We head into the fourth Gospel today following Jesus into Jerusalem for the first Passover of his public ministry.  There he encounters a city bustling with thousands of Jews and a Temple filled with money changers and animals. What happens next is astonishing. Looking to the Old Testament, the greater context of John's Gospel, and the history of the Temple complex we try to make sense of the cleansing of the Temple, an act that arguably points toward a new kind of worship and a new kind of worshiper.

Diving deep into our Gospel we'll spend our episode looking closer at:

- Why there were animals and money changers in the Temple [10:16]

- The Old Testament text that foretells a day when there will no longer be trading in the Temple [22:36]

- How the previous scene in Cana provides an interpretive key to the cleansing of the Temple [31:19]

- The forty-six year Temple building project undertaken by Herod that Jesus plans to usurp and how it points to Christ as true Messiah [37:28]

- The very forward tone Jesus takes when responding to the Jews who ask for a sign [41:07]

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Keener, Craig S. The Gospel of John: A Commentary. Vol. 1 & 2. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2012.

Martin, Francis, and William M. Wright IV. The Gospel of John. Edited by Peter S. Williamson and Mary Healy. Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2015.

Mass Readings Explained with Dr. Brant Pitre

Saint John’s Gospel. The Navarre Bible. Dublin; New York: Four Courts Press; Scepter Publishers, 2005.

REFERENCES

Three Passovers in John's Gospel: John 2:13; 6:4; 13:1

Deuteronomy 16:16-17 - "Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God at the place which he will choose: at the feast of unleavened bread, at the feast of weeks, and at the feast of booths. They shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed; 17 every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which he has given you."

Zechariah 14:20-21 - "And the pots in the house of the LORD shall be as the bowls before the altar; 21 and every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be sacred to the LORD of hosts, so that all who sacrifice may come and take of them and boil the flesh of the sacrifice in them. And there shall no longer be a trader in the house of the LORD of hosts on that day."

John 4:21 - "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father"

Psalm 69:9 - "For zeal for thy house has consumed me, and the insults of those who insult thee have fallen on me."

St. John Chrysostom, Homily XXIV on the Gospel of John - "And many such now there are, who have indeed the name of faith, but are unstable, and easily led away"

We join Peter, James, and John atop the mountain of Transfiguration in our Gospel this week. Jesus has just made his first passion prediction and so, to bolster the faith of his disciples, he pulls back the veil on his Divine glory. Breaking open the Old Testament we discover several connections with our Gospel, connections that point toward a new creation, a new temple, and the sure hope of the resurrection.

Diving deep into our Gospel we'll spend our episode looking closer at:

- The precision time reference Mark uses to introduce his Gospel and the link it has to both creation and the temple [15:23]

- The origin of the term "transfiguration" and its Greek equivalent [21:13]

- What extra-Biblical literature can reveal about the significance of Moses and Elijah's appearance with Christ [28:05]

- The connection between Peter's suggestion to erect tents and the Jewish feast of Tabernacles [34:42]

- The incredible parallels between Christ's transfiguration and his passion [45:58]

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Donahue, John R., and Daniel J. Harrington. The Gospel of Mark. Edited by Daniel J. Harrington. Vol. 2. Sacra Pagina Series. Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 2002.

Healy, Mary. The Gospel of Mark. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008.

Marcus, Joel. Mark 1–8: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. Vol. 27. Anchor Yale Bible. New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2008.

REFERENCES

Mark 8:29 - "You are the Christ"

2 Peter 1:17-18 - "He received honor and glory from God the Father and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, 'This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,' 18 we heard this voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain."

Exodus 24:15-16, 25:8-9 - "Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16 The glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days [...] And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst. 9 According to all that I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it."

Mark 14:58 - "I will destroy this Temple that is made with hands and in three days I will build another, not made with hands."

Philippians 2:5-8 - "Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross."

Malachi 4:5 - "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes."

Deut. Rab. 3.17 (Talmud) - "Moses, I swear to you... in the time to come when I bring Elijah, the prophet unto them, the two of you shall come together"

2 Kings 2:11 - Elijah "ascended in a whirlwind into heaven"

Deuteronomy 34:16 - "No man knows the place of his [Moses'] burial to this day"

Exodus 40:34 - "Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle."

1 Kings 8:10 - "And when the priests came out of the holy place, a cloud filled the house of the LORD"

2 Maccabees 2:8 - "And then the Lord will disclose these things, and the glory of the Lord and the cloud will appear, as they were shown in the case of Moses, and as Solomon asked that the place should be specially consecrated."

Mark 15:36 - "Wait, let us see if Elijah will come to take him down"

Transfiguration // Passion

Unearthly Light // Supernatural Darkness (Mk 15:33)

Glorious/Luminous Clothes // Clothes Stripped (Mk 15:24)

Joined by two Old Testament saints // Joined by two criminals

Peter desires to stay ("It is good that we are here" // Peter flees

The Father's voice is heard // The Father is silent ("Let this cup pass" and "Why have you abandoned me?")

We dive into Lent by backtracking in our reading of Mark today, heading to the scene of Jesus' temptation and forty day fast. Though a short passage, we find a Gospel rich with Old Testament imagery and typological fulfillment. Jesus heads into the wilderness to re-stage many scenes from Scripture but this time as the faithful son who has come to reconcile the world to his Father.

Diving deep into our Gospel we'll spend our episode looking closer at:

- How Jesus' forty days in the desert parallel not only the Israelites forty years in the desert but also Moses' forty day fast before he destroyed the Golden Calf [22:01]

- The Jewish legend that Adam also fasted for forty days after the fall and did penance by washing in a familiar river [26:19]

- The uncanny connections between Jesus' baptism and the flood narrative in Genesis (our first reading) [32:00]

- How the presence of the wild beasts in the wilderness point to the beginning of a new creation [37:14]

- The Rabbinic literature that claims Adam and Eve were also ministered to by angels in the Garden of Eden before the fall [49:12]

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Donahue, John R., and Daniel J. Harrington. The Gospel of Mark. Edited by Daniel J. Harrington. Vol. 2. Sacra Pagina Series. Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 2002.

Healy, Mary. The Gospel of Mark. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008.

Marcus, Joel. Mark 1–8: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. Vol. 27. Anchor Yale Bible. New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2008.

REFERENCES

Deuteronomy 8:2 - "And you shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments, or not."

Exodus 25:18 - "And Moses entered the cloud, and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights."

Deuteronomy 9:18 - "Then I lay prostrate before the LORD as before, forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all the sin which you had committed, in doing what was evil in the sight of the LORD"

Life of Adam and Eve 6.1-2 - "And Adam said to Eve: ‘Thou canst not do so much as I, but do only so much as thou hast strength for. For I will spend forty days fasting, but do thou arise and go to the river Tigris and lift up a stone and stand on it in the water up to thy neck in the deep of the river. And let no speech proceed out of thy mouth, since we are unworthy to address the Lord, for our lips are unclean from the unlawful and forbidden tree. 2 And do thou stand in the water of the river thirty-seven days. But I will spend forty days in the water of Jordan, perchance the Lord God will take pity upon us.’"

Genesis 1:28 - "Have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth."

Life of Adam and Eve 4.2 - "And Adam said to Eve: ‘This hath the Lord provided for animals and brutes to eat; but we used to have angels’ food."

Sanhedrin 59b.22 (Talmud) - "Adam, the first man, would dine in the Garden of Eden, and the ministering angels would roast meat for him and strain wine for him." https://www.sefaria.org/Sanhedrin.59b.22?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en

Jesus is approached by a leper in our Gospel today.  Having ignored the Mosaic command to avoid others he draws close to Christ in order to request a miracle.  Moved by the man's faith, Jesus also ignores the conventions of Mosaic law, touching the man, healing him from his leprosy, and proving that the Divine touch is not only immune from ritual impurity but can actually bring about the wholeness that the law itself fails to cause.

We'll spend our episode looking closer at:

- A literal translation of our scene that unveils Mark's unique and vivid storytelling style [4:57]

- The Greek roots of the phrase "moved with pity" and the raw, physiological emotion they assign to Jesus [25:36]

- Some textual perplexities that have led scholars to believe Jesus also performed an exorcism when he healed the leper [33:45]

- The notion of the "Messianic Secret" and why Jesus didn't always want people to know his identity [38:40]

- Levitical requirements for the ritual offering for leprosy and how they image and prefigure Jesus' redemption on the Cross [45:40]

- The fascinating way that Jesus quite literally switches roles with the leper by the end of our story [49:00]

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Donahue, John R., and Daniel J. Harrington. The Gospel of Mark. Edited by Daniel J. Harrington. Vol. 2. Sacra Pagina Series. Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 2002.

Healy, Mary. The Gospel of Mark. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008.

Marcus, Joel. Mark 1–8: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. Vol. 27. Anchor Yale Bible. New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2008.

REFERENCES

Numbers 12:11-12 - "And Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, do not punish us because we have done foolishly and have sinned. 12 Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed"

2 Kings 5:7 - "And when the king of Israel read the letter, he rent his clothes and said, 'Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy?'"

"Cast out" (Grk: ekballo) is used in reference to an exorcism at Mk 1:39; 3:15, 22ff; 6:13; 7:26; 9:18, 28 and is used in a negative context at Mk 5:40; 11:15; and 12:8.

The offering for leprosy is described at Leviticus 14:3-7

Sanhedrin 47a:10 (Talmud) - "The Gemara asks: But if so, with regard to the verse: 'I pray you, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me,' where do you find that Elisha resurrected a second person? Rabbi Yoḥanan said to him: That request was fulfilled when he cured Naaman’s leprosy (see II Kings, chapter 5), an affliction that is considered to be equivalent to death, as it is written with regard to Miriam’s leprosy: 'Let her not be as one dead' (Numbers 12:12)."

Ketubot 61b:1 (Talmud) - "The chief butler said to him: You have spoiled the king’s meal, as now he will not eat from it. The king’s soldiers who were there said to him: Why did you do this? He said to them: The one who makes such awful dishes is the one who actually spoiled the king’s food. They said to him: Why do you say this? He said to them: I saw something else, i.e., a leprous infection, in this meat. They checked and didn’t find anything. He took his finger and placed it on the food and said to them: Did you check here? They then checked that spot and found the infection. The Sages said to Rav Ashi: What is the reason that you relied on a miracle and assumed that leprosy would in fact be found there? He said to them: I saw a leprous spirit hovering over the food and realized that it had this defect."

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Donahue, John R., and Daniel J. Harrington. The Gospel of Mark. Edited by Daniel J. Harrington. Vol. 2. Sacra Pagina Series. Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 2002.

Donin, Hayim. "HAVDALAH: The Ritual and the Concept." Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought 3, no. 1 (1960): 60-72. Accessed January 8, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23255448.

Healy, Mary. The Gospel of Mark. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008.

Marcus, Joel. Mark 1–8: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. Vol. 27. Anchor Yale Bible. New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2008.

REFERENCES

For a broader discussion of the city of Capernaum see Episode 015: Capernaum by the Sea 

1 Corinthians 15:13 - "But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised [egeiro]"

Galatians 1:1 - "Paul an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised [egeiro] him from the dead"

Romans 4:24 - "It will be reckoned to us who believe in him that raised [egeiro] from the dead Jesus our Lord"

Acts 3:14-15 - "But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and killed the Author of life, whom God raised [egeiro] from the dead."

Acts 4:10 - "Be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised [egeiro] from the dead, by him this man is standing before you well."

Luke 4:39 - "And he stood over her and rebuked the fever"

Mark 1:13 - "And he was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered [diakoneo] to him."

Mark 15:40-41 - "There were also women looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome, 41 who, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and ministered [diakoneo] to him"

Mark 10:43-45 - "But it shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant [diakonos], 44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. 45 For the Son of man also came not to be served [diakoneo] but to serve [diakoneo], and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Chiastic Structure:
A - Exorcism
B - Healing
B1 - Healings
A1 - Exorcisms

Mark 1:28 - "And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee."

Mark 16:1-6 - "And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2 And very early on the first day of the week they went to the tomb when the sun had risen. 3 And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the door of the tomb?” 4 And looking up, they saw that the stone was rolled back;—it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe; and they were amazed. 6 And he said to them, “Do not be amazed; you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen, he is not here"

Mark 1:24 - "'What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.'"

"The end-of-Sabbath context is also important because this period was marked in Jewish homes by the Havdālāh service, in which God’s creation of the world was celebrated; this custom seems to go back to Second Temple times [...] In some rabbinic and Jewish magical texts and formulae, the Havdālāh period is associated with the fight against demonic powers and other magical procedures [....] These associations of the Havdālāh period perhaps provide part of the background for Mark’s picture of the divine act of eschatological re-creation whereby Jesus heals and casts out demons in Peter’s house at the conclusion of the Sabbath." (Marcus 200)

John 13:3 - "Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God"

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Davies, W. D., and Dale C. Allison Jr. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel according to Saint Matthew. Vol. 3. International Critical Commentary. London; New York: T&T Clark International, 2004.

Keener, Craig S. The Gospel of Matthew: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI;  Cambridge, U.K.: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2009.

Mitch, Curtis, and Edward Sri. The Gospel of Matthew. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2010.

Mass Readings Explained with Dr. Brant Pitre

REFERENCES

Matthew 22:17 - "'Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?'"

Isaiah 5:7 - "For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel"

Exodus 4:22 - "‘Thus says the LORD, Israel is my first-born son'"

Exodus 24:6-7 - "Then he took the book of the covenant, and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, 'All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.'"

Matthew 9:2 - "'Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.'"

Matthew 7:21 - "'Not every one who says to me, "Lord, Lord," shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.'"

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Davies, W. D., and Dale C. Allison Jr. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel according to Saint Matthew. Vol. 3. International Critical Commentary. London; New York: T&T Clark International, 2004.

Keener, Craig S. The Gospel of Matthew: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI;  Cambridge, U.K.: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2009.

Mitch, Curtis, and Edward Sri. The Gospel of Matthew. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2010.

Mass Readings Explained with Dr. Brant Pitre

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Davies, W. D., and Dale C. Allison Jr. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel according to Saint Matthew. Vol. 2. International Critical Commentary. London; New York: T&T Clark International, 2004.

Keener, Craig S. The Gospel of Matthew: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI;  Cambridge, U.K.: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2009.

Mitch, Curtis, and Edward Sri. The Gospel of Matthew. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2010.

REFERENCES

Leviticus 19:17-18 - "You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason with your neighbor, lest you bear sin because of him. 18 You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself."

Genesis 4:24 - "If Cain is avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy-sevenfold.”

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Davies, W. D., and Dale C. Allison Jr. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel according to Saint Matthew. Vol. 2. International Critical Commentary. London; New York: T&T Clark International, 2004.

Keener, Craig S. The Gospel of Matthew: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI;  Cambridge, U.K.: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2009.

Mitch, Curtis, and Edward Sri. The Gospel of Matthew. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2010.

Mass Readings Explained by Dr. Brant Pitre

REFERENCES

Matthew's Discourses: Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5-7); Missionary Discourse (Mt 10); Parables Discourse (Mt 13); Ecclesiastical Discourse (Mt. 18)

Deuteronomy 19:15 - "Only on the evidence of two witnesses, or of three witnesses, shall a charge be sustained"

Catechism of the Catholic Church 1445: "The words bind and loose mean: whomever you exclude from your communion, will be excluded from communion with God; whomever you receive anew into your communion, God will welcome back into his. Reconciliation with the Church is inseparable from reconciliation with God."

Letter 98 to Pope Leo the Great (Paragraph 1): "For if 'where two or three are gathered together in His name,' He has said that 'there He is in the midst of them,' must He not have been much more particularly present with 520 priests, who preferred the spread of knowledge concerning Him to their country and their ease?"

Ignatius of Antioch's Letter to the Ephesians (5.2): "Let no man be deceived: unless a man be within the sanctuary he lacks the bread of God, for if the prayer of one or two has such might, how much more has that of the bishop and of the whole Church?"