Posted on 01/31/2020 9:07:54 AM PST by Salvation
Presentation in the Temple – L. Carracci (1605)
I want to anticipate Sunday’s feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple. Let’s consider an event that was glorious in its significance and fulfilment, yet was missed by nearly everyone.
Joseph and Mary had brought Jesus to the Temple to present Him there. As they ascended the glorious steps to the Temple Mount, they were fulfilling a requirement of the Law.
You are to give over to the LORD the first offspring of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the LORD. Redeem with a lamb every firstborn donkey, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. Redeem every firstborn among your sons. In days to come, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ say to him, ‘With a mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed the firstborn of both people and animals in Egypt. This is why I sacrifice to the LORD the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons’’ (Ex 13:12-15).
Although they were fulfilling an obligation, something much more dramatic was taking place. To understand what, we must look back to 587 B.C.
The Babylonians had invaded Jerusalem and the unthinkable had happened: the Holy City of Jerusalem had been destroyed and along with it the Temple of God. Inside the Temple had been housed the precious Ark of the Covenant.
Recall what the Ark of Covenant was in the Old Testament. It was a gold-covered box of acacia wood, inside which were the two tablets on which God had inscribed the Ten Commandments, the staff of Aaron, and a vial of the manna. Even more important, in this ark dwelt the very Presence of God in Israel; here He was present as nowhere else. This is certainly our belief today regarding the tabernacle in Catholic churches: though present everywhere, God has a true, substantial, and real presence in the Eucharist reserved there.
The Lost Ark – Incredibly, the Ark of the Covenant was lost when the Babylonians destroyed the Temple and Jerusalem in 587 B.C. Some thought that Jeremiah had hidden it in the mountains. Others, that the priests had hastily secreted it in the maze of caves beneath the Temple Mount. Still others argued that it was taken to Ethiopia. But the Ark was gone.
Empty Temple – When the Temple was rebuilt some eighty years later, the Holy of Holies was restored, but the Ark was still missing. The high priest still performed the yearly ritual and entered the Holy of Holies, but the room was empty. Some argued that there was a spiritual presence in the Temple, but in fact the Ark and the certain presence of God were missing after 587 B.C. Something—someone—was missing. The very Holy of Holies was an empty room. The Ark and the presence of God it carried were missing. The Ark, the mercy seat, was gone. Would it ever be found? Would it ever be returned to the Temple? Would the Holy Presence of God ever find its way to the Temple again?
The ascent to Jerusalem is a steep one. Mountains surround Jerusalem and it sits at a higher altitude than the area around it. As the ancient Jews made the climb, they sang the psalms of ascent (120-134). As Joseph and Mary ascended, they too sang the words that instilled joy:
I Lift up mine eye to the mountains from whence cometh my help (Ps 121). I rejoiced when they said to me let us go up to the House of the Lord (Ps 122). To you O Lord I have lifted my eyes (Ps 123). Like Mount Zion are those who trust in the Lord (Ps 125). Out of the depths I call unto you O Lord (Ps 130). Let us enter God’s dwelling, let us worship at the Lord’s footstool. Arise O Lord and enter your dwelling place, You and the Ark of your strength (132). Come and bless the Lord. You who stand in the House of the Lord Lift your hands to the Sanctuary and bless the Lord. The Lord bless you from Zion (134).
Singing these songs, Mary carried Jesus. The climb was even more difficult when carrying a newborn, but the burden was sweet. Then came the final ascent up the stairs to the Temple Mount. They probably entered on the southern side through the Huldah gates. They went up the steep stairs, through the tunnel in the walls, and emerged on the bright Temple platform.
God had returned to His Temple. He and the Ark who carried Him were now found: Mary, the Ark, carrying Jesus in her arms. Jesus, very God Himself, true God from true God. Yes, God and the Ark had been found; God was once again present among His people on the Temple Mount. Scripture says,
And the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his Temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? (Mal 3:1-2)
What a dramatic moment, yet remarkably understated by God! If I had directed the moment I would have called for blaring trumpets, claps of thunder, and a multitude of angels. Everyone would have fallen to his knees in recognition of the great fulfillment and the great return of God to His Temple.
Despite the significance of this moment, only an elderly man and woman (Simeon and Anna) recognized it. They alone understood that they were in the presence of greatness and marveled in it.
Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” There was also a prophetess, Anna … Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem (Luke 2).
Yes, this was the moment that had been anticipated for centuries. The Ark of God (Mary) had been found and God (Jesus) had returned to His temple, but only Simeon and Anna noticed, understood, and celebrated.
What about us? At every Mass, Jesus, God Himself, is present. Do you notice? Do you really see Him or do you see only the priest and the human elements of the Mass? Are you Simeon? Anna? Mary? Joseph? Or are you like the many on the Temple Mount who missed the dramatic moment of God with us?
Monsignor Pope Ping!
Bump!
Love, love Monsignor Pope!
What a blessing to be in Jerusalem today! God bless you!
Thank you for sharing that. I’ve never been there.
Someday everybody will know it wasn’t Groundhog Day when He was presented in the Temple, 40 days after His birth.
But Babylon falls when Truth gets revealed. So,Groundhog day it has to stay till Satan doesn’t deceive the whole world anymore.
We have inherited nothing but lies...
The ‘Feast’ of the Presentation wasn’t a ‘feast’ day at all.
It was a ‘fast day’.A Sabbath. A Day Israel was to ‘fast’, like Anna the prophetess was doing.
The Word truly did become flesh.
That same fast holy day is also the day He began His ministry.
He was born (and baptized) on an appointment day 40 days before the Day of Atonement ,the true day He was presented in the Temple. Began His ministry on the day of Atonement too (same day He was presented in the Temple 30 years earlier).
And then 3.5 years later, at Passover, He finished His work of Redemption and Justification, that began on the Day of Atonement,at about 30 years old.
Israel was commanded to fast on the 9/10th at evening because that is the Messiah of Israel’s 40th day of fasting in the wilderness.
Judaism has no idea why they are called to fast beginning on the evening of the 9th day of the 7th month versus any other day in the year.
Those who have the Son, the Messiah of Israel, can show them the who and the why.
That is sort of what Smyrna and Philadelphia assemblies will do.
The Word did Truly become flesh. The clues,mysteries are found in His Word.
But Satan has developed alternative facts to keep the world enslaved to his Babylonian time and law.
The Truth will set people free indeed!
I’ve not attended theological schools or seminaries, but I read all this as a child and come to the same conclusion today: the writer is assigning more to baby Jesus on the Mount than the scriptures say. Is this where the source of Mary worship originates? With no record of the Ark’s actual destruction recorded in any histories are we to believe it no longer exists? Perhaps this is a lesson that real faith needs no material evidence if one’s soul is touched and blessed.
Did the Templars Hide the Ark of the Covenant? Unraveling the Cove-Jones Cipher
My first time, on my retirement tour of Europe and the Med for about a month (cheap in the winter) Jerusalem is beautiful and lot of fun besides the holy sites. Absolutely will come back.
Tonight is curious, Shabbat the Jewish holy day, Friday sundown to Sat sundown, 99% of business shuts down, NO locals are out only visitors from the sound of chit chat, the number folks out on the street reminded me of 9/11 when you could roll a bowling ball down main street and not hit a soul, only here it happens every Friday and not the same terror feeling. But I tell you what Thursday nite was a blast and looking forward to Saturday nite. LOL
He also could have added the following passage from 2 Maccabees 2:1-8. Although 1 and 2 Maccabees do not appear in the Jewish or Protestant canon, most Christians in the world (Catholics, Orthodox, and Copts, etc.) and throughout most of the Christians era accept them as Sacred Scripture and in any case reflect the traditions and practices of the Jews in the years just prior to the birth of Jesus. This passage relates events that occurred at the time of the Babylonian Exile:
2:1 One finds in the records that Jeremiah the prophet ordered those who were being deported to take some of the fire, as has been told, 2 and that the prophet after giving them the law instructed those who were being deported not to forget the commandments of the Lord, nor to be led astray in their thoughts upon seeing the gold and silver statues and their adornment. 3 And with other similar words he exhorted them that the law should not depart from their hearts.
4 It was also in the writing that the prophet, having received an oracle, ordered that the tent and the ark should follow with him, and that he went out to the mountain where Moses had gone up and had seen the inheritance of God. 5 And Jeremiah came and found a cave, and he brought there the tent and the ark and the altar of incense, and he sealed up the entrance. 6 Some of those who followed him came up to mark the way, but could not find it. 7 When Jeremiah learned of it, he rebuked them and declared: “The place shall be unknown until God gathers his people together again and shows his mercy. 8 And then the Lord will disclose these things, and the glory of the Lord and the cloud will appear, as they were shown in the case of Moses, and as Solomon asked that the place should be specially consecrated.”
Nevertheless she has an especially intimate relation to God, having been espoused and overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, by Whose engendering love and power she became the Mother of the Son. It's absolutely beautiful when you think of it: absolutely beautiful.
About the Ark of the Covenant: after it was lost (many presume captured) in 587 BC, when the Babylonians sacked Jerusalem, it is never to be seen again until Revelation 11:19, when it says:
Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple; and there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.
This introduces the following vision:
"A great portent appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birthpangs, in the anguish of giving birth."This Woman, by way of sign or symbol, is the Woman spoken of way back in Genesis 3:15, when the Lord says to the Serpent: "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers..." They are enemies. This is War!
In Revelation 11:9, this Enemy makes his reappearance ("the great dragon...that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan") and is facing off against the Woman and her offspring, and the Woman is the Mother of the Messiah ("... a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron").
Here we see different aspects of one image: enemy of the Ancient Serpent, mother of the Messiah, Ark of the Covenant.
How is she the Ark? The Ark carried sacred objects--- flakes of manna, the tablets of the Law, and Aron's rod--- associated with God's saving work toward the Hebrew people. For Mary carried not manna, but the Living Bread; not the Law, but the Lawgiver; she carried not just the saving of the Hebrew people, but the Savior of the World.
The Lord had made His dwelling in the Ark; now He made His dwelling in her, his His birthgiving Mother.
Nobody "worships" Mary. This is taught VERY PLAINLY in Catholic theology.
Excellent!
That was beautiful! Thank you for that post!
Yet, that is exactly what Roman Catholicism has declared in their writings.
A simple post from the Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church will illustrate this.
Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix,” CCC 969
IF one compares this to Scripture one finds the following:
As Jesus is our Advocate, so is Mary per Rome.
As the Holy Spirit is our Advocate, so is Mary per Rome.
As the Spirit is our Helper, so is Mary per Rome.
As Jesus is our Mediator, so is Mary per Rome.
I'll explain.
She's attempting to read something into the text that isn't there. She is not a good handler of the Word.
She has selectively quoted a passage from Revelation 12:1-2 without giving a proper explanation of the passage or even telling you where the passage is from.
"A great portent appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birthpangs, in the anguish of giving birth."
Roman Catholics like to claim this is Mary. However, they usually only quote Revelation 12:1 which reads as:
A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars;
and leave out verse 2
and she was with child; and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth.
*****
Why?
Because the second verse nullifies the false Roman Catholic teaching of the Immaculate Conception.
Notice in Rev 12:2 the woman cries out in pain during her labor.
Roman Catholics attempt to say this isn't Mary....but no sound grammatical rule will allow the subject to change mid-sentence. Yet that is what attempts to do.
*****
Now turn to Genesis 3:16.
To the woman He said, “I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you will bring forth children; Yet your desire will be for your husband, And he will rule over you.”
Notice this verse indicates the woman will be in pain as part of the punishment for her sin in the Garden of Eden.
Notice also they claim Genesis 3:15 as being about Mary as well.
Roman Catholics see v15 as being about Mary due to a bad rendering of the Vulgate.
The Catholic Encyclopedia notes this regarding the Vulgate's translation:
No direct or categorical and stringent proof of the dogma can be brought forward from Scripture. But the first scriptural passage which contains the promise of the redemption, mentions also the Mother of the Redeemer. The sentence against the first parents was accompanied by the Earliest Gospel (Proto-evangelium), which put enmity between the serpent and the woman: "and I will put enmity between thee and the woman and her seed; she (he) shall crush thy head and thou shalt lie in wait for her (his) heel" (Genesis 3:15). The translation "she" of the Vulgate is interpretative; it originated after the fourth century, and cannot be defended critically.
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07674d.htm
*****
If Mary is in Revelation 12:1-2 as mrs.d is claiming then she is in Genesis 3:15-16. Her position is in contradiction.
There is no Scriptural support for Rome's reading into the text what they have about Mary.
These are what is called multivalent symbols, as contrasted to allegorical figures. With allegory, usually one abstract idea (like Truth, Wisdom, Sloth, Chastity) is represented by one character. Multivalent symbols can represent related or congruent people and ideas without a one-to-one correspondence.
So the Great Sign can evoke the figure of
She is unquestionably Mary (since the Messiah's one-and-only mother is Mary) but she is also Daughter Zion (undergoing travail) and the Church (undergoing persecution), since v. 17 says the Dragon goes off to wage war "against the rest of her offspring---those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus."
The faithful can be called "children of the Church" and Mary herself has been honored with the name "Mother of Christians," because she is Christ's mother and we are all members of the Body of Christ. Also because we are like the Beloved Disciple at the foot of the Cross, where Jesus gave His Mother a "Son" and gave the Church His mother. "
Ealgeone, I think you would find an interested and respectful audience if you would tell us what YOU think or what YOUR CHURCH teaches about that mysterious Woman Clothed With The Sun. That would be fascinating.
You stumble when you try to tell *Catholics* what *Catholics* believe, because you mostly don't get it right.
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