Jesus is identified with Melchizedek, whose priesthood was grounded in eternity and established by a divine oath.

By the time of Jesus, there were 613 commandments surrounding the official biblical law. Although all laws were considered binding, some were regarded more important than others. When questioned about the “first” law, Jesus endorses the summons that constitutes the Shema, the most significant prayer of Israel’s faith. To the injunction to love God with all one’s heart, soul, and strength (Deuteronomy 6:4–5), he adds the injunction to “love your neighbor as yourself” (cf. Leviticus 19:18). He insists that the second is like the first. The scribe, who is schooled in the religious tradition, recognizes Jesus’ response as both accurate and profound. He calls him Teacher, a title that has special significance coming from one who was himself an official interpreter of the law.

Jan 30 2025

Scripture Study for

John the seer relates two extraordinary apocalyptic visions that were granted to him. Although they differ, the second adds a dimension to the first. The events of the first vision seem to unfold on earth; those of the second take place in heaven. Both visions depict vast assemblies of the righteous. There is no suggestion that these people are martyrs. Instead they are those who have survived the distress of the end-times because they were purified through the blood of the sacrificial Lamb. This distinction certainly entitles them to participate in the celebration held at the end of time.

The love of which the author of First John speaks is generative, transforming. It makes believers children of God. Everything that happens in their lives is a consequence of their having been recreated as God’s children. They are a new reality; hence, they are not accepted by the world, the old reality. Certain similarities between Jesus and the believers are drawn. The world did not recognize the only begotten Son of God and it does not recognize these new children of God. The implications of this are clear. Believers should not be surprised if they encounter the very rejection—even persecution and death—that befell Jesus.

The teachings of Jesus are all in some way directed toward the establishment of the reign of God. The type of behavior he advocates is frequently the opposite of that espoused by society at large. This explains the challenges set before us in the Beatitudes. The first and the third Beatitudes claim that power is in the hands of the meek and the poor. The second and the fourth promise the alleviation of inner turmoil. The fifth, sixth, and seventh Beatitudes treat aspects of religious piety. The last Beatitude clearly warns that commitment to Jesus’ cause can bring persecution. It is clear that each Beatitude invites us to turn the standards of our world and our way of life upside down and inside out.