 Jesus in Context: Watching for the Advent of God & the Final JudgmentThe gospel readings for November (Matthew 25:1-13, 14-30, 31-46; Mk 13:33-37) concern the kingdom of God as it is articulated by Jesus in parables. The first and the last readings thematically sandwich the other two underscoring a singular theme - watchfulness. On the 32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time we encounter the strange story of the ten virgins watching for the coming of the bridegroom (Mt 25:1-13). Likewise, the 1st Sunday in Advent offers the explicit imperative uttered by Jesus three times to his disciples, “watch!” (Mt 13:33-37). In between, the parable of the faithful servants(Mt 25:14-30; 33rd Sunday) emphasizes the necessary risks that one may have to take in light of the coming of God, while the gospel for the feast of Christ the King is the parable of judgment – the sheep and the goats (Mt 25:31-46). So how was it that most Jews of Jesus’ day imagined the “last things” – what did the coming of God entail, and what did it mean for people? While it is not possible to offer a single portrait of 2nd Temple Jewish hopes for the future – let alone cite all of the relevant texts (!) – it is possible to draw out some common threads, and most importantly, to see where Jesus fits right into his religion. Most Jews imagined four components to the coming kingdom of God. First, the (re)assembling of the twelve tribes of Israel: the “tribes of Jacob” will be gathered (Ben Sira 35:11); Israel will be gathered “from east and west” (Baruch 4:37; 5:5); God’s people will be gathered from among the Gentiles (Jubilees 1:15). Second, Gentiles will either be destroyed, converted and/or subdued (Ben Sira 36:1-9; Jubilees 24:29ff.; Enoch 90:19; Psalms of Solomon 17:24, etc.). Third, Jerusalem will be made anew and glorious with the Temple being rebuilt and purified by God (Jubilees 1:17, 27; I Enoch 90:28; 91:13; Tobit 13:16-18; 14:5, etc.). Fourth, the people’s worship will be pure, and the people will, in fact, be righteous (Jubilees 33:11, 20; Psalms of Solomon 17:26ff.; Sibylline Oracles 3:756-781, etc.). The third and fourth elements are interesting as they presume that the then present functioning of the sacrificial cult was not conveying an interior commitment recalling the purpose of Temple sacrifice in the first place – that is, to nurture the relationship between Israel and God, a relationship confirmed by the practice of justice to the “alien, the orphan and the widow” (Deut 14:29; 16:11, 14; 24:19-20; 26:12-13; 27:19; Ps 146:9; Isa 1:17; Jer 7:6; 22:3, etc; cf. Isa 1:10-11; Hosea 6:6; Amos 5:23-24; Jeremiah 6:20; 7:21ff.). Far from an indictment against the Temple cult, this component of Israelite hope imagined a time when covenant would be written on the heart (Jer 31:33). Most Jews of Jesus’ time thought of “judgment” and “rewards and punishment” in terms of the present, that is, if one sinned against God or the covenant, one received his/her punishment in the present life time. This does not mean there was no conception of reward or punishment in the afterlife among first century Jews. It does though, point to how the covenant precepts permeated daily life among God’s people – life between people, and life between people and God. One Rabbi is known to have said that a lot of punishment in the present life is a good sign that in the afterlife, one was more likely to receive reward. Whatever the case may be, we know from Jospehus that some Jews thought that in the afterlife, the souls of the wicked experience eternal punishment (War 2.164), and the lot of evil souls is eternal imprisonment, while good souls pass into new life (Antiq. 18.14). Jesus’ parable of the sheep and the goats is an illustration of the final judgment from a perspective of first century Judaism (Mt 25:31-46). We know this because of Jesus’ description of the Son of Man sitting on his throne with “all the nations” (25:32) before him. In the original Greek, this phrase refers to the Gentile nations – so, the Gentiles. And since Matthew is careful to distinguish between Jesus’ brothers (the disciples) and the Nations (Gentiles) throughout the gospel, what we have here is an expression of the second component of the coming kingdom of God already mentioned above – Gentiles being destroyed, or converted, or subjugated. It is the Son of Man alone who will judge the Nations, and it is the judgment of the Nations that is in view here. The disciples will join the Son of Man in judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Mt 19:28). This reading of the text however, does not displace the divinely revealed teaching of the Church on the Last Judgment (CCC 1038-1041), but rather grounds it securely in the terra firma of Jesus’ religion. So striking about this parable is how criteria for judgment center around the theme of caring for the hungry, naked, ill, and imprisoned – that is, folks dealt a tough hand from society’s deck – the underdog, that is, the “alien, the orphan and the widow.” The Son of Man separates the sheep (the righteous) from the goats (those on his left) based on their caring for, or not, the hungry, naked, imprisoned, sick. For those on his left, there is little consolation: “Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me” (Mt 25:41-43). Jesus’ vision of the criteria of the coming judgment likely reflects early Judaic traditions about what it means to imitate the Lord God. We have a text remarkably similar to Matthew 25:35-36 in the Babylonian Talmud: “What means the text Ye shall walk after the Lord your God? Is it, then, possible for a human being to walk after the Shechinah*; for has it not been said, For the Lord thy God is a devouring fire? But the meaning is to walk after the attributes of the Holy One, blessed be He. As He clothes the naked, for it is written, And the Lord God made Adam and for his wife coats of skin, and clothed them, so do thou also clothe the naked. The Holy One, blessed be He, visited the sick, for it is written, And the Lord appeared unto him by the oaks of Mamre, so do thou also visit the sick. The Holy One, blessed be He, comforted mourners, for it is written, And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed Isaac his son, so do thou also comfort mourners. The Holy One, blessed be He, buried the dead, for it is written, And He buried him in the valley, so do thou also bury the dead” (bavli Sotah 14a). What Jesus and the Sages concur on here, are what are often referred to in the Church as the corporal works of mercy. So watching for the coming of God, the “second coming” of Jesus Messiah – that is, the parousia (say “pah-roo-see-ah”) – entails the imitation of God’s mercy by our own works of mercy “in the meantime.” This theme, of course, recalls for many of us the master work of Thomas a Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, and rightly so, for what better way to watch for our Lord’s coming than by “walking after the Lord your God”? *Key Terms (cumulative from previous installments): Casuistry: Unfortunately, most Christians today understand the practice of casuistry to be by definition dishonest, hypocritical, and with an eye toward trivialities rather than matters of greater importance. Indeed, Jesus accuses Pharisees of this very sort of casuistry (Mt. 23:23). However, the practice of casuistry could have been either benign or malignant, as is the case in many similar situations in life. That said, examples of benign casuistry are plentiful in the Mishnah (for example, Nedarim, 4.2; 9.8). Halachah: Refers to the “path one walks” in following God’s law. Specifically, it is the entirety of the customs, commandments, and divine ordinances (the 613 Mitzvoth!) that a Jew is obliged to follow within the context of the covenant. Hillel: The first of the Pharisaic patriarchs appointed by Herod to preside over the Sanhedrin in 30 BC. Hillel is one of the most well known Pharisaic sages of the 1st Century, and famous for his liberal inclination toward interpreting Torah. Josephus (b. AD 38): Jewish historian whose works represent one of our most important primary sources for information about 1st Century Judaism. Leviticus Rabbah: Seventh Century midrash (interpretation) on Leviticus. Matthew’s Community: A phrase used by biblical scholars to refer the particular community of believers in Jesus Messiah to/for whom Matthew composed his Gospel. Likewise, Mark’s, Luke’s, and John’s “community.” Mishnah: The compilation of the Oral Torah, or oral tradition(s), completed around AD 200. Most biblical scholars recognize that many of the traditions found in the Mishnah may go as far back as the 2nd Century BC. “Berakoth,” “blessings” or “benedictions” in Hebrew, is the title of the first section of the Mishnah. Rabbinic Judaism: Judaism as it emerged from the destruction of the Temple in AD 70. Most likely grounded in the Pharisaic tradition(s) and reaching a pinnacle around AD 200 with the compilation of the Mishnah. Shammai (d. AD 30): Another well known Pharisaic patriarch and contemporary of Hillel and Jesus. Shammai is famous for a more conservative and rigid interpretation of Torah. Shechinah: The divine presence of God. Shema: The Shema is the prayer (Deut. 6:4-9) that best encapsulates the theology and the piety of ancient Judaism. “Hear (Shema!) Oh Israel, the Lord our G-d, the Lord is One” (Deut. 6:4). Tefillah: “Prayer” in Hebrew. Tefillah refers to the obligatory benedictions/blessings usually prayed daily along with the Shema. Bibliography: The Babylonian Talmud, Soncino Press, 1990. The Midrash Rabbah, IV, Soncino Press, 1983. Pope John Paul II, Crossing the Threshold of Hope, Knopf, 1995. Jacob Neusner, The Mishnah: A New Translation, Yale University Press, 1988. E P Sanders, Jewish Law from Jesus to the Mishnah, SCM Press, 1990. E P Sanders, Judaism: Practice & Belief, 63 BCE-66CE, SCM Press, 1994. Yaacov David Herzog, The Mishnah: Berakoth – Peah – Demai, Soncino Press, 1980. |