Other Sunday and Holy Day Readings
SOLEMNITY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, KING OF THE UNIVERSE (Cycle A)
Readings:
Ezekiel 34:11-12, 15-17
Psalm 23:1-3, 5-6
1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 28
Matthew 25:31-46
Abbreviations: NABRE (New American Bible Revised Edtion), NJB (New Jerusalem Bible), 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).
The two Testaments reveal God's divine plan for humanity. 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 the 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).
CCC 671: "Though already present in His Church, Christ's reign is nevertheless yet to be fulfilled with power and great glory by the King's return to earth. This reign is still under attack by the evil powers, even though they have been defeated definitively by Christ's Passover. Until everything is subject to him, 'until there be realized new heavens and a new earth in which justice dwells, the pilgrim Church, in her sacraments and institutions, which belong to the present age, carries the mark of this world which will pass, and she herself takes her place among the creatures which groan and travail yet and await the revelation of the sons of God. That is why Christians pray, above all in the Eucharist, to hasten Christ's return by saying to him: Marana tha! Our Lord, come!'"
The Theme of the Readings: Jesus Christ is Lord of Lords
and King of Kings
The Church celebrates the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus
Christ, King of the Universe, on the last Sunday before the beginning of the
liturgical season of Advent. In our readings, we end the Church's liturgical
year with a vision of the end of time with the Divine King's return as we
celebrate Jesus's universal kingship. As heirs of Christ the King, we are
anointed at our Baptism when we become members of a royal family in Christ's
Kingdom of the Church. We are a royal people and share in our King's crown. Most
earthly kings wear jewel-encrusted crowns and sit on golden thrones, but our
King wears a crown of thorns, and His throne is the wood of the Cross. He calls
us to share in His Kingdom of justice, self-sacrifice, peace, and freedom, and
we recognize our royal ruler in the faces of the impoverished, the hungry, and
the oppressed (Gospel Reading).
The First Reading, the Responsorial Psalm, and the Gospel Reading describe our Lord as a king over His people, using the imagery of a shepherd who cares for his flock. The last verse in the First Reading links us to the Gospel Reading that uses the imagery of the Divine Shepherd separating the sheep from the goats in judging between the righteous and the wicked.
In the Psalm Reading, we acknowledge the Lord as our Divine Shepherd. He lovingly provides for the sheep of His flock, His covenant people.
In the Second Reading, St. Paul teaches that Jesus's reign as king, inaugurated in His Resurrection, will last until His Second Advent, when He will return to collect His Bride, the Church, and sit as the Divine Judge over humanity. After the Last Judgment, He will take His Bride to Heaven for the Wedding Supper of the Lamb when He submits Himself and His Church to the Father.
In the Gospel Reading, Jesus identifies with the poor and the oppressed. He makes the Christian outpouring of active love toward those who suffer a condition for entering His eternal Kingdom. We cannot hope for an eternal reward without loving God, and that love is tied to love and concern for our brothers and sisters in the human family (CCC 2443). St. John wrote in 1 John 3:14-15, We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers. Whoever does not love remains in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him (see CCC 544, 1033).
The Gospel teaching describing the Last Judgment marks the end of the Liturgical year. Jesus's teaching on the Last Judgment should call us to an examination of conscience in recognition that we must keep our souls pure in preparation for this event that will come upon us without warning. We must remember that Christ's Second Advent does not mark the end but a new beginning for those who love Jesus and are obedient to His command to love God and show His love to our brothers and sisters in the human family.
The First Reading Ezekiel 34:11-12, 15-17 ~ The Divine Shepherd
of Israel
11 Thus says the Lord GOD: I myself will look after and
tend my sheep. 12 As a shepherd tends his flock when he finds himself among his
scattered sheep, so will I tend my sheep. I will rescue them from every place
where they were scattered when it was cloudy and dark. [...] 15 I myself will
pasture my sheep; I myself will give them rest, says the Lord GOD. 16 The lost
I will seek out, the strayed I will bring back, the injured I will bind up, the
sick I will heal, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy, shepherding them
rightly. 17 As for you, my sheep, says the Lord GOD, I will judge between one
sheep and another, between rams and goats.
Ezekiel's 6th century BC prophecy is a covenant lawsuit against the Sinai Covenant's failed leaders who did not rightly "shepherd" the flock of God's people. The symbolic imagery of a shepherd-king was typical in the ancient Near East, and the Bible used the same imagery (for example, see 2 Sam 5:1-2). Jeremiah used it for the kings of Israel to rebuke their failures (Jer 2:8; 10:21; 23:1-3) and to proclaim that God would give His people new shepherds who would lead His people ("pasture" them) with integrity (Jer 3:15; 23:4). God also promised through His prophets that from the ancestral line of the shepherd-king David, He would send a righteous "Branch," the Davidic Messiah, to "shepherd" His people (Is 11:6-9; Jer 23:5-6; Ezek 34:23-24). Ezekiel took up the same "shepherding" theme in our reading when God promised He would come to shepherd His people. Zechariah will resume the same prophecy in the late 6th century BC (Zec 11:4-17; 13:7), and God the Son will fulfill it in the 1st century AD.
After listing the failures of past "shepherds" of Israel in Ezekiel 34:1-10, Yahweh contrasted each abuse with His remedy (Ezek 34:11-16). God begins His response to the failed shepherds with His promise that "I Myself" will come to "look after and tend my sheep" (repeated four times in Ez 34:11, 15 twice, and 20). Yahweh fulfilled that prophecy in the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, son of David and Son of God. In Jesus, God Himself came to restore His people and to seek out those lost in the darkness of sin. Jesus announced to the people that He was the Davidic "Good Shepherd" who came according to prophecy (Mt 1:1; Lk 1:32-33; Jn 10:1-18). During the years of His ministry, Jesus cured the sick and healed the blind and the disabled. He tended to the brokenhearted, forgiving their sins and restoring the old Israel in preparation for His Kingdom of the universal Church of the new Israel. At the same time, he "came against" (Ezek 34:10) the elders, chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees for their abuses in seven curse judgments against the Old Covenant hierarchy (Mt 23:1-36). God promised to come to "shepherd them rightly" (Ezek 34:16) by judging their abuses.
17 As for you, my sheep, says the Lord GOD, I will judge
between one sheep and another, between rams and goats.
God would not only come physically to shepherd His people but
would also come as a Divine Judge. It was the common practice to keep goats and
sheep in the same flock. In bad weather, the shepherd had to separate them at
night and take the goats into a warmer enclosure since their coats were not
sufficiently heavy to keep them warm (Jeremias, Parables of Jesus, page
206). God "tends" all peoples together, but the time will come when He will
separate the "sheep from the goats by divine judgment." After Jesus condemned
the Old Covenant hierarchy in Matthew 24, He gave a discourse in Matthew 25 on
the Last Judgment (our Gospel Reading), using the same imagery of sheep and
goats. The "goats" are men and women who oppose God's will for their lives,
while the sheep respond to God by sharing His love with those in need. The
fulfillment of Ezekiel's prophecy will take place when Jesus returns as the
Divine Judge who separates the "sheep" of the faithful from the "goats" of the
wicked and sends "the goats" into eternal punishment and the sheep to eternal
life: And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to
eternal life (Mt 25:31-46).
Responsorial Psalm 23:1-3, 5-6 ~ The Good Shepherd
The response: "The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I
shall want."
1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. 2 In verdant
pastures, he gives me repose; beside restful [still] waters, he leads me; he
refreshes my soul.
Response:
3 He guides me in right paths for his name's sake.
5 You spread a table before me in the sight of my foes; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Response:
6 Only goodness and kindness follow me all the days of my
life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD for years to come.
Response:
The 23rd Psalm is probably the best-loved of the 150 psalms. The psalm is attributed to King David, the shepherd boy God anointed as the king of Israel and the ancestor of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus Christ (Mt 1:1-16, 19-20; Lk 1:30-33). It expresses a personal reflection of the relationship between the psalmist and the nearness of his God. Two metaphors frame the psalm reading: the Lord as the Divine Shepherd (verses 1-3) and the Lord as the Divine Host of the sacred meal (verses 5-6). In the secular literature of the ancient Near East, a shepherd's role was often a metaphor for a king who led his people the same way a shepherd led his flock. Sacred Scripture uses the same metaphor (2 Sam 5:2; Is 44:28; etc.) to express the role of God the Divine King, the shepherd/protector and judge of His covenant people (Ps 28:9; Ps 96:9-10; Is 40:11; Ezek 34:11-16; Mal 1:14; etc.).
Describing the aspects of shepherding, perhaps from David's perspective as a shepherd in his youth, the inspired writer provides a picture of his relationship with God as he seeks to live in holiness (verses 2-3). The psalmist writes that he and the covenant people, who are members of God's spiritual flock, are under the Divine Shepherd's constant guidance as He leads them with tenderness and compassion. The Divine Shepherd considers the fears and weaknesses of His people, leading them not by the fearful raging rivers but by the quiet waters (sheep fear drowning and will only drink from still waters).
God's tender care gives the psalmist confidence that with God's shepherding, he will reach the green pastures of God's heavenly kingdom (1 Pt 5:4; Rev 7:17). Even amid trials and sufferings, the psalmist feels a sense of security as he trusts in God to guide and protect him. Despite his enemies, he knows that God, the Divine Host, has prepared a table for him when the time comes for him to enter into God's eternal rest. God anoints him with His spirit to keep him on the path of holiness and provides His cup of salvation. The psalmist is overwhelmed by the abundance of God's mercy and covenant love.
For Christians, this psalm takes on its full meaning in Jesus's statement, "I am the Good Shepherd" (Jn 10:11, 14; Heb 13:20) and in the sacred meal of the Eucharist. Jesus fulfilled the host metaphor of this psalm at the table of the Last Supper. As the host, Jesus invited His disciples to the sacred feast of Unleavened Bread and offered them His Body and the cup of salvation of His precious Blood for the first time (Mt 26:26-28; Mk 14:22-24; Lk 22:19-20). As the Good Shepherd and Divine Host, Jesus continues to offer His faithful the sacred "thanksgiving" meal of the Eucharist on the altar table at every celebration of the Mass. It is a banquet that looks back to the Last Supper and forward to the heavenly banquet in God's eternal kingdom when the righteous enter God's eternal rest (Rev 19:5-9). One day, we hope to share in the Banquet of the Just and the Wedding Supper of the Lamb and His Bride in the company of all the angels and saints, including the faithful David, in the Kingdom of Heaven.
The Second Reading 1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 28
20 Christ has been raised from the dead, the Firstfruits
of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through man, the
resurrection of the dead came also through man. 22 For just as in Adam all die,
so too in Christ shall all be brought to life, 23 but each one in proper order:
Christ the Firstfruits; then, at his coming, those who belong to Christ; 24 then
comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to his God and Father, when he
has destroyed every sovereignty and every authority and power. 25 For he must
reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be
destroyed is death. [...] 28 When everything is subjected to him, then the Son
himself will also be subjected to the one who subjected everything to him, so
that God may be all in all.
St. Paul wrote to the Christians at Corinth about the end of the age when Christ returns as the glorious Davidic King promised by the prophets (Jer 23:5-6; 33:14-17; Ezek 34:23-24), having overcome sin and all elements of its power over the world. He wrote that just as death came into the world through the sin of the man, Adam, the promise of victory over death has come through the resurrection of Jesus and His victory over sin and death. Christ is the first to be resurrected in body and spirit to new life, and those who belong to Him will also rise to a new life in both body and spirit at His Second Advent to join Him in eternity (1 Thes 4:14-18).
Although St. Paul only referred to the resurrection of the just (verse 23), he spoke elsewhere of all humanity's resurrection, both the righteous and the sinner (1 Cor 15:51-53; 1 Thes 4:13-17; etc.). Mary's bodily assumption into Heaven prefigures the resurrection of the just, and we, who have died to sin with Christ in the Sacrament of Christian Baptism, will also be resurrected to reign with Him. However, the Virgin Mary is the one who has a special place among the redeemed because she is the mother of the Redeemer and the first Christian. She is also the Gebirah, the Queen Mother of the Davidic King of the new and eternal Covenant.
25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies
under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death, for "he subjected
everything under his feet."
In verses 25-26, Paul referred to the destruction of death.
This event will take place at the Final Judgment. St. John witnessed a vision
of this future event in the Book of Revelation: I saw the dead, the great
and the lowly, standing before the throne, and scrolls were opened. Then
another scroll was opened, the Book of Life. The dead were judged according to
their deeds, by what was written in the scrolls. The sea gave up its dead; then
Death and Hades gave up their dead. All the dead were judged according to their
deeds. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the pool of fire. This pool of
fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the Book
of Life was thrown into the pool of fire (Rev 20:12-15).
Hades is not the hell of the damned but instead the abode of the dead, Sheol in Hebrew, Hades in Greek (see CCC 633-34). Notice in the quote from Revelation 20:12-15 that it is a state that continues to function until the end of time. Under the old covenants, before the birth of Christ, neither blessings nor punishments were eternal. At that time, all the dead, the righteous, and the wicked went to Sheol/Hades. It was a state where the righteous waited for the coming of the Messiah, and the wicked suffered in punishment for their sins. See Jesus's description of Sheol in its two parts in His Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man (Lk 16:19-31). After Jesus descended to Sheol from His grave and liberated the dead who accepted Him as their Savior (Apostles' Creed; 1 Pt 3:18-20; 4:6), blessings and judgments became eternal. Sheol/Hades then became a purification place for the saved who died with unconfessed venial sins or for confessed and forgiven mortal sins where further atonement was still necessary (1 Cor 3:13-15). We know this state for those destined for Heaven but still needing soul-cleansing by the Latin word for purification: Purgatory (CCC 1030-32). The "pool of fire" is not Sheol/Hades; it is the hell of the damned that Jesus called Gehenna (see CCC 1033-34).
28 When everything is subjected to him, then the Son himself
will also be subjected to the one who subjected everything to him, so that God
may be all in all.
In the present age, God acts toward the world through our
Redeemer, Jesus Christ. At the end of time, when Jesus returns, God's
relationship with the redeemed will be a direct one. In the meantime, Jesus's Kingdom
is in constant warfare with the forces of evil, and Christ must reign until God
"has put all his enemies under his feet." We are part of that warfare as
members of the Church militant as we continue Jesus's ministry on earth,
fighting evil, caring for the vulnerable, and sharing His Gospel message of
salvation.
The Gospel of Matthew 25:31-46 ~ Jesus's Teaching
on the Last Judgment
31 Jesus said to his disciples: "When the Son of Man comes
in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious
throne, 32 and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will
separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the
goats. 33 He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34 Then
the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my
Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35
For I was hungry, and you gave me food, I was thirsty, and you gave me drink, a
stranger, and you welcomed me, 36 naked, and you clothed me, ill, and you cared
for me, in prison, and you visited me.' 37 Then the righteous will answer him
and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give
you drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and
clothe you? 39 When did we see you ill or in prison and visit you?' 40 And the
king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one
of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.' 41 Then he will say to those
on his left, 'Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for
the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry, and you gave me no food, I was
thirsty, and you gave me no drink, 43 a stranger and you gave me no welcome,
naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for
me.' 44 Then they will answer and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty
or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison and not minister to your needs?' 45
He will answer them, 'Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these
least ones, you did not do for me.' 46 And these will go off to eternal punishment,
but the righteous to eternal life."
Jesus went to the Temple daily to teach the people during His last visit to Jerusalem in the spring of AD 30. Our Gospel reading is the conclusion of Jesus's teachings. He ended His public teaching ministry with a vision of the Final Judgment when the Son of Man judges all people of every nation on the earth. In verse 31, Jesus identified Himself as the "son of man" (one who looked like a man) that the prophet Daniel saw in a vision of the Divine Messiah. Daniel saw someone who looked like a human being but had authority from God to judge all humanity: As the visions of the night continued, I saw one like a son of man coming, on the clouds of Heaven. When he reached the Ancient One and was presented before him. He received dominion, glory, and kingship; nations and peoples of every language serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away; his kingship shall not be destroyed (Dan 7:13-14).
The Church teaches that there is an individual/particular judgment at the end of each person's life on earth (Heb 9:27; CCC 1021-22). However, at the end of time, Jesus promised His return in glory would signal the resurrection of the dead, followed by humanity's Final Judgment (CCC 1038, 1040). Jesus's return in glory is the event St. John described when he wrote: 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, those who have done good deeds to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked deeds to the resurrection of condemnation (Jn 5:28-29; see CCC 1038-41).
32 and all the nations will be assembled before him.
The words "all nations" suggest Jesus was referring to the Final
Judgment. After Jesus's return as the Divine King of all nations, the dead will
rise along with those still living to join Him in the clouds. This event will
usher in the Final Judgment and the end of time as we know it (see Rev 20:11-15).
32b And he will separate them one from another, as a
shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
This verse recalls Ezekiel 34:17 in the First Reading: As
for you, my sheep, says the Lord GOD, I will judge between one sheep and
another, between rams and goats. It was the practice in the ancient Near East
and today with peoples who are herders of animals to keep both the sheep and
goats in the same flock. In cold weather, the shepherd had to separate them at
night and take the goats into a warmer enclosure since the goat's coats were
not sufficiently heavy to keep them warm (Jeremias, Parables of Jesus, page
206). However, these sheep and goats from the same flock, meaning either the
same community of covenant believers or humanity in general, will be separated
into two groups by the Divine Shepherd, who will judge and separate the righteous
sheep from the wicked goats. In the Final Judgment, the people of all nations will
face a final reckoning, including the Christians of God's flock.
The declaration of Jesus's kingship began in Matthew's genealogy and the infancy narrative (Mt 1:1, 20; 2:2, 13-14). Matthew declared it again in the Passion narrative (Mt 27:11, 29, 37, 42). Some scholars interpret our passage to mean that there will be a separate judgment for believers and non-believers. Others suggest Jews and Gentiles will be judged separately. The second interpretation is not taught in the New Testament, nor is it a teaching of the Catholic Church. The New Covenant ends the Old Covenant, under which the Jews were promised future salvation through obedience to the Law (see Heb 10:8-10; CCC 614). Salvation is a gift from God alone through the sacrifice of the Redeemer-Messiah, Jesus Christ (CCC 169, 588, 600-02, 617, 620, 1811). The Old Covenant Law only offered a path to salvation under obedience to the Sinai Covenant's commands and prohibitions.
With the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple by the Romans in AD 70, obedience to the worship rituals under the Law of Moses and the Sinai Covenant was no longer possible. The Jerusalem Temple was the only place where the Old Covenant faithful could offer the blood of animal sacrifice in atonement for their sins and receive forgiveness (Lev chapters 4-5). From the time of the Temple's destruction, atonement for sins was only through the blood of Jesus, "the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world" (Jn 1:29; 1 Jn 4:10; 2 Cor 5:19; CCC 608, 620).
Jesus stated that the Last Judgment would consider one's works of righteousness for the sake of the Savior. In His judgment, Jesus listed six unfortunate conditions and six acts of compassion in response to those conditions:
He equated those acts of compassion for the unfortunate with acts of love extended to Himself and to the failure to act with compassion with withholding one's love from Him (verses 35-36 and 42-43). What is Jesus's message concerning humanity's relationship with Him? The answer appears in Jesus's definition of the two greatest commandments (Mt 22:34-40; Mk 12:28-34; Lk 10:25-28) and the Letter of St. James Chapter 2. If we truly love Jesus, we will express our love for Him by acts of mercy to those in need of love and by showing compassion to the human family. Our acts of mercy and compassion express a living and active faith.
The Church lists the acts of compassion described in verses 35-36 among "the works of mercy" (CCC 2447). The Church imitates Christ's love for the poor and oppressed as "part of her constant tradition" (CCC 2444). St. John Chrysostom reminded his congregation that all the material blessings we enjoy are from God, and we should not look upon them as ours alone: Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours, but theirs (Homilies in Lazaro 2.5).
As humanity's Divine Judge, Jesus will separate the "sheep from the goats." The sheep demonstrated their love for Christ by extending that love to those who suffer in the world. The goats are indifferent or refuse to acknowledge their duty towards those suffering. The sheep stand on the King's right (the place of honor), and He sends the goats to the left. The sheep inherit eternal life in the kingdom prepared for them from the world's foundation, but the goats are condemned to eternal punishment.
Jesus identified with the poor and the oppressed, and He made the Christian outpouring of active love toward those who suffer a condition for entering His eternal Kingdom. We cannot hope for an eternal reward without loving God, and the love of God is tied to love and concern for our brothers and sisters in the human family (CCC 2443). St. John wrote in 1 John 3:14-15, We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers. Whoever does not love remains in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him (see CCC 544, 1033).
The Gospel teaching describing the Final Judgment marks the end of the Liturgical year. This passage should call us to an examination of conscience in recognition that we must keep our souls pure in preparation for the event of Christ's Second Advent that will come upon us without warning. We must remember that Christ's return does not mark an end but a new beginning for those who love Jesus and are faithful to His commands.
Catechism References (* indicates Scripture quoted or
paraphrased in the citation):
Ezekiel 34:11-31 (CCC 754*)
1 Corinthians 15:20-22 (CCC 655); 15:20 (CCC 632, 991); 15:21-22 (CCC 411*); 15:24-28 (CCC 2855*); 15:24 (CCC 668*); 15:26 (CCC 1008*); 15:27-28 (CCC 668*), 15:28 (CCC 130, 294, 671, 674, 1050, 1060, 1130, 1326, 2550, 2804*)
Matthew 25:31-46 (CCC 544*, 1033*, 1373, 2447*, 2831*); 25:31-36 (CCC 2443*); 25:31 (CCC 331, 671*, 679*, 1038); 25:32 (CCC 1038); 25:36 (CCC 1503); 25:40 (CCC 678, 1397*, 1825*, 1932, 2449*); 25:41 (CCC 1034); 25:45 (CCC 598*, 1825*, 2463); 25:46 (CCC 1038)
Christ is the origin and goal of history:
Christ as Lord and King (CCC 440*, 446*, 447*, 448*, 449*, 450*, 451*, 668*, 669*, 670*, 671*, 672*, 783, 786*, 908*, 2105, 2628*)
Christ as Judge (CCC 678*, 679*, 1001*, 1038*, 1039*, 1040*, 1041*)
"They Kingdom Come" (CCC 2816, 2817*, 2818*, 2819*, 2820, 2821*)
Michal E Hunt, Copyright © 2014; revised 2020; revised 2023 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.