One Step Closer...

All throughout this week, Jesus is in the Temple teaching the assembled crowds and healing their sick and disabled. He is challenged and questioned on many things by the scribes and Pharisees, but is found without fault in all that he says. This is an ongoing theme throughout the week as the lambs are being examined and scrutinized for the Passover. Just as it was demanded in Exodus that the lambs for the sacrifice be spotless (Exodus 12:5), so too does Jesus, the true and lasting sacrifice, show himself to be spotless and without fault before the scrutiny of the Jewish leadership.

On the Tuesday of Holy Week, however, two major things happen that are worth mentioning.

First, as Jesus and his disciples are coming back from staying the night in Bethany, Jesus passes by a fig tree. When he reaches in to grab some fruit, he finds that, while the tree is green and full of leaves, there is not a single fig to be found. In reaction, Jesus curses the tree loudly so that his disciples can hear. In Matthew, the tree withers immediately down to it’s roots, and in Mark, the tree is withered when they pass it a second time. Jesus then preaches on the power of faith, telling his disciples that if they have faith, they could command the mountain to cast itself into the sea and it would obey. (Matt 21:18-22; Mk 11: 12-14, 20-25)

This seems like an arbitrary and oddly aggressive expression of power by our Lord. It seems at first glance that Jesus kills this poor tree simply because he cannot find breakfast. But, as in all things that he does during this week, there is a deeper meaning to be found in his words and actions.

In this passage, Jesus acts to illustrate his teaching by using vivid and striking miracles. We see this same type of prophetic behavior used in the Old Testament by Ezekiel. He digs a hole in the city wall and leaves as an exile in order to illustrate his prophesy that the rest of the citizens of the city would be exiled in the same way to Babylon (Ez 12:1-20). So, the question remains, what is Jesus trying by his actions?

Jesus is using his power to illustrate the fate of Israel. The fig tree, while having the appearance of fruitfulness and health, does not bear any fruit and is therefore useless. Israel in the same way, that lacks the fruit of faith and good works despite all of its apparent piety. So Jesus curses the tree to wither as a physical representation of the judgment that will come upon all peoples who do not bear fruit despite their apparent adherence to religious doctrine and to the law. We can also see this action as a development on the parable of the fruitless tree found in Luke 13:6-9

Jesus further connects his actions to faith, saying that “if you have faith and do not waiver, not only will you do what has been done to this fig tree, but even if you say to the mountain , ‘be lifted up and thrown into the sea‘, it will be done". Jesus uses the miracle of the withered tree as an illustration of what can be done when a prayer is made in faith. He shows us that nothing is impossible to those who have faith in God. One will be only be able to bear fruit through good deeds, and one will only be able to achieve great things through unwavering faith in God. Faith makes good works possible, and the fruit of those good works helps to bolster our faith. This cyclical motion is how we live out our faith and truly do the Lord's will.

Do you feel as if you have unwavering faith? What can you do to support that faith and do Gods work?

After this dramatic episode, Jesus enters back into the temple from which he drove the money changers the day before. He is approached by the chief priests and elders and asked by what authority he is doing "these things", and who gave him authority. Jesus responds by asking them a question, a common tool of rabbinical debate. "Was John’s baptism of heavenly or human origin?", he asks. Jesus says that he will answer their question if they answer his. The elders and priests do not want to call it a heavenly origin, or else Jesus would ask why they killed him, and they dare not say human origin, because the crowds revere John as a prophet. They claim ignorance, and Jesus refuses to answer their question. Jesus then launches into the parable of the tenants, illustrating the lack of authentic authority held by the chief priests and scribes. (Mt 21: 23-27, 33-46; Mk 11:27- 12:12; Lk 20: 1-26)

We assume that the chief priests and elders, when asking about “these things” they are referring to Jesus’ entry into the city on Palm Sunday, his driving out of the moneychangers, and his healings. These were all extravagant displays of power that drew attention to Jesus and what he had to say. So Jesus is asked for the source of his authority. This is meant to be a trap. If Jesus is doing these things on someone else’s authority, it means that that person is claiming religious authority over Israel, a position reserved only for God and the priests. If Jesus is saying that he does not claim the authority from anyone, or that he claims it from God, he will be considered a heretic and executed.

So Jesus flips the script. “ I shall ask you one question, and if you answer it for me, I shall tell you by what authority I do these things. Where was John’s baptism from? Was it of heavenly or human origin?” (Matt 21: 24-25). They are shocked, and as it says in the following verses, they do not want to say either one due to the consequences of each response. So they claim ignorance, and show themselves incapable of speaking with authority. Their own pride gets in the way, and Jesus refuses to answer their question.

Jesus then addresses to them the Parable of the Tenants. The story speaks of brutal tenant farmers who beat and kill the messengers of their master when they come to collect at vintage time. The master, distraught over the way his servants were treated, sends his son, thinking that they will respect him. The tenants then kill the son and throw his body out of the vineyard. Jesus then asks, "what will the owner of the vineyard do when he comes?", to which the Pharisees answer, "He will put those wretched men to a wretched death. Through their own words, they have condemned themselves. Jesus says "the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit" (Mt 21:43). The Pharisees come to the realization that Jesus is speaking about them, and try to arrest him. However, because of the crowds, they cannot get an opportunity.

So, for us, the question becomes the same that Jesus asks Peter on the way to Jerusalem. Who do we say that Jesus is? Where do we say he recieves his power from? Do we simply act like we believe in him, or does our faith bear fruit? Today let us meditate on the events of Jesus' last Tuesday, and truly seek to find the answers to our questions, prepared to have them answered in ways we do not expect.

Joseph, model of manhood, pray for us
God, Father in heaven, bless us

An Interesting Start...

Happy Monday! Today is the second day of Holy Week. We're one step closer to the victory of Easter, but we still have so much more to experience. So, what happened today? Jesus' first full day in Jerusalem is an interesting one, and we can learn a lot.

It is today that Jesus enters into the Temple and drives out the vendors and money changers (Mt 21:12-17; Mk 11:15-19; Lk 19:45-48). When Jesus enters into the Temple, is infuriated by the sight of everyone who was buying and selling there. He overturns the tables of the money changers, and making a whip out of chords, he clears out the temple area proclaiming Isaiah's words "My house shall be called a house of prayer" (Is 56:7), and saying that these money changers have made it into a house of thieves. Jesus then welcomes the bind and the lame, and heals them. The scribes seek to arrest him, but they fear the crowds.

There are a few important questions to ask here. First, what's the big deal? The vendors were selling religious animals for the sacrifice, and the money changers were helping them do that. Second, why are the blind and lame mentioned. Third, Why are the pharisees and scribes so angry?

To answer the first question, the answer lies in the layout of the Temple. You see, the way in which the temple laid out, there were several courts all radiating from a the central Holy of Holies where the Living God dwelt. The vendors were selling their product in the Court of the Gentiles, which was reserved for non-Jews who wanted to worship. By putting the vendors here, it made a distinction between the Jews and Gentiles. A place that was designed for the Gentiles to be able to worship is suddenly reserved for the sale of animals. The Gentiles who came to worship the Living God were no longer able to enter and pray.

This shows a level of bigotry on the part of the Jews. Instead of making an effort to be first among God's sons and drawing all nations to Mt Zion (Isaiah 2:2-4), they place themselves above the Gentiles and treat God as their own personal possession. The same dynamic exists when Jesus preaches at the synagogue in Nazareth at the beginning of his ministry (Luke 4: 21-22, 25-28). The problem is not that Jesus refers to himself as the fulfillment  it is the fact that he says only the foreigner had faith enough to be healed. The problem, therefore, in the temple is not the fact that the merchants were selling. They were allowed to be there by the chief priests. The problem was the racism represented by their selling in the Court of the Gentiles, and their barring of the Gentiles from being able to pray.

Jesus, by driving out these merchants and going against the priests and scribes in such a direct way, he was not just protesting. Jesus was asserting his religious authority over Israel. In this passionate act, Jesus was telling the Pharisees and Sadducees that their reign over the Jewish people was over, and by exercising his authority, Jesus was making himself the high priest. This forces the elders and priests to ask, by who's authority Jesus was driving out the vendors? Instead of simply asking why, the Pharisees want to know that authority Jesus operated under.

The answer: His Own.

This is why was it so important in Matthew that Jesus healed the blind and lame. At the time, the lame and the blind were not allowed in the Temple because of the fact that they were considered to be ritually unclean. Normally they would sit outside the gates because to let them into the temple area was against the Mosaic Law. When Jesus allowed them to enter the temple to be healed, he was further expressing his authority over Israel. He was telling all those in assembly by his actions that he was Lord over Israel and of the Law.
So why were the scribes and elders so mad? Jesus was telling them that he had the power and authority that they thought they possessed. If Jesus was the authority, they were subject. Their pride would not accept this fact.

Do we accept Jesus as Lord in our hearts? Do we let him rule as he should?

That night, after a dramatic first day in Jerusalem, Jesus went to Bethany outside the city to stay in the house of Lazarus, whom he raised from the dead, and Lazarus' sisters, Mary and Martha (Mark 14: 3-9; John 12:1-11). While they were eating dinner, Mary, whom tradition states is Mary Magdalene whom Jesus freed from seven demons, took an alabaster jar of expensive aromatic nard, an oil of anointing, and poured it on Jesus. Mark says that she poured it on his head, while John says that she poured it on his feet and dried them with her hair. The house is filled with the fragrance of the nard, and the objections of the other dinner guests who complained about the waste of such an expensive asset. The nard itself was worth 300 day’s wages and could have been sold to feed the poor. Jesus, however, silences them. He says that Mary has done this in anticipation of his death and burial, and that she will be remembered whenever the gospel is proclaimed.

Mary’s gesture was unmistakable. She truly was anointing Jesus. This anointing had a two-fold meaning. First, in Mt 26:6, when she anoints the head of Jesus, it acts as a sign of his regal and messianic anointing. Secondly, he was being anointed for burial, which in Jewish society was considered essential for participation in the resurrection. Mary may not have known what she was doing at the time, but it was because of her that his body was not laid in the tomb without being anointed.

However, Mary’s gesture points even further to her deep love for Jesus. This is demonstrated by her actions that seem crazy at the time. First of all, The nard was worth 300 day’s wages. Think about that. Essentially, in the eyes of the other dinner guests, she wasted an entire years worth of work and wages. But Mary was embodying the notion that love makes you do crazy things. Her actions symbolized the literal pouring out of self that she did out of love for Jesus. Everything that was hers belonged to him, and he rewarded her for her devotion. She was, after all, the first person that Jesus appeared to after his resurrection.

Her actions also take on deeper meaning when we examine the Song of Songs, the great love song of the Old Testament. Spikenard was an aromatic and precious perfume worn by a bride on her wedding day. It goes on in Song of Songs 1:12 and 4:13-14 to speak of the sweet fragrance of the nard and its connection to the self giving love of the Bride and Bridegroom. Mary, desperate to show her love for Jesus, takes this perfume that is being saved for her wedding day and pours it over Jesus. We see through the eyes of scripture the depth of love the Mary held for Jesus, the ultimate Bridegroom who is about to give himself once and for eternity for his Bride the Church.

Let us look at the events during this Monday of Holy Week as an invitation to conversion. First, let us pray that our Lord can come into our hearts and drive out all that is standing between us and Him. It may seem violent, and it may not be comfortable, but if we allow him to claim his authority in our hearts he will make us like new. Second, let us pray that Jesus can make our love for him as real as Mary’s, who held nothing back from the one she loved.

See you tomorrow!

St Joseph, model of manhood, pray for us
Father almighty, bless us

It's The Most Wondeful Time of the Year!

Get excited everyone! It's holy week! That blessed time between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday is upon us, and we are given the opportunity to meditate on the events leading up to Jesus' tragic death, and victorious resurrection. Every day during Holy Week, I will be posting what was going on, and why it is so important for us today.

As we all know, today is Palm Sunday. For us Catholics, this first day of Holy week is marked by the longest readings of the year where we meditate on the events leading up to Jesus' Passion and death beginning with his entry into Jerusalem. I think we often overlook the the fact that it was that Sunday two thousand years ago that Jesus entered into Jerusalem riding on the colt of an ass, and surrounded by dozens, if not hundreds, of his disciples shouting "Hosanna to the Son of David". They laid palms on the ground before him, and welcomed him into the city as a king.

Now what does that even mean? What is a kings welcome? Well it says in Matthew 21: 4-5 that Jesus entered in this way to fulfill what was said by the prophet Zechariah, "Rejoice, O daughter Zion, shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem! See your king shall come to you; a just savior is he, Meek and riding on an ass, on a colt, the foal of an ass" (Zec 9:9). In that time, when a king entered into a city, he did so either on a horse or an ass. If he were to ride in on a horse, it was a time of war. If he were to ride on an ass a Jesus did, he was coming in peace.

Furthermore, they way that people were celebrating and laying down palms meant that they knew who Jesus was. They called him "the Son of David", meaning that they were hailing him as the heir to the throne of Israel. They recognized Jesus as the king and savior mentioned by Zechariah. They were rejoicing in their Messiah. This is extremely interesting because in a weeks time, these same people would call Jesus a blasphemer, and call for his death on a cross. In a weeks time, Jesus would go from being hailed as king, to dying as a criminal.

What is great about Palm Sunday is that it forces us to think about how we view Jesus, and how we react to him. Do we treat him as the king and savior of Palm Sunday, or do we mistreat him as a criminal, or just ignore him altogether? I encourage you this week to really think about who Jesus is to you, and how you consider him and bring him into your daily life.

Joseph, model of manhood, pray for us
God, Father of Mercy, bless us.