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November 16, 2019
The Arch of Titus was erected as a trophy of the Jewish War by the Emperor Titus who had lead the Romans in battle. Roman Triumphal arch panel copy from Beth Hatefutsoth, showing spoils of Jerusalem temple. Note the Jewish Menorah and other Temple sacred items.Readings at Mass for the 33rd Sunday
Sunday next is the end of the liturgical year, the Feast of Christ the King. At this time, every year, we also turn to the end time. We live in the end times. The world is coming to an end and so are we. This last discourse of Jesus, spoken while standing on the Mount of Olives, surrounded by his disciples, and looking at the second Temple whose service to Israel was drawing to a close, He prophesied the Temple’s destruction. Jesus has just arrived in Jerusalem and his passion was just about to begin. These are all faithful Jews and their leader told them that, what you see, is all about to fall apart.
The Destruction of the Temple as a Sign
The meaning of the discourse, on its surface, is clear and meant to be taken literally. The Temple that was first begun after the people’s return from Babylon, the place where their parents and ancestors worshipped, would soon be destroyed. These were men from the countryside who held the Temple, ancient and magnificent, in profound regard. Jesus told them,
What is a sign? A sign is a warning of what is to come. Jesus identifies the signs of the times,“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." Lk. 21:5
And what sign will there be when all these things are about to happen?" 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! 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." Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place; and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky. "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.” Lk. 21:6-16
Jesus was crucified between 30-33 AD. Within 40 years, in 70 AD, The Temple was destroyed by future
emperors Titus and Vespasian and two Roman legions. That action was part of the Great War between the Jews and Rome, the Jewish War. To this day, the
Arch of Titus, (
see above) near the Coliseum, memorializes the Roman victory over the Jews. Of course, we have Jewish synagogues in Tucson, yet there are no more Roman Saturn or Mars worshippers. In short, be alert and don’t get sucked into illusions. God’s people are survivors!
What does the sign mean?
The Jews and the Church saw a deeper significance in the Jerusalem Temple. For the Christians, the destruction of the Temple was the sign that the end times had begun at Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. The Temple was not just another building. There are three aspects of the Temple that are deeply symbolic.- The Temple was the dwelling place of God. For the Catholic, the presence of God is manifested in the Eucharistic presence of Christ in the parish tabernacle. The Temple, for the Jew, replaced the Tabernacle that travelled with them during the Exodus. When Solomon built the first Temple, a tabernacle, in the 10th Century B.C., (1 Kings 8) the priests processed with the Ark of the Covenant that used to be stored in the desert Tabernacle during the Exodus. The shekinah, the holiness of God, descended on the Temple in a cloud, just as in Exodus.[i] Solomon said that God had made good his promise to David and he had succeeded to the throne of Israel. Solomon then blessed the priests and the people.[ii] Then the glory of the Lord filled the Temple.
“When the priests left the holy place, the cloud filled the house of the LORD , so that the priests could no longer minister because of the cloud, since the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD.” 1 Kings 8:10-11.
- The temple was the sole place of sacrifice for all of Israel. For the Catholic, the sacrifice of Christ is made present at mass. If you were an Israelite, you worshipped by offering sacrifice in the Temple. Dt. 12. The Torah made it clear that you did not make a sin offering in your living room, but at the Temple in Jerusalem. In the past as now, there were synagogues spread throughout the Jewish world, but only one place to offer sacrifice. For us, there are churches spread around the world, but the same sacrifice is offered everywhere participating in the sacrifice on Calvary.
- The temple was a microcosm of Heaven and Earth. In a Catholic Church we have the images of the saints and the life of Christ that remind us of cosmic realities. The Temple architecture also symbolized the Heavens and the Earth. Josephus[iii], a first century Jewish historian, wrote that the Temple and the priest’s vestments represented the planets, stars, sea, land and the realm of God.[iv] The Temple symbolized all of God’s Creation. Heaven itself torn open by the death of Christ symbolized by the splitting of the Temple veil removed the boundary between God and the human person. Mt. 27:51
We have this reading, not just because it was the last thing Jesus said in Luke before his Passion began, but because it reminds us of the Last Things. The Church is shifting our attention to the Four Last Things – death, judgment, heaven and hell. [v] Our newspapers are full of opinions about the decline of western culture, American culture and the devolution of the world into globalized violence and indifference. This all has a surprisingly biblical sound. For Christians, it is all about hope. God is doing something for us all. People of whatever religion and no religion at all have reason to hope that life ends in our union with the loving God who made us. Christianity, has always been and remains, a hopeful encounter with the truth for grown-ups.
The crowd reacts to the miracle of the sun at Fatima on October 13, 1917The traveling statue of Our Lady of Fatima will be in our parish chapel this Tuesday, from 7:30 am through noon. The apparition of our Lady is its own sign compelling a response. Make the time to visit and pray. Learn more here!
Traveling Statue of Our Lady of Fatima
[i] “Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter the tent of meeting, because the cloud settled down upon it and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Whenever the cloud rose from the tabernacle, the Israelites would set out on their journey. But if the cloud did not lift, they would not go forward; only when it lifted did they go forward. The cloud of the LORD was over the tabernacle by day, and fire in the cloud at night, in the sight of the whole house of Israel in all the stages of their journey.” Ex. 40:34-38 Also think about the Transfiguration of the Lord, (Matthew 17:1–8, Mark 9:2–8, Luke 9:28–36 and 2 Peter 1:16) where the cloud descended and the Ascension of the Lord, where likewise a cloud descended. (Acts 1:6-12)
[ii] The king turned and blessed the whole assembly of Israel, while the whole assembly of Israel stood. 15He said: “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who with his own mouth spoke a promise to David my father and by his hand fulfilled it, saying: 16 e Since the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city out of any tribe of Israel for the building of a house, that my name might be there; but I have chosen David to rule my people Israel. 17When David my father wished to build a house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel, 18the LORD said to him: In wishing to build a house for my name, you did well. 19But it is not you who will build the house, but your son, who comes from your loins; he shall build the house for my name. 20Now the LORD has fulfilled the word he spoke: I have succeeded David my father, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD has spoken, and I have built this house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. 21I have provided there a place for the ark in which is the covenant of the LORD that he made with our ancestors when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.” 1 Kings 8:14-21.
[iii] Josephus was a 1st Century Jewish general who participated in the Jewish War, was captured at Yodfat and then collaborated with the Romans. He is an important source for 1 st Century Jewish history.[iv] 7. “Now here one may wonder at the ill will which men bear to us, and which they profess to be on account of our despising that Deity which they pretend to honour. For if any one do but consider the fabrick of the tabernacle, and take a view of the garments of the High Priest, and of those vessels which we make use of in our sacred ministration, he will find that our Legislator was a divine man; and that we are unjustly reproached by others. For if any one do, without prejudice, and with judgment look upon these things, he will find they were every one made in way of imitation and representation of the universe. When Moses distinguished the tabernacle into three parts, (17) and allowed two of them to the Priests, as a place accessible and common, he denoted the land and the sea: for these are accessible to all. But when he set apart the third division for God, it was because heaven is inaccessible to men. And when he ordered twelve loaves to be set on the table, he denoted the year, as distinguished into so many months. And when he made the candlestick, of seventy parts, he secretly intimated the Decani, or seventy divisions of the planets. (18) And as to the seven lamps upon the candlesticks, they referred to the course of the planets, of which that is the number. And for the veils, which were composed of four things, they declared the four elements. For the fine linen was proper to signify the earth; because the flax grows out of the earth. The purple signified the sea; because that colour is dyed by the blood of a sea shell-fish. The blue is fit to signify the air; and the scarlet will naturally be an indication of fire. Now the vestment of the High Priest being made of linen, signified the earth; the blue denoted the sky; being like lightning in its pomegranates, and in the noise of the bells resembling thunder. And for the ephod it shewed that God had made the universe of four [elements:] and as for the gold interwoven, I suppose it related to the splendor by which all things are inlightened. He also appointed the breast-plate to be placed in the middle of the ephod, to resemble the earth: for that has the very middle place of the world. And the girdle which encompassed the High Priest round, signified the ocean: for that goes round about and includes the universe. Each of the sardonyxes declares to us the sun and the moon: those I mean that were in the nature of buttons on the High Priests shoulders. And for the twelve stones, whether we understand by them the months; or whether we understand the like number of the signs of that circle which the Greeks call the Zodiack, we shall not be mistaken in their meaning. And for the miter, which was of a blue colour, it seems to me to mean heaven: for how otherwise could the name of God be inscribed upon it? That it was also illustrated with a crown, and that of gold also, is because of that splendor with which God is pleased. Let this explication (19) suffice at present: since the course of my narration will often, and on many occasions, afford me the opportunity of enlarging upon the virtue of our Legislator.” Josephus, Antiquities, 3:7
[v] This was all foretold by the Prophet Malachi:
“For behold, the day comes, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings. Mal. 3:19-20.