Father Denny Dempsey

Palm/Passion Sunday April 5, 2009

Blessing of Palms, Mark 11:1-10  Bethany, a town on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives about 1.75 miles from Bethany, was familiar territory to Jesus. Among his friends there we know most about Lazarus and his sisters Martha and Mary, at whose home Jesus was a familiar guest. The night before his entry into Jerusalem, Jesus was feted at a dinner at the home of Simon the leper. Many people in Jerusalem heard that Jesus would be there and went out to see both him and Lazarus, quite the celebrity since having been raised from the dead (John 12:9-11).

At the time, hundreds of people, among the nearly 100,000 pilgrims who had come to Jerusalem for the Passover celebration, were camped out in the Kidron Valley on the east side of the temple. I’m sure that those returning from Bethany spread the news that Jesus would pass that way in a triumphal entry into Jerusalem the next morning. They had undoubtedly all heard about Jesus. Tomorrow they and hundreds more coming out from the city, be it out of curiosity or Messianic hopes, would crowd the roadside to see him.

Leaving Bethany, just before reaching the crest of the Mount of Olives, the road passed through the village of Bethphage. From the crest it wound down the western slope into the Kidron Valley, passing the garden of Gethsemane on the way. There were no other villages along the way, so we can assume the colt came from Bethphage. Jesus had likely arranged the use of the colt beforehand, thus explaining why it had been left tethered outside on the street (people would usually keep their animals within the walls surrounding their property).

The crowds shouting “hosanna” used the word in a different sense than we do today. The Hebrew word “hoshana” actually means “Save (us), we beseech (you).” They were shouting out their hope that Jesus was coming as the Messiah to save them. Since we Christians believe that Jesus is the Savior sent by God the Father, the “hoshana” plea is converted into “hosanna” praise.

5th Sunday of Lent B March 29, 2009

Gospel, John 12:20-33  People of non-Jewish background could join the Jewish religion as full members through circumcision or as associates or as “God-fearing” members who, short of circumcision, shared beliefs and could attend the synagogue services. This latter group was rather numerous by the apostolic period. Well before the time that John’s gospel was written, the leaders of the church at the Council of Jerusalem (c. 46 A.D.) determined that the “God-fearing”, or for that matter any non Jew, could be full members of the Christian community without need to be circumcised and follow the details of the Mosaic law.

The “Greeks” referred to in this reading may have been proselytes or “God-fearing”, but they might have simply been Greek visitors or tourists in Jerusalem out of curiosity. There is a simple song based their request with the words: “Open our eyes, Lord. We want to see Jesus”. The Gospels only speak of two other people “wanting to see” Jesus, Zacchaeus in Luke 19:3 and Herod Antipas in Luke 23:8. Philip, to whom these Greeks come with their request, wil make a somewhat similar one at the Last Supper: “Lord, show us the Father (John 14:8-9)”. Perhaps Philip had pondered over the request brought to him by these Greeks.

Why did they come to Philip? Was it because he had a Greek name (Philip = lover of horses)? Does being from Bethsaida, a more Greek-styled city have anything to do with it? By the way, Bethsaida was not in Galilee but rather on the Sea of Galilee across the northern section of the Jordan River just outside of Galilee. Could that little fact indicate that the final format of John’s gospel may have been written by some of his disciples since John was from that area and would have known different?

Why did Philip go to Andrew? John 1:44 says that Peter and Andrew were also from Bethsaida. By the time of Jesus’ ministry, they had moved to Capernaum in Galilee, perhaps to take advantage of the better fishing areas on that side of the lake or to reduce the taxes they would have to pay at the fish processing station at Magdala in Galilean territory. I like to think of Andrew as a kind of father figure, the quiet dependable go-to fellow whom Jesus left in charge when he would take Peter, James and John (Andrew being the fourth member of that initial group) with him as at the Transfiguration, going to raise Jairus’ daughter, and at prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane.

How does the request for Greeks to see him evoke Jesus’ response that his “hour” had come? Note that there is no ensuing conversation. Isaiah 2:2-4 (echoed in Micah 4:1-3) speaks of the mountain of the Lord’s house (the temple) being established as the highest mountain…all nations shall stream to it.” Jesus must have had a sense that, through his disciples, his mission would be expanded beyond the Jewish people to the Gentiles/Greeks. Transition into that next stage would only come through his death on the cross. Could Jesus have interpreted the request as the signal that the hour of transition had come?

As he has characteristically done so in the past, Jesus refers to himself as the “Son of Man”. This phrase was used well over 100 times in Ezekiel as God’s way of addressing the prophet (see also Job 25:6, Ps.8:4, Ps 80:17, Ps 144:3). It took on a special meaning, however, through Daniel 7:13 which refers to: “One like a son of man coming on the clouds of heaven…received dominion, glory and kingship, nations and peoples of every language serve him”. Perhaps understood initially as a symbol of a compassionate ruler to come in contrast to other world powers represented in Daniel by savage animals (bears, lions, etc.), by the time of Jesus “Son of Man” had come to be understood as referring to the Messiah to be sent by God.

As an indicator of Jesus’ teaching about himself which, short of claiming divinity, engendered the antagonism of the Jewish authorities, here is a brief summary of the phrase as used by Jesus in Matthew (the gospel most oriented to people of Jewish background): 8:20 the Son of Man has no place to lay his head / 9:6 that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins / 12:8 the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath / 12:40 the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth / 13:37 the one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man / 13:41 the Son of Man will send out his angels / 16:13 Who do people say the Son of Man is? / 16:27 the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels / 17:12 the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands / 19:28 when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel / 20:28 the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve / Mt 24:30 they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory / 24:44 the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

“Whoever loves his life loses it.” The word for love here is “philos”, love based on attraction and attachment. We are to love our life, but strive for “agape” love, the unattached perfection of divine love. Is it bad to feel an attachment to life in this world? Of course not. That was part of the battle that caused Jesus’ spirit to be so troubled.

The voice of God, heard previously at Jesus’ baptism and transfiguration, once again encourages Jesus toward the completion of his mission. The voice is also for Jesus’ disciples to know that glory awaits those who, like Jesus, pass through the martyr’s suffering and death.

4th Sunday of Lent B March 22, 2009

Gospel, John 3:14-21  During the Exodus the people complained about the food. So God led them into an area infested with a type of venomous snake whose bite caused a severe burning sensation and even death for some. The people realized there were worse things than bad food and asked God’s forgiveness for their complaining. God told Moses to “make a seraph and mount it on a pole. If anyone who has been bitten looks at it, he will recover (Numbers 21:8).” The instrument of suffering was converted into the sign of healing grace.

The image of Jesus suffering on the cross is converted into the ultimate sign of healing grace. The cross was the instrument but it is looking to Jesus that brings us the healing saving grace of God. That is why we Catholics generally prefer the crucifix with the image of Jesus present.

“Whoever believes in him will not be condemned.” Is there a difference between “believing” and “putting faith” in God? Most people think of “believing” as an act of intellectual acceptance. By contrast, “putting one’s faith” in God requires a deeper commitment of the whole person. Consider the use of the word “faith” in such texts as Paul writing about the “obedience of faith” (Romans 1:5) or “the just person shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17) or James writing that “faith without works is dead” (James 2:26). Here’s the catch…the English words “believe” and “have faith” are two different translations of the exact same word in Greek. In other words, Jesus is not saying in John 3 that all you need to give God is an intellectual assent but something much deeper. A Jewish commentary on the Hebrew scriptures which I consulted says “in the Hebrew bible ‘faith’ does not mean belief in a doctrine or a creed. It refers to trust and loyalty expressed through commitment and obedience.” I believe that would have been the understanding in John’s Jewish mind as he wrote the Greek text of his gospel: “Whoever obediently entrusts their life to God will not be condemned.”

“This is the verdict.” The Greek word “krisis” means “judgment” or “verdict”, as here translated, but I like the extra meaning just leaving leaving it as “crisis”. A verdict is given when the challenge is over, but a crisis is an ongoing challenge in focus like the energy crisis and the financial crisis. Here is the faith crisis: the light of God is here but people are preferring the darkness of their ungodly lifestyles and choices. The way out of the crisis is to recognize the crisis, make a decision for the light of God, and then live by that decision.

3rd Sunday of Lent B March 15, 2009

Gospel, John 2:13-25  The first temple of Jerusalem was built by Solomon on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, the highest part of the hill of Ophel, where David had constructed an altar. That temple had been despoiled by the Egyptians shortly after Solomon’s death, later plundered by Joash of Israel around 800 BC, and again in 597 BC by Nebuchadnezzar who had the temple burned and torn down prior to leading the Jewish people into captivity in 587 BC. That temple was rebuilt under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah in the post-exilic period. It was a slow process which met a lot of opposition from the Samaritans. Completed in 515 BC, it was profaned by Antiochus IV in 167 BC and subsequently purified and rededicated by Judas Maccabaeus in 164 BC, an event celebrated annually with the feast of Hanukkah. By the time of King Herod the Great, the temple mount (about 81,000 sq. ft.) was too small for the crowds of pilgrims coming to Jerusalem for the major celebrations. In the year 19 BC Herod began to reconstruct the temple and surrounding courts and colonnades, eventually expanding the platform of the mount with an extensive series of supporting arches to 1.55 million sq. ft. or 35.5 acres. Compare that to the field and stands at the Metrodome in Minneapolis at 415,000 sq. ft. and you get some idea of how many people would fit on the mount at one time. The major portion of the project was completed within ten years, but the finishing details of the adornments continued until 64 AD…only six years before it was destroyed by the Roman armies following a Jewish uprising. The temple has never been rebuilt since. Today the outer walls of Herod’s temple still exist (including the western or “wailing” wall) but the platform houses two Moslem mosques, al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock, built in the 7th century.

The largest area of the platform was called the Court of the Gentiles. It was open to anyone, Jew and non-Jew alike. The successive areas became more restrictive with the Court of Women (for Jews only), the Court of Israel (for Jewish men only), the Sanctuary (for priests only), and the Holy of Holies (into which only the high priest entered and then just once a year). The animals and moneychangers were located in the Court of the Gentiles. The area had been intended as a space where people could meet to pray or discuss scriptural interpretation with rabbis. It was in this space that Jesus would teach during the week prior to his death. Jesus desired to clear the area of the animals and the noise so as to return the space to its intended use.

One of the major activities at the Temple was animal sacrifice. Since the families represented by the 100,000 visitors to Jerusalem would all need lambs for their Passover dinners and many families would also be making other sacrificial offerings, there would be a great demand for animals. All Jewish males paid an annual temple tax of a half-shekel and most people gave their major contributions of the year for temple upkeep and support of widows, orphans and the poor (like Christmas and Easter collections in Christian churches today). Most of the coins they brought, however, could not be donated at the temple since it bore images of Caesar or some other king or god. Those coins had to be exchanged for coins without such images. There was, of course, a charge for doing so. The priests must have thought it a great service for all those visitors to be able to exchange money and purchase animals right there rather than bringing them through the crowds from the markets in the city below. They undoubtedly received a kick-back from the merchants who, because of their location, overcharged for exchanging money and for their animals (like food and beverages at the Metrodome). The synoptic gospels make reference to this with Jesus accusing them of turning the temple into a “den of thieves” (Mt. 21:13/Mk. 11:17/Lk .19:46).

Being challenged by angry priests as to his authority to act as he did (“what sign can you give us?”) he turns the discussion to himself as the temple of God that will be torn down and rebuilt in three days. The English word “temple” used throughout this section is actually used to translate two different Greek words. In the part in which of Jesus clearing the temple, the word is “heiron” which refers to the general area of the temple mount. In the discussion about Jesus as the temple, the word is “naos” which refers more specifically to the sanctuary.

Jesus is not just a place where God is present in a general way…he is the sanctuary where the presence of God resides. Jesus clears the temple area to restore it to its true purpose. Paul writes to the Corinthians: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Holy Spirit dwells in you (1 Cor 3:16)”, and again, “We are the temple of the living God (2 Cor 6:16)”. In both instances he uses the word “naos”. We are the sanctuary where Jesus has chosen to reside. As Jesus comes into this temple, will he find it truly oriented to the purpose for which God has created you and me? Will he find cause to do some clearing and cleaning? Jesus, cleanse this temple and restore it to the purpose for which you have created it.

Second Sunday of Lent B March 8, 2009

Gospel, Mark 9:2-10  People in ancient times believed the world to be stationary. The place of God or gods was up above, controlling what happened down below like a puppeteer with puppets or a child with playhouse moving furniture and dolls about. To get closer to God or gods, people went up on mountains, natural or artificial (high altars or pyramids). Such was the case with Abraham going up on Mt. Moriah, Moses at Mt. Sinai, Elijah on Mt. Carmel and also Mt. Sinai, and Jesus in this gospel passage.

The figures of Moses and Elijah, both of whom had gone up mountains to converse with God, accompany Jesus in this transfiguration scene. They represent the Law (Moses) and the Prophets (Elijah), the two main branches of God’s revelation to the Jewish people. How Peter ascertained the identity of Jesus’ visitors, we don’t know. He may have had an intuitive sense of their identity or had figured it out from listening to the conversation.

Why build tents? The most common interpretations of this passage suggest that Peter suggested tents so that they figures of Moses and Elijah would remain for some time…that it was a way of giving dignity to each of the figures to have their own tent…that the Jewish way of entering into an intimate conversation was to meet within a tent. The word “tabernacle” refers to a tent. The prayer shawl (“tallit” or “tallis”) with which Jewish men customarily place over their head during prayer is symbolic of entering a tent to converse with God.

The voice of God the Father speaks to the apostles, confirming Jesus’ identity as manifested visually in the transfiguration. The Father had previously spoken a somewhat similar message at Jesus’ baptism, directed to the audience in Matthew (3:17) but to Jesus in Mark (1:11) and Luke (3:22). To the words spoken at Jesus’ baptism, the Father adds, “Listen to him.” This phrase takes on special meaning as we recall the presence of Moses and Elijah there on the mountain with Jesus. As the Jewish people had been directed to listen to Moses, Elijah and the other prophets as representatives of God, now the word of Jesus is given a priority as God’s most authoritative voice.

On Jesus' command the three apostles will not tell the others about what took place on the mountain, but the restriction did not extend to conversations among the three of them. How often would Peter, James and John discuss those and other events such as the raising of the daughter of Jairus (Luke 8:51-56) to which they were privy.

The Greek word translated as “transfiguration” is “metamorphosis”, a word which elicits thoughts of a caterpillar emerging out of its cocoon as a beautiful butterfly. In zoology, metamorphosis technically refers to a major change of form of the same being (egg - larva - pupa - adult). The (temporary) metamorphosis of Jesus was from his natural human body to his glorified body.

As with Peter, James and John, none of us can fully comprehend the reality of God. We receive glimpses, enough for us to continue on with day-to-day life in this world with faith and hope beyond our comprehension based on Jesus’ word.