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Jesus’ Career
Toward Close
PAGE 5—June 3,1976
VARYING Eucharistic liturgies may be reflected in the
different gospel accounts of the Last Supper, says Father John
J. Castelot. “The Eucharist was celebrated right from the
beginning in Christianity and it is, among other things the
memorial, the sacramental reenactment, of the
Passion-Death-Resurrection experience.” This depiction of the
Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci, is a mural in Milan. (NC
Photo)
Jesus 9 Gift Of Himself
BY FATHER JOHN J. CASTELOT
Scholars are of the opinion that the story of
the passion was the first continuous narrative of
the Christ-event to have been composed. The
reason for this may very well be the intimate
connection between the passion-death-resur
rection and the Eucharist. The Eucharist was
celebrated right from the beginning of
Christianity, and it is, among other things, the
memorial, the sacramental reenactment, of the
passion-death-resurrection experience. Just as,
among the Jews, the story of the Exodus was
recited each year during the Passover meal, so
the story of the passion was probably recited
during the Eucharistic meal, to bring out its
significance. As a result it would have been
formulated quite early. Indeed, many of the
differences in the various Gospel accounts of
the Last Supper may reflect varying Eucharistic
liturgies in individual communities.
Mark’s account is brief and to the point. It
begins with a notice that it was the first day of
the unleavened bread, when it was customary
to sacrifice the paschal lamb. Thus he pinpoints
the day to the Passover itself by referring to the
paschal lamb which was eaten at the festive
meal on the eve of the feast. However, it is not
the celebration of the feast itself which is
paramount in Mark’s account. This is Jesus’ own
Passover, in a double sense: He will transform it
into the new Passover, the Eucharist, and it will
mark the solemn beginning of His passing over
from this life, through death, to glory although
the note of glory is soft-pedaled in Mark’s
consistently stark, sombre account.
He introduces the story of the supper itself
with a remark which could be rather incidental,
but which, in the context, is threateningly
ominous. We read: “As it grew dark he arrived
with the Twelve.” “As it grew dark” — this is
indeed the hour of darkness or, as Luke has it,
“the triumph of darkness.” For in the course of
the meal Jesus told them: “I give you my word,
one of you is about to betray me, yes, one who
is eating with me — a man who dips into the
dish with me.” The announcement of the
impending treachery is all the more shocking,
all the more poignant, coming as it does in the
intimacy of a shared meal, the symbol of love
and fellowship. Jesus’ words, “It were better
for him had he never been born,” are so harsh,
so bitter, that Luke, in his later account, will
omit them.
It was the role of the father of the family at
the Passover meal to invoke a blessing on the
bread, break it up, and hand it around. Jesus
now assumes this role. “He took bread, blessed
and broke it and gave it to them. ‘Take this,’ he
said, ‘this is my body.’ ” Mark has pared the
account down to the bare essentials: the
gestures, the simple, direct words. No command
to eat, as in Matthew, no reference to His body
BY FATHER ALFRED MCBRIDE, O.PREAM.
Reading James is like going back to the
wisdom writers of the Old Testament. James is
like a Solomon for New Testament times.
Though there is no certainty about his identity,
the general consensus is that he is the James
who became the first Bishop of Jerusalem. He
doesn’t follow the letter style of other
epistilary writers. He sounds more like a
preacher than a writer.
His advice to the Church centers on five
themes:
1. Develop endurance. Christian life will be
full of trials. There is no sense in thinking that
Christianity is a matter of “cheap grace,” of
achievement on the run. Temptation and the
tug of passion will hound everyone reaching for
the spiritual crown of life and happiness.
BRINGING JUSTICE to the poor,
like this old man on a big city street, is
one of the important elements faith
brought out in the New Testament by
St. James, according to Father Alfred
McBride. James warns, “As for you,
you rich, weep and wail over your
impending miseries. Your wealth has
rotted, your fine wardrobe has grown
moth-eaten, you gold and silver have
corroded . . .” (NC Photo by Paul
Sequiera)
being given up for them, no instruction to do
this in His memory, as in Luke and Paul. (Paul’s
account in 1 Cor. 11, by the way, is the earliest
account of the institution of the Eucharist,
antedating Mark by about 10 years.) Mark is a
bit more detailed about the consecration of the
wine. “This is my blood, the blood of the
covenant, to be poured out on behalf of
many.’’ He doesn’t identify the cup, but we
know from Luke’s account that it was very
probably the third and last cup of the Passover
meal, the cup of blessing, which was drunk
after the main course, just before the
concluding psalm. Jesus links His blood with
the blood of the covenant, i.e., the blood of the
sacrificial animal poured out at the foot of Mt.
Sinai to signify the new relationship between
God and His people Israel. Jesus is the new
sacrificial lamb, the Lamb of God, establishing
by His blood a new relationship, a new
covenant, between God and all humanity.
Finally, Jesus points out the eternal
dimension of the Eucharist: “I will never again
drink of the fruit of the vine until the day when
I drink it new in the reign of God.” It refers to
the day when the earthly Eucharist, a joyous
symbol of the messianic banquet, will be
celebrated by Jesus and His faithful followers in
a new and transcendent way in the Kingdom of
the Father.
It is hard to say whether the sad little
episode which follows took place while they
were still at table or on their way to
Gethsemane. Verse 26 would suggest the latter:
“After singing songs of praise, they walked out
to the Mount of Olives.” But the following
verse would seem to support the former: “Jesus
then said to them” — as a continuation of his
table talk. And, in fact, Luke places Jesus’
prediction of Peter’s denial squarely within the
context of the supper. This could be an
example of Mark’s frequent awkwardness of
style and the resultant obscurity. At any rate,
Jesus sadly foretells the shock they will
experience at His crucifixion and their
abandonment of Him. Peter, with typical
impetuosity, blurts out, “Even though all are
shaken in faith, it will not be that way with
me.” “Jesus answered, “I give you my
assurance, this very night before the cock crows
twice you will deny me three times.” But Peter
kept reasserting vehemently, “Even if I have to
die with you, I will not deny you.” Mark adds:
“They all said the same.”
The events that followed are so familiar to
us: the agony in the garden, the kiss of Judas,
the arrest, the trial with its brutality, all ending
in the crucifixion, a type of capital
punishment so horrible that it was reserved for
the slave class. It looked for all the world like
utter defeat. But something was to happen after
a few days that would turn it into glorious
victory.
Without endurance through the time of testing,
it is foolish to think that anything of worth can
be accomplished.
2. Act out your belief. Don’t just be a hearer
of Christ’s word. Do something about it. A
faith that finds no realization in loving behavior
is a useless faith. Some scholars thought that
James is repudiating Paul’s letter to Rome
about the vanity of works of the law as against
the all important saving power of faith. Even
Luther at one time referred to James as a
“letter of straw.” But in fact, Paul preached the
value of good works, acting out the faith, just
as James appreciated the need for faith as well
as works. James is simply centering on people
who misread Paul to think that faith is enough
with our practice.
3. Treat the poor with justice. One of the all
important implementations of faith is the task
of bringing justice to the poor. As eloquently as
any Old Testament prophet or modern-day
defender of the rights of the underprivileged,
James lashes out:
“As for you, you rich, weep and wail over
your impending miseries. Your wealth has
rotted, your fine wardrobe has grown
motheaten, your gold and silver have corroded,
and their corrosion shall be a testimony against
you; it will devour your flesh like a fire . . . The
cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of
the Lord of hosts.” (James 5; 1-6)
4. Use your tongue wisely. James’ discourse
on the tongue is probably the most interesting
and dramatic mediation on the use of speech
ever written. As perceptive as any psychology
of speech, James’ observations make a direct
link between the use of the tongue and one’s
ego strength, one’s ability to control maturely
his relationships to others. As James sees it, the
mastery of the tongue is the ultimate clue to
one’s personal integrity and maturity. He says
we put a bit into a horse’s mouth to guide it.
Even the mightiest ship, disheveled by
boisterous winds and waves is guided by a small
rudder, responsive to the helmsman’s touch.
But the tongue? How is it that such a little
spark can so set a forest ablaze? Who is unaware
of “fighting words” whether at meetings of
sophisticated diplomats, gatherings in taverns,
or between two ladies having morning coffee?
Our zoos are full of tamed animals of the
fiercest kinds. Who is the lucky one to have
tamed his tongue? We use it to praise God and
damn our neighbor. In our scientific times we
are prone to gather data and evidence for this
and that development. Painful as it may be, we
BY WILLIAM E. MAY
All of us are familiar with the Gospel
accounts of the final days of Jesus: how He
entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, prepared to
eat the Pasch with His disciples, gave Himself as
food and drink to His apostles at the Last
Supper, prayed in the garden, submitted to
arrest, was tried and sentenced to death, was
cruelly scourged and mocked, and finally was
nailed to a cross to die an agonizing death (Matt
26:1-27:61; Mk 14:1-15:47; Lk. 22:1-23:56;
Jn. 13:1-19:42).
The significance of these final days of Jesus’
life is also familiar to us, but perhaps this very
familiarity at times keeps us from deepening
our appreciation of what Jesus has done and
indeed still does for us. By suffering and dying
Jesus has made it possible for us to share in His
redeeming act and to become identified with
Him, just as He became perfectly one with us.
This is one of the central truths that Jesus
teaches us by His gift of Himself.
Yet this truth at times becomes obscured.
For one thing, we are accustomed to look on
Jesus as God. He is truly God, truly the
Uncreated Word of the Father, one in being
with the Father. But Jesus is the Uncreated
Word-become-flesh, become man, become truly
have a running possibility of data gathering on
our personal character by noting and evaluating
the words we speak. In nature, a good spring
does not gush forth fresh and foul water from
the same outlet. Well, the lesson is obvious.
5. Practice Christian values. “Do not grumble
at one another, my brothers, lest you be
condemned. See! The judge stands at the gate.
As your models in suffering, hardship and
patience, brothers, take the prophets who
spoke in the name of the Lord.” (James 5: 10)
James lists a series of wise maxims to guide
Christians in search of values that live out the
meaning of faith. He wants people to be
“sensibly” humble, to abandon foolish
jealously, to be lenient and rich in sympathy.
He is almost Shakespearean when he says, “You
are vapor that appears and briefly vanishes.” (4;
14)
one of us. Too frequently we think that just
because Jesus was God His suffering and death
were different from ours. Too often, I believe,
we are disappointed because Jesus did not give
us a rational explanation of the suffering and
agony and pain and frustration that we all
experience. We fail to realize that He gave us
something better. Let me try to explain.
If we look at the Gospels we discover that
Jesus did not promise us an answer to the
mystery of evil, to the problem of suffering. He
simply said that He, the Son of Man, had to
suffer and that everyone who wants to become
identified with Him would have to suffer too.
Yet if we take His humanity seriously, if we try
to appreciate the meaning of the incarnation -
that God loves us so deeply that He “emptied
Himself” of His divinity so that He could
become perfectly one with us (see Philippians
2:6-11) — then we can begin to see that by
suffering and dying Jesus makes it possible for
us to become identified with Him and, through
and in Him, with the Father who has sent Him.
Jesus’ favorite way of referring to Himself in
the Gospels was to call Himself the “Son of
Man,” and He identified Himself with the
suffering servant portrayed in the songs of
Isaiah. By doing this He wanted to teach us that
He, the Word-made-flesh, was truly one of us
and that He fully experienced what it means to
be a human being. And precisely by becoming
completely identified with us in our suffering
and agony, He makes it possible for us to
become completely identified with Himself.
John L. McKenzie, the noted biblical scholar,
has expressed this truth eloquently. He says
that those who wish to identify themselves with
Jesus cannot share His divine sonship except by
adoption. But they can, he noted, “share his
human condition. Suffering and death are the
normal human condition. Jesus does not
ennoble them, but he makes them the means by
which man is liberated from sin and death.
Those who accept the human condition with
Him share in the redemptive act, the saving act
of God . . . The ultimate futility in the life of
unbelieving and hopeless man becomes the
means of the ultimate fulfillment of the human
potential. The deliverance of man is not to be
accomplished by an act which can be shared by
only a few. It is accomplished by perfect
identity between Jesus and the race which he
incorporates in Himself.” (“The Power and the
Wisdom,” p. 102).
If we reflect on Jesus’ final gift of Himself in
this light, we will, I believe, come to a newer
and deeper appreciation of the meaning of the
beatitudes. We shall see why it is true that we
should “rejoice and be glad” when we are
insulted and persecuted and why we who suffer
shall be consoled (cf. Matt 5:3-12).
The quite ordinary life of Jesus is the great
stumbling block, the scandal of belief. To
accept this scandal is to accept the mystery of
the incarnation, the truly wondrous,
paradoxical, completely unexpected gift of
God’s consuming love for us: His gift of
Himself in a created human reality that He has
made His own and, in making it His own, has
raised to the level of life with Himself.
At each Eucharist we call to mind the saving
death of Jesus. Eucharist means thanksgiving,
and there is a reason why we should give thanks
and be glad: God, the most marvelous friend we
can ever have, has made Himself to be one of us
and invites us to become one with Him and
makes it possible for us to do so. We can
become one with Him today, in the suffering
and disappointment that we will experience;
and He, our Risen Lord, will be with us to
comfort and support us in our struggle to be
what we really are: precious words of God that
He, the Uncreated Word, has become.
KNOW
YOUR FAITH
(All Articles On This Page Copyrighted 1976 by N.C. News Service)
SIMON HELPS A BENT, tortured Jesus carry the cross on
the way to Calvary where the Son of Man died an agonizing
death. The Robert Hodgell lithograph illustrates one of the
central truths that Jesus teaches us by the gift of Himself -- “by
suffering and dying Jesus has made it possible for us to share in
His redeeming act and to become identified with Him, just as
He became perfectly one with us,” says William E. May. (NC
Sketch by Robert Hodgell)