Other Sunday and Holy Day Readings
26th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (Cycle B)
Readings:
Numbers 11:25-29
Psalm 19:8, 10, 12-14
James 5:1-6
Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48
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 words 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 Church's Universal 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: The Generosity of God's Gifts
In the First Reading, God called seventy Israelite men
outside the camp to His Sanctuary. Then, He bestowed on them some of His divine
Spirit entrusted to Moses. Yahweh anointed them with His Spirit and elevated
them to "elders," making them leaders who would assist Moses in providing for
the needs of the covenant people. The Church sees Aaron's priesthood, the
service of the Levites, and the institution of the seventy elders as
prefiguring the ordained ministry of the New Covenant servants of God (CCC 1541).
When young Joshua complained that two men who remained within the camp were also
prophesying, Moses declared his desire "that the LORD might bestow his
spirit on them all!" This episode teaches us that God's gifts are not
limited to a select group chosen from the covenant community and introduces the
theme of the Gospel Reading.
The Responsorial Psalm reveals the psalmist's understanding of how unconfessed sins can damage one's loving relationship with God. He recognizes the necessity of sincere confession and humble repentance to restore fellowship with his Lord. He petitions God not to let sin rule over him, and he pleads with the Lord to reveal any sins he unknowingly or carelessly committed so he can repent and receive God's forgiveness. Under the laws of the Sinai Covenant, there was only forgiveness for unintentional sins through the blood sacrifice of certain unblemished animals (Num 15:22-31). With God's help and by offering the confession of his sins with a humble and contrite heart, the psalmist has confidence that he can be "blameless and innocent" of offenses against his Lord.
Under the old covenants, there was no means of forgiveness for intentional sins; therefore, the gates of Heaven remained closed to humanity from the time of Adam's fall from grace (CCC 536, 1026). With the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, the unblemished "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (Jn 1:29), God opened His mercy to humanity. He did this with a pure and holy sacrifice in the atoning death of God the Son, providing for the first time in salvation history the forgiveness of intentional sins.
In the Second Reading, St. James, Bishop of Jerusalem, warned the prosperous members of the Church's faith communities that their accumulated riches did not give them special privileges. James charged the wealthy with being boastful in declaring their self-sufficiency by storing material possessions and failing to do what they know is just concerning the poor. The real treasure that lasts uses God's blessing of material wealth to do works of mercy that count towards a heavenly reward.
In the Gospel Reading, St. John Zebedee, like Joshua in the First Reading, made the same mistake of presuming that God only inspires a select group with His divine Spirit and entrusts them to carry out His divine plans. The lesson is that God desires to bestow His blessings and the grace of His Spirit on all the people He calls to faith and service. Jesus tells us, "The Spirit blows where it wills" (Jn 3:8). God wills that His Spirit bless all His faithful people under Heaven (Acts 2:38-39) so they can serve as His ministers to humanity in need of material help and spiritual guidance as they share Jesus's Gospel of salvation.
Have some been critical and lacking in charity toward brothers and sisters in the faith community who are trying their best to serve God, like Joshua in the First Reading and John Zebedee in the Gospel Reading? Are some exhibiting jealousy or mixed motives in opposition to those who desire to serve God and His Church? Those who oppose someone's call to serve God and His Church are not seeking our Divine Father's will and are guilty of quenching the work of the Holy Spirit. Or does love of wealth and luxury or selfishness in donating time prevent some from being generous in assisting those in need? We must make the psalmist's prayer our own: "Lord, cleanse me from my unknown faults!"
The First Reading Numbers 11:25-29 ~ The Gift of God's
Spirit to the Elders
25 The LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to Moses.
Taking some of the spirit [ruah] that was on Moses, the LORD bestowed it on the
seventy elders; and as the spirit [ruah] came on them, they prophesied [but
only once]. 26 Now, two men, one named Eldad and the other Medad, were not in
the gathering but had been left in the camp. They too had been on the list, but
had not gone out to the tent; yet the spirit [ruah] came to rest on them also,
and they prophesied in the camp. 27 So, when a young man quickly told Moses, "Eldad
and Medad are prophesying in the camp," 28 Joshua son of Nun, who from his
youth had served as Moses' aide, said, "Moses, my lord, stop them!" 29 But
Moses answered him, "Are you jealous for my sake? Would that the LORD might
bestow his spirit [ruah] on them all!"
[...] = Hebrew translation IBHE, Vol. I, pages 379-80 and NJB translation.
Moses spoke to God about his responsibility to care for the people's material and spiritual well-being, serving as their covenant mediator and teacher of the Law (Num 11:11-15). In response to his complaint, Yahweh appointed seventy elders to aid Moses in teaching the people and assisting with their needs. These may be the same seventy men who attended the sacred meal sealing the covenant ratification ceremony in Exodus 24:1, 9-10.
Numbers 11:17-29 repeats the word ruah, meaning "wind," "breath," or "spirit," five times (17, 25, 26, 29, 31), referring to the charism of God's Holy Spirit. Five is the symbolic number signifying power and grace in Scripture (see the document "The Significance of Numbers in Scripture.").
When God put His Spirit upon the elders, they only uttered prophesy once, not in the sense of foretelling but speaking in enraptured enthusiasm (see 1 Sam 10:10ff; 19:20ff; Acts 2:6, 11, 17; 19:6; 1 Cor 12:1-14). The elders received an initial anointing of the Spirit of God and the gift of enraptured utterance to show the people they were divinely appointed. Two of the seventy elders, Eldad and Medad, did not join the others for unknown reasons. Perhaps they were ill or caring for a child or relative. Whatever the reason, God did not penalize them for their failure to attend the gathering and the divine anointing at the Sanctuary, and He blessed them with His spiritual anointing. Eldad and Medad also received the blessing of God's anointing and spoke enraptured utterances within the Israelite camp, which annoyed Joshua, the servant of Moses. When he complained and advised Moses to stop them, Moses replied: "Are you jealous for my sake? Would that the LORD might bestow his spirit on them all!" One must not criticize or be jealous of God generously bestowing His spiritual gifts.
Eldad and Medad not being part of the publically anointed ecclesial community of elders did not prevent God's Spirit from manifesting Himself upon them. God's Spirit is unlimited; therefore, His Spirit on Moses did not lessen when distributed to the seventy elders. St. Cyril of Jerusalem wrote that God distributes His gifts according to the capacity of the recipient, even to those outside the ecclesial assembly (St. Cyril, Catechetical Lecture 16.25). Thus, the Holy Spirit qualifies all men and women who receive the Sacrament of Baptism and strive to live righteous lives to serve the Church in many ministries as members of the priesthood of believers. Like Eldad and Medad, they teach "within the camp"/within the congregation as CCD teachers for children and Bible study leaders for adults, serving among the laity who are members of the "priesthood of believers" (CCC 1141, 1143, 1248, 1273, 1541, 1546-70).
The Church sees the priesthood of Aaron, the service of the Levites, and the institution of the seventy elders as prefiguring the ordained ministry of the New Covenant. At the same time, Eldad and Medad represent the priesthood of believers of the New Covenant people who also serve. God fulfilled Moses's desire "that the LORD might bestow his spirit on them all!" On Pentecost Sunday in AD 30, the Holy Spirit filled and indwelled the New Covenant community, praying in the Upper Room in Jerusalem. He gave them the gift of the Holy Spirit to fulfill their mission to carry the Gospel of salvation to the ends of the earth (Mt 28:19-20; Mk 16:15-16; Lk 24:47). The indwelling of God's Spirit to the community of believers came fifty days after Jesus' Resurrection and ten days after His Ascension (as the ancients counted without the concept of a zero place value) in the birth of the New Covenant Church. It is a spiritual gift each newly reborn Christian receives in the Sacrament of Baptism and is a divine gift only bestowed once (CCC 691, 1272).
Responsorial Psalm 19:8, 10, 12-14
The response is: "The precepts of the Lord give joy
to the heart."
8 The law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul;
the decree of the LORD is trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple.
Response:
10 The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever; the
ordinances of the LORD are true, all of them just.
Response:
12 Though your servant is careful of them, very diligent
in keeping them, 13 yet who can detect failings? Cleanse me from my unknown
faults!
Response:
14 From wanton sins especially, restrain your servant;
let it not rule over me. Then shall I be blameless and innocent of serious sin.
Response:
The superscription attributes this psalm to David, God's anointed King of Israel and the ancestor of Jesus of Nazareth (Mt 1:1; Lk 1:30-33). The psalmist demonstrates his understanding of how unconfessed sins damage one's loving relationship with God as he recognizes the necessity of sincere confession and humble repentance to restore fellowship with his Lord (also see Psalm 51).
The psalmist declares he trusts the Law of the Lord, which serves as a tutor and guide for living an upright life (verses 8 and 10). As the Lord's anointed servant, he says he is careful to avoid sin. He is committed to obedience to God's Law, but at the same time, he recognizes that human beings are fallible. Therefore, he pleads with the Lord to reveal any sins he has unknowingly or carelessly committed so he can confess and receive God's forgiveness (verses 12-13).
Under the Law of the Sinai Covenant, the blood ritual of animal sacrifice could only provide forgiveness for careless or unintentional sins (Num 15:22-29). There was no forgiveness for intentional sins for the community or the individual because no animal was holy enough to provide atonement for willful sins that rebel against God (Num 15:30-31). The psalmist is aware that sins in his life will keep him from being the faithful servant God wants, and he petitions the Lord not to let sin rule over him. With God's help and a humble and contrite heart, he can be "blameless and innocent" of serious moral offenses against his Lord (verse 14).
Since there was no means of forgiveness for intentional sins, the gates of Heaven remained closed to humanity from the time of Adam's fall from grace (CCC 536, 1026). Then, with the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, the "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (Jn 1:29), God opened His mercy to humanity. He did this with a pure and holy sacrifice in the atoning death of God the Son, providing for the first time in salvation history the forgiveness of intentional/mortal sins.
The Second Reading James 5:1-6 ~ A Warning for the Wealthy and Self-confided
1 Come now, you rich, weep and wail over your impending
miseries. 2 Your wealth has rotted away, your clothes have become moth-eaten, 3
your gold and silver have corroded, and that corrosion will be a testimony
against you; it will devour your flesh like a fire. You have stored up treasure
for the last days. 4 Behold, the wages you withheld from the workers who
harvested your fields are crying aloud, and the cries of the harvesters have reached
the ears of the Lord of Hosts. 5 You have lived on earth in luxury and
pleasure; you have fattened your hearts for the day of slaughter. 6 You have
condemned; you have murdered the righteous one; he offers you no resistance.
St. James was the first Christian Bishop of Jerusalem and a brother/relative of Jesus; the term "brother" referred to relations who were full brothers, half and stepbrothers, and cousins (Mt 13:55; Mk 6:3; Acts 1:14; 1 Cor 15:7; Gal 1:19; Jude 1). He opens this passage with a harsh rebuke for the wealthy. His rebuke recalls the warnings of the Old Testament prophets to the rich. For example, see the prophet Isaiah's condemnation of wealthy Israelites who are selfish and uncaring concerning the conditions of the poor within the covenant community in Isaiah 5:8-16. Compare the condemnation of St. James for the uncaring wealthy to Jesus's warning for the complacent rich in His Sermon on the Mount (Mt 6:19-21) and warning of divine judgment in His Sermon on the Plain (Lk 6:24-26). In Jesus's Sermon on the Mount, He said: "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal. But store up treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is there also will your heart be" (Mt 6:19-21). And in His Sermon on the Plain, Jesus addressed the wealthy, saying: "But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. But woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep. Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way (Lk 6:24-26).
St. James gives a dire warning to the rich, the proud, and the self-sufficient who give no thought to the hardships of others and the good they could do with their wealth. In 5:1, James used the same Greek word for "weep" as in James 4:9, Begin to lament, to mourn, to weep. However, in that passage, the weeping was a sign of repentance, while in this passage, the weeping is a sign of the fear the rich should feel when facing God's judgment.
James charges the wealthy with being boastful in declaring their self-sufficiency, suggesting their independence from God, and refusing to do what they know is right and just. He brings four charges against them in 5:2-3, 4a, 5, and 6:
We can reduce his four accusations against the uncaring wealthy to two charges: they lived a life of excessive luxury and oppressed the poor.
In the first charge in 5:3, St. James lashes out against the rich with a dire prediction: 3 your gold and silver have corroded, and that corrosion will be a testimony against you; it will devour your flesh like a fire. You have stored up treasure for the last days. James says in 5:3c that it is like a fire that they have stored up for the "final days." Like those James condemned, we also live in the Messianic Age of the New Covenant, the Final Age of humanity. In Hebrew, this age is called the acharit-hayamim, "the end of days" (see 2 Cor 6:2; Amos 2:6-7; 8:4-8; Mt 6:19; Acts 2:14-21).
St. Bede the Venerable wrote that the sin of the rich and proud is that they put their trust in themselves: "God punishes robbers, perjurers, gluttons and other sinners because they are in contempt of his commandments, but it is said that he resists the proud in a special way. This is because those who trust in their own strength, who neglect to submit themselves to God's power, who really think that they can almost save themselves and therefore have no time to seek help from above; these are all deserving of greater punishments. On the other hand, God gives grace to the humble because they recognize their need and ask him for help to overcome the plague of their sins, and for this reason, they deserve to be healed" (Concerning the Epistle of St. James).
Today, as in the days of St. James, the superior position of the rich assures them of their power and authority, and the perils are not apparent to them. However, on Judgment Day, they will stand before the throne of God when the Lord judges the success or failure of one's life, not by material possessions and wealth, but by the exercise of mercy, generosity, and love. On that Day of Judgment, works without merit will be burned up. God will purify those unproductive works in the flames of His fiery love, and only our good deeds will survive (1 Cor 3:12-15). Some will then pass through to the Beatific Presence of the Trinity in Heaven but with little to show for their lives on earth in the "silver and gold" of their righteous deeds. The text of 1 Corinthians 3:12-15 is one of those on which the Church formed the doctrine of Purgatory as a place of purification before entering into the Beatific Presence of God (see CCC# 1030-32). In Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 29:8(11)-13(16), the inspired writer advises that it is more profitable for the rich to aid the poor and disadvantaged because it is God who will reward their investment. The truth is that we cannot take our earthly wealth with us to the grave and beyond. At the hour of our divine judgment, only our good deeds and acts of mercy will survive the fire of judgment.
In verse 4, James levels his second charge against the selfish rich. Interestingly, James uses the ancient title for Yahweh, "the Lord of Hosts," "Yahweh Sabaoth" in the Hebrew texts. The title refers to Yahweh as the divine commander of the forces at His command throughout creation, including the heavenly armies of angels who serve Him. For the Jews of the Diaspora to whom James was writing, this ancient title would recall Yahweh's role as the Divine Commander and leader of the armies of Israel out of Egypt. It also recalls Yahweh's role in guiding Joshua, who served as the Israelite leader in the conquest of the Promised Land. The title also recalls Yahweh's protection of David in his battles against the forces of the Philistines (for example, see 1 Sam 4:4; Ps 24:10; 46:7; 89:7-8). In the New Testament, this unique term only occurs twice. St. James uses it in James 5:4 and St. Paul in Romans 9:29, where he compares the holy remnant of New Covenant Israel to those Yahweh Sabaoth (Lord of Hosts) preserved during Israel's conquests and exiles, quoting Isaiah 1:9 in Romans 9:29. There are 290 references to God as "Yahweh Sabaoth" or "God Sabaoth" or "Yahweh God Sabaoth" in the Catholic canon of the Bible.
In 5:4, James makes a connection to Leviticus chapter 19. According to the Law in Leviticus 19:13, a laborer in the fields must receive payment at sundown when the Jewish day ended and the next day began. Whether or not a laborer received his pay probably determined if he would eat that day. To withhold the laborer's wage meant he and his family would go hungry while the rich man filled his stomach. The Bible repeats the command to treat laborers fairly in Deuteronomy 24:14-15 and Malachi 3:5, where the Malachi text uses Yahweh's title "Sabaoth." St. James may have been alluding to the passage in Malachi: I am coming to put you on trial, and I shall be a ready witness against sorcerers, adulterers, perjurers, and against those who oppress the wage-earner, the widow and the orphan, and who rob the foreigner of his rights and do not respect me, says Yahweh Sabaoth (Mal 3:5, NJB, bold added for emphasis).
The cries of those who suffer because of the abuses or neglect of the rich reached the Lord of Hosts, Yahweh Sabaoth, just as innocent Abel's blood cried out to God from the ground in Genesis 4:10 and the cries of the enslaved Israelites in Egypt in Exodus 3:7. St. James is making the point to remind the Jewish-Christians of their history. If God did not ignore the cries of the suffering and abuse in the case of righteous Abel and the children of Israel suffering in Egypt, what makes them think God will ignore the cries of the oppressed now? James says, "If He came against their oppressors in the past with His divine judgment, will He not come against you now? See CCC# 1867; 2409 and 2434, which quotes James 5:4.
Those who God will come against are the ones to whom St. James makes his third accusation: You have lived on earth in luxury and pleasure; you have fattened your hearts for the day of slaughter (verse 5). His imagery of luxury and slaughter compares self-indulgence with destruction or judgment. Just as animals destined for slaughter are force-fed to prepare them, the rich prepare themselves in indulgent living for their "slaughter" on their day or time of Divine Judgment. James's accusation recalls Jesus's parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man (Lk 16:19-31). The fate of the selfish rich man, who ignored the plight of poor Lazarus, is to suffer for his sins while Lazarus receives his just reward.
St. James's 4th accusation is 6 You have condemned; you have murdered the righteous one; he offers you no resistance. In his commentary on the Letter of St. James, Father Hartin pointed out that the Greek verb katadikazein, "to condemn," "reflects the legal context of a court where a judgment of condemnation is meted out" (Sacra Pagina: James, page 230). You should ask yourself, who is the epitome of the righteous man unjustly condemned but offered no resistance? Every upright son or daughter of God who is faithful and obedient to the Law of God and has suffered for the sake of faith in Christ Jesus is numbered among the "righteous" (see 1 Jn 2:29). However, 1 John 2:1 identifies Jesus as the only truly "Righteous One." In Matthew's account of Jesus's trial, we learn that He offered no defense when unjustly condemned by the Jewish Sanhedrin (Mt 27:11-14) and later by the Roman governor, Pilate (as prophesied in Isaiah 53:7, and the Old Testament foreshadowing of Christ's Passion in Wisdom 2:12-20).
Like those Old Testament passages, St. James may be referring to the Passion of the Christ, who offered no resistance to his accusers and tormentors. Theophylact (c. AD 1050-1108) was the Byzantine Archbishop of Achrida, a titular see in Upper Albania, the famous metropolis and capital of the medieval kingdom of Bulgaria. In his Commentary on James 5:6, he wrote: "It cannot be denied that this verse refers to Christ, especially since James adds that there was no resistance. Nevertheless, it also includes others who suffered at the hands of the Jews, and he may even have been speaking prophetically about his own approaching death."
St. James the Just, Bishop of Jerusalem, like his kinsman Jesus, was also a righteous man murdered by wicked men to whom he offered no resistance. Thus, in this passage, St. James may not only be speaking of Jesus's Passion but is perhaps speaking prophetically of his martyrdom. In the 4th century AD, Bishop Eusebius recorded the circumstances surrounding the death of James from Church documents that contained eyewitness accounts of his martyrdom. The account records: "And when many were fully convinced and gloried in the testimony of James, and said, 'Hosanna to the Son of David,' these same Scribes and Pharisees said again to one another, 'We have done badly in supplying such testimony to Jesus. But let us go up and throw him (James) down, in order that they may be afraid to believe in him.' And they cried out saying, 'Oh! Oh! The just man is also in error.' And they fulfilled the Scripture written in Isaiah; 'Let us take away the just man because he is troublesome to us: therefore they shall eat the fruit of their doings.' So they went up and threw down the just man and said to each other, 'Let us stone James the Just.' And they began to stone him, for he was not killed by the fall; but he turned and knelt down, and said, 'I entreat thee, Lord God our Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do'" (Church History, Eusebius Book I, XXIII. 13-16).
The Gospel of Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48 ~ The
Freedom to Proclaiming Christ and Temptations to Sin
38 John said to him, "Teacher, we saw someone driving out
demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us."
39 Jesus replied, "Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty
deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. 40 For whoever is not
against us is for us. 41 Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because
you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward. 42
"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin [skandalizo =
stumble/offen], it would be better for him if a great [donkey] millstone were
put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. 43 If your hand causes you
to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with
two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire. ... 45 And if your
foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life
crippled than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna. ... 47 And if your eye
causes you to sin, pluck it out. Better for you to enter into the kingdom of
God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna, 48 where their
worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.
[...] = literal Greek IBGE, Vol. IV, page 124; ... = missing verses.
An unnamed man's success has sparked the jealousy of the Apostles, who were unsuccessful in casting a demon out of the boy earlier. Jesus's point in telling John and the others to let the man heal in His name is that the ministers of His Kingdom are not "exclusive" but "inclusive." There is no room for jealousy in the spiritual warfare necessary to advance the Kingdom of the Messiah.
This incident is reminiscent of Joshua's complaint to Moses in the First Reading. Joshua complained that two men in the camp who had not received Moses's special anointing were also filled with the Spirit of God and were prophesying in the Israelite camp (Num 11:24-29). Moses rebuked Joshua in the same way Jesus rebuked John.
Mark 9:42-43, 45, 47-48 ~ Temptations to Sin
42 "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe
in me to sin [skandalizo = stumble/offend], it would be better for him if a
great (donkey) millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the
sea. 43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to
enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the
unquenchable fire. ... 45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is
better for you to enter into life crippled than with two feet to be thrown into
Gehenna. ... 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. Better for you
to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown
into Gehenna, 48 where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.
[...] = literal Greek translation IBGE, Vol. IV, page 124.
Still holding the little child on His lap (see Mk 9:36), Jesus pronounces a divine judgment against anyone who seeks to lead "a child," someone who believes in Him, into sin. In this passage, the Greek verb skandalizo refers to what causes one to stumble into sin. This is a Greek term from which we get our words "scandalize" and "scandal." The image of the child on Jesus's lap changes to the "little ones who believe in me" in verse 42. Jesus is no longer talking about the child on His lap. Instead, He refers to the "children" of His Kingdom of the Church, those who believe in Him and accept Him as their Lord and Savior (see 1 Jn 3:1-2).
In 9:36-37, the Greek word paidion (a child under twelve) refers to an actual child. But then Jesus changes to a metaphor in verse 42 that functions as a synonym for the disciples, the "little ones" who believe in Him. The judgment Jesus pronounces against those who cause His believers to "stumble" into sin or lose their faith appears in all three Synoptic Gospels (also, see Mt 18:6 and Lk 17:2).
... it would be better for him if a great [donkey]
millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.
The Greek text reads, "a donkey millstone." It was the kind
of millstone that was so huge that it took a donkey to turn it. The judgment
imagery of a "donkey-millstone" thrown into the sea also appears in
Revelation 18:21-22. Such ultimate destruction is the judgment awaiting all unrepentant
sinners and enemies of God who add to human suffering or seek to destroy the
faith of the "children" of His Kingdom, even those ordained to service in His
Kingdom of the Church. Such a person immersed in sin and threatening the faith of
children of Christ's Kingdom will suffer the same fate as sin itself when God will
cast into the depths of the sea all our sins (Mic 7:19).
Several Scripture passages from the Old and New Testaments mention judgments by drowning the wicked or enemies of God (see Gen 6:5-7; 7:11-12, 17 and 22; Ex 14:26-28 and Neh 9:11; Mk 5:14; Rev 18:21):
"Babylon" became the symbolic code name for any city of great wickedness. In the Book of Revelation (Rev 14:8; 16:19; 17:5; 18:2, 10 and 21), "Babylon" refers to Jerusalem, the city that condemned Jesus to death and in which was found the blood of prophets and holy ones (Rev 18:24; also see what Jesus said about divine judgment on Jerusalem in Mt 23:31-39).
In verses 43-47, Jesus is not speaking literally; He uses hyperbole to make the point that one must do whatever it takes to avoid sin and eternal damnation. If someone brings scandal to Jesus's "children," the person or persons who are the agent/agents of the sin will not be able to avoid bearing responsibility for their actions. They may escape human/civil judgment, but they will not escape divine judgment!
In this passage, Jesus describes Gehenna as a place of "unquenchable fire" (for other references to Gehenna, see Mt 5:22, 29, 30, 10:28; 23:15 and 33). Jesus uses the word Gehenna as a metaphor for the place or state where the wicked are doomed to eternal fiery punishment, often referred to as "the Hell of the damned." See CCC 1033-36, 1861, and the study entitled: "The Eight Last Things," Lesson IV.
Jesus makes three profound statements about sin and its impact:
Jesus sums up His comments on sin by saying that it not only causes others to stumble into error and brings suffering to the world, but one must avoid sin at all costs because it can ultimately lead to eternal death in Gehenna, the "fiery pit" and "Hell of the damned" created for Satan and his demons.
48 where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.
This passage recalls Isaiah's image of divine judgment and
Hell's unbearable torment. He wrote, They shall go out and see the corpses
of men who rebelled against me; their worm shall not die, nor their fire be
extinguished, and they shall be abhorrent to all mankind (Is 66:24). The
imagery Isaiah uses describes God's enemies who are dead outside the walls of
the heavenly Jerusalem; just as in the past, corpses and filth lay in the
Valley of Gehenna outside the city of the earthly Jerusalem, where fires burned
continually.
Many people, even Christians, find the Hell of everlasting separation from God a difficult concept to grasp. However, the teachings of Scripture and the Church affirm the existence of Hell and its eternal dimension. The chief punishment of Hell is eternal separation from God, where the unrepentant person, lost in mortal sin, suffers the penalty of eternal fire. The Catholic Church teaches that God does not predestine anyone to Hell (CCC 1037), and the choice of eternal life or eternal damnation is the personal choice of every individual based on their choices in life (see Mt 25:31-46 and CCC 1033-36). The destiny God has planned for every human being is eternal life, and He is not willing that anyone should perish; the choice of our ultimate destiny is entirely our own (2 Pt 3:9; 1 Tim 2:3-4).
Catechism references for this lesson (* indicates
Scripture quoted or paraphrased in the citation):
Numbers 11:25-29 (CCC 1541*)
James 5:1-6 (CCC 2445); 5:4 (CCC 1867*, 2409*, 2434*)
Ecumenical dialogue (CCC 821, 1126, 1636)
The danger of immoderate riches (CCC 2445*, 2446, 2536*, 2544*, 2545, 2546*, 2547*)
Jealousy (CCC 1852*)
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