Fast Fridays: 30 Minutes for God: Difference between revisions
Fast Fridays: 30 Minutes for God (view source)
Revision as of 18:43, 30 November 2024
, Saturday at 18:43→Friday, Nov 22: Good News? The Destruction of the Temple & the Tribulations
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Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place.</blockquote>Here we get a couple clues as to what's going on. | Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place.</blockquote>Here we get a couple clues as to what's going on. | ||
Mount Olivet is just outside the Temple, and at its base is the Garden of Gethsemane. It is the object of | Mount Olivet is just outside the Temple, and at its base is the Garden of Gethsemane. It is the object of a few Old Testament references, including to be called "the Mount of Corruption" in [https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1kings/11:7 1 Kgs 11:7-8], where,<blockquote>Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the L<small>ORD</small>, and he did not follow the L<small>ORD</small> unreservedly as David his father had done. Solomon then built a high place to Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, and to Molech, the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain opposite Jerusalem. He did the same for all his foreign wives who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.</blockquote>Hmm, something about the wrong temple, perhaps, oh, say, maybe you guys are more Solomon than David?<ref>See [https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/11?31 Lk 11:31]: "and there is something greater than Solomon here"</ref> | ||
The Venerable Bede doesn't go that far, but he does suggest it's about the proximity to the temple that Jesus chooses this location. From [[Catena Aurea on Mark Chapter 13|Aquinas']] ''[https://www.ecatholic2000.com/catena/untitled-53.shtml Catena Aurea on Mark Chapter 13],''<blockquote>'''BEDE'''. ... The Lord sits upon the mount of Olives, over against the temple, when He discourses upon the ruin and destruction of the temple, so that even His bodily position may be in accordance with the words which He speaks, pointing out mystically that, abiding in peace with the saints, He hates the madness of the proud. For the mount of Olives marks the fruitful sublimity of the Holy Church.</blockquote> | The Venerable Bede doesn't go that far, but he does suggest it's about the proximity to the temple that Jesus chooses this location. From [[Catena Aurea on Mark Chapter 13|Aquinas']] ''[https://www.ecatholic2000.com/catena/untitled-53.shtml Catena Aurea on Mark Chapter 13],''<blockquote>'''BEDE'''. ... The Lord sits upon the mount of Olives, over against the temple, when He discourses upon the ruin and destruction of the temple, so that even His bodily position may be in accordance with the words which He speaks, pointing out mystically that, abiding in peace with the saints, He hates the madness of the proud. For the mount of Olives marks the fruitful sublimity of the Holy Church.</blockquote> | ||
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The key to Bede's analysis is the "He hates the madness of the proud," which is why Bede finds meaning in the Lord's "bodily position" -- in apposition to the pride of the Temple. In the "Woes of the Pharisees"<ref>In the NAB entitled: "Denunciation of the Scribes and Pharisees" ([https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/23:1 Mt 23:1])</ref>, Jesus denounces the inner corruption of the Temple leadership, all of which come down to pride, with a touch of carnality on top, which is consistent with the carnality of the sacrifice. | The key to Bede's analysis is the "He hates the madness of the proud," which is why Bede finds meaning in the Lord's "bodily position" -- in apposition to the pride of the Temple. In the "Woes of the Pharisees"<ref>In the NAB entitled: "Denunciation of the Scribes and Pharisees" ([https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/23:1 Mt 23:1])</ref>, Jesus denounces the inner corruption of the Temple leadership, all of which come down to pride, with a touch of carnality on top, which is consistent with the carnality of the sacrifice. | ||
The destruction of the Temple is at the heart of much criticism of the authenticity of the New Testament, with critics pointing to it as a reverse-engineered prophesy: i.e., Jesus didn't actually predict it, his authors wrote that he did after Jerusalem was sacked by the Romans in 70 AD. These critics miss entirely Jesus' point: '''''he''''' is the new temple, '''''he''''' is the sacrificial lamb, and '''''he''''' is the bridegroom of the new Church. | The destruction of the Temple is at the heart of much criticism of the authenticity of the New Testament, with critics pointing to it as a reverse-engineered prophesy: i.e., Jesus didn't actually predict it, his authors wrote that he did after Jerusalem was sacked by the Romans in 70 AD. These critics miss entirely Jesus' point: '''''he''''' is the new temple, '''''he''''' is the sacrificial lamb, and '''''he''''' is the bridegroom of the new Church. In John 4, Jesus tells it plainly to the '''Woman at the Well:''' <blockquote>Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You people worship what you do not understand; we worship what we understand, because salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him. </blockquote>John's narrative relates that Jesus cleansed the Temple twice -- at the beginning and end of his ministry, which in light of his prophecies in John 4 and in the Olivette Discourse that worship of God would no longer revolve around the Temple. [https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/19:40 Lk 19:40-44] presents the destruction of the temple as part of "The Lament for Jerusalem" (not Luke's title), <blockquote> | ||
[https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/19:40 Lk 19:40-44] presents the destruction of the temple as part of "The Lament for Jerusalem" (not Luke's title), <blockquote> | |||
As he drew near, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If this day you only knew what makes for peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. For the days are coming upon you when your enemies will raise a palisade against you; they will encircle you and hem you in on all sides. They will smash you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another within you because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”</blockquote>Jesus weeps not for the temple, but for what makes the Temple irrelevant following the Cross -- "what makes for peace" is he, not the Temple and faith in God, the substance of the Old Covenant which had been replaced by ritual form. Additionally, we see that [https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/19?45 Lk 19:45], which follows immediately, "The Cleansing of the Temple," which summarizes everything Jesus was telling the Pharisees and about them,<blockquote>but you have made it a den of thieves.</blockquote> | As he drew near, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If this day you only knew what makes for peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. For the days are coming upon you when your enemies will raise a palisade against you; they will encircle you and hem you in on all sides. They will smash you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another within you because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”</blockquote>Jesus weeps not for the temple, but for what makes the Temple irrelevant following the Cross -- "what makes for peace" is he, not the Temple and faith in God, the substance of the Old Covenant which had been replaced by ritual form. Additionally, we see that [https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/19?45 Lk 19:45], which follows immediately, "The Cleansing of the Temple," which summarizes everything Jesus was telling the Pharisees and about them,<blockquote>but you have made it a den of thieves.</blockquote> | ||
So the Temple will have to go -- not that Jesus wanted it to nor made it happen. I'm of the view that much Old Testament natural and political destruction is allowed rather than initiated by God; and when he intervenes it is a reward for faith or in keeping a Covenant: Jesus is the new Temple and anyone who leaves himself behind in the old Temple is there without God's protection. | So the Temple will have to go -- not that Jesus wanted it to nor made it happen. I'm of the view that much Old Testament natural and political destruction is allowed rather than initiated by God; and when he intervenes it is a reward for faith or in keeping a Covenant: Jesus is the new Temple and anyone who leaves himself behind in the old Temple is there without God's protection. | ||