An Exegetical Reflection on the Gospel of Trinity Sunday, Year B, Matthew 28:16-20, June 3, 2012
TODAY'S GOSPEL (Matt 28:16-20) IS almost universally called the Great Commission. Here, the Risen Lord instructs the Eleven to make disciples of all nations, baptize them, and teach them to observe everything he commanded them. In this commission, we have an explicit reference to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in whose name one is baptized. This is obviously the reason why the present text is read on this feast, even if the thrust of the passage is not about the Trinitarian understanding of God. It may be observed that to baptize in the name of the three persons has become the classic baptismal formula, and the verse in question is the earliest evidence for it. The Father, Son and Spirit appear in juxtaposition, as if to say that they are equal.
Despite the fact that the three persons of the Trinity are named, it would be wrong to think that the passage bears the dogmatic meaning it was given, as a result of development through the Trinitarian controversies, in later centuries. The Confession of three persons in one God was developed in an effort to account for the full implications of the mystery of Christ, whose life reveals that God is Father, Son and Spirit. The classical formulation of the doctrine was framed in the language of Greek philosophy which, unfortunately, is beyond the understanding of most of us. The consequence is that the doctrine emerged as something foreign to the daily life of Christians, appearing as it does as a mathematical problem to be solved. Of course, the dogmatic formula is a necessary, given the culture and world view of the time; but this does not prevent us from going back to the biblical understanding to see it relevance to our practical life as Christians.
Far from bearing the meaning of the Trinitarian definition of Nicea, the conception that God as Father, Son and Spirit reflects the Matthean community’s understanding of God in his dealings with men. For the Christians, God is not an immutable being, unmoved by the contingencies of human history. It may make sense in philosophy to say that God is a simple being, unaffected by the pain and suffering of humanity, and a unitary being, dwelling alone and beyond the access of humanity. On the contrary, the understanding of God as triune comes from the Christian experience that God is very much involved in the affairs of men. Rather than isolating himself from his creatures, God opens himself to them, seeking them out in love. John articulates it very well when he says that God is love (I John 4:8).
It is in the nature of love to be self-diffusive, and this gives us an inkling why God is not an isolated God, but a Trinity who meets us in love. That love is seen in Jesus who gave us his life for the ransom of all. Again, John perfectly enunciates it: “God’s love was revealed in our midst in this way: he sent his Son to the world that we might have life in him” (1 Jon 4:10). And he continues to diffuse his love and mercy by the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells in the Christian and in the community. Such an understanding of God is not foreign to the thought of Matthew who emphasizes the personal relationship between the Father and the Son, and the share of the disciples in that relationship through the Holy Spirit.
If it is in the nature of God to be Trinitarian, this implies that one cannot be a Christian unless he belongs to a community of brothers and sisters in the Lord. There is no such a person as an individual Christian; for there is no Christianity without a community. In the words of Paul, “If one does not belong to the body, he does not belong to Christ” (Rom 8:23). And because God is essentially love, so is a Christian. Jesus, in the gospel of John, says it well: “People will know that you are my disciples by the love you have for one another” (John 15:35). Of course, this love is not our love for one another, but the love which we share from the Father through the Son in the Spirit. “If we love one another, God dwells in us, and his love in brought to perfection in us. The way we know we remain in him and he in us is that he has given us of his Spirit” (1 John 4:12-13). The nature of God, and what a Christian should be are well expressed in John’s letter: “God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God and God in him” (1 John 4:16).
Friday, June 1, 2012
Friday, May 25, 2012
Pentecost: The Giving of a New Life to the Church
An Exegetical Reflection on the Gospel of the Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday, Year B, John 20:19-23, May 27, 2012
ORIGINALLY, PENTECOST WAS an agricultural feast, during which the first fruits the land produced were offered (Exod 34:22), and was later associated with the giving of the Covenant, fifty days after the celebration of the Passover at the departure of Israel from Egypt (Exod 19:1-16). In the Christian dispensation, however, it is not, strictly speaking, a commemoration of the birthday of the Church, but rather celebrates the giving of the gift of the Spirit to the renewed Israel, which is the Church, fifty days after the resurrection of Jesus. It marks the giving of a new life—the life of the Spirit—to the community which Jesus began to establish through his life, ministry, but especially but his passion, death and resurrection. That is why, in the Gospel read for this feast, we are given a Johannine account of the giving of the Spirit: “Then he breathed on them and said: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” (John 20:22).
The giving of a new life has for its background the Genesis account and Ezekiel’s vision of the dry bones. The action of Jesus first of all recalls the story of God forming man out of the clay of the ground and blowing into his nostrils the breath of life, on account of which man became a living being (Gen 2:7). Under the influence of Greek philosophy, this has been taken in the past to mean the creation of the soul. But to the Hebrew mind, this simply means that it is Yahweh who gives life, and on whom human life directly depends. In Ezekiel’s vision of the dry bones, God instructed the prophet to prophesy to the dead bones so that a new spirit would revive the bones (Ezek 37:1-10). The vision is not really about the individual resurrection of the dead, but a visionary description of the new life that was to begin for the people of Israel. But what is important for us is the point that both stories emphasize--God gives a new life to his people.
And Pentecost precisely has that significance: the giving of a life—the life of the Spirit--to the renewed Israel, which is the Church. It may be recalled that because of sin, of turning away from God, misfortune fell on Israel: “Lo, the hand of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. Rather, it is your crimes that separate you from your God. It is your sins that make him hide his face so that he will not hear you” (Isa 59:1-2). Because of sin, Israel became a divided nation, was scattered all over the world, and it became a land of violence, evil judgment, lies, adulteries, usury, disregards for rights and other sins which created a social disorder. Such social disorder is aptly prefigured in the story of the tower of Babel. Because of man’s proud idolatry, of his arrogance in trying to build a tower, God chastised him; among others, he confused mankind. For the biblical writer, the diversity of languages was a consequence of sin, and it conveys the message that our economic, political, religious and cultural divisions and quarrels, our scrambling for power, intrigues, competition and envy result from our arrogance and proud idolatry.
In depicting the Spirit as being poured out at Pentecost, Luke wishes to affirm that the event overcame the division among men. The Holy Spirit inaugurated the reconstitution of Israel, fulfilling Ezekiel’s prophecy that God would gather again his people into one (Ezek 37:23). Pentecost signifies that Israel is now renewed. The people of the renewed Israel gather around the Lord who makes his dwelling among them (Ezek 37:28). The confusion at Babel (Gen 11:1-9) is replaced with unity at Pentecost (Acts 2:6). The nature of that renewed community is echoed by Paul: “All of you who have been baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with him. There does not exist among you Jew or Greek, slave or freeman, male or female. All are one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:26-28). Luke pictures the unity in this fashion: “The community of believers was of one heart and one mind. None of them ever claimed anything as his own; rather, everything was held in common”(Acts 4:32). There may be diversity in the community, but it remains as one body (cf 1 Cor 12:12-13). However, the effect of Pentecost is not limited to the renewed Israel. Indeed, tomorrow, all the nations of the earth will experience this unity. This is why the Holy Spirit appears on the apostles in tongues of fire so that the gospel will be understood in the language of all the nations (Acts 2:6-12). The messianic community extends to all peoples. This is concretely manifested in the so-called “Pentecost of the pagans” (Acts 10:44-48).
ORIGINALLY, PENTECOST WAS an agricultural feast, during which the first fruits the land produced were offered (Exod 34:22), and was later associated with the giving of the Covenant, fifty days after the celebration of the Passover at the departure of Israel from Egypt (Exod 19:1-16). In the Christian dispensation, however, it is not, strictly speaking, a commemoration of the birthday of the Church, but rather celebrates the giving of the gift of the Spirit to the renewed Israel, which is the Church, fifty days after the resurrection of Jesus. It marks the giving of a new life—the life of the Spirit—to the community which Jesus began to establish through his life, ministry, but especially but his passion, death and resurrection. That is why, in the Gospel read for this feast, we are given a Johannine account of the giving of the Spirit: “Then he breathed on them and said: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” (John 20:22).
The giving of a new life has for its background the Genesis account and Ezekiel’s vision of the dry bones. The action of Jesus first of all recalls the story of God forming man out of the clay of the ground and blowing into his nostrils the breath of life, on account of which man became a living being (Gen 2:7). Under the influence of Greek philosophy, this has been taken in the past to mean the creation of the soul. But to the Hebrew mind, this simply means that it is Yahweh who gives life, and on whom human life directly depends. In Ezekiel’s vision of the dry bones, God instructed the prophet to prophesy to the dead bones so that a new spirit would revive the bones (Ezek 37:1-10). The vision is not really about the individual resurrection of the dead, but a visionary description of the new life that was to begin for the people of Israel. But what is important for us is the point that both stories emphasize--God gives a new life to his people.
And Pentecost precisely has that significance: the giving of a life—the life of the Spirit--to the renewed Israel, which is the Church. It may be recalled that because of sin, of turning away from God, misfortune fell on Israel: “Lo, the hand of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. Rather, it is your crimes that separate you from your God. It is your sins that make him hide his face so that he will not hear you” (Isa 59:1-2). Because of sin, Israel became a divided nation, was scattered all over the world, and it became a land of violence, evil judgment, lies, adulteries, usury, disregards for rights and other sins which created a social disorder. Such social disorder is aptly prefigured in the story of the tower of Babel. Because of man’s proud idolatry, of his arrogance in trying to build a tower, God chastised him; among others, he confused mankind. For the biblical writer, the diversity of languages was a consequence of sin, and it conveys the message that our economic, political, religious and cultural divisions and quarrels, our scrambling for power, intrigues, competition and envy result from our arrogance and proud idolatry.
In depicting the Spirit as being poured out at Pentecost, Luke wishes to affirm that the event overcame the division among men. The Holy Spirit inaugurated the reconstitution of Israel, fulfilling Ezekiel’s prophecy that God would gather again his people into one (Ezek 37:23). Pentecost signifies that Israel is now renewed. The people of the renewed Israel gather around the Lord who makes his dwelling among them (Ezek 37:28). The confusion at Babel (Gen 11:1-9) is replaced with unity at Pentecost (Acts 2:6). The nature of that renewed community is echoed by Paul: “All of you who have been baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with him. There does not exist among you Jew or Greek, slave or freeman, male or female. All are one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:26-28). Luke pictures the unity in this fashion: “The community of believers was of one heart and one mind. None of them ever claimed anything as his own; rather, everything was held in common”(Acts 4:32). There may be diversity in the community, but it remains as one body (cf 1 Cor 12:12-13). However, the effect of Pentecost is not limited to the renewed Israel. Indeed, tomorrow, all the nations of the earth will experience this unity. This is why the Holy Spirit appears on the apostles in tongues of fire so that the gospel will be understood in the language of all the nations (Acts 2:6-12). The messianic community extends to all peoples. This is concretely manifested in the so-called “Pentecost of the pagans” (Acts 10:44-48).
Friday, May 18, 2012
Jesus' Ascension and Our Witnessing to the Faith
An Exegetical Reflection on the Gospel of the Solemnity of Our Lord's Ascension, Year B, Mark 16:15-20, May 20, 2012
TODAY, WE CELEBRATE the feast of the Ascension to signify Jesus’ final withdrawal from physical presence to his disciples and his risen state that celebrates his victory. In the first reading (Acts 1:1-11), Luke pictures this by saying that forty days after his resurrection, Jesus, while the disciples were looking, was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight. Luke’s chronology, of course, is not meant to be a literal account of what happened, but simply a way of emphasizing the event which is, theologically, an integral part of one single mystery: the passion, resurrection and ascension of the Lord. If ascension is celebrated as a separate event, it is meant to underscore the end of Jesus’ physical appearances to his disciples and the new life which he acquired. In the liturgical celebration, the meaning of the event is well phrased in the preface of the Ascension: “In his risen body he plainly showed himself to his disciples, and was taken up to heaven in their sight to claim for us a share in his divine life.”
But the Gospel (Mark 16:15-20) obviously wishes to stress another point that the feast of the Ascension brings—which is about witnessing to the faith. Witnessing has an honored place in Christian life, and by witnessing is meant simply living out the Christian life. One does not only profess his faith; even more important, his faith is evidenced by his life. It is for this reason that we criticize preachers like priests, religious, missionaries and evangelizers who dare announce the Good News but whose life hardly exhibits the same gospel they preach. We tend to think that those authorized to speak the Word of God to others are only those who have lived the Gospel in their lives. Undoubtedly, this is a sound principle. As the Romans were wont to say, nemo dat quod non habet, one cannot give what one does not have. One who speaks of justice must first of all be just. This, in fact, has much basis in the Scriptures. In various places of the Bible, we are asked to live what we believe. “You are the light of the world…. your light must shine before men so that they may see goodness in your acts and give praise to your heavenly Father” (Matt 5:14-16).
But must it always be that those who preach the faith should themselves have great faith? If one’s life does not show his belief, can he not proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ? However sound such a principle, the Gospel today obviously gives us an exception. For Mark does not hide the fact that the disciples were hard of faith. They were hardly models of belief. Several times, the Markan Jesus upbraided them for their lack of faith. When the disciples encountered a storm on the sea, they were scared to death, despite the fact that Jesus was with them. And the Lord rebuked them: “Why are you so terrified? Why are you lacking in faith?” (Mark 4:40). After his death, Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, but when the disciples “heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they refused to believe it” (Mark 16:21). Later on, he was revealed completely changed in appearance to two disciples who were walking along on their way to the country, but when these men retraced their steps and announced the good news of the resurrection, the other disciples “put no more faith in them than in Mary Magdalene”(Mark 16:12-13). And these raise the question: since these disciples lacked faith, should they be allowed to preach the Gospel of Jesus resurrection? How could they tell others of something that they themselves were not convinced of?
Nonetheless, in today’s Gospel, Jesus commanded his disciples to preach: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the good news to all creation. The man who believes in it and accepts baptism will be saved; the man who refuses to believe in it will be condemned” (Mark 16:15-16). Strangely, the disciples Jesus commissioned to preach were the very the same people he upbraided for their unbelief: “He took them to task for their disbelief and their stubbornness, since they had put no faith in those who had seen him after he hade been raised” (Mark 16:14). He did not wait for a time when the disciples could show great faith. Obviously, he was convinced that if his disciples preach the Gospel, they would acquire faith in the process. Obedience to Jesus’ Word gives birth to faith. Unbelief is conquered by putting man in the service of faith. Of course, the dimensions of unbelief are evident in the practice of many Christians—their trust in power and money, their secular attitude, their neglect of the poor, among others. But how are we to overcome them? Obviously by commissioning them to preach. The grace of conversion is given to those who listen to his Word and proclaim it.
TODAY, WE CELEBRATE the feast of the Ascension to signify Jesus’ final withdrawal from physical presence to his disciples and his risen state that celebrates his victory. In the first reading (Acts 1:1-11), Luke pictures this by saying that forty days after his resurrection, Jesus, while the disciples were looking, was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight. Luke’s chronology, of course, is not meant to be a literal account of what happened, but simply a way of emphasizing the event which is, theologically, an integral part of one single mystery: the passion, resurrection and ascension of the Lord. If ascension is celebrated as a separate event, it is meant to underscore the end of Jesus’ physical appearances to his disciples and the new life which he acquired. In the liturgical celebration, the meaning of the event is well phrased in the preface of the Ascension: “In his risen body he plainly showed himself to his disciples, and was taken up to heaven in their sight to claim for us a share in his divine life.”
But the Gospel (Mark 16:15-20) obviously wishes to stress another point that the feast of the Ascension brings—which is about witnessing to the faith. Witnessing has an honored place in Christian life, and by witnessing is meant simply living out the Christian life. One does not only profess his faith; even more important, his faith is evidenced by his life. It is for this reason that we criticize preachers like priests, religious, missionaries and evangelizers who dare announce the Good News but whose life hardly exhibits the same gospel they preach. We tend to think that those authorized to speak the Word of God to others are only those who have lived the Gospel in their lives. Undoubtedly, this is a sound principle. As the Romans were wont to say, nemo dat quod non habet, one cannot give what one does not have. One who speaks of justice must first of all be just. This, in fact, has much basis in the Scriptures. In various places of the Bible, we are asked to live what we believe. “You are the light of the world…. your light must shine before men so that they may see goodness in your acts and give praise to your heavenly Father” (Matt 5:14-16).
But must it always be that those who preach the faith should themselves have great faith? If one’s life does not show his belief, can he not proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ? However sound such a principle, the Gospel today obviously gives us an exception. For Mark does not hide the fact that the disciples were hard of faith. They were hardly models of belief. Several times, the Markan Jesus upbraided them for their lack of faith. When the disciples encountered a storm on the sea, they were scared to death, despite the fact that Jesus was with them. And the Lord rebuked them: “Why are you so terrified? Why are you lacking in faith?” (Mark 4:40). After his death, Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, but when the disciples “heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they refused to believe it” (Mark 16:21). Later on, he was revealed completely changed in appearance to two disciples who were walking along on their way to the country, but when these men retraced their steps and announced the good news of the resurrection, the other disciples “put no more faith in them than in Mary Magdalene”(Mark 16:12-13). And these raise the question: since these disciples lacked faith, should they be allowed to preach the Gospel of Jesus resurrection? How could they tell others of something that they themselves were not convinced of?
Nonetheless, in today’s Gospel, Jesus commanded his disciples to preach: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the good news to all creation. The man who believes in it and accepts baptism will be saved; the man who refuses to believe in it will be condemned” (Mark 16:15-16). Strangely, the disciples Jesus commissioned to preach were the very the same people he upbraided for their unbelief: “He took them to task for their disbelief and their stubbornness, since they had put no faith in those who had seen him after he hade been raised” (Mark 16:14). He did not wait for a time when the disciples could show great faith. Obviously, he was convinced that if his disciples preach the Gospel, they would acquire faith in the process. Obedience to Jesus’ Word gives birth to faith. Unbelief is conquered by putting man in the service of faith. Of course, the dimensions of unbelief are evident in the practice of many Christians—their trust in power and money, their secular attitude, their neglect of the poor, among others. But how are we to overcome them? Obviously by commissioning them to preach. The grace of conversion is given to those who listen to his Word and proclaim it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
