BIBLE STUDY: December 11th
Antiphon:
O Rex géntium, et desiderátus eárum, Veni, et salva hóminem, quem de limo formásti. |
O King whom all the peoples desire, Come and save man whom you made from clay. |
Cf.
quis non timébit te, o Rex géntium? [Jeremiah 10:7]
Who would not fear you, King of the nations?
and
et movébo omnes gentes et véniet desiderátus cunctis géntibus [Haggai 2:8]
And I will move all nations and the one they desired shall come to all nations.
and
lapis quem reprobavérunt aedificántes factus est in caput ánguli [Psalm 117 (118):22]*
The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner.
and
ipse est enim pax nostra qui fecit útraque unum [Ephesians 2:14]
For he [Christ] is our peace, who has made both [Jew and gentile] one
and
formávit ígitur Dóminus Deus hóminem de limo terræ [Genesis 2:7]
the LORD God formed man out of the clay of the ground
*Psalm 117 in the Septuagint and Vulgate versions, and 118 in the Hebrew version of the Psalm.
The Meeting
The meeting opened with prayer.
The stone which the builders rejected
Verse 22 of Psalm 118 (117) is quoted by Jesus just after he has told the parable of the wicked tenants who killed the
master's servants whenever they were sent to the vinyard, and finally killed the master's son. The clear implication is that
Jesus himself is the stone rejected by the builders, the chief priests and scribes (Matt. 21:33-46). The incident
is also recorded by St Mark (Mark 12:1-12).
In the Acts of the Apostles, St Peter is reported as quoting the same verse and he makes it quite clear that the stone is Jesus: "Then all of you and all the people of Israel should know that it was in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarean whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead; in his name this man stands before you healed. He is 'the stone rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.'" (Acts 4:10-11). Indeed, Peter spells it out quite clearly that the high priest, the elders of the high priestly cast and scribes, whom he is addressing, are the builders.
Also in his first letter, St Peter wrote: "the Lord is good. Come to him, a living stone, rejected by human beings but chosen and precious in the sight of God, and, like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house ... for those without faith: 'The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone'" (1 Peter 2:3b, 4, 5a ... 7b).
It was explained that the writer of psalm was referring to a well known Jewish legend that when the Temple was being built, the builders found one of the stones had been cut to the wrong shape and size. However, later they found they needed a non-standard size to fix two walls together and discovered the rejected stone fitted exactly. It was put as the topmost stone on the corner to fix the two walls together.
At the time of writing, when the Jews were celebrating the
completion in 444 BC of the building of the walls of Jerusalem after the return from Exile, the reference was intended to
be to Israel, the 'stone' rejected by other nations. But Jesus clearly rejected this interpretation since after quoting
the verse from the psalm, he said to the Jewish leaders: "The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given
to a people that will produce its fruit" (Matt. 21:43), i.e. to believing Israelites and Gentiles, the Church,
the New Israel. Jesus, the corner stone, will unite the 'two walls', believing Israelites and believing Gentiles, into
the 'Temple of his Body', the Church.
Psalm 118 (117)
The double numbering of psalms was explained (Click here to see table).
Biblical scholars generally think this psalm was written to be sung as a psalm of thanksgiving at Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) in 444 BC to celebrate the completion of the building of the walls of Jerusalem after the return from Exile. It would have been sung antiphonally, i.e. with priests singing one verse (or so) and the people answering with another verse, as they approached and entered the Temple at the feast.
We discovered also that this psalm is the sixth of the six 'Hallel' psalms (113-118 [112-117]): psalms of praise ('hallel') which look back to the Exodus from Egypt many centuries before and praise God that his people are free. These psalms are sung at important Jewish festivals, particularly at Passover, Shavuot (Pentecost) and Sukkot. They are obviously of great importance to Jews and those listening to Jesus and to St Peter would have been very familiar with the words quoted.
We read the psalm in four sections, thus:
- Verses 1 to 7
1
Give thanks to the LORD, who is good, whose love endures forever.
2
Let the house of Israel say: God's love endures forever.
3
Let the house of Aaron say, God's love endures forever.
4
Let those who fear the LORD say, God's love endures forever.
5
In danger I called on the LORD; the LORD answered me and set me free.
6
The LORD is with me; I am not afraid; what can mortals do against me?
7
The LORD is with me as my helper; I shall look in triumph on my foes.
The opening verses tell everyone to thank the LORD. In verse 2, 'Israel' means all the people of Israel, represented by the ordinary people entering the Temple, whereas 'Aaron' in verse 3 means he priests and levites who were welcoming the people into the Temple. Verse 4 calls on everyone who respects the LORD to give thanks for "God's love endures forever."
Verses 5 to 7 refer to the Israelites' deliverance from their slavery in Egypt several centuries before. In 444 BC, the Jews would also be remembering their deliverance from capivity in Babylon. In one translation, verse 7 read: "I gloat over my enemies", and this felt to be un-Christian - as indeed it is. But it was pointed out that writer of the psalm was not Christian! He is writing from the perspective of a Jew of the mid 5th century BC.
We know from Christ's revelation of God, that "God is love" (1 John 4:8) and that we should love our enemies (Matt. 5:44). To us Christians, the exodus from Egypt under Moses is a 'type' of our deliverance from sin and death by Christ. Our foes are truly devilish: Satan and his angels, who enslave us to sin and bring death to the soul.
- Verses 8 to 14
8
Better to take refuge in the LORD than to put one's trust in mortals.
9
Better to take refuge in the LORD than to put one's trust in princes.
10
All the nations surrounded me; in the LORD'S name I crushed them.
11
They surrounded me on every side; in the LORD'S name I crushed them.
12
They surrounded me like bees; they blazed like fire among thorns; in the LORD'S name I crushed them.
13
I was hard pressed and falling, but the LORD came to my help.
14
The LORD, my strength and might, came to me as savior.
In these verses the psalmist recalls that though the Egyptians pressed them round on all sides, they were delivered, but not by the help of men - only through the power of God. It was only through God's help they settled the Holy Land. So we express our trust in the LORD, since the powers of evil assail us from all sides and we saved from sin and evil only through Christ, God made man.
The images of the swarmng bees and of burning thorn-bush were thought to be particularly vivid.
Verses 14 nd 15 have two different meanings: for the Jews of the mid 5th century BC, it meant that the LORD had saved them from their enemies, both from the Egytianns and from the Babylonians; for Christians it means that Christ has come to our help and saved us from the power of sin and death.
- Verses 15 to 21
15
The joyful shout of deliverance is heard in the tents of the victors: "The LORD'S right hand strikes with power;
16
the LORD'S right hand is raised; the LORD'S right hand strikes with power."
17
I shall not die but live and declare the deeds of the LORD.
18
The LORD chastised me harshly, but did not hand me over to death.
19
Open the gates of victory; I will enter and thank the LORD.
20
This is the LORD'S own gate, where the victors enter.
21
I thank you for you answered me; you have been my saviour.
The 'tents of the victors' obviously refer to the tents in which the Isralites lived on ther journey through the desert from Egypt to the Holy Land; but it also probably referred to the 'booths' of tree branches that were made at Sukkoth, the Feast of Tabernacles since, it is thought, this was when the psalm was first sung in 444 BC. So we, in the 'taberacle of the body' as we journey towards Heaven, shout for joy at our deliverance and the fact that "the LORD'S right hand strikes with power" against the forces of evil.
To us Christians verse 18 has particular meaning: the LORD may have chastised me but it is in order that I might have eternal life in Heaven.
Verses 19 and 20 referred specifically to the gates of the Temple as the procession entered. But they also, for us, refer to the gates of Heaven where "the victors" (cf. Apocalype 2:7, 11, 17 etc,) enter eternal glory since Christ has "been my saviour."
- Verses 22 to 29
22
The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
23
By the LORD has this been done; it is wonderful in our eyes.
24
This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice in it and be glad.
25
LORD, grant salvation! LORD, grant good fortune!
26
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. We bless you from the LORD'S house.
27
The LORD is God and has given us light. Join in procession with leafy branches up to the horns of the altar.
28
You are my God, I give you thanks; my God, I offer you praise.
29
Give thanks to the LORD, who is good, whose love endures forever.
As we seen above, Christ and the Apostles understood the 'cornerstone' to be Christ himself who was rejected, but whom God has made the 'cornerstone' to bring both Jewish and Christian believers together in the Church, the New Israel. The day most especially on which God brought this about was the resurrection, which we commemorate not only at Easter but at each Sunday during the year.
Verse 26 reminded us especially of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and, of course, of the Mass when we repeat these words in the Sanctus.
The 'horns of the altar' were projections at the four corners of the altar, being of one piece with the altar and made of acacia wood overlaid with brass. But for us, verses 26 to the end have a special meaning: it refers to our coming to the altar of the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass where we give thanks (eucharistein) to the LORD "whose love endures forever."
Psalms 113 & 114 (112 & 113)
As we had time, we decided to read the first two of the 'Hallel' Psalms:
- Psalm 113 (112)
1
Alleluia! Praise, you servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD.
2
Blessed be the name of the LORD both now and forever.
3
From the rising of the sun to its setting let the name of the LORD be praised.
4
High above all nations is the LORD; above the heavens God's glory.
5
Who is like the LORD, our God enthroned on high,
6
looking down on heaven and earth?
7
The LORD raises the needy from the dust, lifts the poor from the ash heap,
8
Seats them with princes, the princes of the people,
9
Gives the childless wife a home, the joyful mother of children.
This is a psalm praising the name of the LORD, the ineffable name of God which, as we saw from the 'O Adonái' Antiphon, is Christ, the eternal Word of God. Verses 7 to 9 reminded us of verses in the Magnificat, the song Our Lady sang when she visited Elizabeth before the birth of John the Baptist (Luke 1:46-55). The "childless wife" who became the "joyful mother of children" is surely a reference to Sarah, mother of Isaac, but also a prophecy of Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist.
- Psalm 114 (113)
1
When Israel came forth from Egypt, the house of Jacob from an alien people,
2
Judah became God's holy place, Israel, God's domain.
3
The sea beheld and fled; the Jordan turned back.
4
The mountains skipped like rams; the hills, like lambs of the flock.
5
Why was it, sea, that you fled? Jordan, that you turned back?
6
You mountains, that you skipped like rams? You hills, like lambs of the flock?
7
Tremble, earth, before the Lord, before the God of Jacob,
8
Who turned rock into pools of water, stone into flowing springs.
This psalm clearly refers to the exodus from Egypt, when "Israel became God's domain" and eventually "God's holy place", the Temple, was established in Jerusalem in the Kingdom of Judah. We recalled in verse 3 the crossing of the Red Sea and of the Jordan into the Holy Land.
We realized that the mountains skipping like rams and the hills like lambs was poetic hyperbole! The reference in the last verse is to the miracle of giving drink to the people in the desert (Exodus 17:1-7).
We understand from this psalm that God is Lord of the universe and that just as he brought his chosen people out from the slavery of Egypt into the Holy Land, so he has resued us from the power of Satan and sin so that we may arrive in Heaven. Indeed, God is Lord of the universe, for St Paul reminds us that "neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38,39). Amen!
For next week
Those present were reminded that next week shall reading the
first two chapters of the Gospel according to St Luke, as we consider the 'O Emmánuel' Antiphon. Members
were asked in the meantime to find out about Luke and 'Theophilus', and also, if possible, the apparent problems
with the date given in Luke 2:1, 2 (see 'December 18th: O Emmánuel' in the menu bar).
Conclusion
We finished the meeting by praying the 'O Rex géntium' Antiphon and calling on the intercession of Our Lady,
Mother of our Saviour.
Most of the scripture texts on this page are taken from the New American
Bible with Revised New Testament and Revised Psalms © 1991, 1986, 1970
Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C.
