From: Ezra 6:7-8, 12b, 14-20
Completion of the building work
(Darius the King speaking) [7] “Let the work on this house of God alone; let the
governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on
its site. [8] Moreover I make a decree regarding what you shall do for these
elders of the Jews for the rebuilding of this house of God; the cost is to be paid
to these men in full and without delay from the royal revenue, the tribute of the
province from Beyond the River. [12b] I Darius make a decree; let it be done
with all diligence.” [14] And the elders of the Jews built and prospered, through
the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They
finished their building by command of the God of Israel and by decree of Cyrus
and Darius and Ar-ta-xerxes king of Persia; [15] and this house was finished
on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the
king.
Dedication of the temple
[16] And the people of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the
returned exiles, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy. [17]
They offered at the dedication of this house of God one hundred bulls, two
hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel twelve
he-goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. [18] And they set the
priests in their divisions and the Levites in their courses, for the service of God
at Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses.
Celebration of the Passover
[19] On the fourteenth day of the first month the returned exiles kept the pass-
over. [20] For the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together; all of
them were clean. So they killed the Passover lamb for all the returned exiles, for
their fellow priests, and for themselves;
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Commentary:
6:1-12. Eventually, God in his providence sorted the situation out and it became
quite clear that the building work of Jerusalem had been legally authorized; so
Darius gave his permission and every encouragement to push the project forward.
The repatriates benefit from a special royal decree which reads as if the king not
only recognized the Jews’ rights in the matter but also acknowledged the God
whom they meant to worship in that temple. Darius invokes this God against any-
one who might dare frustrate his wishes (v. 12). It is a kind of sign that the work
the Jews are engaged in is desired by God, even though he makes his mind
known through a foreign king. The same happened with Cyrus.
6:13-15. It is interesting that this last stage of building the temple is attributed to
“the elders of the Jews”. Maybe Jeshua and Zerubbabel are no longer around. It
is also clear to see that the divine commandment is put into effect through de-
crees issued by Persian kings, who are now named in regnal order. Given the
importance of the event, the exact date is naturally given – 3 March 515 BC.
The New Testament says that the Church is “God’s building” (1 Cor 3:9). “The
Lord compared himself to the stone which the builders rejected but which was
made into the cornerstone (Mt 21:42; cf. Acts 4:11; Pet 2:7; Ps 117:22). On this
foundation the Church is built by the apostles (cf. 1 Cor 3:11)” (Vatican II, Lumen
gentium, 6). Christians are like living stones being used in the construction of the
Church in this life (cf. 1 Pet 2:5). This building of God’s rests on a sound founda-
tion but it is something ongoing; there is always building to be done; It encounters
external obstacles, and the builders themselves can grow tired; although the Lord
allowed difficulties to arise with the building of the temple, it would in due course
be completed; so too the Church will manage to make its way, thanks to the effort
each Christian makes in his or her own place in the world.
6:16-18. Even though it is the climax in the whole story-line of the book, the dedi-
cation of the temple is described succinctly, especially when compared to the
account of the dedication of Solomon’s temple according to 2 Chronicles 5:1-7:22.
It is probably done this way to show that this is not a new temple, but the continua-
tion of the one that was there before. On the other hand, to legitimize the fact
that there is a new altar and even a new temple, 2 Maccabees 1:18-36, which
attributes the building to Nehemiah, records a different tradition about the dedica-
tion.
The Ezra text delights in noting the generous offerings made by the Israelites.
In the Christian tradition, the ceremony of dedication survives in the dedication of
churches, and pastors do not fail to encourage the faithful to make appropriate
spiritual offerings: “Therefore, my beloved friends, if we wish to celebrate with
joy the dedication of the temple, we must not destroy the living temple of God
within us by evildoing. I will say it in a way that everybody can understand: we
must prepare our souls in the same way as we would like the church to be pre-
pared when we enter it. Do you want to visit a clean basilica? Then do not dirty
your soul with sin. Just as you would like the basilica to be well-lit, God does not
wish your soul to be in darkness, but rather he desires that the Lord’s saying
would prove true: that the light of good works may be shining within you so that
he who lives in the heavens may be glorified (St Caesarius of Arles, Sermons,
229, 3).
6:19-22. The account of the repatriates’ return to Israel is reminiscent at times of
events relating to the Exodus. One of these is the celebration of Passover. How-
ever, the context and the meaning of this celebration have nuances proper to
each situation.
In the Exodus, Passover was celebrated prior to setting out on the journey, as a
preparation for that great salvific intervention by God on behalf of his people.
Here the Passover comes at the end, to show appreciation to God, who has
allowed them to return from Babylon, rebuild the temple and begin to live normal
lives again in the land he promised them. It is noteworthy that, alongside the
repatriates, some “people of the land” (v. 21) also share in the Passover meal.
Passover is the great festival that celebrates the saving action of God: that
action is not just a past event, a memory of the escape from Egypt; it happens
in various ways over the course of the life of the people down the ages. The
celebration of this festival is a memorial of a past event which is made present at
every Passover. All this helps us to appreciate the meaning of the paschal
(Easter, Passover) mystery of Jesus, the greatest saving intervention by God on
behalf of mankind, which brought to fullness the ancient Passover celebrations.
Every time that the memorial of the mystery of Jesus’ passion, death and
resurrection is celebrated in the Eucharist, its salvific power takes effect.
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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: Luke 8:19-21
The True Kinsmen of Jesus
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Commentary:
19-21. These words of our Lord show us that fulfillment of the Will of God is
more important than kinship and that, therefore, our Lady is more united to her
Son by virtue of her perfect fulfillment of what God asked of her, than by the Holy
Spirit’s using her to make Christ’s body (cf. notes on Matthew 12:48-50 and Mark
3:31-35).
[Notes on Matthew 12:48-50 states:
48-50. Jesus obviously loved His Mother and St. Joseph. He uses this episode to
teach us that in His Kingdom human ties do not take precedence. In Luke 8:19
the same teaching is to be found. Jesus regards the person who does the will of
His Heavenly Father as a member of His own family. Therefore, even though it
means going against natural family feelings, a person should do just that when
needs be in order to perform the mission the Father has entrusted to him (cf. Luke
2:49).
We can say that Jesus loved Mary more because of the bonds between them
created by grace than because He was her son by natural generation: Mary’s
divine motherhood is the source of all our Lady’s other prerogatives; but this very
motherhood is, in its turn, the first and greatest of the graces with which Mary
was endowed.]
[Notes on Mark 3:31-35 states:
31-35. In Aramaic, the language used by the Jews, the word “brethren” is a
broad term indicating kinship: nephews, first cousins, and relatives in general
are called `brethren’ (for further explanation cf. note on Mark 6:1-3). “Jesus did
not say this to disown His mother, but to show that she is worthy of honor not
only account of having given birth to Jesus, but also because she has all the
virtues” (Theoplylact, “Enarratio In Evangelium Marci, in loc.”).
Therefore, the Church reminds us that the Blessed Virgin “in the course of her
Son’s preaching received the words whereby, in extolling a kingdom beyond the
concerns and ties of flesh and blood, He declared blessed those who heard and
kept the word of God as she was faithfully doing” (Vatican II, “Lumen Gentium”,
58).
Our Lord, then, is also telling us that if we follow Him we will share His life
more intimately than if were a member of His family. St. Thomas explains this
by saying that Christ “had an eternal generation and a generation in time, and
gave preference to the former. Those who do the will of the Father reach Him
by Heavenly generation [...]. Everyone who does the will of the Father, that is
to say, who obeys Him, is a brother or sister of Christ, because he is like Him
who fulfilled the will of His Father. But he who not only obeys but converts
others, begets Christ in them, and thus becomes like the Mother of Christ”
(”Commentary on St. Matthew”, 12, 49-50.)
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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.