Scripture Notes: The Voice of One Crying (Mark 1)

Isaiah prophesied a messenger. There would a “voice of one crying in the wilderness,” telling the world to prepare for the Lord, to make His paths straight that He may come in a completely new way, an unexpected way, a way that would lead to salvation.

That messenger was John the Baptist. He appeared out of the wilderness, looking to all the world like a prophet of old. He was shocking, with his camel’s hair clothing, his leather belt, and his diet of locusts and honey. But he was even more shocking in his words. He called for repentance, true repentance that involved not just words but a change of life. He did not even hesitate to use rough language when the situation warranted it. “You brood of vipers!” he railed at the Jewish leaders who came to see him more out of curiosity than anything else.

John had a mission. He knew he was the voice, and he knew that One was coming after him. He was to prepare the way and then get out of the way. “He must increase, but I must decrease,” he said humbly. “I am not worthy to untie the strap of His sandal.” John was to wake people up so that they could open their hearts and be ready for something new, something amazing, something that would save the world.

Scripture Notes: The Kerygma (Romans 1)

In the first few verses of his letter to the Romans, St. Paul offers a brief overview of salvation history, a summary of the most important points. This is essentially the kerygma, the proclamation of Jesus Christ and the Christian faith, presented to remind the Romans, and us, of our place in God’s plan and our responsibility with regard to that plan.

Paul begins by saying that he is a servant, actually a slave, of Jesus Christ and that he has been called to be an apostle, one sent on mission, who is set apart, consecrated, for the Gospel, the good news of Christ and God’s saving plan for human beings. This Gospel is new, appearing quite recently, but God promised it for centuries, announcing it in bits and pieces through the prophets in the Holy Scriptures. In other words, God set the stage for Jesus, the Incarnate Word, the Son of God in the flesh, long before He came. To truly understand His coming, then, we have to examine that promise in the Old Testament, for it gives us important information about Who Jesus is and what He has come to do.

The Gospel centers around the Son, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, Who became incarnate, descended from King David in His human flesh but completely God. He revealed His divinity in many ways through His life on earth but especially in His resurrection. Jesus died on the cross for our sins, but death could not hold Him, for He is God as well as man, and He rose from the dead.

Now, Paul continues, through Jesus we have received the grace we need to practice the obedience of faith. We can conform our lives to Jesus. Through Him, when can share in the divine life of God. We can keep the moral law. We can, like Paul, be sent and set apart. We can belong to Jesus Christ, entering into an intimate relationship with Him and with the Father and the Holy Spirit. And we are called to spread the Gospel to all nations and all people. We are called to be saints.

Scripture Notes: Family (Mark 3)

At the end of Mark 3, Jesus is teaching when His mother and kinsmen (the word “brothers” is broader than our normal definition and includes cousins and other family members) arrive. Someone tells Him that his family is asking for him, and in response, Jesus says something rather surprising: “Who are my mother and my brothers?” Then He answers His own question. He looks around at the crowd before Him and identifies them as His family, adding, “Whoever does the will of God is My brother and sister and mother.”

For generations now, some people have looked upon Jesus’ response here as dismissing His mother and other family members, as somehow denying their importance or even putting them firmly in their place. Yet this is insulting to Jesus, Who loves perfectly. He would be the very last person to ever dishonor His own mother, for that would be breaking a commandment of His Father.  

So what is Jesus doing then? He is extending His family. He is not denying that His blood relatives, especially His mother, are an important part of His life. Rather, He is broadening out His circle. He is offering membership in the family that He is building as He inaugurates the New Covenant. And membership in this family carries a critical obligation: loving, faithful obedience to God.  

Who does this better than Mary? After all, she is the one who welcomed Jesus into her own body with her prayer of acceptance and invitation: “I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Mary obeyed God’s will with immense faith and love. She opened her heart and her womb to the Word of God made flesh. So when that Word of God teaches the need for such obedience, He looks toward His mother as an example, holding her up and inviting others to join her in His family.

Scripture Notes: Abominable Changes (Maccabees 1)

King Antiochus Epiphanes enjoyed throwing around his power. He longed to solidify his rule over his entire kingdom, so he decreed that everyone had to adopt Greek customs. Everyone. No exceptions. All the people in his domain had to abandon their old ways, including their old religions, and conform to the Greeks. This meant the Jews, too.

Many Jews obeyed. They thought it best to conform to their king’s commands. They wanted peace. They wanted economic benefits. They wanted a bit of power. And apparently they didn’t care all that much about their own customs or religion...or God.

The king’s representatives arrived to enforce the decree. They made the Jews sacrifice to the Greek gods. They removed the altar and the lampstand and the tables and the vessels from the Temple and replaced them with an idol of some sort, perhaps a statue of Zeus. And many of the Jews watched without protest. Many of them sacrificed according to the decree. They threw away the Scriptures. They abandoned the covenant. They took the easy way, the path of least resistance, and accepted the abominable changes.

But not all Jews. There were a few willing to hold on to their religion and their law and their worship and their God even at the cost of their lives. They were willing to die rather than betray God. The Maccabee family quickly stepped forward as leaders of this group, which headed into the hills, leaving behind all they had to remain faithful. Was it easy? No. Was it dangerous? Yes. But they did it anyway.

Scripture Notes: Born From Above (John 3)

Nicodemus came to Jesus at night. He was a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jewish people, part of a group that had taken deep offense at Jesus. Yet apparently he was also curious, intrigued, and even perhaps drawn to Jesus in a way he could not quite grasp. So he came to Him at night, out of the view of the other Pharisees, hoping for explanations, clarity, answers.

But Nicodemus seemed to find more questions than answers. He started out with what he apparently hoped was a leading statement: “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him.” He was looking for a confirmation. He wanted Jesus to tell him for certain Who He was and what He was doing. But Jesus did not.

Instead, Jesus appeared to go off in a completely different direction: “Truly, truly, I say to you unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus, probably with a confused expression, asked how anyone can be born anew. Jesus did not back down, but He did explain: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”

Nicodemus was thinking literalistically. Jesus was speaking sacramentally. The word for “anew” here, which is often translated “again,” actually has a richer meaning in the Greek. It means “from above.” It refers to being born of the Spirit. It means entering into a new life, the divine life, as that divine life enters into us. And it points directly toward the sacrament of Baptism.

This is how Christians are born anew, born from above, by water and the Spirit, by Baptism. This is how sanctifying grace, the very life of God, enters into us. The Spirit hovers over the waters of Baptism, making the sacrament efficacious. It does not just symbolize grace; it imparts grace. The Spirit enters into us, making us a new creation in God.

Did Nicodemus finally understand? We do not know for sure. Yet he, with Joseph of Arimathea, considered himself a follower of Jesus and took part in claiming and burying Jesus’ Body after the crucifixion. In any case, Nicodemus found out how our Lord challenges us and draws our thoughts up to Him and to His truth.