Bible Study Lessons 14
Lesson Objectives
1. To read the New Testament with understanding.
2. To understand how the New Testament depicts Jesus as the fulfillment of the covenants of the Old Testament.
3. To appreciate, especially, the importance of God's everlasting covenant with David for understanding the mission of Jesus and the Church as it is presented in the New Testament.
Lesson Outline
I. New Exodus in Jerusalem
a. With Moses and Elijah
b. Making a King's Entrance
c. Passover–Old and New
d. Our Paschal Lamb
e. Death of the Beloved Son
II. The End of His Story
a. Beginning with Moses
b. Kingdom of the Spirit
c. Sacraments of Childhood
e. Completing the Word of God
f. Revealing the End
III. Study Questions for Lesson 14
I. New Exodus in Jerusalem
Peter, along with James and John, are chosen to see Jesus "transfigured" in glory on a mountaintop.
The Transfiguration again evokes memories from earlier in salvation history. On the mountaintop, Jesus speaks with Moses and the prophet Elijah. It is a very visual reminder of what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount - that He had come to fulfill the Law (of Moses) and the prophets.
What were the three talking about on the mountain? "His exodus that He was going to accomplish in Jerusalem
The Greek word "exodus" means "departure." But in this scene they are talking about more than some generic departure. The Gospel is deliberately referring us back to the exodus of the Israelites out of Egypt
The prophets had foretold the raising of a "righteous shoot" or son of David, who would lead a new exodus that would gather all the scattered children of Israel
As the first exodus led to the making of a covenant between God and Israel
What will happen to Jesus in Jerusalem
As the first exodus liberated Israel Israel
b. Making a King's Entrance
To begin the accomplishment of this new exodus, Jesus enters Jerusalem
Jesus is proclaimed "son of David" (see Matthew 21:9,15) like Solomon (see Proverbs 1:1). He rides a colt into town (see Matthew 21:7) as Solomon rode King David's mule (see 1 Kings 1:38, 44).
As Solomon is declared king by the crowd in a tumult of rejoicing (see 1 Kings 1:39-40), the crowd greets Jesus with an Old Testament gesture of homage to a king - spreading their cloaks on the road before Him (see Matthew 21:8; 2 Kings 9:13).
The night before the Israelites' exodus from Egypt
We're going to review here some material we covered in Lesson 06 (see "The Passover and 'Our Paschal Lamb'"). But now we're in the position to see how Jesus, in celebrating His last Passover meal with His Apostles, revealed the full meaning of the Passover.
The Passover recalls the night when God destroyed all the first-borns of Egypt in order to rescue His "first-born son," Israel
On that first Passover night, all Israelite families were ordered to sacrifice an unblemished lamb (see Exodus 12:5) and paint the lamb's blood with a hyssop branch (see Exodus 12:22) on their door posts (see Exodus 12:7).
Then they were to eat the lamb's "roasted flesh" with unleavened bread (see Exodus 12:8). When the Lord came that evening for the first-born of the Egyptians, He "passed over" every house with lamb's blood painted on the door posts (see Exodus 12:12-13,23).
The Israelites were instructed to remember this night forever, "as a perpetual ordinance for yourselves and your descendants" (see Exodus 12:24).
Each year, they would relive the night, as Moses had ordered, by reading the Scriptural account of the first Passover and eating the unblemished lamb with unleavened bread.
The Passover marked their birth as a people of God in the covenant He made with them at Sinai.
That covenant was ratified by the blood of animals offered in sacrifice. Sprinkling them with the blood, Moses said: "This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you" (see Exodus 24:8).
Jesus had all this background in mind at His Last Supper, which was eaten as a Passover meal. It was celebrated on the night before His "exodus."
Jesus tells the Apostles that the bread is His body and that the wine is "My blood of the covenant" (see Mark 14:24).
Jesus is making a direct quotation of Moses' words at Sinai (see Exodus 24:8). In Luke's account of the Last Supper, the cup is even called "the new covenant in My blood" (see Luke 22:20).
In explaining the Eucharist, Jesus compared it implicitly with the Passover celebration - saying that people must "eat My flesh," as the Israelites had to eat the roasted flesh of the Lamb (see John 6:53-58).
In telling His Apostles to "do this in memory of Me" (see Luke 22:19), Jesus was instituting the Eucharist as a "memorial" of a new "passing over" and a new covenant.
We who believe in Jesus are to remember our salvation in a ritual meal - just as the Israelites commemorated their salvation from Egypt
The actual "passover" of Jesus takes place in His Passion, Death and Resurrection.
Here, we see Jesus identified as both the Passover lamb and the priest who offers the lamb in sacrifice.
Early on, John the Baptist had identified Jesus by the curious label, "the Lamb of God" (see John 1:29).
When Christ is condemned, the Gospel tells us, it was the "preparation day for Passover, and it was about noon." Why this detail? Because that was the precise moment when Israel
Later, the mocking soldiers give Jesus a sponge soaked in wine. They raise it to Him on a "hyssop branch." That's the same kind of branch the Israelites are instructed to use to daub their door posts with the blood of the Passover lamb (see John 19:29; Exodus 12:22).
And why don't the soldiers break Jesus' legs (see John 19:33,36)? John explains that with a quote from Exodus, telling us that it was because the legs of the Passover lambs weren't to be broken (see Exodus 12:46; Numbers 9:12; Psalm 34:21).
Jesus also is reported to have been wearing a tunic that was "seamless, woven in one piece from the top down" (see John 19:23).
This sounds a lot like the special garment worn by Israel
These subtle details are put there to show us that what's happening on the Cross is a new Passover.
In the first Passover, Israel
The Lamb of God dies so that the people of God might live, saved from their sins by "the blood of the Lamb" shed on the Cross (see Revelation 7:14; 12:11; 5:12).
"Our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed," St. Paul
More than that, even, what's happening on the Cross is the fulfillment of the oath that God swore to Abraham back on the Mount of Moriah. Here we want to recall what we said in Lesson 05 (see "Binding Isaac").
On the Cross, Jesus is "reenacting" the story of Abraham's sacrifice of His beloved son Isaac (see Genesis 22).
Recall the repetition of the words "father" and "son" in the Abraham and Isaac story, how Isaac is repeatedly referred to as Abraham's only and beloved son (see Genesis22:2,12,16).
Jesus, too, is called a "beloved Son" at two crucial points in His life - in His Baptism and Transfiguration (see Matthew 3:17; 17:5).
As Isaac carried the wood for his own sacrifice, and submitted to being bound to the wood, so too Jesus carried His cross and let men bind Him to it.
Abraham had assured his son before binding him on the altar: "God himself will provide the lamb for the holocaust [sacrificial burnt offering]" (see Genesis 22:8).
And indeed God did - centuries later on the Cross at Calvary . There, God accepted the sacrificial death of His only beloved Son. Abraham received his son back from certain death "on the third day" (see Genesis 22:4). And on the third day, God the Father received His Son back from the dead (see 1 Corinthians 15:4).
In testing Abraham's faith, God had been showing us the Cross in advance, had been revealing the mystery of His own Fatherly love, of His faithfulness to His covenant promises.
God twice praised Abraham's faithfulness - "You did not withhold from me your own beloved son" (see Genesis 22:12,15).
When Paul talks about the Crucifixion, he uses the same exact Greek words to describe God's faithfulness - "He who did not spare His own Son but handed Him over for us all" (see Romans 8:32).
On account of Abraham's faith, God swore a covenant oath - that Abraham's children would be "as countless as the stars of the sky" and that through them God's blessings would flow upon "all the nations of the earth" (see Genesis 22:15-18).
As we have said, this is the covenant that God was honoring at every turn in salvation history - in freeing the descendants of Abraham from Egypt
And on the Cross, that promise to Abraham is finally fulfilled. God, in faithfulness to His covenant promise to Abraham, in offering His only begotten Son, made it possible for all peoples to be made "children of Abraham" and heirs of the promised blessings.
As Paul said, the Beloved Son gave His life so that "the blessings of Abraham might be extended to the Gentiles" - that is, to all the peoples of the world, to all those who aren't children of Abraham by birth (see Galatians 3:14).
By faith in the Gospel, by believing that Jesus is the Messiah, the son of David and the son of Abraham, all men and women are made "Abraham's descendants, heirs according to the promise" made by God to Abraham back on Moriah (see Galatians 3:29).
II. The End of His Story
How do we know all this? How can we be sure that this is the "right interpretation" of what was really happening on the Cross?
Because the Church, building on the testimony of the Apostles, has told us so. How did the Apostles know?
Because Jesus taught them how to find Him in the Scriptures. On the third day, when He rose from the dead, what was the first thing He did? According to Luke's Gospel, He appeared to some deeply saddened disciples making their way to Emmaus.
As He walked, He explained the Scriptures to them. "Beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He interpreted to them what referred to Him in all the Scriptures" (see Luke 24:27).
When He was done interpreting the Scriptures to them, He celebrated the Eucharist. Notice the same pattern we observed in the feeding of the multitudes and at the Last Supper.
At Emmaus, "He took bread, said the blessing, broke it and gave it to them" (see Luke 24:30). Later that first Easter night, He appeared to the Apostles. Again, He "opened their minds to understand the Scriptures" (see Luke 24:45).
By Scriptures, of course, Luke means the books of what we call the Old Testament. There were no New Testament writings just yet! But Jesus was establishing something very important - that what He said and did, the meaning of His life, death and Resurrection, can't be understood apart from what was written beforehand in the Old Testament.
He told them that God had foretold His coming in every part of the Old Testament, and explained to them "everything written about Me in the Law of Moses and in the prophets and in the Psalms" (see Luke 24:44).
Jesus taught His chosen Apostles how to interpret the Scriptures. And as He promised, He sent them "the Spirit of truth" to guide them "to all truth" (see John 16:13).
What they learned and continued to have revealed to them "in the breaking of the bread" is inscribed on every page of the New Testament and in the Liturgy of the Church.
Indeed, there is not a page of the New Testament that's not infused with Old Testament quotations or allusions. Even relatively minor Epistles, like that of Jude, contain lessons drawn from the Old Testament.
Listen for the echoes of salvation history as you read the rest of the New Testament.
You will hear the Apostles doing just what Jesus taught them to do - interpreting the Old Testament, explaining how all the great words and events of the past pointed to Jesus, the Messiah, the Word of God come in the flesh (see Acts 8:26-39; John 1:14).
In the Acts of the Apostles, be sure to read the great missionary speeches of Peter (see Acts 2:14-36; 3:12-26; 11:34-43); Paul (see Acts 13:16-41) and Steven (see Acts 7:1-51).
You will hear all the great stories we have looked at in this course - about God's promises to Abraham, about Moses and the Exodus, the forty years in the desert, and more. More than any other figure, you will hear about David.
At the center of Jesus' post-Resurrection teaching about the Old Testament was David and "the kingdom of God
In the Church, God has "restore[d] the kingdom to Israel
Jesus' Ascension to heaven is described as a royal enthronement - He is taken up to heaven to be seated at the right hand of God for all eternity (see Acts 2:22-36).
Seated on the throne of David, Jesus rules His Kingdom (see Acts 13:22-37). More than a heavenly king, Christ is "a great priest over the house of God" (see Hebrews 10:11).
The Davidic Messiah, we recall, was expected to be "a high priest forever" (see Psalm 110:4). And now Jesus is enthroned in the temple and sanctuary of heaven - "a high priest who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven" (see Hebrews 8:1; also Hebrews 7).
Jesus reigns now as King and High Priest over a kingdom that is both on earth and in heaven - a kingdom that is both temporal and historical and spiritual and eternal. It is a kingdom that was begun among the children of Israel
We see this already in the Acts of the Apostles. The progress of Acts shows the Church extending from Jerusalem (Acts 1-7), north to restore the former Northern Kingdom (Acts 8), and from there fanning out to all the nations beyond Israel
As you read Acts, notice that "the Kingdom of God" is a constant theme of the Apostles' preaching (see Acts 8:12; 14:22; 19:8; 20:25; 28:31).
This Kingdom is the Church. And the Church is the destiny of the human family. In sending His Spirit down upon Mary and the Apostles at Pentecost (see Acts 1:14;Acts 2), God announces the crowning of all His mighty works of salvation history. The Jewish feast of Pentecost called all devout Jews to Jerusalem to celebrate their birth as God's chosen people, in the covenant Law given to Moses at Sinai (see Leviticus 23:15-21; Deuteronomy 16:9-11).
The Spirit given to the Church at Pentecost seals the new law and new covenant brought by Jesus - written not on stone tablets but on the hearts of believers, as the prophets promised (see Jeremiah 31:31-34; 2 Corinthians 3:2-8; Romans 8:2).
In the beginning, the Spirit came as a "mighty wind" sweeping over the face of the earth (see Genesis 1:2). And in the new creation of Pentecost, the Spirit again comes as "a strong, driving wind" (see Acts 2:2) to renew the face of the earth.
God fashioned Adam, the first man, out of dust and filled him with His Spirit (see Genesis 2:7).
Jesus is "the New Adam" (see Romans 5:12-14,17-19).
The first Adam, by his disobedience, brought sin and division and death into the world.
By His obedience to God, by willingly emptying himself to come among us as a man and to offer himself in sacrifice on the Cross, Jesus restored our relationship with God (see Philippians 2:6-11).
"For just as in Adam all die, so too in Christ shall all be brought to life," Paul said (see 1 Corinthians 15:22).
As Adam was made a living being by the Spirit-breath of God, the New Adam became a life-giving Spirit (see 1 Corinthians 15:45,47).
He breathed His own life and power into the Apostles after the Resurrection (see John 20:22-23). And beginning at Pentecost, like a river of living water, for all ages He will pour out His Spirit on His body, the Church (see John 7:37-39).
The Apostles in turn pour out that Spirit upon the world - through the divine ministry of the sacraments. The sacraments, as the Apostles explained them, continued the mighty works of God in salvation history - localizing them, making them personal, and ensuring that all people would be joined to the saving work of Jesus until the end of time.
The sacraments - like everything in the New Covenant - were concealed in the Old and revealed in the new.
Baptism fulfills the covenant God made with Noah. No longer does water destroy the sinful. Now it saves the sinner, destroys the sin (see 1 Peter 3:20-21).
When Moses led the people through the waters of the Red Sea , fed them with spiritual food and drink, it was to show us an "example" of our life in the Church.
We will be saved in the waters of Baptism, guided by the Spirit, nourished by the Eucharist in the wilderness of the world (see 1 Corinthians 10).
Receiving the Spirit in Baptism, each man and woman is made a "new creation" (see 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15). According to St. James: "He willed to give us birth by the word of truth that we may be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures" (see James 1:18).
This new birth is celebrated throughout the New Testament: "See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God" (see 1 John 3:1).
This is why the Apostles, like Paul, called themselves spiritual "fathers" (see Philemon 10) and referred to their new converts as "children" (see 1 Thessalonians 2:11) and even "newborn infants" (see 1 Peter 2:2).
In Jesus, we see the full disclosure of God's "eternal purpose," His plan from "before the foundation of the world" - to make all men and women His children by divine "adoption" (see Ephesians 3:11; 1:4-5).
Each of the Baptized has been given a "share in the divine nature" (see 2 Peter 1:4). Each has received "a Spirit of adoption," making them "Children of God, and if children, then heirs of God" (see Romans 7:15-16) - heirs to the blessings promised at the dawn of salvation history.
Drinking of the one Spirit in the Eucharist (see 1 Corinthians 10:4), believers in the Church are the firstfruits of a new, worldwide family of God - fashioned from out of every nation under heaven, with no distinctions of wealth or language or race, a people born of the Spirit.
The Church, the restored Kingdom, "brings to completion...the Word of God, the mystery hidden from ages and generations past" (see Colossians 1:26). In the Kingdom, in the Church, the Gentiles, the non-Jews, are "no longer strangers" but are made now "fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God" (see Ephesians 2:19: 3:5-6).
Much of the drama of Acts, the tension of Romans and Galatians, revolves around the growth and meaning of this Kingdom, how God's saving purpose was to include the non-Jewish peoples, how the Gospel is to be preached "to the Gentiles that they may be saved" (see 1 Thessalonians 2:16).
And throughout the New Testament we see the Church growing as a visible institution:
* under the leadership of Peter, teaching and interpreting the Scriptures with final and ultimate authority, guided by the Holy Spirit (see Acts 15:24-29);
* writing inspired letters and handing on oral traditions (see 2 Thessalonians 2:15);
* Baptizing and celebrating the Eucharist and other sacraments (see Acts 10:44-48;2:42);
* creating permanent institutions - priests, bishops and deacons - to carry on the work into the future (see Titus 1:5-9; 1 Timothy 3:1-9; 4:14; 5:17-23).
The New Testament promises that the Kingdom now visible on earth will be consummated in the "heavenly kingdom" (see 2 Timothy 4:18). And we see a glimpse of that heavenly kingdom in the Bible's last book, the Book of Revelation.
The Bible began with the story of the creation of the world. It ends with the passing away of heaven and earth and the coming down of "a new heaven and a new earth" (see Revelation 21:1).
In Revelation, the Apostle John is "caught up in the Spirit on the Lord's Day" (see Revelation 1:10) - that is, on a Sunday, possibly while celebrating the Eucharist.
What is revealed to him is the destiny of history, the "goal" or final end of God's saving plan.
Jesus is unveiled as "the lion of the tribe of Judah
He is revealed as "the Lamb that was slain," now enthroned in heaven (see Revelation 5:6-14). He is clothed as a high priest and king (see Revelation 1:13) and He is called "the Word of God" (see Revelation 19:13) and "King of Kings and Lord of Lords" (see Revelation 19:16; 11:15).
Jesus is seen summoning people to worship, to enter into His kingdom, to eat with Him, to be enthroned with Him in heaven (see Revelation 3:20-21).
The Church is revealed as "a kingdom, priests for His God and Father" (see Revelation 1:6).
Recall that this was God's purpose in bringing the Israelites out of Egypt
The Church is founded on "the twelve apostles of the Lamb" and open to the "twelve tribes of the Israelites" (see Revelation 21:12,14). It is made up of both Jews and Gentiles, as John sees it. There are 144,000 "marked from every tribe of the Israelites" plus "a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people and tongue" (see Revelation 7:7,9).
All are gathered before a great throne and the Lamb, and heaven is filled with the sounds and actions of worship. Revelation, in fact, is a picture of the eternal liturgy of heaven, a liturgy that very much resembles the Mass the Church still celebrates on earth.
Through all the visions John records, there are scenes of tribulation and warfare, as the Church struggles against Satan, the great ancient serpent "who deceived the whole world" at the beginning of salvation history (see Revelation 12:9).
The first creation ended with the frustration of God's plan in the sin of Adam and Eve. The Bible ends with images of triumph and victory - "a new heaven and a new earth" (see Revelation 21:1).
All the Church is singing a great "alleluia" before the throne of God, joining in celebration of "the wedding feast of the Lamb" (see Revelation 19:6,7,9). The Groom of the feast is the Lamb, Christ.
The Bride is the Church - described as a "holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband" (see Revelation 21:2).
The Church, throughout the New Testament is referred to in female terms - as the "elect Lady" (see 2 John 1), as the bride made "one flesh" with Christ (see Ephesians 5:2), and finally as the "mother" of every Christian born in baptism (see Galatians 4:26).
In drawing these comparisons, Paul in particular, always pointed his readers back to the story of Adam and Eve. The Church is "one body" with Christ in the same way that Adam and Eve - and every married couple - are united as "one flesh" in marriage (see Genesis 2:24; Ephesians 5:30-31).
Remember that Christ is presented to us in the New Testament as a "New Adam." The Church, His Bride, is the New Eve.
In the garden in the beginning, with the "marriage" of Adam and Eve, God was drawing for us an image of what things would look like in the end.
He was showing us that the relationship He desires with the human race is full communion, intimate love. The only human relationship that can compare is that of the union of man and woman in the marriage covenant.
In fact, throughout salvation history, God compared His Old Covenant to the marriage covenant (see Hosea 2:16-24; Jeremiah 2:2; Isaiah 54:4-8). This explains why Christ described Himself as a "bridegroom" in the Gospels and performed His first miracle at a wedding (see John 2; 3:29; Mark 2:19; Matthew 22:1-14; 25:1-13).
The New Covenant fulfills God's marital vows to His people. He has become "one body" with them in the Church. This covenant is renewed in each Eucharist, as we are joined intimately to His Body.
As He promised through His prophets (see Ezekiel 27:26-27), God has made His dwelling with the human race: "He will dwell with them and they will be His people and God himself will always be with them" (see Revelation 21:3).
This is the reality we live in now, according to the Bible's last book. We are heirs to the victory won by Christ - a victory foreseen by God since before the foundation of the world.
We are the spiritual children, born of the marriage of the Lamb and the Church, having received the divine gift of "life-giving water" in Baptism, having heard God say to each of us: "I shall be his God and he will be My son" (see Revelation 21:7).
By His power, we have been given the "right to eat from the Tree of Life that is in the garden of God
We live in joyful hope waiting for the coming of the Lord again in glory, a coming we anticipate in every celebration of the Eucharist (see 1 Corinthians 10:26).
This is the story of the Bible. And the Bible is now a book, an oracle of God, that we can say we have read, with understanding, from cover to cover.
III. Study Questions for Lesson 14
1. How is Jesus' death and resurrection a new exodus and a new passover? In what way is the Eucharist a memorial of this new passover and exodus?
2. Explain the similarities between Abraham's "sacrifice" of Isaac and the Crucifixion of Jesus. How does the event of the Cross fulfill God's promise to Abraham?
3. When and how did Jesus teach the Apostles how to interpret the Old Testament Scriptures?
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