From: Revelation 21:1-5a
A New World Comes Into Being. The New Jerusalem
[5a] And he who sat upon the throne said, “Behold, I make all things
new.”
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Commentary:
1-4. The prophet Isaiah depicted the messianic times as a radical
change in the fortunes of the people of Israel—so radical that, as he
put it, God was going to create new heavens and a new earth, a new
Jerusalem full of joy, where the sound of weeping would never more be
heard, where God would make himself plain for all to see and where
everything would be as it was in paradise before sin (cf. Is 65:12-25).
The author of the Apocalypse uses this same format to describe the
future Kingdom of God. The imagery of a new heaven and a new earth
(taken in a physical sense) was very much in vogue in Jewish writing
around the time of the Apocalypse (cf. 1 Enoch 72:1; 91:16), and is
probably reflected also in 2 Peter 3:10-13 and Matthew 19:28.
Scripture nowhere indicates what form the new heaven and the new earth
will take. However, what is clear is that there will be a radical
“renewal” of the present cosmos, contaminated as it is by the sin of
man and the powers of evil (cf. Gen 2:8-3:24; Rom 8:9-13); through this
renewal all creation will be “recapitulated” in Christ (cf. Eph 1:10;
Col 1:16:20). No reference is made to the sea, probably because in
Jewish literature it symbolized the abyss, the abode of demonic powers
hostile to God.
Those who will inhabit this new world (symbolized by the Holy City, the
new Jerusalem) are the entire assembly of the saved, the entire people
of God (cf. vv. 12-14)—a holy people disposed to live in loving
communion with God (as reflected by the image of the adorned bride: cf.
vv. 2, 9). The promise of a new covenant (Ezek 37:27) will be
fulfilled to the letter: God will see to it that none of the evil,
suffering or pain found in this world will find its way into the new
world.
This passage of the Book of Revelation strengthens the faith and hope
of the Church—not only St John’s own generation but all generations
down the ages for as long as the Church makes its way through this
valley of tears. The Second Vatican Council says: “We know neither the
moment of the consummation of the earth and of man nor the way the
universe will be transformed. The form of this world, distorted by
sin, is passing away and we are taught that God is preparing a new
dwelling and a new earth in which righteousness dwells, whose happiness
will fill and surpass all the desires of peace arising in the hearts
of men. Then with death conquered the children of God will be raised
in Christ and what was sown in weakness and dishonor will put on the
imperishable: charity and its work will remain, and all of creation
which God made for man, will be set free from its bondage to decay”
(”Gaudium Et Spes”, 39).
5-8. For the first and only time in the entire book God himself speaks.
He does so as absolute Lord of all, to ratify what has just been
expounded. While the author and his readers are still in this world of
suffering, God affirms that he—even now—is creating a new world.
There is, then, a connection between present human suffering and the
future world which is taking shape thanks to the mercy of God.
Although that new world will emerge in its complete form on the last
day, the renewal of all things has already begun; it began with the
life, death and resurrection of Christ. “The kingdom of life has
begun,” St Gregory of Nyssa teaches, “and the empire of death has been
undone. Another generation, another life, another way of loving has
made its appearance: our very nature is being transformed. What type
of generation am I referring to? A generation which results not from
blood or carnal love or human love, but from God. Are you wondering
how that can be? I shall explain it in a few words. This new creature
is begotten by faith; the regeneration of Baptism brings it to birth;
the Church, its nurse, weans it by her teaching and institutions and
nourishes it with her heavenly bread. This new creature matures
through holiness of life; its marriage is marriage with Wisdom; its
children, hope; its home, the Kingdom; its inheritance and its riches,
the delights of paradise; its final destiny is not death, but eternal
and joyful life in the dwelling-place of the saints” (”Oratio I In
Christi Resurrectionem”). We should remember that “the Kingdom is
mysteriously present here on earth; when the Lord comes it will enter
into its perfection” (”Gaudium Et Spes”, 39).
The promise of a world to come is so sure that although that world has
not achieved its full perfection, it can be categorically stated that
it is a promise “already kept”—”It is done”: God himself, the Lord of
history guarantees it (cf. note on Rev 1:8)....
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
From: John 13:31-33a, 34-35
The New Commandment
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Commentary:
31-32. This glorification refers above all to the glory which Christ
will receive once He is raised up on the cross (John 3:14; 12:32).
St. John stresses that Christ’s death is the beginning of His victory:
His very crucifixion can be considered the first step in His ascension
to His Father. At the same time it is glorification of the Father,
because Christ, by voluntarily accepting death out of love, as a
supreme act of obedience to the Will of God, performs the greatest
sacrifice man can offer for the glorification of God. The Father will
respond to this glorification which Christ offers Him by glorifying
Christ as Son of Man, that is, in His holy human nature, through the
His resurrection and ascension to God’s right hand. Thus the glory
which the Son gives the Father is at the same time glory for the Son.
Christ’s disciple will also find His highest motivation by identifying
himself with Christ’s obedience. St. Paul teaches this very clearly
when he says: “Far be it from me to glory except in the cross of the
Lord Jesus Christ” (Galatians 6:14).
33. From this verse onwards the evangelist recounts what is usually
called the discourse of the Last Supper; in it we can distinguish three
parts. In the first, our Lord begins by proclaiming the New
Commandment (verses 33-35) and predicts Peter’s denials (verses 36-38);
He tells them that His death means His going to the Father (Chapter 4),
with Whom He is one because He is God (verses 1-14); and He announces
that after His resurrection He will send them the Holy Spirit, who will
guide them by teaching them and reminding them of everything He told
them (verses 15-31).
The second part of the discourse is contained in Chapters 15 and 16.
Jesus promises to those who believe in Him a new life of union with
Him, as intimate as that of a vine and its branches (15:1-18). To
attain this union one must keep His New Commandment (verses 9-18). He
forewarns them about the contradictions they will suffer, and He
encourages them by promising the Holy Spirit who will protect them and
console them (verses 18-27). The action of the Paraclete or Consoler
will lead them to fulfill the mission Jesus has entrusted to them
(16:1-15). The fruit of the presence of the Holy Spirit will be
fullness of joy (verses 16-33).
The third part (Chapter 7) gives Jesus’ priestly prayer, in which He
asks the Father to glorify Him through the cross (verses 1-5). He
prays also for His disciples (verses 6-19) and for all those who
through them will believe in Him, so that, staying in the world without
being of the world, the love of God should be in them and they should
bear witness to Christ being the envoy of the Father (verses 20-26).
34-35. After announcing that He is leaving them (verse 33), Christ
summarizes His commandments in one—the New Commandment. He will
repeat it a number of times during the discourse of the Supper (cf.
John 15:12, 17), and St. John in his First Letter will insist on the
need to practice this commandment of the Lord and on the demands it
implies (cf. 1 John 2:8; 3:7-21).
Love of neighbor was already commanded in the Old Testament (cf.
Leviticus 19:18)—and Jesus ratified this when He specified that it was
the second precept of the whole Law and similar to the first: Love God
will all your heart and soul and mind (cf. Matthew 22:37-40). But
Jesus gives the precept of brotherly love new meaning and content by
saying “even as I have loved you”. The love of neighbor called for by
the Old Law did also in some way extend to one’s enemies (Exodus
23:4-5); however, the love which Jesus preaches is much more demanding
and includes returning good for evil (cf. Matthew 5:43-44), because
Christian love is measured not by man’s heart but by the heart of
Christ, who gives up His life on the cross to redeem all men (cf. 1
John 4:9-11). Here lies the novelty of Jesus’ teaching, and our Lord
can rightly say that it is His commandment, the principal clause in His
last will and testament.
Love of neighbor cannot be separated from love of God: “The greatest
commandment of the law is to love God with one’s whole heart and one’s
neighbor as oneself (cf. Matthew 22:37-40). Christ has made this love
of neighbor His personal commandment and has enriched it with a new
meaning when He willed Himself, along with His brothers, to be the
object of this charity, saying: `As you did it to one of the least of
these My brethren, you did it to Me’ (Matthew 25:40). In assuming
human nature He has united to Himself all humanity in a supernatural
solidarity which makes of it one single family. He has made charity
the distinguishing mark of His disciples, in the words: `By this all
men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one
another’” (Vatican II, “Apostolicam Actuositatem”, 8).
Even though Christ is Purity itself, and Temperance and Humility, He
does not, however, make any one of these virtues the distinguishing
mark of His disciples: He makes Charity that mark. “The Master’s
message and example are clear and precise. He confirmed His teaching
with deeds. Yet I have often thought that, after twenty centuries, it
is indeed still a NEW commandment, for very few people have taken the
trouble to practice it. The others, the majority of men, both in the
past and still today, have chosen to ignore it. Their selfishness has
led them to the conclusion: `Why should I complicate my life? I have
more than enough to do just looking after myself.’
“Such an attitude is not good enough for us Christians. If we profess
the same faith and are really eager to follow in the clear footprints
left by Christ when He walked on this earth, we cannot be content
merely with avoiding doing unto others the evil that we would not have
them do unto us. That is a lot, but it is still very little when we
consider that our love is to be measured in terms of Jesus’ own
conduct. Besides, he does not give us this standard as a distant
target, as a crowning point of a whole lifetime of struggle. It is—it
ought to be, I repeat, so that you may turn it into specific
resolutions—our starting point, for our Lord presents it as a sign of
Christianity: `By this shall all men know that you are My disciples’”
([St] J. Escriva, “Friends of God”, 223).
And this is what in fact happened among Christians in the early
centuries in the midst of pagan society, so much so that Tertullian,
writing around the end of the second century, reported that people
could indeed say, looking at the way these Christians lived: “See how
they love one another” (”Apologeticum”, XXXIX).
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.