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Commentary on Mark 7:1-13

A group of self-righteous scribes and Pharisees come to Galilee from Jerusalem to observe Jesus. Obviously, word has reached Jerusalem about what Jesus has been doing up in Galilee. They immediately notice that Jesus and his disciples do not observe some of the “traditions of the elders”, especially with regard to the washing of hands before eating. These traditions were a body of highly detailed, but unwritten human laws, which the scribes and Pharisees regarded as having the same binding force as the Law of Moses. Paul admits to having been a fanatical upholder of these traditions (see Gal 1:14).

It is hard not to come to the conclusion that many of these observances were originally based on practical experience. Eating without washing one’s hands could be a source of sickness, although they knew nothing about germs or bacteria. Because sometimes it could be diseased, eating pork made some people seriously sick, so the meat was banned altogether. But in order to ensure these hygienic requirements would be observed, they were linked to a religious sanction. Violating them was not just bad for your health, but a violation of God’s will. In the thinking of the Jewish leaders, to ignore them was to disobey God.

Clearly Jesus was not against the washing of hands as such, even as a religious observance. What he was against was the legalism by which the mere observance of some external actions was equated with being a devout lover of God. He quotes from the prophet Isaiah:

This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching human precepts as doctrines. (Is 29:13)

The real commandments of God, like unconditional love of the neighbour, are neglected in favour of what are purely human traditions. Jesus illustrates the hypocrisy involved by showing how some supposedly devout people got around the basic responsibility of respect for parents (which the Mosaic law demanded) by claiming that they had consecrated all they owned to God and the Temple, while in fact keeping it for their own use. The Corban (or Qorban in some translations) was a way of supposedly making a gift to God by an offering to the Temple, but in such a way that the donor could continue to use it for himself and not give it to others, even needy parents. This is like the story about the pastor who said, “Each week I throw all the collection up in the air for God. What stays up, he keeps; the rest comes to me”.

We sometimes meet Catholics who confuse the essential service of God with some religious rule. They judge people by whether they eat fish on Friday or not. They piously go through all kinds of devotional exercises, but their conversation is full of gossip and destructive criticism of others.

Others get tied down by scruples (“Did I say my penance after Confession?”) when the more important question would be, “Did I change my behaviour?” or “How did I keep my promise not to repeat the same sins?” Some ask: “Did I observe the full hour of fasting before Communion?” when the more important issue would be, “Does my going to Communion bring me closer to God and make me a more loving person with others?”

There can be a bit of the Pharisee in all of us, and that is the real subject of the teaching today. We will be judged by the depth of our love and nothing else.

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Commentary on John 3:1-8

Read Monday in Second Week of Easter »

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Commentary on Mark 5:1-20

Today we see Mark at his best—a story full of drama and excitement. Compare this to a much more bland version of the story in Matthew where, for some reason, there are two men. It takes place in the “region of the Gerasenes”, which was gentile territory.

There was a man who was possessed by several “unclean spirits”, i.e. demons (“My name is Legion, for we are many.”). He was absolutely uncontrollable, could smash through chains and lived in isolated places, an outcast and a source of fear to people everywhere.

But when Jesus appears, it is the demons’ turn to fear. They begged not to be sent out of that district (as gentile territory it was fertile ground for their activities—perhaps even a demon’s paradise). They offer a deal. They ask to be allowed to enter a herd of pigs. Clearly, the presence of pigs indicates this was gentile territory. Jesus grants their request, and once possessed:

…the herd, numbering about two thousand, stampeded down the steep bank into the sea and were drowned in the sea.

To the thinking of many today, this seems like a terrible waste of good pigs! How could Jesus do such a thing? But we need to remember that this was written in a Jewish context where pigs were regarded as unclean and to be avoided at all costs. We remember how the Prodigal Son was condemned in his hunger to get a job tending pigs and even to eating their food. For a Jew, this was the very lowest any human could go in terms of humiliation and degradation. So getting rid of these pigs was a case of good riddance. A better place to put evil spirits could not be imagined!

On the other hand, the swineherds were naturally upset at losing their means of livelihood and went back to the towns to announce what had happened. Subsequently, the people from those towns came out to see this extraordinary happening. They found Jesus and the man, perfectly composed and fully dressed—and they were afraid. Naturally, they realised that, in Jesus, they were in the presence of someone very special who had such powers. They were also very upset that their herds of pigs had been destroyed and, not surprisingly, they begged Jesus to go elsewhere.

The man, however, asked to follow Jesus. Jesus’ response is interesting:

Jesus refused and said to him, “Go home to your own people, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and what mercy he has shown you.”

This was, in fact, another kind of following and is a message each of us can hear.

Some of us think that following Jesus means spending a lot of time ‘with Jesus’ in religious activities or joining the priesthood or religious life. For most of us, our calling and our following of Jesus takes place right where we are. It is there that we need to share with others our experience of knowing and being loved by Jesus.

Let us go home and tell others what Jesus means in our lives. And, like the people in this Gospel, they may be amazed.

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Commentary on Hebrews 11:32-40

We continue today another part of this wonderful passage about faith and what our Old Testament predecessors were prepared to undergo in order to preserve the integrity of their faith and trust in God. Many of the sufferings described are similar to those experienced by Christian martyrs in later centuries.

The author begins by mentioning some well-known personalities but does not describe particular qualities in detail. Among those mentioned are Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and “the prophets”.

Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah all appear in the Book of Judges, as leaders of God’s people. David is, of course, King David who succeeded Saul, and is one of the most human and endearing characters in the whole Bible, as well as an ancestor of Jesus. Samuel is the prophet who lived in the time of Saul and David, and he anointed both Saul and David as kings, one succeeding the other (see 1 and 2 Samuel).

The writer then gives a brief list of exploits done for God but without attributing the actions to particular people. His readers would have known well the examples given. These include:

– People who have conquered kingdoms, administered justice, or obtained promises.

– Some have even shut the mouths of lions:

Samson “tore the lion apart barehanded as one might tear apart a kid” (Judg 14:6); David told Saul that, as a shepherd, he had killed a lion to protect his sheep (1 Sam 17:34-35); Daniel remained unharmed though cast into a den of lions (Dan 6:19-23).

– Others quenched raging fire:

Three young men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, friends of Daniel, survived unharmed in the furnace into which Nebuchadnezzar had had them thrown (Dan 3:12-97).

– Some escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, or put foreign armies to flight:

Gideon, who lamented his weakness, is given strength to overcome the Midians (Jud 6:15-16); Samson, made weak after his hair is cut, destroys the Philistines when it grows again (Jud 16:15-30); women like Esther overcame powerful enemies of God’s people (Est 1:1—10:10).

– Some prophets assisted women to receive their dead by resurrection:

The prophet Elijah restores life to the son of the widow of Zarephath in whose house he was given hospitality (1 Kings 17:17-24); the prophet Elisha brought the young son of a Shunammite woman back to life (2 Kings 4:8-37).

– Some people were tortured, refusing to accept release in order to get a better resurrection:

Among those tortured were Eleazar (2 Macc 6:18-31), who chose death rather than eat pork and so deny his Jewish faith, or the seven brothers, who were martyred, killed in front of their mother, for the same reason (2 Macc 7:1-42).

– Some suffered mocking and flogging, even chains and imprisonment:

This may refer to Jeremiah.

– Others were stoned to death, sawn in two, or killed by the sword:

According to 2 Chron 24:21, Zechariah, son of Jehoiada the priest, was stoned, and legend has it that Jeremiah met the same fate; there was also a legend that Isaiah had been sawn in two by order of King Manasseh.

– Finally, there were those who went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted and tormented, as well as people who wandered in deserts and mountains, or in caves and holes in the ground.

And yet:

…all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised…

Only when Jesus came and made his supreme sacrifice to reconcile all of us with God could they also, together with us, be made perfect.

The heroes of the Old Testament obtained their full reward only after the saving work of Christ had been accomplished. This is the meaning of Jesus’ actions, after his death, descending to Sheol (the place of the dead) and bringing all of these people with him to glory. After the death of Jesus, Matthew tells us:

The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. (Matt 27:52)

And we are also told:

He was put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison… (1 Pet 3:18-19)

Now, however, they already enjoy what we Christians who are still struggling do not yet possess in its fullness. Although we live in the age of Jesus, we still have to prove ourselves by our faith and the record of our lives lived in that faith. But we have many models in both the Old Testament and in Christian times to inspire us.

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Commentary on Isaiah 52:13–53:12; Hebrews 4:14-16, 5:7-9; John 18:1—19:42

On Good Friday, let us contemplate these two scenes:

• God in Jesus, battered and naked on the Cross, is made accessible to all. We still need discerning eyes to see this, but even a pagan soldier could see it (see Mark 15:39).
• The veil of the Temple is torn in two. The Holy of Holies is thrown open (Matt 27:51) and God is no longer hidden behind a veil, inaccessible except to the High Priest, and then only once a year. He is available to all of us—at any time and in any place.

All early cultures sacrificed blood to their gods. Blood was associated with the life principle—we can bleed to death. The most precious offering to God was blood, and the most precious blood of all was human blood.

Historians tell us that many ancient cultures engaged in human sacrifice (Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac is seen by some as related to this practice—see Gen 22:1-18). Later, human sacrifice was eliminated and only animals were used. By the time of Jesus, the Temple had become a giant butchery, with priests killing animals non-stop. When Jesus drove out the money-changers, it was estimated that 90 percent of commerce was linked to animal sacrifices.

Why, then, so much blood at Jesus’ death? For so many centuries people had been spilling blood to reach out to God. But in the Crucifixion, it is reversed—God spills his own blood to reach out to us. This is to take away our old fear, that we need to spill blood to try to appease an angry God. There is no such thing as an ‘angry’ God. There is only an unconditionally loving God.

Paul tells us that Jesus “emptied himself” (Phil 2:6-7). He emptied himself of all egoism, of all anger, fear and anxiety, of all human dignity in the sight of others. He let go of everything and because he did so, he was fully taken up in union with his Father.

For us it has to be the same. Our lives are so tied up with all kinds of concerns, desires, ambitions, fears and anxieties. We need to remove these blocks and just let go. We need to break down the barriers separating us from total union with the Source and Goal of all being.

The Way is shown clearly in the Gospel, and most of all in the Way of the Cross—leading to resurrection, new life and ascension, and to union with God in Christ.

Paul was very close to it when he said:

…it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.
(Gal 2:20)

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Commentary on John 13:1-15

The Gospel reading links all of what happened on that day with the concrete reality of our lives. It says nothing about the Pasch or the Passover. It says nothing about the Eucharist, or the Body and Blood of Jesus.

Instead it speaks of Jesus, Lord and Master, getting down on his knees and washing the feet of his disciples. It is this spirit of love and service of brothers and sisters which is to be the outstanding characteristic of the Christian disciple.

And this is the true living out of the Eucharistic celebration. To have one without the other is not to live the Gospel. And so the words of the Eucharist (“Do this in memory of me”) are also echoed here by Jesus as he says:

…I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.

To not celebrate the Eucharist in community, and to not spend our energies in love and service of each other, is to not live the Gospel. Our Christian living is a seamless robe weaving together the gospel message, liturgy, and daily life and interaction.

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Commentary on Matthew 26:14-25

The stage is being set for the final drama of Jesus’ mission. Judas has gone to the chief priests to make a deal for handing Jesus over to them—to betray him. The term, ‘betray’ (or in the Greek, ‘hand over’), is like a refrain all through the Gospels and reaches a climax here. John the Baptist was handed over. Now, we see Jesus being handed over—the term ‘betray’ occurs six times in today’s passage alone. Later, the followers of Jesus will also be handed over, betrayed into the hands of those who want to put an end to their mission.

Judas sells his master, betrays him, for 30 pieces of silver. Only Matthew mentions the actual sum given to Judas. The sum derives from a passage in Zechariah (11:11-13), where it is the wages paid to the shepherd (Zechariah himself) rejected by the people. He is then told by God to throw the money into the Temple treasury as a sign of God’s rejecting those who reject him. Judas, too, will throw back the money to the priests after realising what he has done.

What people will do for money! Judas is not alone. What he did is happening every day. Perhaps I, too, have betrayed and handed over Jesus more than once.

On the first day of the Feasts of Unleavened Bread, Jesus’ disciples ask him where he wants to celebrate the Passover. Little do they know the significance of this Passover for Jesus—and for them. 

The Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Passover are closely linked, but there is a distinction between them. The Passover was the commemoration of the Israelites being liberated from slavery in Egypt, their escape through the Red Sea (perhaps the Sea of Reeds?), and the beginning of their long trek to the Promised Land. The feast began at sunset after the Passover lamb had been sacrificed in the Temple, on the afternoon of the 14th day of the month Nisan.

Associated with this, on the same evening, was the eating of unleavened bread—the bread that Jesus would use when he said over it: “This is my Body”. The eating of this bread continued for a whole week (to Nisan 21) as a reminder of the sufferings the Israelites underwent, and the hastiness of their departure. It was a celebration of thanks to God for the past, and of hope for the future.

Jesus tells the disciples they are to contact a man who will provide all that they need for a Passover meal.

During the meal Jesus drops the bombshell:

One of you is about to betray me [Greek, ‘hand me over’].

It is revealing that none of them points a finger at someone else. They ask, “Is it I, Lord?” Each one realises that he is a potential betrayer of Jesus. And, in fact, in the midst of the crisis, they will all abandon him.

Nor is it one of his many enemies who will betray Jesus. No, it is one of the Twelve; it is someone who has dipped his hand into the same dish with Jesus, a sign of friendship and solidarity.

All of this has been foretold in the Scriptures, but how sad it is for the person who has to take this role, even though it is a role he has deliberately chosen. There is a certain cynicism when Judas asks with an air of injured innocence:

Surely not I, Rabbi?

Jesus’ brief reply to him is:

You have said so.

The whole approaching drama is now set in motion.

Let us watch it carefully during the coming three days, not just as spectators, but as participants. We too have so often betrayed Jesus, we too have so often broken bread with Jesus and perhaps have sold him for money, out of ambition, out of greed, out of anger, hatred, revenge or even violence for our own personal gain. We can, like Judas, either abandon him in despair or, like Peter, come back to him with tears of repentance.

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Commentary on Isaiah 50:4-9

Today’s reading presents the third Song of the Servant of Yahweh. The fourth and last Song will be read during the liturgy of Good Friday.

This ‘Servant’ passage from Isaiah also speaks very graphically of what Jesus will go through in his passion. God provides his Servant with the words he needs to speak, especially for those who need encouragement. And Jesus will speak words of encouragement to his disciples before his passion. He will speak to the women who sympathise with him on the way to Calvary. 

The Lord God has given me
a trained tongue,
that I may know how to sustain
the weary with a word.

Jesus is the Word of God, communicating God’s love and encouragement. Later, Jesus will say:

Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (Matt 11:28-29)

The Servant says:

Morning by morning he wakens,
wakens my ear
to listen as those who are taught.
The Lord God has opened my ear,
and I was not rebellious;
I did not turn backward.

This is a way of describing the total submission of Jesus to his Father:

Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered… (Heb 5:8)

and

[He] emptied himself, taking the form of a slave… (Phil 2:7)

In these actions, Jesus’ behavior is a contrast to that of a rebellious Israel. In the Gospel, he frequently tells his disciples to listen; in other words, to submit totally to the Way of life to which he is calling them.

The Servant continues:

…I was not rebellious;
I did not turn backward.

This will be described in greater detail in the fourth Song (on Good Friday). The Servant willingly submits to insults and beatings and will not return in kind. To do so would be to bring himself down to the level of his attackers. Plucking the beard was a great insult. He offers his back for a beating, something given only to criminals. This, of course, will happen during the scourging, and similarly for the mocking and spitting. It requires great inner strength not to respond in kind to such provocation. But when it is undergone with dignity, it is the attacker who seems small.

The Servant makes no resistance to his attackers. He will not meet violence with violence. He will not resist when he is beaten, when his beard is plucked, when he is struck and spat upon. However, it must be made very clear that this is not weakness, but a sign of great inner strength and peace, and:

The Lord God helps me;
therefore I have not been disgraced;
therefore I have set my face like flint,
and I know that I shall not be put to shame…

God comes to help so that he is not “disgraced”—he is untouched by the insults. This is the sign of the inner security and strength that comes from trusting in God. Insults and violence cannot change the inner reality of the person. And ultimately the Lord is on his side. Insults are either true or false. If they are true, they are not really insults, but simply a statement of fact. If they are false, they can be ignored. In either case, to respond with violence is to show weakness and insecurity.

The Servant meets insults and physical attacks with firmness. He will not be turned away from the way that the Father is asking him to go. He knows that the ultimate outcome will not be shame, but vindication and glory because:

It is the Lord God who helps me…

Towards the end of his public life, we are told that Jesus:

…set his face to go to Jerusalem. (Luke 9:51)

Today’s passage ends with the Servant saying:

Who will contend with me?
Let us stand in court together.
Who are my adversaries?
Let them confront me.
It is the Lord God who helps me;
who will declare me guilty?

Jesus is perfectly innocent of all the charges thrown against him. He has no fear of court proceedings, even when they are corrupt. Final vindication will be his.

We could reflect today on how we respond to criticisms or statements about us we regard as unfair or untrue. Are we prone to violence—physical or verbal? And, even if we do not respond externally, do we allow statements and events to turn us into cauldrons of anger, hatred, anxiety and tension? The Way of Jesus is the way to peace.

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Commentary on John 13:21-33,36-38

Today’s Gospel is a sad moment of a double betrayal. First, that of Judas. Judas is no outsider, but one of the inner circle of the Twelve.

Jesus announces solemnly:

Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me.

The statement comes like a bombshell. For all their weaknesses, they cannot imagine any one of them planning such a thing. Peter asks the Beloved Disciple, who is closest to Jesus (in every sense of the word), to find out who it is and Jesus responds:

It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.

Jesus hands over the morsel, a symbol of sharing. It is probably part of the bitter herb, dipped in salt water, which was a feature of the Passover meal. Jesus hands it over to the one who will hand him over to those who wish to be rid of him. This is an act of friendship which makes the coming betrayal doubly treacherous. The bitterness of the morsel is also significant.

In that very moment, Judas knows he has made his fateful decision as Jesus tells him:

Do quickly what you are going to do.

None of the other disciples realised the significance of these words.

As soon as he has left, it is no wonder that the evangelist comments:

And it was night.

Yes indeed—it was a moment of utter darkness. This is a Gospel which constantly contrasts light and darkness. Yet at that very moment which sets the whole passion experience in motion, Jesus speaks of his being glorified and of God also being glorified.

To do this, Jesus is going to leave his disciples. He will leave them in death, but he will also leave them to return to the glory of his Father.

Peter, well-meaning but weak, swears that he will go all the way with Jesus, even to death. It is the second betrayal. Worse in some ways. At least Judas made no wild promises. What will save Peter will be the depth of his repentance and later conversion.

We too have betrayed Jesus and those around us so many times. We have broken bread with Jesus in the Eucharist, and then turned our back on him by the way we treat those around us. We have promised at Confession, with his help never to sin again, and then gone and done what we have just confessed.

Let us pray that we, like Peter, may weep bitterly for all the wrongs we have done and all the good left undone.

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Commentary on Isaiah 49:1-6

Today we read the second Song of the Servant of Yahweh. The prophet again speaks in words that apply very suitably to Jesus. Jesus has been called from all eternity to do this work of salvation. He is a “sharp sword” and a “polished arrow”.

God says,

You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will be glorified.

But Jesus must surely be tempted to say, with Isaiah:

I have labored in vain;
I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity…

Surely it must have looked like that as Jesus hung dying on the cross, his mission a shambles, his enemies victorious and his disciples in total flight. On the cross, Jesus cried out with these heart-rending words:

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Matt 27:46)

Yet he had been chosen as a servant so that “Jacob”, i.e. Israel, might be brought back to him:

You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will be glorified.

His God is his strength, and his moments of darkness become the moment of glory:

I will give you as a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.

As indeed has happened. But who, standing at the foot of the cross on that first Good Friday, could have seen the outcome of this ‘failure’? Yet, that is what we celebrate during this week.

The Servant says:

Listen to me, O coastlands;
pay attention, you peoples from far away!

These are the people of the lands along the Mediterranean and beyond the seas whom we saw mentioned yesterday. The message of the Servant is for them—and hence for all of us—for me.

The Lord called me before I was born;
while I was in my mother’s womb he named me.

The language is similar to that of the call of the prophet Jeremiah (Jer 1:5) and of Paul (Gal 1:15). And, as Christians, we believe this is true of all of us, that:

…he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. (Eph 1:4)

Again the Servant speaks:

He made my mouth like a sharp sword…
he made me a polished arrow…

Later, the Letter to the Hebrews will compare the Word of God to a two-edged sword, which penetrates into the deepest recesses of our hearts, bringing both consolation and wisdom, and discomfort for our wrongdoings.

And he said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will be glorified.

“Israel” here is generally understood to be descriptive of, not of the nation, but of an individual, representing the best that Israel should be. Perhaps we, too, should be less arrogant when we apply the term ‘Christian’ to ourselves, knowing how far we are from what Jesus is calling us to be.

I said, I have labored in vain;
I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity…

As he hung on the cross, his mission apparently a failure and mocked by those bent on destroying him, these words would seem to fit Jesus so well. It will be in the third and fourth songs that we will begin to see the place of all the pain and suffering in the mission of Jesus:

…yet surely my cause is with the Lord
and my reward with my God.

In spite of apparent failure, the cause of Jesus will be vindicated and his mission will be a success.

And now the Lord…
who formed me in the womb to be his servant…

And the Servant carried out that call to the very end, and with wondrous results. We, too, have been in the mind of God from eternity and been given a special call. How do I see that call at this time?

…to bring Jacob back to him…
that Israel might be gathered to him…

This verse is a reference to the release from captivity in Babylon and the return to Jerusalem. But there is the wider connotation of bringing God’s people back to union with him. And it will not be just Israel, because a little further on the passage says:

I will give you as a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.

The Servant’s mission is the conversion of the whole world to his Way. Along with Genesis 12:1-3 and Exodus 19:5-6, this verse is sometimes called the “great commission of the Old Testament” and is quoted in part by Paul and Barnabas in Acts 13:47. Christ is the light of the world (Luke 2:30-32; John 8:12, 9:5) and Christians reflect his light:

You are the salt of the earth…You are the light of the world.
(Matt 5:14)

Is that the way I see myself? Let me hear Jesus say these words to me as I watch him on the Cross during these days.