Religion 10: New Testament
Final Review
Gospel of Mark
Opens with John the Baptist
Dressed
in camel’s hair
Preaching
a Gospel of repentance
Fulfills
the prophecies in Malachi
Elijah
will come
He
will prepare the way for the Messiah
Baptizes
Jesus – points to Him as the Messiah
Arrested
by King Herod before Jesus begins His ministry
Criticized
Herod’s marriage to Herodias (his brother’s wife)
Beheaded
at the request of Herodias’ daughter, Salome
Jesus comes from Nazareth
Almost
no one has heard of Him when He begins His ministry
People
begin wondering who He is based on the things He says and does
The central question in the first half of Mark’s Gospel
is “Who is Jesus?”
This
question is raised by the things Jesus says and does
Jesus demonstrates authority over:
Demons
– they obey Him and leaves when He tells them to
No
human being has power over demons
Disease
– Jesus has the power to cure sick people
Sin
– Jesus forgave the paralyzed man’s sins and He could walk
Only
God can forgive sin
The
Sabbath – Jesus says the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath
God
created the Sabbath, therefore Jesus has claimed authority equal to God
Nature
– Jesus calms the storm at sea
Jesus
sleeping in the boat all through the storm
Wakes
up and tells the sea to be quiet
Messianic Secret – Jesus conceals the fact that He is the
Messiah
“Tell
no one” – Jesus swears those He heals to secrecy
“We know who you are! The Holy
One of God!” – Jesus silences the demons before they can give away His identity
Jesus
implies who He is rather than states it explicitly
“Which is easier to say: your
sins are forgiven or rise, pick up your mat and go home?”
Jesus demonstrates His power to
forgive sins and His divinity by healing the paralytic
Jesus never says outright that
He is God
Jesus
speaks in parables
Symbolic
stories
He
only explains the stories to His apostles
Reasons for the Messianic Secret:
1) Timing
of the crucifixion – ultimately Jesus will be killed for claiming He is God
The Pharisees already want to kill Him for implying
this
They refrain because they need
clear evidence that Jesus has indeed made this claim
By refraining from explicitly
stating His identity, Jesus allows His ministry to continue longer
2) Avoid
being treated as a king
Jesus came to be a humble
servant and to suffer and die
He is the Messiah, but He is not the Messiah the Jews are expecting
If He reveals who He is, He
will gain a type of attention that will confuse His message
Conflict with the Pharisees
The
Pharisees criticize Jesus because
1) He
claims to be God
Claims authority over the
Sabbath itself
Claims the power to forgive
sins
2) He
doesn’t keep the tradition of the Pharisees
Heals on the Sabbath
Picks grain on the Sabbath
Eats without washing His hands
Jesus
criticizes the Pharisees for being legalistic
Legalism
– getting caught up in the letter of the law and losing track of the spirit
According
to Jesus, the spirit of the law is to love God and love your neighbor
The Pharisees get so caught up
in the letter of the law that they forbid healing on the Sabbath, which is an
act of love for your neighbor
“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the
Sabbath”
The Pharisees get so caught up
in the letter of the law that they permit money that should be used for caring
for your parents to be given as corban to
the Temple
Their tradition is kept
The spirit of the law is violated
Jesus says that it is the
things that come from within that defile a person
He declared all foods clean (which is why Christians
can eat bacon)
Emphasizes the things inside of us that corrupt us
Anger, lust, envy, greed, etc.
Disciples
Disciple
– means student or follower
Jesus
has many followers
Twelve
disciples are specially chosen and given special authority to work in Jesus’
name
Preach
Drive
out demons (aka exorcise)
Anoint
the sick with oil to heal them
More
powers will be given to them later
These
twelve disciples are the original bishops
Condition of Discipleship
1) Complete
trust in Jesus
Sent out without food, money,
or shelter: they had to beg for everything
They had to depend completely
on God’s providence in order to survive
The Rich Young Man: sell all
you have, give it to the poor, and then follow me
Peter walking on water:
entrusting His life into Jesus’ hands
2) The
greatest among you must be the servant of all
3) Whoever
wishes to serve me must deny himself, pick up his cross and follow me
“Go, your faith has saved you”
Faith
is necessary for Christ to be able to perform miracles
You
have to give Him permission to work
Faith
healed the woman with the hemorrhage
Lack
of faith in Nazareth kept Jesus from being able to perform mighty deeds there
Peter’s Confession of Jesus as the Messiah: the turning
point
People
have been speculating about who Jesus is
John
the Baptist back from the dead (Herod’s favorite option)
Elijah
A
prophet
“Who
do you say that I am?”
“You are the Christ” – Peter
“You are the Christ” – Peter
“Flesh
and blood has not revealed this to you but my Heavenly Father.”
The
question “Who is Jesus?” has been answered: He is the Messiah
The
rest of the Gospel will answer the question: “What sort of Messiah will Jesus
be?”
The disciples are expecting a great military conqueror
for a Messiah
Jesus
instead tells them that he will be handed over to the Pharisees and crucified
The
disciples fail to realize that Jesus has come as a suffering servant
In
order to be great, the disciples must be the servant of all
The Transfiguration
Peter,
James and John go up with Jesus on Mt. Tabor
Jesus
appears shining in all His glory
Speaking
with Moses (representing the law) and Elijah (representing the prophets)
1) Confirms
Jesus’ identity
A voice thunders down, “This is
my beloved Son. Listen to Him.”
2) Strengthens
the disciples’ faith before the crucifixion
Jesus instructs them to tell no
one about this until He has risen from the dead
The Suffering Servant
Isaiah
50
God will send a servant whom no
one will recognize, “So marred was he beyond that of human appearance”
The servant will suffer for the
sins of the people
“Like a sheep led to the
slaughter”
In
Exodus, God commanded the Israelites to sacrifice an unblemished lamb
They
were to paint the blood of the lamb on their doorposts
When they angel of death came
to take the lives of all the first borns, he would see the blood and pass over
the doors of the Israelites
The lamb is a scapegoat that
takes the punishment in place of the people
Jesus
is the lamb of God
In
the end, the suffering servant is raised high and greatly exalted
Melchizedek
King
of Salem
Offers
a sacrifice of bread and wine to Abraham’s god in the book of Genesis
The Aaronic priesthood (i.e. the
priests who offer sacrifices in the Temple) offer sacrifices of goats and
calves
None
of these animal sacrifices could atone for sins
They
were imperfect and limited
Sacrifices
had to be continuously offered
Because
Jesus is the perfect victim, one sacrifice was offered for all time for all
sins
Psalm 110 foretells that the
Messiah will be a priest “according to the order of Melchizedek”
Last Supper
At
the Last Supper, Jesus offers a sacrifice of bread and wine
“Take
this all of you and eat it, for this is my body which will be given up for
you.”
Jesus
means this literally
The
Eucharist is His actual flesh and
blood
Christ
acts as priest at the Last Supper, offering the sacrifice
The
sacrifice will be completed when He acts as victim on the cross
There
are four cups drunk in the Passover meal
At
the point Jesus says, “Take this, all of you and drink from it” He is at the
third cup
He leaves before the fourth cup
(the cup of completion) is drunk and the Passover meal is completed
In
the Garden of Gethsemane, He begs God to “Take this cup away from me”
He
does not drink of that cup until He is on the cross
At
that point, the sacrifice begun in the Last Supper is finished
Then
He dies
The Sanhedrin accuses Jesus of blasphemy because He
claimed to be God
By the time they take Him before
Pilate, the charge has changed to claiming to be a king (i.e. the Messiah)
This
amounts to treason and hence is also punishable by death
Because
Pilate is a pagan, the charge of blasphemy is not one he is particularly
concerned with
However, he is afraid of crossing Caesar and having the Jews backing a rival
king would get him in trouble
Jesus’ last words on the cross are, “My God, my God, why
have you abandoned me?”
All
the disciples abandoned Jesus
On
seeing him die, a Roman centurion says, “Surely this man was the Son of God.”
Mary Magdalen, Joanna and Mary the mother of James go to
the tomb to anoint the body
They
find the tomb empty and an angel sitting in the tomb
The
angel tells them Jesus has risen from the dead as He promised and will meet
them in Galilee
The original ending of the
Gospel of Mark ends, “And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid”
This reflects Mark’s audience
Persecuted
Christians knew the cross, but the joy of the resurrection had yet to come
They
were afraid
It also reflects a theme: when
encountering the divine, people are often struck with fear
Gospels of Matthew and Luke
|
Matthew
·
Addressing Jews
·
Believed to have been one of the 12 disciples
and hence an eyewitness
·
Emphasizes that Jesus came in fulfillment of
the Old Covenant
·
Traces Jesus’ genealogy back to Abraham (the
father of the Jewish people)
·
Focuses on St. Joseph in the nativity
·
Jesus is born in Bethlehem because Mary and
Joseph already live there
·
Jesus grows up in Nazareth because Mary and
Joseph were fleeing Herod’s persecution
·
Three magi from the East come to visit Jesus
after He is born (emphasizes that Christ came for the whole world, not just
the Jews)
·
Sermon on the Mount
·
“Blessed are the poor in spirit” and “Blessed
are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.”
|
Luke
·
Addressing Gentiles (specifically Theophilus)
·
Not an eyewitness to the life of Christ himself.
Luke says he is compiling eyewitness testimonies
·
Emphasizes that Jesus came for the poor and
the outcast
·
Traces Jesus’ genealogy back to Adam (the
father of the whole human race)
·
Focuses on Mary in the nativity
·
Jesus is born in Bethlehem because Joseph is
from there and they have to go back for a census
·
Jesus grows up in Nazareth because Mary is
from there and that’s where Joseph and Mary were already living
·
Poor shepherds come to visit Jesus after He is
born (emphasizes that Christ came for the poor)
·
Sermon on the Plain
·
“Blessed are the poor” and “Blessed are the
hungry.” Also adds the “Woe to you’s”
|
The Three Magi
(Matthew)
Gold – represents Christ’s divinity
Frankincense – represents Christ’s priesthood
Myrrh (used for anointing dead bodies) – represents
Christ’s death
The Annunciation (Luke)
|
Annunciation
of the Birth of John the Baptist
·
Zachariah is burning incense in the Temple in
Jerusalem
·
The angel Gabriel appears and tells Zachariah
his wife will have a child who is destined to go before the Lord in the
spirit of Elijah in order to prepare a people fitting for Him.
·
Zechariah asks, “How shall I know this? For I
am an old man and my wife is advanced in years.”
·
Zechariah doubts the angel Gabriel
·
As a sign, the angel tells Zachariah that he
will not be able to speak until these things are fulfilled.
·
The sign is confirmed when John the Baptist is
born and Zechariah can speak again.
|
Annunciation
of the Birth of Jesus
·
Mary is in her home in Nazareth
·
The angel Gabriel appears and tells Mary she
will conceive a bear a son who shall be called Son of the Most High and will
inherit the kingdom of David.
·
Mary asks, “How can this be, since I have no
relations with a man?”
·
Mary says, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the
Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”
·
As a sign, the angel tells Mary that her
cousin Elizabeth (Zachariah’s wife) is pregnant.
·
The sign is confirmed when Mary finds
Elizabeth pregnant and both Elizabeth and in vitro John the Baptist recognize
Mary as the mother of God.
|
The Presentation
(Luke)
Jesus is brought to the Temple to be presented to the
Lord
It had been revealed to Simeon that he would not see
death until he saw the Messiah
On seeing the infant Jesus, she
he says, “Lord, now let your servant go in peace, your word has been
fulfilled.”
He prophesies that Jesus will be
destined for the rise and fall of many nations
He prophesies that Mary’s heart
will be pierced as with a sword
The Finding in the
Temple (Luke)
Jesus is twelve years old
He
stays behind in the temple while Mary and Joseph go home
They
find Him teaching the teachers of the Law
“Why
were you looking for me? Did you not know that I would be in my Father’s
house?”
He
goes home and is obedient to Mary and Joseph
John the Baptist
Luke begins the story in the fifteenth year of the reign
of Tiberius Caesar
Tiberius
is the Roman emperor and hence the ruler of the whole known world
Luke
situates the story in the context of the whole world, not just Israel
John the Baptist is preaching repentance
Preparing
the way of the Messiah
When
the Messiah comes, he will bring judgement
He
will gather the wheat into his barn
He
will burn the chaff
John’s baptism was symbolic
Water
represents death (e.g. Noah’s flood)
Water
also represents life
In
baptism, the sinner goes down into the water and dies to their old self
They
rise out of the water and are reborn into a new life
Jesus’ baptism is strange because He had no sins to
repent of
His
baptism prefigures His crucifixion
Jesus
goes down into the water for us, bringing our sins with Him
He
goes down into the water and dies for our sins
He
is raised up to new life and reborn
The Temptation in
the Desert
Three temptations
1. To
turn stones into bread
2. To
throw Himself off the top of the Temple and have angels catch Him
3. To
worship the devil in exchange for rule over the whole world
Beginning His
Ministry in Nazareth (Luke)
Jesus says He has been sent to free the captives and
bring good news to the poor
When the people of Nazareth ask for a sign like Capernaum
got, Jesus says He didn’t come to them
They
try to throw Him off a cliff
Jesus
walks through the crowd and disappears
Sermon on the
Mount
Luke says, “Blessed are the poor” but “Woe to the rich”
The poor are blessed because now
that Christ has come, they will inherit the kingdom of God, they will laugh,
they will eat
Christ
says “Woe to the rich” because they have not used their wealth to help the poor
He
has come to the poor whom they’ve neglected
Matthew says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit”
Matthew
spiritualizes Luke’s beatitudes
It
is the spirit of the poor that makes
them blessed, not the poverty itself
Being
completely dependent on God
Appreciating
what you have as a gift from God
This
is what brings the poor closer to God than the rich
This
is what we should emulate
Jesus says you cannot serve both God and mammon
If
money is your top priority, God cannot be your top priority
Jesus goes to the roots of the Ten Commandments
Not
only don’t kill, but don’t even be angry
Love
even your enemy
When
someone slaps you, turn the other cheek
When
someone takes your cloak, don’t even withhold your tunic
Not
only don’t commit adultery, but don’t even look on a woman with lust
If
you look on her with lust, you’ve already committed adultery in your heart
You’ve
looked on her in a way that only a husband should look on her
These
are sins insofar as you willingly and knowingly choose to do them
Passing
thoughts or feelings that you do not control are not in themselves sinful
It’s
what you choose to do with them that makes them sinful
Before you judge others, you worry about yourself
Before
pulling out the splinter in your brother’s eye, remove the wooden beam from
your own
On prayer
Do
not pray in order for people to see you and notice you
Go
to your room and pray in secret
Prayer
should be about conversation with God, not about what people think about you
This does not mean that we
cannot pray in public, just that we have to be aware of our motives
God
knows all your needs before you ask
You
don’t need long prayers
But
still ask
Be
persistent in prayer
Christ
teaches us the Our Father during the Sermon on the Mount
Jesus and John the Baptist
John
the Baptist’s role is to prepare the way for the Messiah
The
disciples of John the Baptist fast because they are preparing for the coming of the Messiah
The disciples of Jesus feast
because the Messiah has already come
The Pharisees and scholars of
the law rejected both of them
Accused John the
Baptist of being possessed by a demon – too intense for them
Accused Jesus of
being a drunkard and a friend of sinners – too lax for them
Jesus begins His ministry in Capernaum
Jesus calls the twelve and sends them out with a warning
There
will be a great persecution
They
will be handed over to the courts and scourged in the synagogues
Brother
will hand over brother to death
“You
will be hated by all because of my name.”
In
enduring persecution, they will become more like Christ who was persecuted
The disciples
do not need to be afraid
Do not be afraid of those who
kill the body, but be afraid of those who can destroy the soul
This life is passing – at the end of time, you will
be reunited with a glorified body
The loss of the soul is eternal
Even the hairs on your head are
counted
God knows everything that you are going through and
cares about you
Even a sparrow cannot fall to
the ground without God knowing, so do not worry since you are worth many
sparrows
Jesus’ message will be divisive
“Do not think that I have come
to bring peace to the earth. I have come not to bring peace but the sword.”
Jesus
has come to stir things up, not calm them down
The Gospel message will be
divisive and set man against his father, daughter against mother
Because
of this, Jesus reminds us that we must love God and Him even above our own
parents
Examples
of reasons for Christian persecution:
Jews persecuted the early
Christians because they claimed that Christ (a human being) was the one true
God
Romans persecuted the early
Christians because they refused to adopt the gods of the Roman empire and offer
sacrifices to them
The French Revolution
persecuted Catholics because they considered them irrational and because the
Church acted as a moral check against some of the ambitions of the revolution
In the United States, Catholics
were persecuted because of their obedience to the pope
Very often, the Christian’s
obedience to a law that is higher than the state’s is what makes them the
target of persecution
Christ came for the poor and outcast
Lazarus
and the rich man
The
rich man neglected Lazarus during his lifetime
For
eternity, Lazarus is cared for while the rich man experiences thirst and
neglect
The
sheep and the goats
During their lifetime, the
sheep cared for Christ in his most distressing disguise of the poor and now
they will enter into His kingdom
During their lifetime, the
goats neglected Jesus in His need and
now they will spend eternity in hell
Christ came for the most unlikely characters
The
sinful woman who wipes Jesus’ feet with her hair
“If
he were the Son of God, he would know what sort of woman was touching him.”
Jesus
came for sinners, not for the righteous
The
greater the sin forgiven, the greater the love of Jesus the sinner has
The
centurion whose servant Jesus healed
The
centurion is a pagan and a Roman hated by the Jews
He
doesn’t even believe in the one true God, but he has faith in Jesus
The
thief crucified next to Jesus
“Jesus,
remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
“Amen,
I say to you, this day you shall be with me in paradise.”
The
first saint turns out to be a condemned criminal
Christ came for sinners - God’s love is unconditional
Like
a shepherd looking for a lost sheep
That
one sheep is indispensable for him
Even though that sheep has
wandered away, he will do everything in his power to find it and bring it back
into the fold
A
woman looking for a lost coin
That
coin is worth searching for
It
may not appear to be worth much, but every soul is infinitely important to God
A
father waiting for his wayward son to come home
It
doesn’t matter what the son has done and how much he has screwed up
What’s
important to the father is that his son is finally home again
Salvation goes out to the Gentiles
The
parable of the fig tree
Israel
has failed to bear good fruit
God
gave them a second chance
Now
God is chopping the tree down so it will not exhaust the soil
The
parable of the wedding feast
Israel
was invited to the banquet first, but they failed to respond to the invitation
Now God is going out to the
highways and byways, inviting the poor and the Gentiles and anyone who will
come to Heaven
The greatest commandment is to love God with your heart,
mind and soul and your neighbor as yourself
Who
is my neighbor?
The
good Samaritan parable
A
man got mugged
The
Levite and the priest passed by
The
Samaritan was the one who acted as a neighbor to this man and helped him
Your
neighbor is every human being – it doesn’t matter who they are or where they
are
Preparing for Judgement Day
The
Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins
Wise virgins - people who live
good lives and are prepared for the coming of Christ
Foolish
virgins - those who are caught off guard when Christ comes
The Bridegroom - Christ
The wedding procession - the
second coming
Master
of the house – God the Father
The
Parable of the Talents
The
master entrusts his servants with money (talents) and asks them to invest them
The
talents represent our abilities
God
has given us gifts to be cultivated and used at the service of others
We
are not to simply hold onto them for ourselves
The
talents represent souls
You
were given one soul
But
it is not enough for you to return your soul to God when you get to Heaven
He
will ask, “Where are all the others?”
Your
one soul was meant to bring many more souls with you
The
Parable of the Sheep and the Goats
Sheep
on the right, goats on the left (sinister)
Judged
based on how they treated Christ in the poor
The
Corporal Works of Mercy
To feed the
hungry;
To give drink
to the thirsty;
To clothe the
naked;
To harbour the
harbourless;
To visit the
sick;
To ransom the
captive;
To bury the
dead
The Passion of Jesus
Satan
demands to sift the disciples like wheat
He
will test the disciples’ faith and loyalty to Jesus
Satan enters Judas and tempts
him into handing Jesus over in return for thirty pieces of silver
Judas
ultimately hangs himself after desperately trying to give the money back
Peter
will deny Jesus three times
After
he has turned back [to Jesus], he is to strengthen his brothers
Jesus warns the disciples to
stay awake in the garden and pray that they “not undergo the test”
Pilate
turns Jesus over to Herod
Herod
Antipas was tetrarch of Galilee
Jesus
is a Galilean
Therefore
Jesus falls under Herod’s jurisdiction
By
chance, he happened to be in Jerusalem at the time
He
wanted to Jesus perform a miracle
Not
because of faith
Not
out of concern for those needing healing or needing a miracle
He
just wanted to see a magic trick
Jesus
refuses to answer any of Herod’s questions
Jesus
forgives from the cross
“Father,
forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.”
One
of the thieves ridicules Jesus
If
you are the Messiah, save yourself and save us
The other thief rebukes him
saying that they deserve their punishment while Jesus is innocent
“Jesus,
remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
“Amen,
I say to you, this day you shall be with me in paradise.”
Tradition
calls the good thief St. Dismas
The
first saint into heaven after Jesus dies
Jesus’
last words from the cross
“Father,
into your hands I commend my spirit.”
This is markedly different from
St. Mark’s gospel: “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
The Resurrection
Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Mary
the mother of James are the first to discover the empty tomb
Two angels are there who tell
them Jesus is not there, He will meet them in Galilee just as He said
The
women report this to the eleven disciples
They
are not believed
Their
story sounds too fantastic
Plus, because they are women,
the disciples are less inclined to think their story is reliable
Peter goes to check it out for
himself
In the Gospel of John, John
records that he went with Peter and actually got to the tomb first, but Peter
was the first to go in
Peter confirms what the women
said
The
Road to Emmaus
Jesus
appears to two of the disciples who are walking to Emmaus
They
do not recognize Him at first
“Their
eyes were closed”
Jesus
has a glorified body
And
they’re not paying attention – they don’t expect to encounter Jesus
Jesus
explains the scriptures to them
All this time He has been
telling them about the prophecies which He has come to fulfill, but they
haven’t gotten it
Now that He’s risen from the
dead, He explains how His death and resurrection fulfill all that was foretold
in scripture
They
recognized Him in the breaking of the bread
The
Eucharist
“He
took bread, said the blessing, broke it and gave it to them”
Jesus is truly present in the
Eucharist (body, blood, soul and divinity)
It
makes sense that they would recognize Him there
Jesus
is not a ghost
The
disciples are able to touch the wounds in His hands
Jesus
eats bread and fish – He has a body to eat food with
Christians believe the body is
important – we were made to be body and soul, not disembodied spirits
Matthew’s Resurrection – the guards at the tomb
The
chief priests were aware that Jesus had said He would rise again
They
were afraid that the disciples might steal the body and then claim He rose
To
prevent this, they stationed guards to guard the body
The
guards are scared out of their wits
When the women arrive, there is
a great earthquake, the stone is rolled back and angels appear to the women
explaining that Jesus has risen
The
guards report this back to the chief priests
The chief priests pay them to
say that while they were asleep, the disciples stole the body
If the resurrection happened,
then it follows that what Jesus said was true and that He was indeed the Son of
God
If you aren’t willing to believe
that, you have to find some way to discredit the testimonies saying that Jesus
found risen
The Gospel of John
In the beginning was the Word
Matthew
and Mark place Jesus in the context of the history of Israel
Luke
places Jesus in the context of the history of Rome and the whole known world
“In
the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius”
John
places Jesus in the context of the history of the universe
Genesis
In the book of Genesis, when God speaks things are
created
“All
things came to be through him [the Word], and without him nothing came to be.”
This Word of God was with God from all eternity
It
is sent to earth and becomes flesh
It
is John the Baptist’s job to testify to the light
To
testify to this Word become flesh
‘The
one who is coming after me ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’
John
prepares the way for Jesus, but Jesus existed before John
The
world which He created does not know Him and rejects Him
We
saw His glory
John
is an eyewitness to what he is writing about
The Gospel of John does not describe Jesus’ baptism
However, John the Baptist says
that the way he knew Jesus was the Messiah was because he saw the Holy Spirit
descend on Him like a dove
Some of the disciples of Jesus begin as disciples of John
the Baptist
Andrew and Phillip are following
John the Baptist when John the Baptist points to Jesus and says, “Behold the
Lamb of God”
Andrew
then calls Peter, “We think we have found the Messiah”
In
the synoptic Gospels, Jesus first encounters the disciples while they are
fishing
Phillip
calls Nathaniel to follow Jesus
“Can
anything good come from Nazareth”
Nazareth
is a backwoods town with a lot of pagans in it
Jesus
already knows Nathaniel because He saw Him sitting under a fig tree
“You
will see angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man”
A
reference to Jacob’s ladder
Jacob saw the skies open up and
the angels ascending and descending on this ladder between heaven and earth
In
the same way, Jesus is a bridge between heaven and earth
He
is God made man
The disciples go with Jesus to a wedding feast in Cana
“They
have no wine.” – Mary the mother of Jesus
“Woman,
what concern is this of mine? My hour has not yet come.”
Jesus
is referring to the woman foretold in Genesis
“The woman will stomp at your
head while you strike at her heel. I will put enmity between your offspring and
hers.”
Mary is the woman who will
stomp on Satan (conceived without sin) and whose Son will be the great enemy of
Satan
Jesus’
hour refers to His crucifixion
He
knows what sort of attention He will get once He starts performing miracles
“Do
whatever He tells you.” – Mary
Mary
asks Jesus for what we need
Then
she turns back to us and tells us to do whatever He asks of us
Jesus then goes to the Temple
Drives
the money changers out
“Destroy
this Temple and in three days I will rebuild it”
He
was referring to the Temple of His body
Just
as the Temple holds the presence of God so too does Jesus’ body
Jesus revealed Himself to no one in Jerusalem because He
knew human nature all too well
Nicodemus
A
Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin
“No
one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”
How
can a man once grown old go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?
Jesus
isn’t talking about a physical rebirth; He’s talking about the rebirth of the
soul
“No
one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.”
Baptism
Symbolizes rebirth – your old
self goes down into the water and dies and you walk out of the water with new
life
Jesus united His baptism to the
cross
Took our sins with Him into the waters
Our fallen nature died with Him
Jesus rose again, bringing new life
“Just
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted
up”
The
Israelites were being bitten by snakes and dying
God
instructed Moses to mount a bronze serpent on a pole
Whoever
looked at that serpent would live
So too when Jesus is crucified
He will be lifted up on the cross (like the serpent was lifted on the pole)
On
who have bitten by the serpent (original sin) will live through Christ’s cross
The Woman at the Well
Jesus
asks the woman for a drink
She
is surprised He is talking to her because she is a Samaritan
Jews
and Samaritans are enemies and have nothing to do with each other
Jesus
promises the woman living water
Water
that if she drinks it she will never thirst again
The
woman laughs at Jesus because He doesn’t have a bucket to get the water with
“Call
your husband”
“I
don’t have a husband”
“You’re
right. You’ve had five and the one you’re living with is not your husband.”
Jesus
has never met from this woman and is not from this town
He
would have no way of knowing these most intimate details of her life
Something
is different about Him – could He be the Messiah?
“The
hour will come when you will worship in Spirit and in truth”
The
Jews and the Samaritans disagree on where the Temple should be located
The
Jews says Jerusalem (Mt. Zion)
The
Samaritans say Mt. Gerizim in Samaria
Jesus
says soon they will worship on neither
Jesus
is the new Temple
Jesus send His disciples out for the harvest
“The
field is ripe for the harvest” – souls are ready to be brought to salvation
God
has planted goodness and holiness in these souls
The
prophets tended the fields
Now
Christ has come to harvest what God the Father planted
The
disciples are to join Him in this task
Jesus heals a blind man on the Sabbath
“Get
up, pick up your mat and walk”
The
Pharisees see the blind man carrying his mat
“How
dare you carry your mat on the Sabbath?”
“The
man who cured me told me to carry my mat”
In
Jewish law, a man cannot testify on his own behalf in court
Jesus
says others testify for Him
John
the Baptist
God
the Father
The
scriptures
Even
Moses
“A
prophet like me will God raise up” – Deuteronomy
God
reveals to Moses that He will send another prophet like Moses
Jesus
is the new Moses
Just
as Moses struck a rock and water flowed out, Jesus has promised living water
Soon
Jesus will replicate Moses calling down manna from Heaven
Manna from Heaven
The
Israelites were hungry in the desert
God
sent them manna from Heaven
A
bread like substance
Manna
appeared on the ground in the morning
Spoiled
by evening
The
only day it would keep for an extra night was on the Sabbath
There
would be no manna to gather on the Sabbath
The crowds are hungry
Jesus
turns to Philip and says, “Give them so food yourselves”
“A thousand days wages would not fill this crowd.”
“A thousand days wages would not fill this crowd.”
Jesus
breaks bread
More
bread is left over than they started with
Jesus
leaves because the crowd wants to make Him a king
He
is not the type of king they are thinking of
The
crowds search for Jesus because they want more bread
Jesus
tells them not to search for bread that perishes but bread that lasts for
eternal life
Jesus is the bread of life
Whoever
comes to Him will never hunger
Jesus
satisfies all human desires
“The bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world”
The
Eucharist
When
Jesus says He is the bread of life, He means this physically and literally
“How
can this man give us to flesh to eat?”
Jesus
repeats five times, “Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you have no
life in you”
Rather than say it’s symbolic,
He intensifies the literalness of it
Many disciples leave Him them
because they are so grossed out
Jesus
asks Peter, “Are you going to leave too?”
“Lord,
to whom shall we go? You have the words of everlasting life.”
The Feast of Tabernacles
Jesus’
brothers [cousins] want Him to go to Jerusalem for the feat of Tabernacles
They want Him to prove that He is
who He says He is
Jesus
refuses to go with Him because the Jews are trying to kill Him
He
goes in secret instead
The
crowd wonders how Jesus knows so much about scripture without having studied it
They don’t know who He is
Jesus calls them out on trying
to kill Him
They realize that it is Jesus
but no one arrests Him because His hour had not yet come
“Where
I am going you cannot come”
“He’s not going to preach to the
Greeks is He?”
“This
is truly the Prophet (i.e. Moses)”
But the Messiah is not supposed
to come from Galilee but from Bethlehem
Bethlehem is the city of David
The
Messiah will be a king in David’s line
Jesus was born in Bethlehem but they
don’t know that
Nicodemus
defends Jesus before the Sanhedrin
The Pharisees bring a woman to Jesus who was caught in
the act of adultery
Jesus
is known for eating with sinners and tax collectors and forgiving sins
They expect Him to tell them to
let her go
But the law requires that the punishment
for adultery be stoning
If Jesus tells them to let her
go, then He is breaking the law
Jesus
instead ignores them and writes on the ground
“Whoever
is without sin, cast the first stone.”
“Do not judge the splinter in
your brother’s eye without first removing the wooden beam in your own.”
The Pharisees are being hypocritical
“Go
forth and sin no more.”
Jesus has mercy but has not
approved of her sin either
Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead
It
gains attention all over Israel
People
begin following Jesus
The Sanhedrin fears that if the
Romans find this out, they will suspect a rebellion and will take away “both
our land our nation”
Caiaphas prophesies “It is
better for you that one man should die instead of the people, so that the whole
nation may not perish.”
That is exactly what Jesus has
come to accomplish on the cross, although Caiaphas doesn’t realize it
He
will die for our sins so that we may not perish
Mary (Lazarus’ sister) is the sinful woman who washed
Jesus’ feet with her tears and dried them with her hair
Mary
Magdalen
She
anoints His feet again in Bethany
Judas complains that the money
on the oil was wasted because it could have been given to the poor
He really wanted to keep the
money for himself
On entering Jerusalem, Jesus is greeted as a king, riding
on the back of a donkey
Greeks come to ask Phillip about Jesus
Jesus
says, “The hour has come for the son of man to be glorified”
His
preaching has now made it out to the Gentiles
It
is time for Him to do what He came to do: to die for our sins
John does not have an institution narrative (“This is my
body, this my blood.”)
He
assumes that the reader already knows that from previous Gospels
Instead
John recounts how Jesus washes the feet of His disciples
“I
give you a new commandment: love one another as I have loved you.”
When the guards come to arrest Jesus, Jesus asks “Whom
are you looking?”
They
answer, “Jesus the Nazorean.”
“I AM”
“I AM”
The guards fall to the ground
Jesus has just declared Himself
one with Yahweh (“I AM WHO AM”)
Jesus
tells Pilate He is a king, but not a
king of this world
The beloved disciple and Mary stand by Jesus at the cross
Jesus
turns to John and says, “Behold your mother”
He
turns to His mother, “Woman, behold
your son.”
Once
again, Jesus refers to the prophecy of the woman in Genesis
He
makes His mother the mother of all Christians
Jesus’ side is pierced after He dies to make sure He is
dead
Blood
and water flow out from His side
Blood
represents the blood by which we were saved
Water
represents the waters of Baptism which wash away our sins
The Resurrection
Mary
Magdalene discovers the tomb first
She
runs and gets Peter and the beloved disciple (John)
John
reaches the tomb before Peter
Peter goes in first
Mary
Magdalene stays outside the tomb weeping
She mistakes Jesus for the
gardener
“They have taken away my Lord
and I do not know where they have put Him.”
Thomas
doubts Jesus’ resurrection
Put your fingers in my side
Now
Jesus did many more signs
These are written so that you
may believe
More cannot be written because
there would not be enough time or space
Epilogue
The disciples
are fishing
Jesus
calls from the beach and tells them to cast the net on the other side
They haul in a miraculous catch
of fish
Just like when they first left
everything to follow Jesus
Peter
realizes it’s Jesus and swims to shore
“Come
have breakfast”
Jesus says the blessing and breaks
the bread
“Simon
son of John, do you love me?”
“Feed my sheep”
Jesus asks Peter this three
times matching the three times Peter denied Him
Now Jesus asks Jesus to tend His
flock
To
care for the Church as Pope
“When you were younger you used
to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will
stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you to where
you do not want to go.”
Peter is strong willed in the
Gospels
In the end, Peter will give His
life for Jesus
John
is the only disciple who will not die as a martyr
John
is the beloved disciples and the one who wrote the Gospel
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