Bible on the Back Porch
Reading, pondering and studying God’s Word is sometimes best done “on the back porch.” Each week we will try to offer something for you and your “back porch time.”
Ascension of the Lord
Until the end of the age
The first reading for Ascension Sunday is the account from Acts of the Apostles 1:1-11. The account ends with “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.” The gospel however does not mention Jesus’ Ascension, rather it is a passage called the “Great Commission” in which the disciples are commanded: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Mt 28:19-20) In a way, it is a perfect pairing: an account of Jesus’ departure and the mission instructions for the age of the Church.
The biblical scholar R.T. France writes that these final verses of Matthew 28 serve to complete the framework of the entire Gospel.
First, v. 18 presents Jesus as the universal sovereign. In 1:1–17 he was presented as the successor to royal dignity, and 2:1–12 portrayed him as the true ‘king of the Jews’. So in due course he entered Jerusalem as her king (21:1–11), but it is this very claim which has brought him to the cross, where it was mockingly displayed (27:37). But now the promise of chs. 1–2 is proved true after all, and on a far wider scale than a merely Jewish kingship, in ‘the enthronement of the Son of Man,’ whose rule is over ‘all nations’ (v. 19), indeed over both heaven and earth (v. 18). Secondly, and still more wonderfully, 1:23 presented Jesus the baby under the name ‘God with us’; now in the final verse Jesus the risen Lord confirms the promise, ‘I am with you always.’
Each of their essential points combine for an overarching consequence for the believer: universal kingship and accompaniment until the end of the age, means that there is a universal and timeless element to mission. We are a people sent into the world to proclaim the Good News.
There is a lot more to glean from this Sunday’s Gospel
Royal Priesthood
The second video is video #3-of-5 videos covering the final verse in the second reading for the 5th Sunday in Easter (Year A). The verse simply states: “You are ‘a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises’ of him.” (1 Peter 4:9) The expression is taken from Exodus 19:6 and Isaiah 61:6 – and echoed in Revelation 1:6 and 20:6.) Simple, yet containing such depth. Specifically we will look at the biblical idea of a “royal priesthood.”
Previous videos in the series
#2 The Royal Priest: Abraham and Melchizedek
Pentecost
John's Pentecost
The first reading for Pentecost Sunday is the account from Acts 2 so familiar to every Christian. Luke’s account is a very public event compared to the very private Johannine account. The Lucan account occurs 50 days after the Resurrection. The Johannine account occurs on the evening of the same day as the Resurrection.
Why the difference? Some scholars defend the basic historicity of the entire Lucan narrative; others conclude that it is essentially Luke’s theological attempt to explain the coming of the Spirit, not an historical account of actual events. Some, holding to the historicity of the Lucan account in Acts 2, hold that John’s account is symbolic only. The Second Council of Constantinople (AD 533) condemned the view of Theodore of Mopsuestia that Jesus did not really give the Spirit on that Easter evening but acted only figuratively and by way of promise. Some, like John Chrysostom, held that the giving of the purpose was for one particular gift or another; others have said that Easter’s coming of the Spirit is personal while Pentecost is ecclesial or missionary. And another set of scholars posit a narrower coming of the Spirit targeting special gifts intended for specific ministry (e.g., the forgiveness) versus a more general coming of the Spirit as a blessing and empowerment for the larger Johannine ministry of discipleship: love and holding to the commandments of Jesus. Some simply conjecture that since John is not overly concerned about date/setting but rather the theological implications, that the Johannine account is the same event – John has simply re-located the events.
The Roman Catholic view coincides with its theological sense of “both-and”. In a sense the very order of the Readings for Pentecost Sunday (Year A) outlines the sense of “both-and” as follows:
- Acts 2:1-11: the general coming of the Spirit
- 1 Corinthians 12:3-7, 12-13: the variety of gifts given – personal, ecclesial, missionary and more
- John 20:19-23: the gifts given for specific ministry, e.g., continuation of the priesthood of Jesus is those that the community raises up for that particular ministry – in this case, the Catholic tradition sees the Sacrament of Reconciliation given to particular ministers to celebrate in the name of the community
There is a lot more to glean from this Sunday’s Gospel
Royal Priesthood
The second video is video #4-of-5 videos covering the final verse in the second reading for the 5th Sunday in Easter (Year A). The verse simply states: “You are ‘a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises’ of him.” (1 Peter 4:9) The expression is taken from Exodus 19:6 and Isaiah 61:6 – and echoed in Revelation 1:6 and 20:6.) Simple, yet containing such depth. Specifically we will look at the biblical idea of a “royal priesthood.”
Previous videos in the series