The story of our Lord’s sorrowful passion—the because he knew he would not be present on earth his equally real

his equally real absence. By allowing ourselves to

saving events that took place at Jerusalem during to establish the Church in person. emphasize too exclusively the spiritual comforts we
the pivotal week in human history—has been told do enjoy, we have at times made the need for any
often, by the greatest writers of our civilization. One of the reasons this fact has been unclear to kind of earthly management (through this principle
Our purpose here is not to retell them again but many through the centuries is that preachers and of vicarage) seem superfluous.
to revisit them rather narrowly, pausing only over Christian writers have so often chosen to emphasize
what directly affected the founding of the Apostolic only one side of what is very much a two-sided There’s no doubt at all, however, that Jesus really
College and what may illumine Christ’s purposes in equation. Yes, Christ promised to remain with us did intend to leave someone in charge. Even
establishing it. always, to the end of the age (Matt. 28:20). And before the final round of commissionings that we
yes, St. Paul writes to the Christians at Colossae, will consider here at the Passion, his will in this
Jesus’ public ministry ended on Tuesday afternoon of “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27). matter had been made perfectly clear. On the same
of Passion Week. After managing one final round Yet this is the same. Paul who longs so much to occasion when told his disciples, “Behold, I have
of traps from the Pharisees and the Sadducees, see Jesus again in person that he confesses to the given you authority to tread upon serpents and
Our Lord entered a kind of lockdown mode, in Philippians of being torn between two choices: scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy,”
fulfillment of Isaiah’s long-ago prophecy: “He was “For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. If I (Luke 10:19), he also “rejoiced in the Holy Spirit
oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for and said, ‘I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and
his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, me; and I do not know which I prefer. I am hard earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and wise and understanding and revealed
so he did not open his mouth” (Isa. 53:7). After be with Christ, for that is far better; but to remain them to babes; yea, Father, for such was
this he would speak (besides a few short words in the flesh is more necessary for you” (Phil. 1:21- thy gracious will. All things have been
to his judges during his trials) only to the twelve 24). The Church has walked this same tightrope delivered to me by my
apostles. And the rest of his talk will be focused through the centuries, acknowledging his spiritual Father; and no one
almost entirely on making the final arrangements presence among us without denying our longing knows who the Son is
for looking after, in his absence, the Church he had for immediate fellowship with him as a man among except the Father, or who
promised to build—and continuing its work after men. the Father is except the Son and any one
his departure. to whom the Son chooses to reveal him”
This is why the most characteristic attitude of the (Luke 10:21-22).
First then, the bad news: Jesus is leaving—for a Christian has not been a mere stoic acceptance of
short while to begin with, afterward for a more his will—“It is to your advantage that I go away” Apostleship matters. Jesus is disclosing
extended period. “Little children, I am with you (John 16:17)—but, rather, that cry of the heart we hitherto unheard-of truths to his disciples—
only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I find at the very end of the Bible, at the conclusion and only to them. Afterward, it will be up to
said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am of St. John’s Apocalypse: Maranatha!—Come, Lord them to pass the same truths along to disciples
going, you cannot come” (John 8:21). So, Jesus Jesus! The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come!” We of their own. Commenting on this passage,
is prepping stand-ins; pinch-hitters, proxies, have been (to employ another humble metaphor) Tertullian laid out the important conclusion:
ambassadors. The ancient churches have used like tow-headed Brandon de Wilde at the end of “If the Lord Jesus Christ sent the apostles to
the word vicars: someone empowered to act the classic film, standing bereft at the edge of the preach, no others ought to be received except those
on another’s behalf. And in these last few days farmstead, piteously calling out “Shane! Come appointed by Christ: For no one knows the Father
before the parting, “Jesus is clearly assigning the back, Shane!” as Alan Ladd rides slowly and sadly except the Son, and him to whom the Son gives a
twelve as his vicars,” according to Catholic scholar into the sunset. We speak, quite properly, of his revelation. Nor does it seem that the Son has given
Scott Hahn. “He is telling them that he will act Real Presence in the sacrament of the altar (and in revelation to any others than the apostles, whom he
vicariously through them.” In short, he had created other important senses) but we falsify a key element sent forth to preach what he had revealed to them.’ ”
miracle men like himself to leave behind . . . of our unbroken Tradition if we deny in practice
The apostles bring their extensive training in the and his men acting as priests—though not, clearly, commentators Scott Hahn and Curtis Mitch, “that
all-important subject of God’s kingdom all the way of the Levitical variety. This parallelism implies, the order of Melchizedek is the patriarchal order
to the final week. That Jesus, at his Roman trial, of course, that Jesus and his apostles were, or soon of priesthood that functioned for many centuries
told Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John would be, acting in the same capacity. Yet the Levites before the ordination of Aaron and his sons took
18:36), would not have implied to them that the were the one and only set of priests sanctioned by place at Mt. Sinai [Lev 8:1-36].” Extrabiblical
kingdom they had heard so much about was not a Moses’ law; to find any other priesthood in the pages Jewish sources (such as the Talmud and Targums)
real society with a real constitution, real laws, and of the Old Testament, we must go back to the time sometimes linked Melchizedek to the patriarchs
real officers. They had been made to understand prior to Moses’ law, to the age of the patriarchs—and very directly indeed; several of them identify
that Christ’s is a kingdom in the world but not of the look, if possible, to find priests before the priests. Melchizedek with Noah’s righteous son Shem,
world. Jesus prays for them in just these terms as his And if we do this, we come quickly to Genesis 14, ascribing to him a Methuselah-like longevity that
exodus draws near: “I have given them thy word; where the mysterious notices of Melchizedek first allowed him to live long enough to bless Abraham in
and the world has hated them because they are not appear. his day!
of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do
not pray that thou shouldst take them out of the In that chapter, Abraham rescues his nephew Lot Be that as it may, throughout the book of Genesis
world, but that thou shouldst keep them from from captivity to the five kings who had defeated we certainly see the patriarchs performing all the
the evil one. They are not of the world, even his people at the Valley of Siddim. Upon his return, characteristic functions of a priest: building altars,
as I am not of the world” (John 17:14-17), the patriarch receives a blessing from a figure about consecrating shrines, pouring out thank offerings,
The twelve knew that the kingdom of God whom almost nothing else is known for certain and offering sacrifice on behalf of God’s family. This
was a genuine society, for they had been outside of verse 18: “And Melchizedek king of was the original, pre-Levitical form of priesthood
living in it—in an embryonic form—for Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest that existed before Moses’ law ever came into being.
the prior three glorious years. They of God Most High.” Abraham lived about 500 years The priesthood which Jesus takes up, then, isn’t so
knew it was solid enough to have been before Moses; so here is a priest, offering the same much a new one as the reemergence of a priesthood
compared to a house built on rock, a light sacrificial elements we see Christ himself offering at temporarily suspended. As the author of the book of
that cannot be hidden, and the eventual the Last Supper, long before the Levitical priesthood Hebrews writes: “Christ did not exalt himself to be
basis of fellowship between all men; with was ever minted, with its sacrifices of blood and made a high priest, but was appointed by him who
they, themselves, specially empowered to grain. Then, many centuries later, during an era said to him . . . ‘You are a priest forever, according to
organize it. when Moses’ law had been operative for close to the order of Melchizedek’” (Heb. 5:5-6).
300 years, we find David composing a psalm that
In the Upper Room, on the night Jesus was Christ himself will later identify as a prophecy of The apostles didn’t so much replace the Levitical
betrayed, the twelve apostles learned that Christ’s Messiah (Luke 20:41-44): “The LORD says to my priests as step back in, thank them for their service
kingdom was to have its own set form of worship, lord: ‘Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies and for holding the fort during a difficult stretch,
as well; its own liturgical rituals, its own sacrifice, your footstool’ . . . The LORD has sworn and will and then allow them to enjoy a long-deserved
its own priesthood, just as God had formerly not change his mind, ‘You are a priest for ever after Sabbath rest. Gathered together in the Cenacle,
given to the Temple—new in one sense, but the order of Melchizedek’” (Psalm 110:1,4). Jesus they watched as Jesus began to perform a series of
also very ancient. We have seen how Jesus is a priest, then—as his actions at the grain field acts in front of them that were both strange . . . and
defended the actions indicated—distinct from that established by Moses strangely familiar:
of his apostles in and Aaron.
the matter of the And when the hour came, he sat at table, and the
grain gathered Did Melchizedek’s order pass away when the apostles with him. And he said to them, “I have
and eaten on covenant made at Sinai went into effect? Apparently earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you
the Sabbath by not, since the man Jesus can take up its rites and before I suffer; for I tell you I shall not eat it until it
showing David privileges again. “Genesis implies,” according to is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” And he took a
cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take The apostles also hear that Jesus’ blood is to be “You are those who have continued with me in my
this, and divide it among yourselves; for I tell you “poured out”—a coined phrase used by the Old trials,” Jesus continued. “As my Father appointed a
that from now on I shall not drink of the fruit of the Testament priests for their own (insufficient) act kingdom for me, so do I appoint for you that you
vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And he took of atonement in emptying the blood of animal may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and
bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it sacrifices at the base of the Temple altar. Most sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel”
and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body which significantly, they hear that Melchizidek’s old (Luke 22:28-30). David was a king, yes, with a
is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” elements of bread and wine are now, in some sense, throne . . . just as Melchizedek had been king of
And likewise the cup after supper, saying, “This cup becoming Christ’s body and his blood: “This is Salem (the ancient village that had become Jeru-
which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my body . . . this cup is the new covenant.” An act Salem by David’s time). But God, as we have seen,
my blood” (Luke 22:14-20). is being performed: an act of sacrifice, though declared David a priest, too, “after the order of
the apostles may not yet have understood whence Melchizedek.” Theologian John Bergsma explains
The Passover had been the sacred meal of the these rites (taking place prior to Jesus’ death on that “‘eating and drinking at the king’s table’ was a
Hebrews, commemorating the night when a mark the cross) were to gain their power. And that act is privilege reserved for the king’s sons . . . [So] Jesus’
of blood made on the doorposts of the faithful being demonstrated in front of them so that they words about the apostles sitting on thrones judging
(a mark, according to tradition, inscribed in the will remember, in much the same way that a flight the tribes clearly allude to Psalm 122:3-5, which
form of an X-shaped cross) caused the death angel attendant gives a demonstration of life-saving speaks of the thrones where the Davidic princes sat
to pass them over during the final plague before measures to be used in case of emergency. to judge cases.” That passage reads, “Jerusalem, built
the Exodus. Here, Jesus is telling his men that as a city which is bound firmly together, to which the
this will be the last of the old Passovers—the last Finally, Jesus—speaking in private to the twelve tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord . . . There thrones
anticipatory Passover, that is. What did Jesus mean apostles (or perhaps the eleven by this point; more for judgment were set, the thrones of the house of
when he said, I shall not eat it again until it is on that in a moment)—issues a commandment: David.” David’s sons, who were heirs like their father
fulfilled in the kingdom of God” “Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:9). The to Melchizedek’s Jerusalem kingship . . . were heirs to
Greek verb (poieo) translated here as “do” is the his priesthood as well: “David’s sons were priests” (2
John’s Gospel includes the story of Jesus washing same word the Greek Old Testament uses for the Sam. 8:18). This is how the apostles, too, were able to
the feet of his disciples just before this supper. offering Moses made while ordaining Aaron and his become Melchizedek priests, by virtue of their role as
Priests of the Old Covenant had to wash their sons to the Levitical priesthood (Exod. 29:36-41)]. the twelve “princes” of Christ’s New Covenant.
feet before coming into the Temple to offer the The apostles knew the Greek Bible very well—and
sacrifice of a lamb—something Nathanael, at least thus Luke and the other evangelists surely did not The apostles Simon the Zealot and Matthew, we are
(the canon lawyer), would have been very aware employ poieo here for nothing. pleased to note, remained to receive this
of. Now, the apostles hear Jesus “giving thanks” for new ordination; Judas Iscariot, alas, had
the bread and the wine. The original Greek word in Likewise, the Greek term for “a remembrance” not. The mystery behind his motivations
these verses is eucharisteo—an offering of thanks, is anamnesis—not just a memorial but a ritual in betraying our Lord will likely never
a “sacrifice of praise” (Heb. 13:15). They hear him act perpetuating a memory. Anamnesis is used be understood; all the imponderables
speak about giving his body, as the sacrificial lamb in the Septuagint (Lev. 24:7) for the offering of of the human heart are involved, the
had given its body under the Old Covenant as an frankincense that accompanied the bread sacrificed darkest recesses of lostness. What
atonement for sins—a powerful reminder, to former by fire. Thus “do this in remembrance” has been little the scriptures give us to work
disciples of the Baptizer, that Jesus himself had understood through the ages as Jesus ordaining the with is distressingly banal. It
previously been identified to them as “the Lamb of apostles to a similar, but purified, priestly service; seems that Judas was chosen
God who takes away the sins of the world” directing them to continue making this same to manage the group’s (no
(John 1:29). offering of thanksgiving—of bread and wine—after doubt meager) finances
he is gone. and had begun secretly
skimming off the top for his
own private use. The frequency
of the Nazarene’s warnings about “lovers of money” tries to understand; he is constantly moved by whole world, of course; but for now, writes Benedict, in Palestine—which the Romans, of course, would
and the difficulties involved when camels try to pass the greatness of Jesus; again and again he talks Rabbi Neusner “remains—as he himself puts it—with move to extinguish in their old patented style. “So the
through the eye of a needle may have convinced with him.” Many of the usual charges against the the ‘eternal Israel’ . . . and takes his leave without any chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council,
Judas that Jesus was on to him (as, indeed, he Nazarene he learns to reject as baseless slander; he rancor.” and said, ‘What are we to do? For this man performs
almost certainly was) and it appears to have gotten accepts, for instance, that Jesus, true to his word, many signs. If we let him go on thus, everyone will
under his skin. did not teach men to “abolish the Law . . . not one The figures we see at Jesus’ Sanhedrin trial are not believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy
jot or tittle” (cf. Matt 5:18). But the rabbi does in Rabbi Neusner’s position; not sincere, observant both our holy place and our nation.’ But one of them,
But it all seems an impossibly petty incentive for ultimately conclude that Jesus added to it. What did Jews, that is, following the Torah as God gives them Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them,
committing the greatest crime in history. Probably he add? “Himself.” light and strength. Jesus has already exposed them as ‘You know nothing at all; you do not understand that
the long pretense involved in the living of such a “evildoers” and “hypocrites” who “bind heavy burdens, it is expedient for you that one man should die for the
spectacular double life drove him a little mad . . Neusner saw that the teaching of Jesus is “Jesus- hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but people, and that the whole nation should not perish’”
. and opened the door to the even darker forces centric” (catastrophically so, for Neusner). The they themselves will not move them with their finger” (John 11:47-50), Miracles or no, Jesus was a threat to
Scripture speaks of. As for whether it would even be rabbi cites, for example, the words of Christ to the (Matt. 23:4). Yet in their own distorted way, they the delicate political order the Sanhedrin had been
possible for a man who has done miracles himself rich young man in Matthew 19:21: “‘If you would see the same point Rabbi Neusner saw: that Jesus is working so hard to maintain—perhaps even, to their
via the power of Christ then to turn on his master be perfect, go, sell all you have and come follow demanding to be accepted on his own terms or not at efforts to avert a first-century Holocaust. So they had
and bite the hand that was feeding him his daily me.’ ” Neusner can only conclude that perfection, all . . . and his terms simply beggared the imagination. to allow realpolitik to trump religious concerns; and if
bread . . . well, we have our Lord’s own word on “the state of being holy as God is holy (cf. Lev. 19:2, The Sanhedrin indeed staggered—as we have seen the the decision troubled the more scrupulous members
that: “On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, 11:44), as demanded by the Torah, now consists in apostles themselves doing; as indeed, any thinking afterward, they were certainly free, if they liked,
did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out following Jesus.” The rabbi sees this most plainly person must do when reaching the frontier of the to pick up the pieces for their public via whatever
demons in your name, and do many mighty works illustrated, as we did, in the story of the grain Incarnation. theological legerdemain they saw fit to employ.
in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I field; “the place where the heart of the conflict is
never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers’” laid bare.” Jesus and the apostles “may do on the The difference, however, is that Israel’s religious In this matter, Rome’s sins were quite the same. Pilate
(Matt. 7:22-23). Sabbath what they do because they stand in the leaders had a position of special responsibility; as Jesus didn’t want unrest in Palestine any more than the
place of the priests in the Temple; the holy place told the people, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Jews did; his position with the emperor depended on
It is easier to sympathize with the various has shifted, now being formed by the circle made Moses’ seat; so practice and observe whatever they it. And he was equally willing to condemn one man
authorities who rejected him—though not, of up of the master and his disciples.” tell you” (Matt. 23:2). These men were supposed to be as a method of defusing a larger political problem—a
course, to such a degree as to leave them blameless. the watchers, specially tasked to be on the lookout for man whom Pilate had already confessed with his own
Here, Neusner’s internal dialogue comes to a head: Messiah and ready to alert the nation when he arrived. mouth to be “faultless” and “just.” Both nations, at any
The final stance taken by the Judean authorities Being continually fit for this job, as John the Baptist rate, will richly merit, by virtue of their actions here at
is memorably illumined, we believe, by analogy His noble reserve leads him to put the question to had been fit, was the very essence of their assignment. the climax of Passion Week, the cataclysm of judgment
with a fascinating modern story Pope Benedict Jesus’ disciple, rather than to Jesus himself: ‘Is it So their guilt lay not in their inability to work out a Jesus foresees for Judea in the decades ahead. Whole
XVI tells in his book Jesus of Nazareth. There, the really so that your master, the Son of Man, is lord of difficult theological puzzle but rather in the moral legions of the Roman army will be rendered extinct
pope summarizes the faith journey of a man he the Sabbath? . . . I ask again—is your master God?’ laxity of which Jesus convicts them: their addiction to by what Josephus will dub “the Jewish Wars”; Second
deeply admires, a believing Jew and a professor of The issue that is really the heart of the debate is luxury and prestige and the resulting spiritual lassitude Temple Judaism will be destroyed as a religious
theology whose “reverence for the Christian faith thus finally laid bare. Jesus understands himself as that rendered them unfit for the great hour to which system; and the Jews will be banished from their
and his fidelity to Judaism prompted him to seek the Torah—as the word of God in person . . . . The they were called. They chose, instead, to refuse the homeland for the next thousand years—all because,
a dialogue with Jesus.” Rabbi Jacob Neusner sent heart of the Sabbath disputes is the question about Sphinx’s Riddle, and to interpret the problem of Jesus as the Savior says, “you did not recognize the time of
himself, as a thought experiment, on an imaginative the Son of Man—the question about Jesus Christ as a political predicament instead. your visitation from God” (Luke 19:44).
journey to the Holy Land of the first century. himself.
There, “he listens, he compares, and he speaks The Nazarene, if accepted on the terms he demanded, These twelve apostles would face their own dark night
with Jesus himself. He is touched by the greatness In the end, the pope’s noble Jew decides not to would simply take charge and everything would of the soul when Jesus’ trials reached their appointed
and the purity of what is said . . . He constantly follow Jesus. Grace continues to pour out on the change. This would undoubtedly bring about civil war verdict. “Then Jesus said to them, ‘You will all become
deserters because of me this night; for it is written, ‘I will strike the to his own point of despair in spite of everything. These sayings brilliantly enlighten one of the
shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered’” (Matt. 26:31). Exhausted by the end of his career, worn out from mysterious promises Jesus had made during his
When their master was arrested at Gethsemane not much later, persecutions and the people’s seeming indifference to farewell discourse in the Upper Room. “It is to your
Zechariah’s dark prophecy for the apostles was fulfilled: “Then all the his message, Elijah lay down under a scraggly broom advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the
disciples deserted him and fled” (Matt. 26:56). tree and “asked that he might die: ‘It is enough; now, Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send
O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my him to you” (John 16:7). If I do not go away, the Holy
Judas had deserted already, of course; his brethren had ancestors’” (1 Kgs. 19:4). Even their former master, Spirit will not come. Why this should be the case, no
watched in horror as he led pagan soldiers into the John the Baptizer—whom Christ acknowledged as man can say. We accept this truth solely on Christ’s
group’s cherished garden sanctum of prayer. Now spiritual successor to Elijah—had been allowed to word, based entirely on a few verses from the Gospel
they were ready to join him in that betrayal, reach a similar point. Buried alive in Herod’s foul of John. But certainly they illustrate one of the main
though to a somewhat lesser extent. Interestingly, dungeon, the very man who had identified Jesus (and sadly neglected!) purposes of his sacred death.
several of the Fathers single out Peter as the for the apostles sent a plaintive message asking Jesus knows that the world cannot do without the Holy
worst betrayer among the eleven. According him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to Spirit . . . and he is willing to suffer in order to release
to Chrysostom, Peter had “lifted himself up wait for another?’” (Luke 7:20). John, too, had not him from heaven and usher him into our lives.
over the rest, saying, ‘Though they all fall away expected the advent of Messiah to be so dark and its
because of you, I will never fall away.’ It may consolations so distant. Hope had been withdrawn . . . This departure will allow his twelve vicars to carry
be that in some degree his bravado sprang from and faith, almost, it would seem. So the apostles were away the gifts of the Spirit, just as the exodus of Moses
jealousy. For at supper they had all been talking not the first, despairing of Israel’s promised fig tree, to had allowed the twelve tribes to carry away the spoils
about which one of them was the greater.” lie down under the broom tree instead. of Egypt. Our blessed Savior, therefore, bled and died
to make one of the fondest dreams of Israel’s old seers
Still, we can’t help wondering again how men who had The Fathers shine some valuable light on how this come true: “Would that all the Lord’s people were
seen so much, done such mighty miracles themselves in could be so. “Anyone who questions how the disciples prophets,” Moses had cried, “and that the Lord would
his name, could have abandoned their post when so could have fallen away,” writes Origen, “after seeing put his spirit on them!” (Num. 11:29). The Lord,
many lesser men—in foxholes, at the pumps in the such great signs and wonders and after hearing words speaking through Ezekiel, says, “I will sprinkle clean
belly of Titanic, at the World Trade Center—have of equal power (for the signs and wonders were water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your
held fast for lesser causes. Our Nathanael, after performed by his words) should realize that Christ uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse
all, fled with the others; Nathanael whose wanted to demonstrate through this warning [“You you. A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will
faith began with a miracle literally on day will all become deserters”] that just as ‘no one can say put within you; and I will remove from your body the
one. But Nathanael makes us think again Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit’ [1 Cor. 12:3], heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put
of the fig tree—an image that may yet, so also no one is able to keep from falling away except my spirit within you, and make you follow my statutes
in turn, send our thoughts profitably by the Holy Spirit . . . [and] ‘the Holy Spirit had not yet and be careful to observe my ordinances” (Ezek. 36:26-
back to another famous tree from Bible been given because Jesus had not yet been glorified’ 28).
history: the broom tree under which [John 7:39].”
the great prophet Elijah lay down to “And you shall know that I am the LORD,” continues
die. “He teaches us to know,” adds Chrysostom, “what the the same prophet, “when I open your graves, and
disciples were before the crucifixion and what they did bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will
That same mighty Elijah who after the crucifixion. For indeed they who were not put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will
raised the widow’s son, who able so much as to stand their ground when he was place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I,
parted the Jordan like Joshua, crucified, after his death became mighty and stronger the LORD, have spoken and will act, says the LORD”
and so confidently called than adamant.” (Ezek. 37:13-14).
down fire from heaven on
the prophets of Baal, came
When the Son of Man finally overcame all obstacles As the end approached, John—never having heard the
and reached his goal at Jerusalem—the cross of story a thousand times in church as we have—may
Calvary—exactly one of the scattered twelve returned have longed to see the experiment play out just the
and was present to witness the event. This was the Unrighteous (in the form of his Judean enemies) did.
beloved disciple, commonly believed to be John bar Would the Father of Christ really allow this to happen?
Zebedee, the brother of James, one of the “Big Three” Would the divine Christ actually die? So many
who had also been present at the Transfiguration. prophecies seemed to cry out to the contrary!
John approached the cross boldly; he was apparently
allowed to do so unmolested because his father had “Of old,” wrote Ethan the Ezrahite,
been an old friend of the high priest’s, with a house
in Jerusalem to which Caiaphas had been a frequent thou didst speak in a vision to thy faithful one, and
visitor (cf. John 18:15-16). Now John was deeply versed say, “I have set the crown upon one who is mighty, I
in the Septuagint, the Greek Bible we have mentioned have exalted one chosen from the people. I have found
so often in these pages; this fact is amply demonstrated David, my servant; with my holy oil I have anointed
by the dozens of quotes from that version he included him; so that my hand shall ever abide with him, my
within the fourth Gospel. This being the case, we arm also shall strengthen him. The enemy shall not
can easily imagine that he was thunderstruck as he outwit him, the wicked shall not humble him. I will
watched the uncanny parallels to the second chapter crush his foes before him and strike down those who
of that Bible’s book of Wisdom that he saw playing out hate him. My faithfulness and my steadfast love shall
before his eyes: be with him, and in my name shall his horn be exalted.
I will set his hand on the sea and his right hand on
“Let us lie in wait for the righteous man,” reasoned the the rivers. He shall cry to me, ‘Thou art my Father, my
Unrighteous, “because he is inconvenient to us and God, and the rock of my salvation.’ And I will make
opposes our actions; he reproaches us for sins against him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.
the law, and accuses us of sins against our training. My steadfast love I will keep for him for ever, and my
He professes to have knowledge of God, and calls covenant will stand firm for him. I will establish his You can order your copy today at
himself a child of the Lord. He became to us a reproof line for ever and his throne as the days of the heavens” Shop.Catholic.Com
of our thoughts; the very sight of him is a burden to (Psalm 89-19-29).
us, because his manner of life is unlike that of others,
and his ways are strange. We are considered by him as And yet when, about the ninth hour, the anguished
something base, and he avoids our ways as unclean; Christ cried out with words from a different Psalm,
he calls the last end of the righteous happy, and boasts number 22 by our reckoning—“‘Eli, Eli, lama
that God is his father. sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, my God, why hast
“Let us see if his words are true, and let us test what thou forsaken me?’” (Matt. 27:46)—John would have
will happen at the end of his life; for if the righteous known that Jesus had found a spot of his own under
man is God’s child, he will help him, and will deliver the broom tree.
him from the hand of his adversaries. Let us test him
with insult and torture, so that we may find out how
gentle he is, and make trial of his forbearance. Let us
condemn him to a shameful death, for, according to
what he says, he will be protected” (vv. 12-20).