From: 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3a, 14-17
The Coming of the Lord
The Need for Steadfastness
[16] Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us
and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, [17] comfort your
hearts and establish them in every good work and word.
*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:
1-2. The main theme of the letter is given here—the timing of the second coming
of the Lord. Some people had been unsettling the minds of the Thessalonians
by saying that the Parousia was about to happen.
The phrase “by spirit” is a reference to people claiming to have a charismatic gift
of prophecy from the Holy Spirit who were spreading their own ideas as if they
came from God. Others preferred to pass off what they had to say as coming
from St. Paul (orally or in writing).
Those who try to mislead the people of God by teachings contrary to Christian
faith often use methods of the same sort. By twisting the meaning of Sacred
Scripture (cf. Mt 4:6) they not infrequently promote wrong teaching as if it were
a revelation from the Holy Spirit. The Second Vatican Council has reminded us
how to identify subjective interpretation of that kind: “The task of giving an au-
thentic interpretation, whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition, has
been entrusted to the living teaching office of the Church alone. Its authority is
exercised in the name of Jesus Christ” (”Dei Verbum”, 10).
Even in our own day there are sects and impressionable people who put a lot of
effort into working out when the second coming will take place, sometimes ma-
king specific predictions which the passage of time disproves. They are missing
the main point, which is that we should be always on the watch, always ready
to joyfully meet the Lord.
“To the effect that the day of the Lord has come”: this is literally what the Greek
says — or “as if the day of the Lord is here”, in the sense of “about to come any
minute now”. The New Vulgate [and the Navarre Spanish: trs.] translate it as “as
if the day of the Lord were imminent”, which is faithful to the tenor of the text and
reads more clearly.
3-4. Our Lord’s second coming is not imminent, for two things must happen first
— the “rebellion” and the advent of the “man of lawlessness”. It is extremely diffi-
cult to make any definite predictions as to the nature of these events because
the Apostle says very little about them—and nothing to indicate WHEN they may
occur.
The “rebellion” or apostasy seems to suggest that a massive flight from God, af-
fecting a substantial part of the world’s population, will signal that time is coming
to an end. When speaking about the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the
temple (events prefiguring what would happen at the end of the world) Jesus him-
self predicted (cf. Mt 24:11-13) that this would happen. He said that most peo-
ple’s love would grow cold (cf. Mt 24:12), to such as extent that they would lose
all knowledge of God; when their rebellion had run its course, the End would
come and the general judgment would take place.
“The man of lawlessness”: it is not clear whether this refers to a particular indivi-
dual, someone uniquely evil, or whether this is a literary device indicating a mul-
titude of people given over to sin and actively hostile to Christ’s work in the world.
It is more likely to refer to all the forces of evil taken together as a tool used by
Satan to pursue his ends. “Man of lawlessness” and “son of perdition” are Semi-
tic expressions indicating that these people have a particularly close connection
with sin and with eternal perdition.
The “man of lawlessness” is a declared enemy of God who is systematically hos-
tile to everything to do with the service of God. The Apostle stresses that he is
so brazen that “he takes his seat in the temple of God”, that is, insists on divine
honors. He will go to great lengths to induce people to rebel against God before
the end of the world, just as false prophets tried to lead people astray prior to the
fall of Jerusalem (cf. Mt 24:4-5, 11, 23-24).
The description of this adversary of God is very like that of the “antichrist” whom
St. John speaks of (cf. 1 Jn 2:18 and note on same).
13-14. Although there may be some people who refuse to accept the truth, the
Apostle feels moved to thank God for his readers’ “sanctification by the Spirit”
and their “belief in the truth”. This will bring them to salvation. The brethren too
should thank God for choosing them, for the election shows that they are “belo-
ved by the Lord”. (On the meaning of the expression “beloved by God”, see the
note on 1 Thess 1:4).
The mention of the three divine Persons reminds us that salvation is the joint
work of the Blessed Trinity: “God the Father” chooses the person to obtain the
glory of our “Lord Jesus Christ” through the sanctifying action of the “Spirit”. Man,
who is submerged in sin and unable to free himself by his own efforts, is offered,
by the entire Trinity, the means to attain faith, salvation and sanctification: “There
was no power great enough to raise us and free us from such a catastrophic and
eternal death. But God, the Creator of the human race, who is infinitely merciful,
did this through his only-begotten Son. By his kindness, man was not only re-
stored to the position and nobility whence he had fallen, but was adorned with
even richer gifts. No one can express the greatness of this work of divine grace
in the souls of men. Because of it, men, both in Sacred Scripture and in the wri-
tings of the Fathers of the Church, are described as being reborn, new creatures,
sharers in the divine nature, sons of God, deified” (”Divinum Illud Munus”, 9).
For the fifth time in these two short letters to the Thessalonians we find the verb
“to give thanks” (cf. 1 Thess 1:2; 2:13; 5:18: 2 Thess 1:3 and 2:13). It is good to
realize that in these two earliest New Testament texts there is evidence of fre-
quent, spontaneous thanks to God for his fatherly kindness. It is not a matter of
a minion thanking his master for benefits received; rather it is an expression of fi-
lial, heartfelt, joyful gratitude (cf. Jn 11:41).
“From the beginning”: as the RSV note says, “other ancient authorities read “as
the first converts”, that is, as the first fruits—probably a reference to the fact that
the church as Thessalonica was one of the first churches founded by St. Paul in
Europe.
15. To avoid being led astray by unsound or unreliable teaching the thing to do is
to hold fast to the faith one received and to apostolic tradition.
“Tradition”: this term (cf. also 2 Thess 3:6) seems to refer to the Christian tea-
ching St. Paul himself received which he preached to them. Elsewhere the Apo
stle uses a term with a more specific meaning, the “paratheke” (”deposit”) of
teachings concerning the Christian faith (cf. 1 Tim 6:20 and 2 Tim 1:14 and
notes on same). He makes the point a number of times (cf. 1 Cor 11:23; 15:1-3)
that he was not preaching his personal opinions but rather passing on truths gi-
ven him as revealed doctrine. That is why he cannot allow his message to be
tampered with.
“It is obvious”, St. Thomas Aquinas observes, “that many things which are not
written down in the Church were taught by the Apostles and therefore should be
followed” (”Commentary on 2 Thess, ad loc.”). Thus, the truth revealed by God is
passed on through Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. The Second Vatican
Council teaches that both “are bound closely together, and communicate one
with the other. For both of them, flowing out from the same divine well-spring,
come together in some fashion to form one thing, and move towards the same
goal [...]. Tradition transmits in its entirety the Word of God which has been en-
trusted to the apostles by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit. It transmits it to
the successors of the apostles so that, enlightened by the Spirit of truth, they
may faithfully preserve, expound and spread it abroad by their preaching. Thus
it comes about that the Church does not draw her certainty about all revealed
truths from the Sacred Scriptures alone. Hence, both Scripture and Tradition
must be accepted and honored with equal feelings of devotion and reverence”
(”Dei Verbum”, 9).
*********************************************************************************************
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: Matthew 23:23-26
Jesus Indicts the Scribes and Pharisees
[25] “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you cleanse the outside
of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of extortion and rapacity.” [26]
You blind Pharisee! first cleanse the inside of the cup and of the plate, that the
outside also may be clean.”
*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:
23. Mint, dill (aniseed) and cummin were herbs the Jews used in cooking or to
perfume rooms. They were such insignificant items that they were not covered
by the Mosaic precept on paying tithes (Leviticus 27:30-33; Deuteronomy 14:
22ff); the precept did not apply to domestic animals and the more common ag-
ricultural products such as wheat, wine and olive oil. However, the Pharisees,
being so intent on showing their scrupulous observance of the Law, paid tithes
even of these herbs. Our Lord does not despise or reject the Law; He is simply
telling people to get their priorities right: there is no point in attending to secon-
dary details if one is neglecting what is really basic and important—justice, mer-
cy and faith.
24. The Pharisees were so scrupulous about not swallowing any insect which
the Law declared to be unclean that they went as far as to filter drinks through
a linen cloth. Our Lord criticizes them for being so inconsistent—straining mos-
quitos, being so scrupulous about little things, yet quite happily “swallowing a
camel”, committing serious sins.
25-26. After reproaching the Pharisees for their hypocrisy in religious practice,
our Lord now goes on to indict their two-facedness in matters of morality. The
Jews used to perform elaborate washings of plates, cups and other tableware,
in line with the regulations on legal cleansing (cf. Mark 7:1-4).
The example He chooses suggests a deeper level of meaning—concern for that
moral purity which should characterize man’s interior life. What is of prime im-
portance is cleanliness of heart, an upright intention, consistency between what
one says and what one does, etc.
*********************************************************************************************
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.