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Week 2 Consuming the WordThe New Testament – Document and Sacrament Part 2

II. Inspiration and Truth of Sacred Scripture105 God is the author of Sacred Scripture. “The divinely revealed realities, which

are contained and presented in the text of Sacred Scripture, have been written down under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.” “For Holy Mother Church, relying on the faith of the apostolic age, accepts as sacred and canonical the books of the Old and the New Testaments, whole and entire, with all their parts, on the grounds that, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they have God as their author and have been handed on as such to the Church herself.”106 God inspired the human authors of the sacred books. “To compose the sacred books, God chose certain men who, all the while he employed them in this task, made

full use of their own faculties and powers so that, though he acted in them and by them, it was as true authors that they consigned to writing whatever he wanted written, and no more.”107 The inspired books teach the truth. “Since therefore all that the inspired authors or sacred writers affirm should be regarded as affirmed by the Holy Spirit, we must acknowledge that the books of Scripture firmly, faithfully, and without error teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see confided to the Sacred Scriptures.” (702)108 Still, the Christian faith is not a “religion of the book.” Christianity is the religion of the “Word” of God, a word which is “not a written and mute word, but the Word which is incarnate and living.” If the Scriptures are not to remain a dead letter, Christ, the eternal Word of the living God, must, through the Holy Spirit, “open [our] minds to understand the Scriptures.”(Catechism of the Catholic Church)

There is one New Testament book that uses the word covenant more than any other, and that is in Hebrews. Covenant is found 33 times in the New Testament and 17, over half, are

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found in Hebrews, especially in chapters 8 and 9, and also in chapter 12. I want us to spend some time reading some of what Scott is talking

Hebrews 7:26–28 (RSV2CE) 26 For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, blameless, unstained, separated from sinners, exalted above the heavens. 27 He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people; he did this once for all when he offered up himself. 28 Indeed, the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect for ever.

Hebrews 8:1–11 (RSV2CE) 1 Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 a minister in the sanctuary and the true tent which is set up not by man but by the Lord. 3 For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; hence it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. 4 Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. 5 They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly sanctuary; for when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.” 6 But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry which is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second. 8 For he finds fault with them when he says: “The days will come, says the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; 9 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; for they did not continue in my covenant, and so I paid no

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heed to them, says the Lord. 10 This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 11 And they shall not teach every one his fellow or every one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest.

Hebrews 9:11–12 (RSV2CE) 11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12 he entered once for all into the Holy Place, taking not the blood of goats and calves but his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.

Hebrews 9:23–28 (RSV2CE) 23 Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ has entered, not into a sanctuary made with hands, a copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the Holy Place yearly with blood not his own; 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Hebrews 12:22–24 (RSV2CE) 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven, and to a judge who is God of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24 and to

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Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks more graciously than the blood of Abel.

The Hebrew word for covenant occurs 325 times in the Old Testament, but only 33 times in the New Testament. Why the big disparity? The story of our salvation begins in the Old Covenant, and in the telling of the story there is enormous expectation building from the beginning of creation. That volcano of expectation continues to build immediately after the fall, of man, and then through out all the Old Testament covenants initiated by God and tragically broken by His people. The heart cry of Israel to be restored to the covenant family bond Adam and Eve had with God in the Garden, and it grows stronger and stronger with each lost generation. By the time Jesus in born, with many Jews in exile, and the City of Jerusalem under the boot of the Roman Empire, the expectation of the coming Messiah is at a fever pitch. Covenant, covenant, covenant, 325 times written about in the Old Testament…and finally a New Covenant, prophesied by Isaiah and Ezekiel, and Jeremiah is initiated by Jesus Himself, and this covenant is like

none other that has come befoe. You can feel the expectation in the words of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 31:31–34 (RSV2CE) 31 “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers when I

took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke, and I showed myself their Master, says the Lord. 33 But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each man teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know

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me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

This “New Covenant” that Jeremiah proclaims will exceed all the expectations that have been building from the very beginning. This one will be over the top, so powerful and complete that it will swallow up all five of the covenants that have

come before. The promises of God are not just fulfilled, they are plenty too much, to put it in pidgin English. It is like going to buy a few fireworks for the 4th of July and someone gives you

the entire fireworks stand. That is why it is only mentioned 33 times in the New Testament/New Covenant. Those early believers realized that God had given them in Jesus, the entire fireworks stand, not just a few firecrackers.

We do not understand blood covenants in the way the ancient Hebrews did, and even the modern-day people of the Middle East. A covenant vow that invokes death if it is broken does not register in our thinking in this age. Tribal bonds and kinship agreements sealed in blood are just not part of our western culture. But blood covenant is the key to unlocking the deep meaning of so much of the Bible, starting way back in Genesis. There is a progression going on in the six covenants of the Bible, a marriage covenant with Adam and Eve. Noah had three sons on the Ark along with the wives, that becomes a blood covenant with a household, or extended family. The family grows much bigger with God’s blood covenant with Abraham, proclaiming that his tribal family would end up numbering more than the stars in the sky. The covenant with Moses created a nation, and King David’s blood covenant with God took on an international dimension. So when the New Covenant was initiated in the Upper Room, you are looking for an international body that could grab the baton from the Davidic Kingdom and establish the New Covenant internationally, taking it to all the nations of the world, and only one qualifies, the Catholic Church.

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Scott talks about how each of the six covenants in the Bible are not just legal agreements, they all involve a blood sacrifice and are liturgical at their core. Here are some of his notes on the first covenant with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

Another Account of CreationGenesis 2:4–25The sacredness of this original situation is underscored by indications that Genesis imagines paradise as a primeval sanctuary. Like the Tabernacle and Temple of later times, the garden is (1) entered from the east (3:24; Ex 27:13; Ezek 47:1), (2) home to angelic guardians called cherubim (3:24; 1 Kings 6:23–28), (3) adorned with trees (2:9; Josh 24:26; 1 Kings 6:29–32), (4) the source of sacred waters (2:10; Ezek 47:1–12; Joel 3:18), and (5) the place where God dwells with his people on the earth (3:8; Lev 26:12; 2 Sam 7:6). According to one Jewish tradition, Eden is the Holy of Holies, i.e., the most sacred estate within the cosmic Temple of the world (Jubilees 8, 19). Hahn, S., & Mitch, C. (2010). Genesis: With Introduction, Commentary, and Notes. (Revised Standard Version and Second Catholic Edition, Eds.) (p. 20). San Francisco: Ignatius Press.

Genesis 2:15 till … keep: The command to “keep” the garden may be translated as a command to “guard” it, as in 3:24. In this case, a threat to the order of paradise is implied, and the appearance of the serpent in 3:1 is anticipated. Moreover, the two Hebrew verbs in question are used elsewhere in the Pentateuch for the liturgical duties of priests and Levites serving as ministers and guardians over the Tabernacle (Num 3:7–8; 8:26; 18:5–6). Their use here implies that man’s work of cultivating and keeping watch over the garden is likewise a form of divine service. Rabbinic tradition thus considered Adam a priest (Genesis Rabbah 16, 7). Hahn, S., & Mitch, C. (2010). Genesis: With Introduction, Commentary, and Notes. (Revised Standard Version and Second Catholic Edition, Eds.) (p. 20). San Francisco: Ignatius Press.

Noah’s sacrifice at the altar renewing the covenant with God after the flood involved liturgy and

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ceremony. Liturgy is a vital part of the Abrahamic covenant that we read in Genesis, chapters 15, 17, and 22 again used liturgical and sacramental images. Moses at Mt. Sinai takes blood covenant liturgy and sacrifice to a whole new level, following meticulous instructions given by God, establishing the priestly liturgy for animal sacrafice that would last for generations. And then we come to this, Luke 22:14–20 (RSV2CE) 14 And when the hour came, he sat at table, and the apostles with him. 15 And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; 16 for I tell you I shall not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17 And he took a chalice, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves; 18 for I tell you that from now on I shall not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” 19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 And likewise the chalice after supper, saying, “This chalice which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”

Ask any Jew at the time of Jesus on this earth and they would have told you the Passover was much for than a meal, it was first and foremost a sacrifice of the Passover Lamb. Jesus transformed that ancient Passover into the Eucharist, and He was the sacrifice of the New Passover of the New Covenant, He was and is and ever shall be the Passover Lamb of God. Jesus’ words at the New Passover echo the words of Moses, at the renewal of the Covenant with God at Mt. Sinai. It is critical that we have the words of Jesus at the New Passover, in that Upper Room, because those words define what happened the following day as the eternal sacrifice of the Lamb of God. Why is that so important? Without those words Jesus’ crucifixion would have only been a Roman execution, not a sacrifice in Jewish understanding. All valid sacrifices took place in the Holy Temple, not outside the wall of Jerusalem, and there had to be an ordained Jewish priest, there were none. But the words of Jesus the night before in that upper room declared for the whole world, that the death of Jesus on that cross was in reality the Sacrifice of the Lamb of God on Good Friday. Good Friday makes no sense without Holy Thursday.

St. Paul understood all of this perfectly, 1 Corinthians 5:7 (RSV2CE) 7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be new dough, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Paschal Lamb, has been sacrificed. Easter Sunday then transforms that sacrifice on Good Friday into the core sacrament of our Catholic faith that we

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celebrate to this very day. And what is the first thing Jesus does after His resurrection…He celebrates that Eucharist with the two on the road to Emmaus.

So now what are we supposed to do, Romans 12:1–2 (RSV2CE) 1 I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.