click here for teachings on the daily Gospel readings   

33^rd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (Cycle C)

Readings:
Malachi 3:19-20
Psalm 98:5-9
2 Thessalonians 3:7-12
Luke 21:5-19

Abbreviations: NJB (New Jerusalem Bible), IBHE (Interlinear Bible Hebrew-English), NABRE (New American Bible Revised St. Joseph Edition), 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, which is why we read and relive the events of salvation history contained 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).

The Theme of this Sunday's Readings: The Coming Day of the Lord, the Divine Judge
The imminent coming of the "Day of the Lord" is a concept repeated often in Sacred Scripture. The Bible describes the event as a day of darkness and fear for humanity. There have been a series of days of divine judgment in salvation history, including the Great Flood in Noah's time, the punishment of the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, God's ten plagues on Egypt, the judgment on the apostate, idol-worshipping people of Israel in 722 BC, and the same fate for the people of Judah in 587 BC. However, the final "Day of Yahweh" or "Day of the Lord" is predicted to come at the end of the Age of Humanity. In the First Reading, God's messenger, the prophet Malachi, proclaimed a Day of Yahweh's judgment. The prophet wrote that it would be a day of wrath and destruction for the wicked but a day heralding justice and salvation for the righteous.

In the Responsorial Psalm, the psalmist begins with an invitation to sing to the Lord God, celebrating all the great things He has done for His people. Then, he calls on all the earth to join in the song of praise: the sea, the rivers, the mountains, and all who inhabit the world to participate in the acclamation of praise to God, who will one day usher in an age of truth and justice. Jesus Christ renews the promise of a time of truth and justice in His Second Advent when He will return to create a new Heaven and earth.

In the New Testament, the "Day of the Lord" is connected to Jesus Christ's Second Advent, when He will return to judge the living and the dead. St. Paul wrote about this glorious event in the Second Reading. The Christian community at Thessalonica had the impression that the return of Jesus to judge the world was imminent. However, St. Paul wrote to warn them that since no one knows when Christ is returning, we must carry on with our ordinary lives and follow the example Paul and others on his missionary team set while they were with them. The community's confusion at Thessalonica concerning the Second Advent reminds us of the tension between knowing something will happen and waiting for the event. We know that Christ will return, but we don't know when (Mt 24:36-42); therefore, we must remain vigilant. Like the ten virgins in Jesus's parable (Mt 25:1-13), we do not want to be like the five virgins who were unprepared and missed the bridegroom's arrival. We want to remain in readiness for His return like the other five virgins in the parable, ready to present a purified soul in a state of grace for the coming of the divine Bridegroom, Jesus Christ.

In the Gospel Reading, Jesus preached about Yahweh's "Day of Judgment" that He predicted would fall upon His generation and the city of Jerusalem. The Gospel of Matthew records that Jesus warned the Jewish crowds of that coming day of war and destruction during His last week in Jerusalem when He said, "Amen, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation" (Mt 23:36). The judgment on Jesus's generation for their rejection of the Son of God and His Gospel of salvation was fulfilled historically forty years after His Resurrection, in the summer of AD 70, when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple and sent thousands of Jews into exile across the Roman world. That event should remind us to be vigilant in our faith despite the unsettling and fearful times that continually unfold in human history. We must remain faithful to the teachings of our Savior and His Church and ready for the promised return of Jesus Christ at the end of the age when He comes in glory to judge the living and the dead (Apostles' Creed) and usher in a final, eternal era of peace and justice.

As we approach the Advent Season in the liturgical calendar, our readings will frequently turn toward the promised appointment with the Risen Christ's return as the Divine Judge. These readings will remind us to examine the condition of our souls. We need to be alert to temptations to sin because no one knows the day when the Lord will return to usher in the Last Judgment and separate the righteous from the wicked as He described in Matthew 25:31-46 (also see Rev 20:11-15).

The First Reading Malachi 3:19-20a ~ The Day of the LORD
19 Lo, the day is coming, blazing like an oven, when all the proud and all evildoers will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire, leaving them neither root nor branch, says the LORD of hosts. 20a But for you who hear my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays.

Malachi was one of several old covenant prophets, including the prophets Daniel, Joel, and St. John the Baptist, who warned the covenant people about the coming judgment on the "Day of the Lord"/ "Day of Yahweh" (Dan 7:10; Joel 3-4; Mt 3:7-12). The Book of the Prophet Malachi is the last of the books of the prophets in the Old Testament canon. He wrote his prophecy in c. 455 BC, shortly before Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem after the Jews returned from the Babylonian exile. The prophet took the name "Malachi," which in Hebrew means "my messenger." However, he kept his identity a secret, probably because of his sharp reproaches against the religious and civil authorities.   

God had graciously forgiven the people of Judah their sins and moved the heart of Persian King Cyrus to allow them to return to their homeland. However, the chosen people soon forgot their gratitude for God's mercy. The priests dishonored God by offering blemished sacrifices, and the civil rulers did not administer justice (Mal 1:6-2:17). Therefore, God's messenger called a covenant lawsuit upon the people in proclaiming a day of judgment in fire for the wicked but "the sun of justice" and healing for the righteous.

"Sun of justice" or "Sun of righteousness" is a title applied by Christians to Jesus in His Second Advent and a concept expressed in the New Testament canticle of Zechariah's Benedictus):  because the tender mercy of our God by which the daybreak from on high will visit us to shine on those who sit in darkness and death's shadow, to guide our feet into the path of peace (Lk 1:78-80).  Early Christian scholar Origen of Alexandria wrote: "The Lord came in the evening to a world in decline, when the course of life was almost run; but when the Sun of justice came, he gave new life and began a new day for those who believed in him" (Homiliae in Exodum, 7, 8).

Following the path of the Old Testament prophets and in His role as God's supreme prophet, Jesus spoke of the Judgment Day of the Lord, when God would reveal all secrets, including our proper attitude towards Him, our neighbor, and the poor (i.e., Mt 12:38-40; 25:31-46; Lk 12:1-3; Jn 3:20-21). Jesus described the Last Judgment in a discourse on His last teaching day in Jerusalem before His arrest (Mt 25:31-46). He warned that, as the "just Judge," He will pronounce His judgment to us, saying: "Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me" (Mt 25:40).

Responsorial Psalm 98:5-9 ~ The LORD comes to rule the earth with justice.
The response is: "The Lord comes to rule the earth with justice."

5 Sing praise to the LORD with the harp, with the harp and melodious song. 6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn, sing joyfully before the King, the LORD.
Response:
7 Let the sea and what fills it resound, the world and those who dwell in it; 8 let the rivers clap their hands, the mountains shout with them for joy.
Response:
9 Before the LORD, for he comes, for he comes to rule the earth; he will rule the world with justice and the peoples with equity.
Response:

The psalm begins with an invitation to sing to the Lord God in celebration of all the great things He has done for His people (verses 1-6). Then in verses 7-8, the psalmist calls on all the earth to join in the song of praise. He invites the sea, the rivers, the mountains, and all who inhabit the world to participate in the acclamation of praise to God, who is coming to rule and judge the earth with fairness.

The Virgin Mary will sing in her Magnificat that the Lord God will reveal His justice to all nations (Lk 1:46-55). He will reveal His justice through His Son, Jesus the Davidic Redeemer Messiah. The Church repeats this psalm in the liturgy of the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary.

The Second Reading 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12 ~ Models for Imitation
7 You know how one must imitate us. For we did not act in a disorderly way among you, 8 nor did we eat food received free from anyone. On the contrary, in toil and drudgery, night and day we worked, so as not to burden any of you. 9 Not that we do not have the right.  Rather, we wanted to present ourselves as a model for you, so that you might imitate us. 10 In fact, when we were with you, we instructed you that if anyone was unwilling to work, neither should that one eat. 11 We hear that some are conducting themselves among you in a disorderly way, by not keeping busy but minding the business of others. 12 Such people we instruct and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to work quietly and to eat their own food.

St. Paul and his missionary team founded the Christian community at Thessalonica in Macedonia (northern Greece) in about AD 51/52 (Acts 17:1-9). In the meantime, other Christian teachers visited the community and taught them that the Second Advent of Jesus to judge the world was imminent. The people had the impression that they must expect Christ's return any day. As a result, some in the community stopped working and attending to daily needs. Yet, they took advantage of other members by asking for food and causing trouble. In his letter, St. Paul was not correcting the teaching concerning Christ's return in glory. He told the community that since we do not know when Christ is coming, we must carry on with our ordinary lives, following the example Paul and others on his missionary team set for them while they were with them. They worked for their food and did not take advantage of the member of the church. Paul told them there was a simple rule they should follow to avoid such abuses: if someone does not work, that person does not eat!

The community at Thessalonica reminds us of the tension between knowing something will happen and waiting for the event. We know that Christ will return, but we don't know when (Mt 24:36-42); therefore, we must remain in a state of readiness. The necessity for vigilance in waiting for Jesus's return recalls His Parable of the Ten Virgins (Mt 25:1-13). We do not want to be like the five virgins who were unprepared and missed the bridegroom's arrival. We want to be like the other five and ready to present a purified soul in a state of grace for the coming of our divine Bridegroom, Jesus Christ.

The Gospel of Luke 21:5-19 ~ The Warning Signs for the Judgment of Jerusalem
5 While some people were speaking about how the Temple was adorned with costly stones and votive offerings, he said, 6 "All that you see here—the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down." 7 Then they asked him, "Teacher, when will this happen?  And what sign will there be when all these things are about to happen?" 8 He answered, "See that you not be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying, 'I am he,' and 'The time has come.' Do not follow them! 9 When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for such things must happen first, but it will not immediately be the end." 10 Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11 There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place; and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky. 12 "Before all this happens, however, they will seize and persecute you, they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors because of my name. 13 It will lead to your giving testimony. 14 Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand, 15 for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute. 16 You will even be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and they will put some of you to death. 17 You will be hated by all because of my name, 18 but not a hair on your head will be destroyed. 19 By your perseverance, you will secure your lives."

During Jesus's last week in Jerusalem, He gave a discourse on the future destruction of the holy city and its Temple in Luke 21:5-36 (also see Matthew 24 and Mark 13). That this discourse concerns the historical destruction of Jerusalem and not His Second Advent is made clear by Jesus's statement in Luke 21:32: "Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place." Earlier, Jesus gave an eschatological (end times) discourse prophesying His Second Advent in Luke 17:22-37.

He said, 6 "All that you see here, the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down."
The primary literary source for the historical event of the destruction of Jerusalem is the Jewish priest/historian Flavius Josephus, an eyewitness to the siege and capture of Jerusalem by the Roman legions in AD 70. Josephus wrote that the Jerusalem Temple was one of the most beautiful buildings in antiquity, recording that whatever was not overlaid with gold was purest white (The Jewish Wars, 5.5.6).

In our Gospel reading, Jesus is pronouncing judgment on the Jews who reject their Messiah. His discourse on the destruction of Jerusalem began in Matthew 23:34-39. In that discourse, He said that Jerusalem was guilty of murdering God's prophets. All the abuses against God's agents throughout salvation history would fall upon His generation: "In truth [amen] I tell you, it will all recoil on this generation" (Mt 23:36). Jerusalem had not only killed the prophets, but she offered sacrifices for the Roman Emperor and the Roman people twice daily in the sacred "House" of Yahweh, the Jerusalem Temple (Josephus: The Jewish Wars, 2.10.4; Against Apion, 2.5), and Jerusalem had rejected the Messiah who offered her mercy, redemption, and the invitation to sin no more (Lk 19:44).

God gave the Jewish people who resisted the Gospel of the Messiah 40 years to come to the New Covenant as a new generation in Christ, just as He gave the children of Israel's Exodus generation 40 years in the wilderness to embrace the Sinai Covenant fully. But judgment finally came in AD 70 when the Roman army destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple by fire. After the fire had subsided, the Roman soldiers poured water on the hot building blocks to extract the gold that had melted into the cracks of the rocks from the gold ornamentation that decorated the Temple walls and the golden fence that topped the Sanctuary. The rocks broke apart, and, as Jesus prophesied, "not one stone was left upon another." The Jerusalem Temple was never rebuilt; it was the house Jesus spoke of when He said: "Look! Your house will be deserted" (Mt 23:38).

8 He answered, "See that you not be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying, 'I am he,' and 'The time has come.'  Do not follow them!
Jesus gave a similar warning about false prophets claiming to be the Messiah in His eschatological discourse in Luke 17:23. In his description of the Jewish revolt against Rome and the destruction of Jerusalem, Josephus reported the appearance of many false prophets claiming to be the Messiah. These false prophets led the people astray (The Jewish Wars, 6.5.2 [285-87; 300-309]).

9 When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for such things must happen first, but it will not immediately be the end." 10 Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11 There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place; and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky."
Wars are constantly occurring somewhere in the world. But in the late 50s and into the 60s AD, the Roman Empire, led by an evil and ineffective Emperor Nero, faced several insurrections in the provinces, beginning with Queen Boudicca's revolt in Brittan in c. AD 60/61. Encouraged by these events challenging the power of Rome, the Jews started a rebellion against Rome by massacring the Roman garrison in Caesarea in AD 66.

As for the natural disasters and signs in the sky in verse 11, there was a worldwide famine predicted by Agabus in Acts 11:28, which occurred from AD 44 to 48 during the reign of the Roman Emperor Claudius. Extra-biblical sources attested to this historical event (i.e., Tacitus, Annals, 12:43). There were also several significant earthquakes in the Italian Peninsula and the Middle East, and Halle's comet may have been a sighted. Josephus recorded strange celestial sightings before the Roman siege of Jerusalem, including a star resembling a sword that stood over the city and a comet that continued a whole year (The Jewish Wars, 6.5.3 [288-300]).

In Luke 21:12-19, Jesus speaks of the coming persecution. Between Jesus's Ascension in the late spring of AD 30 and the Jewish Revolt that began in AD 66 and reached its climax in the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, the people of Judah and Jerusalem experienced all the persecutions Jesus prophesied. For example, St. Peter and John were arrested, imprisoned, and tried by the Sanhedrin. St. Stephen, St. James Zebedee, and St. James, Bishop of Jerusalem, were martyred, and St. Paul and other disciples were beaten and imprisoned. St. Paul was arrested by the Romans, imprisoned, and spoke the Gospel before two Roman governors (Felix and Festus), a Jewish King (Herod Antipas II), and two Jewish princesses (Drusilla and Bernice) before being taken as a prisoner to Rome. All spoke eloquently before their enemies. Everything the early Christians suffered was recorded in Acts of Apostles and prophesied by Jesus in Luke 21:12 (see examples in Acts 3:11-22; 5:19; 6:8-15; 7:58-60; 8:3; 9:2; 12:1-5; 16:23; 18:12-17; 21:30-33; 22:30; 23:12, 24, 26, 31-35; 24:10-27; 25:1-26:32; 27:1; 28:17-19, 30-31). For the persecution of Christians "because of my name" (Lk 21:12), see the fulfillment in Acts 4:7, 10, 7-18; 5:28, 40; "lead to your giving testimony" (Lk 21:13) is fulfilled in Acts 3:15; 4:33; 5:32; 20:26; 26:22.

17 "You will be hated by all because of my name, 18 but not a hair on your head will be destroyed. 19 By your perseverance, you will secure your lives."
It is unclear if this prophecy was fulfilled figuratively in that their eternal lives were not endangered or if the prophecy was fulfilled for the Christians of Judea literally and figuratively. Jewish persecution of Christians began immediately after Jesus's Ascension, but Roman persecution didn't start until AD 64. Before Emperor Nero's organized persecution of Christians, the Romans had been reasonably ambivalent to Christians. St. Paul was even saved several times from Jewish crowds by the Romans (i.e., Acts 18:12-15; 21:30-36). In his 4^th century Church History, Bishop Eusebius recorded that the Christians recognized the signs Jesus gave them.  Warned by a revelation, the faithful left Jerusalem just before the Jewish Revolt and traveled across the Jordan River into Perea, saving all the members of the Christian faith community (Church History, III.5.3). Indeed, there are no records of Christians perishing during Rome's suppression of the revolt.

History fulfilled all of Jesus's prophecies in this passage. Are you prepared to experience what the early Church endured and what Christians facing persecution through the centuries have suffered for their faith in Christ Jesus? A tenth of those victims of Nazi persecution who died in the consecration camp at Auschwitz in Poland during World War II were Catholic priests and nuns. Would you have had the conviction of faith to give up your life for another person like Fr. Maximilian Kolbe, knowing that another life was waiting for you with Christ in eternity?

Catechism References (* indicates Scripture is quoted or paraphrased in the citation):
Malachi 3:19-20 (CCC 678*)

2 Thessalonians 3:7-12 (CCC 2427, 2830*)

Luke 21:12 (CCC 675*)

Perseverance in faith; faith as the beginning of eternal life (CCC 162*, 163*, 164*, 165*)

The final trial of the Church (CCC 675*, 676, 677*)

Human labor as redemptive (CCC 307*, 531*, 2427*, 2428, 2429)

The last day (CCC 673*, 1001*, 2730*)

Michal Hunt, Copyright © 2013; revised 2022 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.