JESUS Criticizes HIS Own Generation

"Then, some teachers of the law and some Pharisees spoke up, 'Teacher, we want to see a sign from YOU.'  JESUS answered them, 'An evil and unfaithful people want a sign; but no sign will be given them except the sign of the prophet Jonah.  In the same way, as Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of Man spend three days and three nights in the hearth of the earth.

At the judgment, the people of Nineveh will rise with this generation, and condemn it; because they reformed their lives at the preaching of Jonah, and here, there is greater than Jonah.  At the judgment, the Queen of the South will stand up and condemn you.  She came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and here, there is greater than Solomon.'" - Matthew 12:38-42  

(JESUS did not perform any miracle that day, because the experts in religion were demanding an account of HIM, instead of listening to HIM.

An evil and unfaithful people.  The text of the Gospel says in fact: "evil and adulterous".  This expression in Scripture means the unfaithful believer who, without denying GOD in words, keeps other gods to himself.

The story of the unclean spirit, meaning the devil, is directed towards the contemporaries of JESUS.  They accepted John's call to conversion and for a while changed their way of life.  Theirs was not a real experience of GOD, neither did they discover the inner power that would have enabled them to persevere, and so their blindness remained.

The Ninevites:  see Jonah 3:5

The Queen of the South: 1 Kings 10

The sign of Jonah is the resurrection of JESUS.  The similarity seen in the three days that Jonah was in the belly of the fish and the time JESUS spent in the tomb is somewhat forced.)

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JESUS Sends Out The First Missionaries

"JESUS called HIS Twelve disciples to HIM, and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to drive them out, and to heal every disease and sickness.

These are the names of the Twelve apostles: first Simon, called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew, the tax collector; James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon, the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, the man who would betray HIM.

JESUS sent these Twelve on mission, with the instructions; 'Do not visit pagan territory and do not enter a Samaritan town.  Go, instead, to the lost sheep of the people of Israel.

Go, and proclaim this message: The kingdom of heaven is near.'  Heal the sick, bring the dead back to life, cleanse the lepers, and drive out demons.  Freely have you received, freely give. " - Matthew 10:1-8 

(Till then, JESUS had spoken only in the synagogues around Capernaum.  Now HE attracts fame and followers and begins to draw multitudes.  In that moment HE establishes the group of the Twelve.  HE needs them to prepare meetings, to spread HIS doctrine, to multiply the miraculous signs effected among the sick.

At the same time, JESUS is planning HIS Church and wants to give it a head: this will be the group of the apostles.  They will be the witnesses of JESUS among people, so HE teaches them a way of living a common life that will serve as a pattern for the Church.)

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"In A General Way, Don't Take Oaths."

"You have also heard that people were told in the past: Do not break your oath; an oath sworn to the LORD must be kept.  But I tell you this: do not take oaths.  Do not swear by the heavens, for they are GOD's throne; nor by the earth, because it is HIS footstool; nor by Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great king.  Do not even swear by your head, because you cannot make a single hair white or black.  Let your 'Yes' mean 'Yes' and your 'No' mean 'No.'  Anything else you say comes from the evil one." - Matthew 5:33-37  

(Do not take oaths.  This sentence must not be understood: "You shall never take an oath", but: "In a general way, don't take oaths."

Many invoke the name of GOD on any occasion.  It is because they truly know HIM and have HIM in mind?  If we use HIS name casually, it is because we do not experience the weight of HIS presence.  What a lack of respect to call on GOD to testify to our sincerity when we do not even recognize all that is false and unclean within us!

Anything else you say comes from the devil, and even the preoccupation of defending and justifying oneself in the eyes of others.  See also Matthew 23:16; James 5:12.)

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Take MY Yoke Upon You

"On that occasion, JESUS said, 'FATHER, LORD of heaven and earth, I praise YOU; because YOU have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to simple people.  Yes, FATHER, this was YOUR gracious will.

Everything has been entrusted to ME by MY FATHER.  No one knows the SON except the FATHER; and no one knows the FATHER except the SON, and those to whom the SON chooses to reveal HIM.

Come to ME, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take MY yoke upon you and learn from ME, for I AM gentle and humble of heart; and you will find rest.  For MY yoke is easy; and MY burden is light.'" - Matthew 11:25-30 

(JESUS prayer impressed the disciples.  In this text it is a short prayer, prompted by the most recent events; events and daily life are also a source of prayer.

YOU have hidden these things.  Intelligent people are not excluded from the faith, of course, but it is the glory of GOD that faith should not seem to be the privilege of the wise and the intelligent; human wisdom never gives what is essential and often hides it.  There were in Palestine at the time some wise people and many others who pretended to be so, but they were rarely seen among the disciples of JESUS,

Everything has been entrusted to ME.  GOD does what is needed for people to have always and in all places thousands of ways of knowing HIM.  In this life it is only through JESUS that we have the revelation of the FATHER.

Must we translate "learn from ME for I AM..." or "learn from ME that I AM..."?  The humility of JESUS reveals to us the humility of GOD who never seeks to put us down or intimidate us, but instead always wants to raise us to HIM.  Such humility does not prevent HIM from being GOD, and HE may exact everything from us because HE does not use external force: HIS influence reaches to the depths of our heart.  See Luke 10:21.

Come to ME.  I will not relieve of your load but by placing MY yoke on you, I give you the means of carrying the load. 

JESUS plays with the two words yoke and load, for the Jews used to call "load" the divine teachings imparted to pupils, and yoke the balancing of the teacher's sentences, which should be learned by heart.

JESUS, the patient and humble teacher, enables us to see the mercy of GOD in our lives and in our own cross.  HE shows us the love of GOD even in the requirements of the law.  Only GOD is good; and good is the authority of CHRIST.)

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The Foundation Of The Church At Antioch

"Those who had been scattered, because of the persecution over Stephen, traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, proclaiming the message, but only to the Jews.  But there were some natives of Cyprus and Cyrene among them who, on coming into Antioch, spoke also to the Greeks, giving them the good news of the LORD JESUS.  The hand of the LORD was with them so that a great number believed and turned to the LORD.

News of this reached the ears of the Church in Jerusalem, so they sent Barnabas to Antioch.  When he arrived and saw the manifest signs of GOD's favor, he rejoiced and urged them all to remain firmly faithful to the LORD; for he, himself, was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and faith.  Thus, large crowds came to know the LORD.

Then Barnabas went off to Tarsus, to look for Saul; and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch.  For a whole year, they had meetings with the Church and instructed many people.  It was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians." - Acts 11:19-26  

(Antioch, 500 kilometers north of Jerusalem, was the principal town of the Roman province of Syria, a pagan country, where Greek Christian faith to the pagans for the first time, nor how that happened.  The Christians of Jewish origin that did it would deserve a statue, or better still a feast in our liturgy.  So there is at Antioch for the first time a community where Jews and non-Jews are assembled: the future of the Church was there.  The Jerusalem community is the Rome of the primitive Church.  It is conscious of its authority and immediately asks to examine more closely this extraordinary new happening: a Church where Jews accept to rub shoulders with the uncircumcised.

The Jerusalem community behaved as having authority over the new churches; the case of Antioch would touch everyone since, for the Palestinian Jews, accepting pagans was something of a scandal.  Did not the law of Moses forbid living with "uncircumcised" people?)

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More Perfect Law

"Do not think that I have come to remove the Law and the Prophets.  I have not come to remove but to fulfill them.  I tell you this: as long as heaven and earth last, not the smallest letter or stroke of the law will change until all is fulfilled. 

So then, whoever breaks the least important of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be the least in the kingdom of heaven.  On the other hand, whoever obeys them and teaches others to do the same will be great in the kingdom of heaven." - Matthew 5:17-19 

 

(Here begins the presentation of the new Law.  It is far from what is often sought in a religion: practices to observe, fasts, prayers, good works with which one wins salvation.  JESUS says little about this because the Bible has dealt at length with this subject, and the study of the Bible itself shows that these laws and practices are always linked to a certain culture and have to be adapted to the times.

Law.  At times this word indicates all the religion of Israel.  The Law and the Prophets: was a way of indicating the whole Bible.

Not the smallest letter or stroke of the Law will change until all is fulfilled.  JESUS does not refer to the commandments.  Rather HE affirms that the religion founded on the Old Testament's Scripture was a temporary, yet necessary, step in the history of salvation.  The prophecies had to be fulfilled; the rites and sacrifices of that religion expressed in a veiled manner the mystery of sin and mercy that would be fulfilled in the person and the work of JESUS.  With HIM comes the perfect and definitive fellowship of GOD with humankind.

For us as well, observing the laws of the Bible is not an end in itself.  They are an expression of real love and are its guidelines.  In obeying them we become receptive to the Spirit who will lead us.  In this way we discover a "righteousness" or perfection far superior to the canonists of the time: the teachers of the law and the Pharisees.

So then, whoever breaks the least important of these commandments ... Here JESUS is referring to the commandments.)  

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Salt And Light

"You are the salt of the earth.  But if salt has lost its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?  It has become useless.  It can only be thrown away, and people will trample on it.

You are the light of the world.  A city built on a mountain cannot be hidden.  No one lights a lamp and covers it; instead, it is put on a lamp stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, your light must shine before others, so that they may see the good you do, and praise your FATHER in heaven." - Matthew 5:13-16  

(JESUS has just designated those who are called to the kingdom.  First of all, HE will clarify their mission: to be the light of the world and not merely a light in the world.  This does not mean that all people are to enter the Church, but that the Church has to be salt and light to the world.  Scripture mentions salt as the element that preserves food.  The covenant of salt was the Covenant of GOD with those who were to serve HIM forever [Numbers 18:19].  So, the disciples of JESUS are called salt of the earth because through them the world benefits from the lasting Covenant with GOD.  They must continually enkindle in the world the desire and struggle for true justice and perfection and not allow human societies to become satisfied with mediocrity.

You are the light: JESUS does not mean "You are the best in the world," but "GOD has chosen you to be a minority and through you HE will make HIMSELF known."  You will experience, [both you and the Church] much that you would perhaps prefer to avoid, but which will be for the world, a sign from GOD.)

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The Beatitudes

"Coming down the hill with them, JESUS stood in an open plain.  Many of HIS disciples were there and a large crowd of people who had come from all parts of Judea and Jerusalem, and from the coastal cities of Tyre and Sidon.

Then, looking at HIS disciples, JESUS said,

'Fortunate are you who are poor, for the kingdom of GOD is yours.

Fortunate are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.

Fortunate are you who weep now, for you will laugh.

Fortunate are you when people hate you, when they reject you and insult you and number you among criminals, because of the Son of Man.  Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for a great reward is kept for you in heaven.  Remember, that is how the ancestors of the people treated the prophets.

But alas for you who have wealth, for you have been comforted now.

Alas for you who are full, for you will go hungry.

Alas for you, who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.

Alas for you when people speak well of you, for that is how the ancestors of the people treated the false prophets.'" - Luke 6:17. 20-26  

(Matthew adapts them for the members of the church of his time.  Luke, on the other hand, puts the beatitudes here just as JESUS proclaimed them to the people of Galilee.  In the words of JESUS, the beatitudes were a call and a hope addressed to the forgotten of the world, beginning with the poor among HIS people, heirs of GOD's promise to the prophets.

In contrast with these beatitudes, Luke presents lamentations recalling those of Isaiah [65:13-14].  They are lamentations as used for the dead, not maledictions.  For the rich forget GOD and become impermeable to grace.  These lamentations are a sign of the love of GOD for the rich, as are the beatitudes for the poor, for HE loves them all, but in a different way.  To the first HE affirms that HE will destroy the structures of injustice, and to the others HE gives a warning: richness brings death.)

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The Body Of CHRIST, Bread Of Life

"'I AM the living bread from heaven; whoever eats of this bread will live forever.  The bread I shall give is MY flesh, and I will give it for the life of the world.' 

The Jews were arguing among themselves, 'How can this man give us HIS flesh to eat?'  So, JESUS replied, 'Truly, I say to you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink HIS blood, you have no life in you.   The one who eats MY flesh and drinks MY blood lives eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

MY flesh is really food, and MY blood is truly drink.  Those who eat MY flesh and drink MY blood, live in ME, and I in them.  Just as the FATHER, who is life, sent ME, and I have life from the FATHER, so whoever eats ME will have life from ME.  This is the bread from heaven; not like that of your ancestors, who ate and later died.  Those who eat this bread will live forever.'" - John 6:51-58  

(JESUS becomes our bread when we eat HIS body in the sacrament of the Eucharist.

How can this man give us flesh to eat?  Thus spoke the Israelites who distrusted GOD in the desert [Numbers 11:4 and 18].  John plays on the same words and gives them a different meaning here: why would a messenger from heaven give flesh to the world, when what we need is something spiritual?  JESUS answers in verse 63: this flesh to eat may sound like food for bodily sustenance, but it is really a sharing in the life of the risen CHRIST transformed by the Spirit.  For that reason, it gives life [verse 63].

Through material means the believer participates in a heavenly reality and enters into communion with the risen CHRIST.  The Church defines sacrament as something material that symbolizes and brings about a spiritual reality.  When we faithfully participate in a sacrament, we encounter the living CHRIST in person renewing our lives.  In the Supper of the LORD, that is, in the Eucharist, we really receive the body and blood of CHRIST, in what appears to be only bread and wine.  The risen CHRIST becomes for us the food of eternal life.

JESUS acts as living bread in us.  When we eat ordinary bread our body digests and assimilates it, but when we eat living bread [the body of CHRIST], this bread actively changes us.  CHRIST transforms us; gives HIS life to us and unites us with HIMSELF: Whoever eats ME will have life in ME.

Flesh and blood.  In Hebrew culture flesh and blood denotes the human being in his mortal condition.  JESUS wants us to make our own HIS entire human being in its humble and mortal condition and communicates to us HIS divinity.)

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The Widow's Offering

"JESUS sat down opposite the temple treasury and watched the people dropping money into the treasury box; and many rich people put in large offerings.  But a poor widow also came and dropped in two small coins.

Then JESUS called HIS disciples and said to them, 'Truly, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all those who gave offerings.  For all of them gave from their plenty; but she gave from her poverty and put in everything she had, her very living.'" - Mark 12:41-44  

 

(The poor widow was the only one from among so many worshipers who make retribution to GOD as HE deserves.  She was the personification of those uncountable poor, who have practically nothing but somehow find a way to give part of the little they have.  The humble person is capable of sacrificing part of his paid time to study or participate in common activities in order to help his companions.  The small salary he loses is worth much more than the big salary that wealthy people are not willing to lose.  GOD calls on the poor before anybody else, because only the poor give all that they have to live on.)

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