Thanks to “a Catholic”….

In the post I submitted, Jesus appoints a Pope Part II, I didn’t reference Isaiah 22:20-24 as a key text to understanding this teaching on the papacy. And as suggested by my good friend a Catholic, I share this link from Catholic Apologetics Network.

Since the Catholic Church is the fulfilment of Judaism, I truly should have referenced this passage. The two shall forever be linked and I apologize for leaving the previous post incomplete.

This article does a wonderful job presenting this teaching, so I wanted to share it with you.

Also, check out the new blog by our friend, a Catholic! Let us praise and thank God, for those who are willing to teach truth!

Jesus Hears His Mother

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and His disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect Me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever He tells you.”   John 2:1-5  

In this final installment of Mary as our Mother, I wanted to look at her interaction with her Son, Jesus.

First we notice, Mary is told of, or at least sees a need. She takes that need to Jesus, and He meets that need. This is the prime example that we, as Catholics, use to teach Mary’s intersession for us. Of course there is the Old testament example as well.

Without getting “to” historical, here’s  a brief history of what is known as “the Queen Mother”.

In the ancient near East, most nations were monarchies ruled by a king; most of these cultures practiced polygamy, so a king may have had several wives. Problems arose from this like, who should be honored as queen, and whose son should recieve the right succession to the throne? So in most of these cultures, these two birds were killed by one stone. The woman ordinarily honored as queen was not the kings wife, but the kings mother!

Israel begged Samuel to give them a king “that we may be like all the nations” (I Sam. 8:19-20). God grants their request, making Israel’s monarchy a foreshadowing of the Kingdom of God.

We see the Queen Mother from David’s first successor Solomon, and his mother Bathsheba through the fall of Jerusalem to the Babyloian empire with King Jehoiachin and his mother Nehushta (2 Kings 24:8-15, Jer.13:18).

Read the story in I Kings 2:12-22, of Solomon and Bathsheba. This example is how we understand the mystery of the miracle at Cana. Mary approaches Jesus her son to intercede for the people-like Bathsheba intercedes for Adonijah to Solomon-Mary brings Jesus the need and tells the servers,”Do whatever He tells you.” She looks for obedience to Him, not herself. Jesus speaks to His mother as her superior, yet deferring to her request.

I hope this has helped in your understanding of Mary’s role in salvation history. If I’ve missed anything, let me know and I’ll do my best to find it! It’s very helpful to know that we are not alone in this world. It is also very helpful to know that on the other side, in heaven, there is a “cloud of witnesses” praying for us and cheering us on to victory, to finish the race. Our spiritual Queen Mother Mary, our brothers and sisters in Christ, and Christ Jesus Himself. Waiting to say to us, “Well done, My good and faithful servant.”

Jesus Indwells His Mother

And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the child leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the voice of your greeting touched my ears, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”   Luke 1:41-45    

Along with drawing on the tradition of 2 Samuel, Luke also draws on the tradition of Chronicles. He now introduces us to a highly significant expression once connected with the Ark. This expression is found in verse 42, when Elizabeth “exclaimed” at Mary’s arrival. The expression seems ordinary enough, but it is rarely used in the Bible. Actually, this is the only place it’s found in the New Testament. In the Greek Old Testament, it only appears 5 times. You might think, “So! What’s the big deal about that?” Well, every-time that expression is used in the Greek O.T., it forms part of the stories surrounding the Ark of the Covenant. In particular, it refers to the chanting, singing and music made by the Levitical singers and musicians when they glorified the Lord in song, as David carried it in procession to Jerusalem (I Chron. 15:28, 16:4-5). It is also used as Solomon transferred the Ark to it’s final resting place in the Temple.

Now, let’s look at what Elizabeth actually said.

Blessed are you recalls words spoken long ago to Jael and Judith in the O.T. (Judg. 5:24-27, Jud. 13:18) they were blessed for their heroic faith and courage in warding off enemy armies hostile to Israel. Both these ladies assured Israel’s victory by assassinating the opposing military commander with mortal blows to the head. Mary follows in their footsteps. In her case though, the victory won and the enemy destroyed are much greater! She will bear the Savior who crushes the head of the serpent, sin and death underfoot!  (Gen. 3:15, I John 3:8)

Now,  the mother of my Lord title reveals the twin mysteries of Jesus’ divinity and Mary’s divine maternity (CCC 449, 495). Note that all occurrences of the word “Lord” in this context, as well as in the surrounding context, refer to God (v. 28, 32, 38, 46, 58, 68). Mary’s divine motherhood was the first Marian doctrine set forth at the Council of Ephesus. She was given the title,Theotokos- bearer of God, to show that Jesus had one nature that was fully human and fully divine! This is where the phrase, “Mother of God” comes from, right here in sacred scripture. Jesus being fully God and fully man is born of a woman (Gal. 4:4) who gives birth to the Divine Son.

As stated last time, these definitions of Mary do not imply that she is divine, only that her Son is. And as God found her worthy to be the mother of His only begotten Son, may we find in our hearts a place for honoring her too.

Next: The Magnificat.

Jesus Leads His Mother

In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the child leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the voice of your greeting touched my ears, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”……….And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.     Luke 1:39-45, 56  

Compare St. Luke’s telling of the “Visitation” and David’s efforts to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem found in 2 Samuel 6. St. Luke tells of Mary as she “arose and went” into the hill country to a city in Judah, reminding us of how David “arose and went” into the same region centuries earlier to retrieve the Ark (2 Sam. 6:2). Elizabeth, at the arrival of Mary, is struck by the same sense of awe and unworthiness before her that David felt standing before the Ark of the Covenant (2 Sam. 6:9). St. Luke goes on to show the joy Mary’s greeting caused in the infant John as he leapt with excitement, much as David’s excitement caused him to leap and dance before the Ark of the Lord (2 Sam. 6:16). As the Visitation draws to a close, St. Luke adds that Mary stayed in the “house of Zechariah” for “three months”, recalling how the Ark had remained in the “house of Obed-edom” for a period of “three months”(2 Sam. 6:11).

As we see St. Luke drawing on the tradition of 2 Samuel, he’s revealing to us Mary’s role in salvation history. Like that holy gold and wooden chest of long ago, Mary is a sacred vessel where the Lord’s presence dwells intimately with His people.

I am convinced that this is more than coincidence. I’ve been led by the Holy Spirit and the scriptures, and the teachings of the early Church Fathers that indeed the Old Testament is revealed in the New Testament and the New is concealed in the Old. They’ve been taught that way since the beginning.

You will find as you study these things objectively, that these teachings are less about who Mary is, and more about who Jesus is.

We will go a little more in-depth in this aspect as this study continues.

Jesus Appoints a Pope: Part II

After Jesus made that promise, He then says that, ”I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Peter alone is given the keys of the kingdom, for we see later that all the disciples were given the authority to bind and loose (Matt. 18:18) and all the apostles were given the authority to forgive sins (John 21:21-23).

 The key to understanding this part of the passage is the keys. Jesus will actually give Peter His authority, when He ascends to His Father. The keys are the sign of authority. For us to sit here in the twenty-first century and try to say that Jesus wasn’t really talking to Peter but to all the disciples down through history is absurd! The keys [authority] were given only to Peter as the primeminister of the kingdom of heaven, in the absence of Christ, who would [shortly], ascended to the heavenly kingdom. Just as we are taught to pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

 

We must also understand the early Church Fathers referred to the see [chair] of Peter in Rome as the Authority in doctrinal matters and other problems that arose.

 

Bishop of Antioch, Ignatius wrote to the church in Rome in 110 AD:

             “You are a credit to God: you deserve your renown and are to be congratulated.

              You deserve praise and success and are privileged to be without blemish. Yes,

               you rank first in love, being true to Christ’s law and stamped with the Father’s name.”

               Ignatius of Antioch  Letter to the Romans.

 

In 150 AD Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, (a disciple of the Apostle John) traveled to Rome to confer with Pope Anicetus, about the proper date for the celebration of Easter.

 

Irenaeus of Lyons (a disciple of Polycarp) refuted false teaching by referring to; “the tradition which that very great, oldest, and well known church, founded and established at Rome by those two most glorious apostles Peter and Paul, received from the apostles… every church must be in harmony with this church [the church in Rome] because of it’s outstanding pre-eminence…” Against Heresies, Book III 3:2.

 

In 250 AD, Cyprian Bishop of Carthage wrote this of the one who held the “chair” or office of Peter- the Bishop of Rome:

“It is on him [Peter] that He [Jesus] builds the church, and to him He entrusts the sheep to feed. And although He assigns power to all the apostles, yet He founded a single chair, thus establishing by His own authority the source and hallmark of the churches’ oneness. No doubt

 the others were all that Peter was, but a primacy is given to Peter and it is thus made clear that there is but one church and one chair… If a man does not hold fast to this oneness of Peter, does he imagine that he still holds the faith? If he deserts the Chair of Peter upon whom the church was built, has he still confidence that he is in the church.” On the Unity of the Catholic Church.

  

I mention these specifically because these letters were written before the Council of Carthage in 367 A.D. Why would that make a difference?

 

Well, this shows the authority that the Church had before the canonization of Scripture.

 

For at this Council, the Pope St. Damasus, along with the other bishops and priest of the day, discerned which books were inspired and which were not. The New Testament we have today is a collection of these books, which the Catholic Church declared to be authoritative.

            “The Sacred Scriptures contain the Word of God and, because they are inspired they are truly The Word of God.”  Dei Verbum 24 

All Councils were modeled after the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15). Here we see clearly, Peter’s undeniable and unique leadership (Acts 15:7-12). It was also Peter who called for a replacement for Judas in Acts 1 (15-26).

This certainly looks like Church authority, the ability to mandate and interpret the will of God, through ecumenical dialogue, common sense and most importantly, prayer.

Some will believe, some will doubt and some will even deny that the Church has authority over our lives. That leads to the question, “Why did He even create the Church?”

Jesus Appoints a Pope: Part I

When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi He asked His disciples, ”Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.” Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Then He strictly ordered His disciples to tell no one that He was the Messiah.   Matt. 16:13-20  

  The conception of the Church. Jesus building and constructing the foundation of the apostles by His teaching. They, in turn, pass that teaching on to us through their teaching, preaching and writings.

 With Peter’s response to Jesus’ question, the foundation starts to take shape, as Jesus is the “capstone (cornerstone) of this foundation of the apostles and the prophets” (Eph. 2:20). “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God” is a statement of faith by Peter, to which Jesus acknowledges,” For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Heavenly Father”. But it is also a statement of faith for the Church, and for us as individuals. For one can not profess what one does not believe (by this I mean professing both in word and deed, Ja. 2:22). 

Then, Jesus does something radical; He changes Simon’s name. Within scripture, when God gives a new name to a person (or a people) it marks a turning point. Something big was happening, a new responsibility, role or identity. Simon’s name meant, ”he is heard,” and he certainly was on this day, wasn’t he? For God heard his heart in his profession, before it was spoken aloud. And Jesus blesses him and changes his name to Peter.

 Petros in Greek and Kepha in Aramaic. I mention both names, because they are both used in scripture, in fact, it is the only name Paul uses for Peter. It also [helps] clarify the misunderstanding Protestants have with this passage. Petros is the masculine form of the Greek word for “rock”; Petra is the feminine form.

That is why there are different words used in the sentence in the Greek text, “And so I say to you, you are Petros and upon this petra I will build my church. Surely Matthew wouldn’t refer to Peter as feminine, would he? Whereas in the Aramaic there is no masculine/feminine form of the word Kepha. It would read, “And so I say to you, you are Kepha and upon this kepha I will build my church.” This also happens to be the language that Jesus and the disciples spoke at the time. So in essence, Jesus is saying, “You are Rock and on you, I will build My church.” This means that Peter would be the leader of the twelve, after Jesus returned to the Father (John 21:15-19) and through Peter, Jesus Himself would build His church. And we see examples of this all through the New Testament; Peter being the spokesman for the twelve, often the central figure relating to Christ. He is always named first. He was also first to proclaim the Gospel, the first to heal others and the first to receive the revelation to take the Gospel to the Gentiles (Mk. 8:29, Matt. 14:28-32, Lk. 6:12-16, Acts 2:14-40, Acts 3:6-7, Acts 10:9-48).

Jesus then promises that the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it [church],  a promise that stands to this day. Jesus’ “one, holy, Catholic and apostolic Church” stood through the Roman persecutions, converted that pagan nation and was the sole Christian religion (that wasn’t heresy) for 1550+ years.