Other Sunday and Holy Day Readings
5th SUNDAY OF LENT (Cycle B)
Readings:
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Psalm 51:3-4, 12-15
Hebrews 5:7-9
John 12:20-33
Scrutiny: Ezekiel 37:12-14; Psalm 130:1-8; Romans 8:8-11; John 11:1-45 or 11:3-7, 17, 20-27, 33b-45
Abbreviations: NABRE (New American Bible Revised Edition), NJB (New Jerusalem Bible), RSVCE (Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition), IBHE (Interlinear Bible Hebrew-English), IBGE (Interlinear Bible Greek-English), or LXX (Greek Septuagint Old Testament translation). CCC designates a citation from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The word LORD or GOD rendered in all capital letters is, in the Hebrew text, God's Divine Name, YHWH (Yahweh).
God reveals His divine plan for humanity in the two Testaments; therefore, we read and relive the events of salvation history in the Old and New Testaments in the Church's Liturgy. The Catechism teaches that our Liturgy reveals the unfolding mystery of God's plan as we read the Old Testament in light of the New and the New Testament in light of the Old (CCC 1094-1095).
The Theme of the Readings: A New Covenant for Transformed Lives
Hope and promise are the focus of today's readings. God told
the prophet Jeremiah, "the days are coming" for a spiritually restored people
in a New Covenant. And Jesus announced His "hour has come" to fulfill God's
divine plan for humanity. Jesus fulfilled the Old Covenant and manifested the new
and eternal covenant God promised Jeremiah in the "hour" of His Passion, death,
Resurrection, and Ascension to the Father. Jeremiah wrote that the New Covenant
would initiate the return of Israel's exiled people from the ends of the earth
(Jer 31:1, 3-4, 7-8) and create in God's people a new heart (Jer 31:33). Jesus's
"hour" would bring about a New Covenant in His Blood (Lk 22:20) when "true worshippers
worship the Father in spirit and in truth" (Jn 4:23). And all nations would
look to Christ when He was "lifted up" on the altar of the Cross for their
salvation (Jn 12:32).
In the First Reading, God's sixth-century BC prophet, Jeremiah, promised a "New Covenant" that is more than a political or national restoration of Israel and Judah's divided kingdom. It will bring about a spiritual restoration of God's covenant people and the forgiveness of their sins (Jer 31:1, 3-4, 7-8, 34). Jesus's New Covenant is the fulfillment of Jeremiah's prophecy. His Passion and Resurrection brought a universal call to salvation, as prophesied by the prophet Simeon at baby Jesus's Temple dedication (Lk 2:32).
The Responsorial Psalm, attributed to King David, is the most famous of the seven Penitential Psalms. We join the psalmist in his heartfelt contrition for his sins and his deeply felt desire to reconcile himself with the Lord as we call out, "Create a clean heart in me, O God."
The Second Reading, from the Letter to the Hebrews, concisely summarizes Jesus's life on earth. St. Cyril of Alexandria wrote that Jesus "offered his life as a model of saintly existence to be used by earthly beings, he took on the weaknesses of humanity, and what was his purpose in doing this? That we might truly believe that he became man, although he remained what he was, namely God" (Letter to Euopitus, Anathema, 10).
In the Gospel Reading, Jesus prophesied His death in the Parable of The Seed that Dies. However, Jesus wasn't only predicting His coming crucifixion (Jn 3:14-15). He was also prophesying His Ascension to God the Father when He would be "raised high and greatly exalted" (Is 52:3), just as it was the custom for the Davidic kings to be elevated above their subjects (1 Mac 8:13). In the inauguration of the New Covenant in the blood of Christ (Lk 22:20), the Lord God created in His spiritually reborn people a "clean heart" (Psalm Reading) in the Sacrament of Baptism. He welcomed them into a new and eternal covenant through the One who became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him (Second Reading). Jesus's submission to His Father's will to redeem fallen humanity inspired His entire life. His mission was the focus of His life, from the Incarnation to His Passion, fulfilling His heavenly Father's divine plan of redemptive love (CCC 607).
The First Reading Jeremiah 31:31-34 ~ The Prophecy of a New Covenant
31 The days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a
new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 32 It will not be
like the covenant I made with their fathers the day I took them by the hand to
lead them forth from the land of Egypt; for they broke my covenant, and I had
to show myself their master, says the LORD. 33 But this is the covenant that I
will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD. I will
place my law within them and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God,
and they shall be my people. 34 No longer will they have need to teach their
friends and relatives how to know the LORD. All, from the least to the
greatest, shall know me, says the LORD, for I will forgive their evildoing and
remember their sin no more.
This prophecy is central to Jeremiah's prophetic ministry and profoundly impacted the New Testament and Christian teaching. The promised "New Covenant" is more than a political or national restoration of Israel and Judah's divided kingdom. It would bring about a universal, spiritual restoration of all God's covenant people in a new and eternal covenant (Jer 31:1, 3-4, 7-8, 34; 32:40; Heb 13:20) in which all nations would come to know Yahweh and His gift of salvation through the Redeemer-Messiah, God the Son (Lk 2:30-32; Mt 28:19-20).
The prophecy presents the promise of the New Covenant in two parts:
Verse 32 describes the Old Sinai Covenant as having three key characteristics:
The promised New Covenant also had three key characteristics:
Jesus's New Covenant fulfilled Jeremiah's prophecy (Heb 8:13; 10:8-10). His Passion would call together the dispersed children of God as prophesied by Isaiah (Is 66:18-21). It would also gather in the Gentiles as prophesied by Simeon at Jesus's Temple dedication (Lk 2:32). But unlike the Old Sinai covenant ratified in the blood of sacrificed animals (Ex 24:3-8), Jesus instituted this New Covenant in His Blood. At the Last Supper, He told those assembled, "this cup is the new covenant in my blood" (Lk 22:20; repeated by Paul in 1 Cor 15:25). He accomplished fulfilling the old Sinai Covenant and the inauguration of the new as He shed His blood on the altar of the Cross. In one of His last statements from the Cross, Jesus pronounced the Old Covenant "fulfilled/finished/accomplished" (Jn 19:30). At Pentecost, fifty days after Jesus's Ascension, the Holy Spirit baptized the New Covenant community of the faithful. The community taught their Jewish countrymen and women and their Gentile neighbors the Gospel of salvation (Jer 31:34), forming a holy New Covenant people made up of Jews and Gentiles and making them one, not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit of God.
Responsorial Psalm 51:3-4, 12-15 ~ Lament of a Repentant
Sinner
The response is: "Create a clean heart in me, O God."
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in the
greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense. 4 Thoroughly wash me from my
guilt, and of my sin cleanse me.
Response:
12 A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast
spirit renew within me. 13 Cast me not out from your presence, and your Holy
Spirit take not from me.
Response:
14 Give me back the joy of your salvation and a willing
spirit sustain in me. 15 I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners
shall return to you.
Response:
This psalm, attributed to David, is the most famous of the seven Penitential Psalms (Ps 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 123). The psalmist expresses his heartfelt contrition for his sins and his deeply felt desire to reconcile himself with the Lord. He begins his prayer by acknowledging that he is a sinner and asking God to cleanse his sins that have damaged his relationship with his Lord (verses 3-4).
The focus of verses 12-13 is on God's grace. More than simply wiping the slate clean of his confessed transgressions, the psalmist desires an intimate relationship with God. He seeks a profound change of heart, similar to the relationship between God and His people described in Jeremiah 31:33-34 in the First Reading (written five centuries after David). He asks God to restore him with His Spirit, so he will have the joy of coming before God's Divine Presence in the Liturgy of Temple worship and to have a place in the future promise of salvation. Restoration to fellowship with God also gives him the authority he needs to teach other sinners about God's grace and mercy and to encourage them to repent and return to fellowship with the Lord God (verses 14-15).
The Second Reading Hebrews 5:7-9 ~
Jesus the Obedient Son
7 In the days when Christ was in the flesh, he offered
prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to
save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. 8 Son though he
was, he learned obedience from what he suffered; 9 and when he was made
perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.
Hebrews 5:7-9 contains a concise summary of Jesus's life on earth. St. Cyril of Alexandria wrote that Jesus "offered his life as a model of saintly existence to be used by earthly beings; he took on the weaknesses of humanity, and what was his purpose in doing this? That we might truly believe that he became man, although he remained what he was, namely God" (Letter to Euopitus, Anathema, 10).
Jesus came in the flesh to redeem fallen humanity. Concerning Jesus's prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, St. Paul wrote: he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death. Paul continued in verse 7 by writing that the Father heard His prayer, and God's answer was "submit in obedience." The Son's response was "not my will Father but Yours" (Mt 26:42). Jesus was "heard" (verse 7) because He did not disobey. In His response, the Son was "made perfect" (verse 8). By His obedient response, in submission to the Father, Jesus, the new Adam, overcame the sin of the first Adam, whose disobedience brought sin and death into the world (1 Cor 15:45-49; CCC# 411; 504). Being "made perfect," Jesus Christ became the source of our salvation for all who obey Him (verse 8).
Jesus became "the source of our salvation" in His perfect obedience to the Father by submitting Himself to death on the Cross as the unblemished sacrifice for the sake of sinful humanity. Concerning this passage, St. Ephraim wrote, "He became the source of our eternal salvation by replacing Adam, who had been the source of our death through his disobedience. But as Adam's death did not reign in those who did not sin, so life reigns in those who do not need to be absolved. Even though he is a liberal giver of life, life is given to those who obey, not to those who fall away from him" (Ephraim, Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews).
It was not through this submission that Jesus "learned obedience" (verse 8), as though He didn't previously know about obedience, but rather that He "experienced" obedience. It is easy to be "obedient" to one's superior or parent when what is required is pleasant. However, it is something else entirely when obedience means submission to something that one does not want to experience. St. John Chrysostom advised the faithful: "If he, though the Son, gains obedience from his sufferings, how much more shall we? Do you see how many things Paul says about obedience in order to persuade them to obedience? [...] 'Though what he suffered,' he continually 'learned' to obey God, and he was 'made perfect' through sufferings. This, then, is perfection, and this means we must arrive at perfection. For not only was he himself saved; but also became an abundant supply of salvation to others" (The Epistle to the Hebrews, 8.3).
The Gospel of John 12:20-33 ~ Jesus Prophesies His Death
and Glorification in the Parable of The Seed that Dies
20 Some Greeks who had come to worship at the Passover
Feast 21 came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, "Sir,
we would like to see Jesus." 22 Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and
Philip went and told Jesus. 23 Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the
Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Amen, Amen, I say to you, unless a grain of
wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it
dies, it produces much fruit. 25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever
hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. 26 Whoever
serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The
Father will honor whoever serves me. 27 I am troubled now. Yet what should I
say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? But it was for this purpose that I came
to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven, "I
have glorified it and will glorify it again." 29 The crowd there heard it and
said it was thunder; but others said, "An angel has spoken to him." 30 Jesus
answered and said, "This voice did not come for my sake but for yours. 31 Now
is the time of judgment on this world; now the ruler of this world will be
driven out. 32 And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to
myself." 33 He said this indicating the kind of death he would die.
After His triumphal entry into Jerusalem on the 10th of Nisan, the day we celebrate as Palm Sunday and the day the sacrificial victims were chosen in the first Egyptian Passover (Ex 12:3-5), Jesus went to the Temple. He went there to cleanse the Temple again (the first cleansing was at the beginning of His ministry in Jn 2:13-22) in preparation for a new Liturgy of worship (Mt 21:12-17 and the next day in Mk 11:12-19). He returned every day that week to teach the people and challenge the chief priests, Pharisees, and Scribes. St. Luke wrote: He taught in the Temple every day. The chief priests and the scribes, in company with the leading citizens, tried to do away with him, but they could not find a way to carry this out because the whole people hung on his words (Lk 19:45-47).
Our Gospel Reading event occurred on Wednesday of His last teaching day in Jerusalem when some Greek-culture Gentiles requested "to see" Jesus, which probably meant they wanted a private audience. However, in John's symbolic and spiritual Gospel, "to see" may also mean "to believe" in Jesus. That these Gentiles came seeking the Messiah shows that Jesus's Gospel of salvation had spread beyond the Jews.
The Gentiles, who were probably praying in the Temple's Court of the Gentiles, approached the Apostle Philip (verse 21). Most scholars suggest that these Gentiles assumed that the Apostle with the Greek name could take their request to Jesus and act as their interpreter. Philip went to his hometown friend Andrew to assist him with their request. You may recall that Philip, Andrew, and Andrew's brother Simon-Peter all came from Bethsaida (Jn 1:44), a town in Northern Galilee with a large Greek culture population (see Mt 4:15, which quotes Is 9:1). Andrew's name is also Greek with no Hebrew or Aramaic equivalent.
These Greeks were probably "God-fearers" (see Acts 10:22), Gentiles who believed in Yahweh and tried to follow His Law but had not submitted to the rite of circumcision; therefore, they were not part of the covenant family. It is the only possible explanation when you consider Jesus's response. If these people had been Gentile converts to Judaism, they would not have been any different to Jesus than the other members of the covenant people, the ethnic Jews and Israelites, to whom Jesus was obliged to bring the message of salvation before any others. The Gentiles seeking Christ was a new event and signaled a definite turning point in His ministry.
27 "I am troubled now. Yet what shall I say? 'Father,
save me from this hour?' But it was for this purpose that I came to this
hour."
This event was so significant that it prompted Jesus to declare that His
"hour" has come! –the "hour" He first mentioned when His mother came to ask Him
to make more wine for the wedding at Cana when He told her: "My hour has not
yet come" (Jn 2:4b). References to the coming "hour" appear fourteen times
in John's Gospel and refer to the hour (time) of His Passion.
| Scripture references to the "hour" | Scripture passages in the Gospel of John referring to the "hour" |
| 1. 2:4 | Jesus to His mother: "My hour has not yet come." |
| 2. 4:21 | Jesus to the Samaritan woman: "Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem." |
| 3. 4:23 | Jesus to the Samaritan woman: "But the hour is coming, and is now here when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth..." |
| 4. 5:25 | Jesus to the Jewish crowd: "Amen, amen I say to you, the hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and all who hear it will live." |
| 5. 5:28 | Jesus to the Jewish crowd: "Do not be amazed at this, because the hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and will come out ..." |
| 6. 7:30 | So they tried to arrest him, but no one laid a hand upon him because his hour had not yet come. |
| 7. 8:20 | He spoke these words while teaching in the Treasury in the Temple area. But no one arrested him because his hour had not yet come. |
| 8. 12:23 | Jesus answered them: "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified." |
| 9 & 10. 12:27 | Jesus to His disciples: "I am troubled now. Yet what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour?' But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour." |
| 11. 13:1 | Before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come, to pass from this world to the Father. He loved his own in the world, and he loved them to the end. |
| 12. 16:25 |
Jesus to the disciples: "I have told you this in
figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak
to you in figures, but I will tell you clearly about the Father." |
| 13. 16:32 | Jesus at the Last Supper, linking His "hour" to the disciple's "hour": "Behold, the hour is coming and has arrived when each of you will be scattered to his own home and you will leave me alone." |
| 14. 17:1 | When Jesus had said this, he raised his eyes to heaven and said: "Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your Son so that Your Son may glorify you..." |
Some scholars see the reference to the "hour" in the Synoptic Gospels as referring to Jesus's glorification. To others, it is the "hour" that marks His public ministry's beginning and His manifestation as the Messiah. However, all scholars agree that in John's Gospel, the reference to Jesus's "hour" points to the event of Christ's Passion and death on the Cross. It is an "hour" that humanity will not determine but an "hour" that is entirely in God's control. That interpretation fits in the context of the passage John 12:27.
The arrival of the group of Gentiles is significant because, for the first time, people outside the Sinai Covenant have come in search of Jesus. Their action makes them the "first fruits" of the spread of the Gospel among Gentiles! In this verse, Jesus refers to His "hour" of glorification in terms of His death and Resurrection. At times, Jesus has used the same term to refer to the "hour of judgment" as in Matthew 13:32 and John 5:25. However, in this case (as in Mark 14:41 and the passages in John 2:4; 4:23; 7:30; 8:20; 12:27; 13:1; and 17:1), He spoke of the hour of humanity's redemption through His sacrificial death and glorious Resurrection. This request of the Gentiles has now set the "countdown" to His glorification in motion. His sacrificial death will secure eternal blessings not only for the Jews as God's covenant people but for all people who become partakers of God's grace in the gift of eternal life. See John 1:29; 4:42; and 1 John 2:2 = He is the sacrifice to expiate our sins, and not only ours, but also those of the whole world.
The Parable of the Seed that Dies: 24 Amen, Amen, I say to you, unless a
grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat;
but if it dies, it produces much fruit. 25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and
whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. 26
Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant
be. The Father will honor whoever serves me.
In answer to the Gentiles' request to speak to Him, Jesus told
a parable symbolizing His coming death and glorification. The seed in the
parable represents Jesus's Body, and He compares it to His Body in
speaking of His sacrifice being a condition of His glorification and death as
the means of gaining life. Just as a seed must be covered with earth before it
sprouts new life, so too must Jesus endure physical death to bring us new life
that lasts eternally.
St. Augustine addressed this apparent paradox between Christ's humiliation in death and His glorification in Resurrection. He wrote, "... it was appropriate that the loftiness of his glorification should be preceded by the lowliness of his passion" (The Gospel of John, 51.8). St. Paul expressed this same paradox when he wrote to the Christians at Philippi: Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name (Phil 2:7-9).
This same principle is true for those of us who follow Christ, as Jesus said in verses 25-26:
The principle in verse 25: Whoever serves me must follow me, held true for His disciples during the last week of His earthly life in 30 AD and for each of us who commit to "follow" Christ today. We must die to a life of self-centeredness and the temptations of this world. We must live for Christ to receive the fullness of life from God and to become channels of life in Christ to others. Through the Sacrament of Baptism, we die to sin and this world. After our spiritual rebirth in the water and the Spirit, we must go forward in our faith journey to take up our crosses daily and die to sin to live for Christ. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches:
St. Paul wrote of the necessity of dying to sin and living in Christ in 2 Corinthians 4:11-12 ~ Indeed while we are still alive, we are continually being handed over to death, for the sake of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus, too, may be visible in our mortal flesh .... We will also, like Jesus, face physical death at the end of our faith journeys but with the promise of "new life." St. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:35-38: Someone may ask: How are dead people raised and what sort of body do they have when they come? How foolish! What you sow must die before it is given new life; and what you sow is not the body that is to be, but only a bare grain, of wheat I dare say, or some other kind; it is God who gives it the sort of body that he has chosen for it, and for each kind of seed its own kind of body.
In Mark 8:34, Jesus made a similar statement, saying: "If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me." A living and dying reminder of faithfulness to this teaching is apparent in the life and death of St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, a disciple of St. John the Apostle, who died a martyr's death in 107/110 AD. In his last letters, written before his martyrdom, he expressed the willingness to hate his life in this world to live eternally with Christ. In his death, he gave us an example of how a faithful servant should follow Christ. He ended his last letter to the Church in Rome, remembering Jesus's parable of the seed that dies with the words "I am God's grain!" (St. Ignatius of Antioch, Romans 4:1).
27 I am troubled now. Yet what should I say? 'Father,
save me from this hour'? But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour.
28 Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven, "I have
glorified it and will glorify it again." 29 The crowd there heard it and said
it was thunder; but others said, "An angel has spoken to him." 30 Jesus
answered and said, "This voice did not come for my sake but for yours.
Jesus felt deep emotion at what awaited him, so He prayed to
the Father, seeking refuge, strength, and love. His very human feelings of
anxiety and fear were intensified at the Garden of Gethsemane (see Mt 26:39;
Mk 14:36 and Lk 22:42) and serve as a reminder to us that Jesus was both fully
human and divine. It is the same human anxiety and fear that the sinless and
immortal Adam must have felt when confronted by the Serpent/Satan (Gen 3:1-6;
Rev 12:9) at the time of our original parents' fall from grace. But in Jesus's
case, as the second Adam, He will triumph over death and Satan in His
willingness to die for the salvation of humanity, for as Jesus says in
John 12:27d: "But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour."
"Father, glorify your name!"
In ancient cultures, one's name signified the entire person.
In Jesus's earthly mission, He worked for the Father's glory. His sacrificial
death, now freely offered, is the fulfillment of that work because it shows the
Son's love for the Father as the Father will show His love for the Son. The
message for us in this passage concerning Jesus's desire to pray is, if Jesus,
in a moment of trial and sadness, turned to the Father, shouldn't we follow His
example when we are burdened with the struggles of life?
Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it and
will glorify it again."
In John 12:28b, God spoke from Heaven,
divinely and publicly sanctioning Jesus's coming death. The crowd heard thunder
just as the Israelites heard thunder when Yahweh spoke to them from Mt. Sinai
in Exodus 19:19, but others heard the divine voice. It is the third time God
the Father spoke from Heaven to the Son during His ministry, bearing witness to
His divinity:
31 Now is the time of judgment on this world; now the
ruler of this world will be driven out.
The Greek word for "judgment" is krisis, from which
we get our word "crisis." The "ruler of this world" who "will be driven out"
is Satan (2 Cor 4:4;
Eph 2:2; 6:12; Rev 12:9). Jesus will refer to Satan as the
"prince of this world" three times in the Gospel of John:
Jesus's sacrificial death broke Satan's dominion over humanity, which began with Adam's fall in Genesis 3:1-19. From the Cross, Jesus defeated Satan's hold over humanity and will destroy him when He returns in glory at His Second Advent (see Rev 20:10 and CCC# 550, 2853).
32 And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw
everyone to myself." 33 He said this indicating the kind of death he would die.
Jesus's statement in John 12:32-33 was an answer to the
request of the Gentiles in John 12:21 to "see" Jesus during His last day of
teaching before the Last Supper and His arrest. He responded to their request
by saying, "'And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw
everyone to myself.' He said this indicating the kind of death he would die."
Jesus referred to being "lifted up" on the Cross in His crucifixion and His
"lifting up" in His Resurrection and later to Heaven in His Ascension to take
His place as the true Davidic King. The Cross and the Resurrection/Ascension
are all aspects of the same mystery. When Christ ascended to the Father's right
hand in glory (Lk 22:69;
Acts 2:33, 34; 7:55-56;
Rom 8:34; Col 3:1;
Heb 1:3, 13; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2;
1 Pt 3:22), He would send God the Holy Spirit to call all
humanity to come in faith to Him, and His kingdom will spread across the face
of the earth. But Jesus may also be alluding to the prophecy of the 8th-century
prophet Isaiah in the fourth Servant Song found in Isaiah 52:13-53:12. The
fourth Servant Song is a prophetic vision of the suffering of the Messiah. St. John
will begin his summation of Jesus's ministry at the end of chapter 13 with a
quote from the Suffering Servant passages in Isaiah in 12:38.
The crucified Christ was raised on the Cross as a witness to the world, for both Jews and Gentiles, as Savior and Lord. Concerning Jesus's statement in verse 32, the Catechism teaches: "'And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.' The lifting up of Jesus on the Cross signifies and announces his lifting up by his Ascension into Heaven, and indeed begins it. Jesus Christ, the one priest of the New and eternal Covenant, 'entered, not into a sanctuary made by human hands... but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.' There, Christ permanently exercises his priesthood, for he 'always lives to make intercession' for 'those who draw near to God through him.' As 'high priest of the good things to come,' he is the center and the principal actor of the liturgy that honors the Father in heaven" (CCC# 662; quoting from Jn 12:32; Heb 9:24; 7:25; 9:11).
Catechism References (* indicates Scripture quoted or
paraphrased in the citation):
Jeremiah 31:31-34 (CCC 64, 715, 762, 1965);
31:33 (CCC 368, 580, 2713)
Hebrews 5:7-9 (CCC 609, 2606); 5:7-8 (CCC 612, 1009); 5:7 (CCC 2741); 5:8 (CCC 2825); 5:9 (CCC 617)
John 12:24 (CCC 2731); 12:27 (CCC 363, 607); 12:28 (CCC 434); 12:31 (CCC 550, 2853); 12:32 (CCC 542, 662, 786, 1428, 2795)
Christ's life is an offering to the Father (CCC 606*, 607*)
Christ's desire to give his life for our salvation (CCC 542*, 607*)
The Spirit glorifies the Son, and the Son glorifies the Father (CCC 690*, 729*)
Christ ascended in glory as our victory (CCC 662*, 2853*)
The history of the covenants (CCC 56*, 57*, 58*, 59*, 60*, 61-62, 63*, 64*, 220*, 715*, 762*, 1965*)
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