1 And Jacob called his sons, and said to them: Gather yourselves together, that I may tell
you the things that shall befall you in the last days.
2 Gather yourselves together, and hear, O ye sons
of Jacob, hearken to Israel, your father:
3 Ruben, my firstborn, thou art my strength, and
the beginning of my sorrow; excelling in gifts, greater in command.
My strength, etc... He calls him his
strength, as being born while Jacob was in his full strength and vigour:
he calls him the beginning of his sorrow, because cares and sorrows
usually come on with the birth of children. Excelling in gifts, etc.,
because the firstborn had a title to a double portion, and to have the
command over his brethren, which Ruben forfeited by his sin; being poured
out as water, that is, spilt and lost.
4 Thou art poured
out as water, grow thou not; because thou wentest up to thy father's
bed, and didst defile his couch.
Grow thou not... This was not meant by way
of a curse or imprecation; but by way of a prophecy foretelling that the
tribe of Ruben should not inherit the preeminences usually annexed to the
first birthright, viz., the double portion, the being prince or lord over
the other brethren, and the priesthood: of which the double portion was
given to Joseph, the princely office to Juda, and the priesthood to Levi.
5 Simeon and Levi
brethren: vessels of iniquity waging war.
6 Let not my soul go into their counsel, nor my
glory be in their assembly: because in their fury they slew a man, and
in their selfwill they undermined a wall.
Slew a man,... viz., Sichem the son of
Hemor, with all his people, Genesis 34; mystically and prophetically it
alludes to Christ, whom their posterity, viz., the priests and the
scribes, put to death.
7 Cursed be their
fury, because it was stubborn: and their wrath, because it was cruel: I
will divide them in Jacob, and will scatter them in Israel.
8 Juda, thee shall thy brethren praise: thy hand
shall be on the necks of thy enemies; the sons of thy father shall bow
down to thee.
9 Juda is a lion's whelp: to
the prey, my son, thou art gone up: resting thou hast couched as a lion,
and as a lioness, who shall rouse him?
10 The sceptre shall not be taken
away from Juda, nor a ruler from his thigh, till he come that is to be sent,
and he shall be the expectation
of nations.
A lion's whelp, etc... This
blessing of Juda foretells the strength of his tribe, the fertility of his
inheritance; and principally that the sceptre and legislative power should
not be utterly taken away from his race till about the time of the coming
of Christ: as in effect it never was.
11 Tying his foal to the vineyard, and his ass, O my son, to the vine. He
shall wash his robe in wine, and his garment in the blood of the grape.
12 His eyes are more beautiful than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.
13 Zabulon shall dwell on the seashore, and in the road of ships, reaching
as far as Sidon.
14 Issachar shall be a strong ass, lying down between the borders.
15 He saw rest that it was good: and the land that it was excellent: and
he bowed his shoulder to carry, and became a servant under tribute.
16 Dan shall judge his people like another tribe in Israel.
Dan shall judge, etc... This was verified in
Samson, who was of the tribe of Dan, and began to deliver Israel. Judges
13:5. But as this deliverance was but temporal and very imperfect, the
holy patriarch (Genesis 49:18) aspires after another kind of deliverer,
saying: I will look for thy salvation, O Lord.
17 Let Dan be a snake in
the way, a serpent in the path, that biteth the horse's heels, that his
rider may fall backward.
18 I will look for thy salvation, O Lord.
19 Gad, being girded, shall fight before him: and he himself shall be
girded backward.
Gad being girded, etc... It seems to allude
to the tribe of Gad; when after they had received for their lot the land
of Galaad, they marched in arms before the rest of the Israelites, to the
conquest of the land of Chanaan: from whence they afterwards returned
loaded with spoils. See Joshua 4 and 12.
20 Aser, his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield dainties to kings.
21 Nephthali, a hart let loose, and giving words of beauty.
22 Joseph is a growing son, a growing son and comely to behold: the daughters
run to and fro upon the wall;
Run to and fro, etc... To behold his beauty;
whilst his envious brethren turned their darts against him, etc.
23 But they that held
darts, provoked him, and quarrelled with him, and envied him.
24 His bow rested upon the strong, and the bands of his arms and his hands
were loosed, by the hands of the mighty one of Jacob: thence he came forth
a pastor, the stone of Israel.
His bow rested upon the strong, etc... That
is, upon God, who was his strength: who also loosed his bands, and brought
him out of prison to be the pastor, that is, the feeder and ruler of
Egypt, and the stone, that is, the rock and support of Israel.
25 The God of thy
father shall be thy helper, and the Almighty shall bless thee with the
blessings of heaven above, with the blessings of the deep that lieth
beneath, with the blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
26 The blessings of thy father are
strengthened with the blessings of his fathers: until the desire of the
everlasting hills should come: may they be upon the head of Joseph, and
upon the crown of the Nazarite among his brethren.
The blessings of thy father, etc... That is,
thy father's blessings are made more prevalent and effectual in thy
regard, by the additional strength they receive from his inheriting the
blessings of his progenitors Abraham and Isaac. The desire of the
everlasting hills, etc... These blessings all looked forward towards
Christ, called the desire of the everlasting hills, as being longed for,
as it were, by the whole creation. Mystically, the patriarchs and prophets
are called the everlasting hills, by reason of the eminence of their
wisdom and holiness. The Nazarite... This word signifies one separated;
and agrees to Joseph, as being separated from, and more eminent than, his
brethren. As the ancient Nazarites were so called from their being set
aside for God, and vowed to him.
27 Benjamin a ravenous
wolf, in the morning shall eat the prey, and in the evening shall divide
the spoil.
28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: these things their father
spoke to them, and he blessed every one with their proper blessings.
29 And he charged them, saying: I am now going to be gathered to my
people: bury me with my fathers in the double cave, which is in the field
of Ephron the Hethite,
To be gathered to my people... That is, I am
going to die, and so to follow my ancestors that are gone before me, and
to join their company in another world.
30 Over against
Mambre, in the land of Chanaan, which Abraham bought together with the
field, of Ephron the Hethite, for a possession to bury in.
31 There they buried him, and Sara his wife: there
was Isaac buried with Rebecca, his wife: there also Lia doth lie buried.
32 And when he had ended the commandments, wherewith he instructed his sons,
he drew up his feet upon the bed, and died: and he was gathered to his people.
8 Moses – Exodus
Read Ex 12:1-18. Unleavened bread.
Passover. This is the celebration of Jesus at the Last Supper.
1 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt:
2 This month shall be to you the beginning of months; it shall be the
first in the months of the year.
3 Speak ye to the whole assembly of the children of Israel, and say to
them: On the tenth day of this month let every man take a lamb by their
families and houses.
4 But if the number be less than may suffice to eat the lamb, he shall
take unto him his neighbour that joineth to his house, according to the
number of souls which may be enough to eat the lamb.
5 And it shall be a lamb without blemish, a male, of one year; according
to which rite also you shall take a kid.
6 And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day
of this month; and the whole multitude of the children of Israel shall
sacrifice it in the evening.
7 And they shall take of the blood thereof, and put it upon both the
side posts, and on the upper door posts of the houses, wherein they
shall eat it.
8 And they shall eat the flesh that night roasted at the fire, and
unleavened bread with wild lettuce.
9 You shall not eat thereof any thing raw, nor boiled in water, but only
roasted at the fire; you shall eat the head with the feet and entrails
thereof.
10 Neither shall there remain any thing of it until morning. If there be
any thing left, you shall burn it with fire.
11 And thus you shall eat it: you shall gird your reins, and you shall
have shoes on your feet, holding staves in your hands, and you shall eat
in haste; for it is the Phase (that is the Passage) of the Lord.
12 And I will pass through the land of Egypt that
night, and will kill every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and
beast: and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments; I am
the Lord.
13 And the blood shall be unto you for a sign in the houses where you
shall be; and I shall see the blood, and shall pass over you; and the
plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I shall strike the
land of Egypt.
14 And this day shall be for a memorial to you; and you shall keep it a
feast to the Lord in your generations, with an everlasting observance.
15 Seven days shall you eat unleavened bread: in the first day there
shall be no leaven in your houses; whosoever shall eat any thing
leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall
perish out of Israel.
16 The first day shall be holy and solemn, and the seventh day shall be
kept with the like solemnity: you shall do no work in them, except those
things that belong to eating.
17 And you shall observe the feast of the unleavened bread: for in this
same day I will bring forth your army out of the land of Egypt, and you
shall keep this day in your generations by a perpetual observance.
18 The first month, the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, you
shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the same
month, in the evening.
Ex 14 discusses the Exodus itself.
1 And the Lord spoke to
Moses, saying:
2 Speak to the children of Israel: Let them turn and encamp over against
Phihahiroth, which is between Magdal and the sea over against Beelsephon:
you shall encamp before it upon the sea.
3 And Pharo will say of the children of Israel: They are straitened in the
land, the desert hath shut them in.
4 And I shall harden his heart and he will pursue you: and I shall be
glorified in Pharo, and in all his army: and the Egyptians shall know that
I am the Lord. And they did so.
5 And it was told the king of the Egyptians that the people was fled: and
the heart of Pharo and of his servants was changed with regard to the
people, and they said: What meant we to do, that we let Israel go from
serving us?
6 So he made ready his chariot, and took all his people with him.
7 And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots that were
in Egypt: and the captains of the whole army.
8 And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharo, king of Egypt, and he pursued
the children of Israel; but they were gone forth in a mighty hand.
9 And when the Egyptians followed the steps of them who were gone before,
they found them encamped at the sea side: all Pharo's horse and chariots
and the whole army were in Phihahiroth, before Beelsephon.
10 And when Pharo drew near, the children of Israel lifting up their eyes,
saw the Egyptians behind them: and they feared exceedingly, and cried to
the Lord.
11 And they said to Moses: Perhaps there were no graves in Egypt,
therefore thou hast brought us to die in the wilderness: why wouldst thou
do this, to lead us out of Egypt?
12 Is not this the word that we spoke to thee in Egypt, saying: Depart
from us, that we may serve the Egyptians? for it was much better to serve
them, than to die in the wilderness.
13 And Moses said to the people: Fear not: stand, and see the great
wonders of the Lord, which he will do this day; for the Egyptians, whom
you see now, you shall see no more for ever.
14 The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.
15 And the Lord said to Moses: Why criest thou to me? Speak to the
children of Israel to go forward.
16 But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch forth thy hand over the sea, and
divide it: that the children of Israel may go through the midst of the sea
on dry ground.
17 And I will harden the heart of the Egyptians to pursue you: and I will
be glorified in Pharo, and in all his host, and in his chariots and in his
horsemen.
18 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall be
glorified in Pharo, and in his chariots, and in his horsemen.
19 And the angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, removing,
went behind them: and together with him the pillar of the cloud, leaving
the forepart,
20 Stood behind, between the Egyptians' camp and the camp of Israel: and
it was a dark cloud, and enlightening the night, so that they could not
come at one another all the night.
21 And when Moses had stretched forth his hand over the sea, the Lord took
it away by a strong and burning wind blowing all the night, and turned it
into dry ground: and the water was divided.
22 And the children of Israel went in through the midst of the sea dried
up; for the water was as a wall on their right hand and on their left.
23 And the Egyptians pursuing went in after them, and all Pharo's horses,
his chariots and horsemen, through the midst of the sea. 24 And now the
morning watch was come, and behold the Lord looking upon the Egyptian army
through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, slew their host.
25 And overthrew the wheels of the chariots, and they were carried into
the deep. And the Egyptians said: Let us flee from Israel; for the Lord
fighteth for them against us.
26 And the Lord said to Moses: Stretch forth thy hand over the sea, that
the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and
horsemen.
27 And when Moses had stretched forth his hand towards the sea, it
returned at the first break of day to the former place: and as the
Egyptians were fleeing away, the waters came upon them, and the Lord shut
them up in the middle of the waves.
28 And the waters returned, and covered the chariots and the horsemen of
all the army of Pharo, who had come into the sea after them, neither did
there so much as one of them remain.
29 But the children of Israel marched through the midst of the sea upon
dry land, and the waters were to them as a wall on the right hand and on
the left:
30 And the Lord delivered Israel in that day out of the hands of the
Egyptians.
31 And they saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore, and the mighty hand
that the Lord had used against them: and the people feared the Lord, and
they believed the Lord, and Moses his servant.
Note the imagery of a “people in
bondage.” This prefigures the idea of Christ freeing us from the bondage of
sin. Also note the passing through the waters of the Red Sea to reach
freedom from bondage. This prefigures Baptism, which removes sin and frees
us from the bond of sin. Note also, that after the birth of Christ, Joseph
was told to go to Egypt to escape Herod. They returned to Israel after Herod
died. This has the sense of completing the cycle.
After they are safe, the people soon forget the works of God and
grumble about the lack of water. So God gives them water but also warns
them: in
Ex 15:22-27
22 And Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea, and they went forth into the wilderness of Sur:
and they marched three days through the wilderness, and found no water.
23 And they came into Mara, and they could not drink the waters of Mara
because they were bitter: whereupon he gave a name also agreeable to the
place, calling it Mara, that is, bitterness.
24 And the people murmured against Moses, saying: What shall we drink?
25 But he cried to the Lord, and he showed him a tree, which when he had
cast into the waters, they were turned into sweetness. There he appointed
him ordinances, and judgments, and there he proved him,
26 Saying: If thou wilt hear the voice of the Lord thy God, and do what is
right before him, and obey his commandments, and keep all his precepts,
none of the evils that I laid upon Egypt, will I bring upon thee: for I am
the Lord thy healer.
27 And the children of Israel came into Elim, where there were twelve
fountains of water, and seventy palm trees: and they encamped by the
waters.
Again, the Israelites grumble about leaving Egypt only to starve in the desert.
Moses is angry with them for not relying on God.
Ex 16:12-14
12 I have heard the
murmuring of the children of Israel, say to them: In the evening you shall
eat flesh, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; and you
shall know that I am the Lord your God.
13 So it came to pass in the evening, that quails coming up, covered the
camp: and in the morning a dew lay round about the camp.
14 And when it had covered the face of the earth, it appeared in the
wilderness small, and as it were beaten with a pestle, like unto the hoar
frost on the ground.
The bread, manna in the desert is food for the body, but Jesus (
Jn
6:31-35) compares manna to the “Bread of Life come down from
heaven.” which will satisfy forever, which is Jesus himself and Holy
Eucharist.
Ex 20 describes the 10 Commandments – a
Covenant between God and Israel. This
covenant
requires that the people keep the law. Jesus preaches that the law should be
in your heart, not just on your lips as with the Pharisees and Saducees.
The Ark of the Covenant is built (
Ex 37)
and in
Ex 40 God inhabits the Word
of God is also placed within. Mary becomes the Arc of the New Covenent and
Jesus, the Word, is carried in her womb.
Note also that only one of the tribes of Israel is to become the priests of
Israel. We see that originally all men are priests, then we have the sons of
Shem, then the children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are in a priestly
relationship with God. Now only the tribe of Levi. Finally, Jesus comes and
he becomes the only High Priest as St. Paul writes.
9 Kings and Promise of Christ
1 Sam 8 describes the Israelites
asking for a King and God’s response. God gives them a king, though up until
then he had ruled the people by his Covenant and law. But the king will take
their goods and their sons and daughters..
4 Then all the ancients
of Israel being assembled came to Samuel to Ramatha.
5 And they said to him: Behold thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy
ways: make us a king, to judge us, as all nations have.
6 And the word was displeasing in the eyes of Samuel, that they should
say: Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed to the Lord.
7 And the Lord said to Samuel: Hearken to the voice of the people in all
that they say to thee. For they have not rejected thee, but me, that I
should not reign over them.
8 According to all their works, they have done from the day that I brought
them out of Egypt until this day: as they have forsaken me, and served
strange gods, so do they also unto thee.
9 Now, therefore, hearken to their voice: but yet testify to them, and
foretell them the right of the king, that shall reign over them. The
right... That is, the manner (misphat) after which he shall proceed,
having no one to control him, when he has the power in his hand.
10 Then Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people that had
desired a king of him,
11 And said: This will be the right of the king that shall reign over you:
He will take your sons, and put them in his chariots, and will make them
his horsemen, and his running footmen, to run before his chariots,
12 And he will appoint of them to be his tribunes, and his centurions, and
to plough his fields, and to reap his corn, and to make him arms and
chariots.
13 Your daughters also he will take to make him ointments, and to be his
cooks, and bakers.
14 And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your best
oliveyards, and give them to his servants.
15 Moreover he will take the tenth of your corn, and of the revenues of
your vineyards, to give to his eunuchs and servants.
16 Your servants also, and handmaids, and your goodliest young men, and
your asses, he will take away, and put them to his work. 17 Your flocks
also he will tithe, and you shall be his servants.
18 And you shall cry out in that day from the face of the king, whom you
have chosen to yourselves: and the Lord will not hear you in that day,
because you desired unto yourselves a king.
19 But the people would not hear the voice of Samuel, and they said, Nay:
but there shall be a king over us,
20 And we also will be like all nations: and our king shall judge us, and
go out before us, and fight our battles for us.
21 And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and rehearsed them in the
ears of the Lord.
22 And the Lord said to Samuel: Hearken to their voice, and make them a
king. And Samuel said to the men of Israel: Let every man go to his city.
Read 2 Sam 7:12-16.
God makes a
covenant
with David that an everlasting king will come from his descendants.
12 And when thy days
shall be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will raise up
thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of the bowels, and I will
establish his kingdom.
13 He shall build a house to my name, and I will establish the throne of
his kingdom fore ever.
14 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son: and if he
commit any iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men, and with the
stripes of the children of men.
15 But my mercy I will not take away from him, as I took it from Saul,
whom I removed from before my face.
16 And thy house shall be faithful, and thy kingdom for ever before thy
face, and thy throne shall be firm for ever.
The decendant is Christ, who is called the son of David in scripture, and who is the
builder of the true temple, which is the church, his everlasting kingdom,
which shall never fail.
10 Israel Breaks Covenant – Prophecy of Christ
Israel breaks the Covenant and is punished, and forgiven (many times). The
(major) prophets Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah and Jeremiah are involved in much of
this to warn the people and to bring them back to God. Prophet mainly means
to witness to the truth. One instance of this is in
1 Kg16-18, 38-39
16 Abdias therefore went
to meet Achab, and told him: and Achab came to meet Elias.
17 And when he had seen him, he said: Art thou he that troublest Israel?
18 And he said: I have not troubled Israel, but thou and thy father's
house, who have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and have followed
Baal
38 Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the holocaust, and the
wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in
the trench.
39 And when all the people saw this, they fell on their faces, and they
said: The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.
Read Is 7:13-16. The prophecy of the Virgin birth of Jesus from Mary.
Emmanuel means "God with us."
13 And he said: Hear ye therefore, O house of David: Is it a small
thing for you to be grievous to men, that you are grievous to my God also?
14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold a virgin shall
conceive, and bear a son and his name shall be called Emmanuel.
15 He shall eat butter and honey, that he may know to refuse the evil, and
to choose the good.
16 For before the child know to refuse the evil and to choose the good,
the land which thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of the face of her two
kings.
Read Is 9:2-7.
The kingdom will last forever. Christ's Kingdom on heaven and earth is
eternal. The kingdom on earth is the Church.
2 The people that walked
in darkness, have seen a great light: to them that dwelt in the region of
the shadow of death, light is risen.
3 Thou hast multiplied the nation, and hast not increased the joy. They
shall rejoice before thee, as they that rejoice in the harvest, as
conquerors rejoice after taking a prey, when they divide the spoils.
4 For the yoke of their burden, and the rod of their shoulder, and the
sceptre of their oppressor thou hast overcome, as in the day of Madian.
5 For every violent taking of spoils, with tumult, and garment mingled
with blood, shall be burnt, and be fuel for the fire.
6 For a CHILD IS BORN to us, and a son is given to us, and the government
is upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor,
God the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace.
7 His empire shall be multiplied, and there shall be no end of peace: he
shall sit upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom; to establish it
and strengthen it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth and for
ever: the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
Read Is 11:1-5.
The type of kingdom that will come. Note the reference to the rod of
Jesse (as in the O Antiphons and the hymn "O come, O come, Emmanueal"). Also
note the similarity in tone to the Magnificat.
1 And there shall come
forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of
his root.
2 And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: the spirit of wisdom,
and of understanding, the spirit of counsel, and of fortitude, the spirit
of knowledge, and of godliness.
3 And he shall be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord, He shall
not judge according to the sight of the eyes, nor reprove according to the
hearing of the ears.
4 But he shall judge the poor with justice, and shall reprove with equity
the meek of the earth: and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his
mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.
5 And justice shall be the girdle of his loins: and faith the girdle of
his reins.
Read Is 53.
This is a prophecy of the death that Jesus would face. It tells how
Christ bears all our sins, and suffers for us. That God will do this out of
love for us, willingly offering up his Son, our Lord, Jesus. Through this
many will be justified and he will be rewarded above all others.
1 Who hath
believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?
2 And he shall grow up as a tender plant before
him, and as a root out of a thirsty ground: there is no beauty in him,
nor comeliness: and we have seen him, and there was no sightliness, that
we should be desirous of him:
3 Despised, and the most abject of men, a man of
sorrows, and acquainted with infirmity: and his look was as it were
hidden and despised, whereupon we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he hath borne our infirmities and carried
our sorrows: and we have thought him as it were a leper, and as one
struck by God and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our iniquities, he was
bruised for our sins: the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by
his bruises we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray, every one
hath turned aside into his own way: and the Lord hath laid on him the
iniquity of us all.
7 He was offered because it was his own will, and
he opened not his mouth: he shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter,
and shall be dumb as a lamb before his shearer, and he shall not open
his mouth.
8 He was taken away from distress, and from
judgment: who shall declare his generation? because he is cut off out of
the land of the living: for the wickedness of my people have I struck
him.
9 And he shall give the ungodly for his burial,
and the rich for his death: because he hath done no iniquity, neither
was there deceit in his mouth.
10 And the Lord was pleased to bruise him in
infirmity: if he shall lay down his life for sin, he shall see a
longlived seed, and the will of the Lord shall be prosperous in his
hand.
11 Because his soul hath laboured, he shall see
and be filled: by his knowledge shall this my just servant justify many,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore will I distribute to him very many,
and he shall divide the spoils of the strong, because he hath delivered
his soul unto death, and was reputed with the wicked: and he hath borne
the sins of many, and hath prayed for the transgressors.
11 Nativity
Read Lk 1:26-38
26 And in the sixth
month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called
Nazareth,
27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of
David: and the virgin's name was Mary.
28 And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the
Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
29 Who having heard, was troubled at his saying and thought with herself
what manner of salutation this should be.
30 And the angel said to her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace
with God.
31 Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and shalt bring forth a son: and
thou shalt call his name Jesus.
32 He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Most High. And the
Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father: and he shall
reign in the house of Jacob for ever.
33 And of his kingdom there shall be no end.
34 And Mary said to the angel: How shall this be done, because I know not
man?
35 And the angel answering, said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon
thee and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore
also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
36 And behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she also hath conceived a son in her
old age: and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren.
37 Because no word shall be impossible with God.
38 And Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it done to me
according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
Note that Jesus is of the house of David (vs 27). He shall have an
everlasting kingdom as prophesied by Isaiah. The fathers of the church and
others have commented that “full of grace” must mean without sin. Since Mary
could not have the joy of Baptism to remove original sin, she must,
therefore, have been born free of sin (Immaculate Conception). The name
Jesus means “Jehova is salvation.”
12 Passion
The Passion of Christ (Lk 22-24) illustrates that Jesus is the new
sacrificial lamb, just as in Exodus the blood of the lamb set the people
free from the bondage of Egypt, thus the Blood of Christ sets us free from
true bondage, that of sin. Note Mt 26:26-28). Jesus calls this the new
Covenant.
26 And whilst they were at supper, Jesus took bread
and blessed and broke and gave to his disciples and said: Take ye and eat.
This is my body.
This is my body... He does not say, This is
the figure of my body--but This is my body. (2 Council of Nice, Act. 6.)
Neither does he say in this, or with this is my body; but absolutely, This
is my body: which plainly implies transubstantiation.
27 And taking the chalice, he gave thanks and gave
to them, saying: Drink ye all of this.
Drink ye all of this... This was spoken to
the twelve apostles; who were the all then present; and they all drank of
it, says Mark 14:23. But it no ways follows from these words spoken to the
apostles, that all the faithful are here commanded to drink of the
chalice; any more than that all the faithful are commanded to consecrate,
offer and administer this sacrament; because Christ upon this same
occasion, and at the same time, bid the apostles do so; in these words,
Luke 22:19, Do this for a commemoration of me.
28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which
shall be shed for many unto remission of sins.
Blood of the new testament... As the old
testament was dedicated with the blood of victims, by Moses, in these
words: This is the blood of the testament, etc. [Hebrews 9:20]; so here is
the dedication and institution of the new testament, in the blood of
Christ, here mystically shed by these words: This is the blood of the new
testament, etc.
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