04.23.24 - Topic Night - Women in the Bible

www.meetup.com/catholicbiblestudy

Every Tuesday, 7PM-8PM

This meeting is a lecture/Q&A format. It is free.

House rules/notes…

1.      Our meeting/classes are In-Person at St. John Neumann Catholic Church 11900 Lawyers Road, Reston, VA 20191 https://saintjn.org/  (usually held downstairs in Room 5), or ONLINE via Zoom (see #2).

2.      To sign up for Zoom notifications and to receive the Meeting Recaps, go to www.meetup.com/catholicbiblestudy and join us! The Zoom Logon is the same every week:  Zoom ID: 861 1782 2081  Password: 406952.  

3.      After each meeting, I send out Meeting Recaps of what we discussed. Please remember these recaps are unedited and without the pictures. The edited version with pictures will be posted before the next class on the Website –  www.CatholicCatacombs.org. Taylor will notify everyone at that time and provide a link.

4.      Questions encouraged. If you have questions, we ask that you keep them on topic and brief. You can ask in the chat box during the class, or email through Meetup.com, or email me at ron@hallagan.net afterwards.

5.      Respectfulness. We will be discussing differences between religions and between Christian denominations, and we agree to be respectful at all times. Protestants especially are our friends and brothers-in-Christ; in fact, I personally owe part of my return to the faith to them!

6.      No politics.  It would be easy for us to self-destruct, but that’s not our goal. Our goal is to learn/understand/apply the Bible and our Catholic faith.

7.      Catholic Prayer & Fellowship. Are you interested in praying the rosary, etc. with other Catholics during the week?  Follow fellow member Jason Goldberg at https://www.meetup.com/online-catholic-prayer-fellowship-and-spirituality/.  Daily/weekly prayer is saintly!

8.      “The Chosen” TV series.  All of us seek a relationship with Jesus Christ, which is not always easy. It can help if we have seen and heard Him. The Chosen captures Jesus better than any show I have ever seen. Highly recommended. 

9.      RSVP Reminder:  Please RSVP whether you are attending the meeting or just reading the Recaps afterwards. The more RSVPs, the more Meetup will give exposure to “Catholic Bible Study” – a good thing!

Catholic Catacombs website:  www.CatholicCatacombs.org 

Bible Study Format:   Each week of the month has a repeating topic, as noted below.

Each meeting: 5 min greet, prayer, 15 min next Sun Gospel, 40 min main topic. 

Week 1:  Gospel Week: all Gospels!   

Week 2:  Bible Week (Gen to Rev):  We are in 1 SAMUEL 

Week 3:  Survey Topics Voted on by Members:       

x 1) Jesus’ Greatest Parables      x 2) Hell, Purgatory, Heaven      x 3) Comparative Religions  

    4) Great Women in the Bible                 5) Book of Revelation             6) Fathers, Heresies, and Church Councils

Week 4: Member Questions:

1.     Please explain the origin and essence of the Creed.

2.     What is “conscience?”

3.     How do I live my Christian faith at work when my faith is not accepted there?

4.     What should our response be to those who ask us about priestly sex abuse?

5.     What about the atheist who leads a good life? Can I be a person be good apart from God?

6.     Miracles since the NT

7.     What’s the difference between Charity and Love? What are the highest forms of charity?

8.     Was King David good or bad? Was Emperor Constantine good or bad? Was he a Christian? What is a prophet?

9.     Why does God allow suffering?

10.                        What do you think a day in the life of God is like to Him?

11.                        What is Tradition? Is Tradition equal to Scripture in importance? (2Thes2:15)

Upcoming major holy days in the Church

May 9 – The Ascension of Jesus Christ (40 days after the Resurrection)          

May 19 – Pentecost (10 days after Ascension, 50 days after Resurrection, replaces Jewish Pentecost)

Q: What happened on these days in Jewish history that Jesus elevated in the New Covenant?

    Passover à Last Supper; 40 days later Moses ascends Mt. Sinai  à Ascension; 50 days later 10 Comndmts à Pentecost

Opening Prayer

Dear Lord

As we continue our study of the most influential women in the Bible

We welcome Your presence beside us to improve our understanding of Salvation History

So that we may continue in the path of our forebears in faith.

And as You taught us to pray:

Our Father

Who art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name.

Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.

Give us this day our daily Bread;

And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Today

1.     Apologetics – Sabbath clarification, Consubstantial, Communion

2.     Gospel reading – John 10:11-18, 5th Sunday of Easter

3.     Matristics – Influential Women in the Bible: Mother of the 7 Sons in 2Maccabees; Jesus & the Adulteress

Quote of the Week:  Mary compared to the moon.

God, Who made the sun, also made the moon. The moon does not take away from the brilliance of the sun. The moon would be only a burnt-out cinder floating in the immensity of space were it not for the sun. All its light is reflected from the sun. The Blessed Mother reflects her Divine Son; without Him, she is nothing. With Him, she is the Mother of Men. – Blessed Fulton Sheen        (The Church is likewise compared to the moon.)

Apologetics and Exegesis Terms

Exegesis is the study/interpretation of the Word of God. If Jesus IS the Word of God, then you might also say that exegesis is the study/interpretation of Jesus. In a way, then, Jesus is also the exegesis of the Father!  A more down to earth definition: exegesis is the study and interpretation of the Word of God (Scripture). It is what we do every week. You are all exegetes.

Catholic Apologetics– apologetics means to defend a belief, so Catholic Apologetics is the art of defending the Catholic faith using reason, tradition, and Scripture.   

Apologetics of the Week

Sabbath Clarification: I said last class that Christians did not “take over” the Sabbath from the Jews and make it Sunday. This is true – Jews still celebrate Sabbath on Saturday. The “Christian day of rest” (“Breaking Bread”) was always on Sunday – the day Jesus rose – which was called “The Lord’s Day.” The Apostles still attended synagogues on Saturdays for Scripture readings and sermons until they were barred from entering, after which they moved this part (what we call the “Liturgy of the Word” – first half of our Mass) to Sundays before the “Breaking of the Bread,” now called the “Liturgy of the Eucharist.” “Sabbath” simply means “rest” from our worldly routines to focus one day on our relationship with God, and in that sense, the “Sabbath” is indeed Sunday.

That said, you may recall that official Sabbath days start at 6pm (sundown) on Friday and end 6pm (sundown) on Saturday because that’s how their days were always measured. Have you ever wondered why the Church allows Saturday evening Masses? That’s why! And there are still Christians who practice “Sunday Sabbath” from Saturdays eve to Sunday eve.

Q:  What is Consubstantial and where do we see it most often used?

We use it in the Creed: We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father.

Consubstantial is a philosophical term that translates as “same substance” and means of the same essence, or the same being. This was an important distinction in the first several centuries as early heresies sometimes thought Jesus was a separate being that was created by God and entered into time like the rest of us, so the early Church added it to the Creed to make it clear that Jesus was always present with the Father since before time. As the Apostle John wrote:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. – John 1:1

Sometimes, you will read a version of the Creed that says, “One in Being with the Father” instead of consubstantial, and that’s perfectly fine.

Gospel reading: Jesus and the True Vine   John 15:1-8   5th Sunday of Easter (April 21)

Context: 

Much of John's chapters 14-17 take place at the Last Supper and are known as Jesus' Farewell Discourse.  It's hard to follow unless we are also considering what comes next – his death, Resurrection, Ascension, and then Pentecost.

To understand Jesus' teaching of the "True Vine," it important to understand how the disciples associated the significance of Israel as "the Vine" in the Old Testament.  All Israelites understood that to be ethnically Jewish – or to become a convert to the Covenant like Ruth and Rahib – is to be identified one as part of "The Vine" of Yahweh that is Israel. 

The Jews also knew that Israel's record of being united to Yahweh's vine was not good. The prophet Hosea was sent to the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the 8th century BC. His warnings were not heeded and they fell to the Assyrians in 721 BC. The prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel were likewise sent to the Southern Kingdom of Judah in the 6th century BC prior to its conquest and destruction by Babylon. In each case, these prophets used "The Vine" imagery in the pronouncement of God’s covenant lawsuit against them.

Like the vine and branches in this picture, Jesus is telling us that He is our lifeline to the Kingdom, both here and hereafter.

John 15:1-8

Jesus said to his disciples:  "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and every one that does bear fruit he prunes so that it bears even more fruit.

You have already been pruned because of the word that I have spoken to you.

Remain in me, as I also remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that dies and is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up and thrown them into a fire and burned.

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples."

Jesus made every effort to reach the Jews during his 3 ½ year mission on earth, and indeed many did follow – they were the first Christians. But the "shepherds of Israel" – the Temple leaders, Jewish aristocrats, and political factions (Herodians) not only refused to follow Jesus (which would have cost them control over everything), they warned the Jewish people to avoid them, they persecuted Jesus’ followers, and eventually shut them out of Temple/synagogue worship.

In many of Jesus’ parables, the (Old) Covenant people are identified with the vineyard that did not produce good fruit. In today’s passage, when Jesus began to speak of himself as the "True Vine," his disciples who were sitting with him at the table and knew the Scriptures would immediately have thought of these very significant verses from Isaiah and Ezekiel.

Q:  Is there a link between this passage and Jesus’ Ascension?

       It is Jesus ascending to the Trinity with his humanity – wounds and all – representing a whole new relationship between God and humans. This relationship is explained by the Vine (Jesus) and the branches (us). Through Jesus, we are connected to the Trinity. Recall hearing at the end of Consecration:  “Through him, with him, and in him…”?  It’s the vine!

Jesus’ greatest and hardest command is for us to love one another as he loved us. This is a very serious commandment. Can we do it? Of course not – not alone; but remember, all love and all good comes from God, through Jesus the Vine. When we are truly working with Jesus, it is cooperation with grace. It’s like a dance where we learn to let the Spirit take the lead. Our love and good deeds are with our faith and in our faith, never separate from our faith.

Most Influential Women in the Bible – Matristics!

 Eve, Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Leah, Miriam, Rahab, Deborah, Ruth, Hannah, Michal, Abigail, Bathsheba, Judith, Esther

Mother of the Seven Sons in 2 Maccabees, Jesus & The Adulteress

Mother of the 7 Sons in Maccabees – Historical Context 

·        David and Solomon 1010-930 BC

·        Divided Kingdom after Solomon – Northern Kingdom – Israel; Southern Kingdom - Judah

·        721 BC Assyrian Empire, conquers Israel

·        597 BC Babylonian Empire, conquers Judah

·        539 BC Persian Empire, conqueers the Babylonians

·        331 BC Alexander the Great conquers the Persians

·        312 BC After Alexander the Great dies, his kingdom is divided up by his generals, one of whom is Selucid who establishes his own kingdom that centers primarily in Persia (Iran) and Syria (the Levant).

·        164 BC The Greek General, Antiochus IV (referred to as the Selucid dynasty), rules the Levant. He is known for persecuting the Jews in particular, as he wanted everyone under his rule to worship the same way.

This sets the stage for the Jewish Maccabean Revolt.

Backstory:  Because of all the wars, betrayals, and assassinations of the previous century, the crazy Greek King Antiochus IV (he thought he was Zeus incarnate) demanded strict allegiance from everyone in his kingdom, requiring them to assimilate Greek culture, including Greek worship. He ordered the Jews to build shrines to the Greek gods and to sacrifice and eat pigs and other unclean animals, and he even instituted a law forbidding circumcision, upon pain of death. The height of all these horrific acts was having a statue of Zeus installed in the Temple in Jerusalem.

There is a story of 7 sons and their mother who were captured in 2 Maccabees 7:3-5. The king orders the eldest son to eat the flesh of swine, and he refuses, saying, “What do you intend to ask and learn from us? For we are ready to die rather than transgress the laws of our fathers.”

The king fell into a rage and gave orders that his tongue be cut out, that he be scalped, his hands and feet be cut off, and then placed on a heated metal pan and fried (2 Mac 7:3-5). All this was done in front of his six brothers and mother.

He then asked the next son to eat the swine. He refused and he receives the same treatment. The same happens to each son, and then lastly the mother.

The mother was the most admirable of all as she not only had to watch the torture and death of each of her sons but she also encouraged each one of them to hang tough so she could see them in the next life.

Enough was enough and a quarter century of resistance ended with the “Maccabean Revolt” where the Jews finally wrested control over Judea from the Seleucids and re-created an independent Judea.

What did we learn from the mother of the 7 sons?  Fortitude, moral firmness, lead with the Lord.

Once the Jewish people regained control of the Temple, they cleansed & rededicated it after removing the pagan gods.

Q:  This event and rededication of the Temple became a famous Jewish holiday still celebrated today. What is it?

This became a famous Jewish holiday still practiced today…?  Hanukkah, which is Hebrew for dedication.

Jesus and Women in the New Testament

Jesus’ contact with the women in the Gospels (especially the Gospel of Luke) invariably lifted up women in the world from that time on. Without overturning the patriarchal structure of first-century society, Jesus interacted with women in ways that dramatically challenged contemporary views of women. Jesus saw in these women a significance that they were denied in their societies. Jesus’ coming initiated a transformation of attitudes toward women which continued on into the church age. Jesus’ actions, when contrasted with the dictums of the rabbis, makes it clear that Christ’s coming introduces a redemptive process designed to lift and restore women to the position they enjoyed in original creation. In the original creation, woman is equal to man in dignity, worth, and purpose, which is demonstrated by her being taken from the side of man, vs. the earth like man was. A woman is not a separate being but man and woman are one being, especially in marriage, meant to emulate the Trinity.

If you recall, there is no question that man and woman were burdened in big ways after the Fall. Genesis 3:16-19:

To the woman he said:

I will intensify your toil in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Yet your urge shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.

To the man he said:

Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, You shall not eat from it,

Cursed is the ground* because of you. In toil you shall eat its yield all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles it shall bear for you, and you shall eat the grass of the field. By the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread, until you return to the ground, from which you were taken. For you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

These were all new, fallen conditions for us that did not exist before the Fall. However, Jesus came to reverse the Fall and restore our relationship with God. We are not fully restored to our previous “preternatural” condition, but that’s because we still have free will and must choose for ourselves. Our relationship with God is restored, and now we must use our own free will to do our part. Of course, we learn that this would not be enough as man proves to be incapable of maintaining a relationship with God (the entire Old Testament), so God came here to show us the way and give us forgiveness for the asking. The only thing God hasn’t done for us is make our decisions for us!

In any event, throughout the Gospels, we see that Jesus is establishing a new reality for women by treating them equal to man. By itself, this cost Jesus many Jewish followers, especially the elites, who were not open to these changes.  

Luke’s Gospel particularly pays special attention to Christ’s concern for women and frequently mentions widows, always in a positive light (widows were the lowest in the social hierarchy). Jesus often pairs women with men in ways that are less flattering to the man. In fact, most references to women in Luke are not only positive but are clearly crafted to break stereotypes and to cast women as equal with men in those qualities which count in Christ’s kingdom.

It is interesting that women were particularly drawn to Jesus and were more courageous in following Him than most of His disciples. Only John stayed with Jesus all the way to the cross, but Matthew tells us “many women were there” (Mt 27:55-56). 

Women were likely drawn to Jesus because he saw them as fully human. He treated them with the respect that other men didn’t show them. Today's story is one example of that, as Jesus protects the woman’s dignity as a human being, even in sin.

Today, we are discussing a story about a woman who was both ashamed and afraid. She was ashamed, because she had been caught in the very act of having sexual relations with a man who was not her husband. She was probably very afraid of what was going to happen to her because of her actions.

In our account in John 8:1-11, it’s typical that the religious leaders bring only the woman caught in the act of adultery. The story goes like this:

"But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery and having set her in the center of the court, they said to Him, 'Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?'

They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, 'He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.' Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court. Straightening up, Jesus said to her, 'Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?' She said, 'No one, Lord.' And Jesus said, 'I do not condemn you either. Go From now on sin no more.'"(John 8:1-11)

Once again, these events are recorded in the Bible for the benefit of humans seeking truth, not so we can practice judging the characters in the story.

In fact, it’s hard to find another story in the Bible that illustrates how we should see others and how we should see ourselves. No matter your religious, cultural, or political views, there is something for us to learn. It’s a message that helps us deal with issues like tolerance vs acceptance, judging others vs judging sin, and standing up for what is right and against what is wrong in the proper way.

Shame

Jesus is in the temple early one morning teaching the Word of God when all of a sudden his mortal enemies – the scribes and the Pharisees, who specialized in religious hypocrisy – burst in, dragging a woman behind them, who had been caught in the very act of adultery. You are going to see their concern really wasn't for the woman; she was just a pawn on the chessboard of this confrontation.

Q: What was their goal?

            They wanted to trap Jesus. They were trying to find enough to have him arrested and killed.

Now, we are very plainly told that this woman was literally caught in the act. She was caught in the moment, in the very embrace. Have you ever been caught, red handed, doing something you shouldn't have been doing?

Well, this was a woman had been caught in the very act of adultery. What the Pharisees were doing, snooping around someone's bedroom? We are not told. That makes one think this was most likely a set-up, because the man who was involved is never mentioned.

So, here is a woman who cannot hide her shame. This is not hearsay. This is not gossip. She is guilty. The Pharisees and Sadducees know it. She knows it and Jesus knows it. There are plenty of eyewitnesses to corroborate the story.

These Pharisees think now that they have Jesus in a dilemma, because three things are at stake. The Law of Moses is at stake because the law is very plain about the penalty for adultery, which is death. Therefore, the life of the woman was at stake, because if the law was carried out, this woman had to die.

Also, the love Jesus taught was at stake, because if he condemned her on the spot, he would no longer be known as the ‘friend of sinners’.

What did Jesus do? “Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground." (John 8:6)

Why did Jesus stoop to the ground and what on earth did He write? The truth is - we don't know. We do know it is the only time we read in the Bible that Jesus ever wrote anything. We can only speculate what He wrote.

The word for "write" is not the ordinary word for write in the New Testament. It is a word that actually means "to write against." Therefore, it is possible that Jesus may have writing down some of the sins of which these men were guilty. For example, where they would write "adultery," Jesus would write "lust."

Where they would write "murder," Jesus would have written "anger," because He also said this to them in the Sermon on the Mount.

Just as they were building their case, Jesus was building his. Instead of passing judgment on the woman, he passes judgment on the judges. Perhaps the elders could see what he was writing! They drop their stones and depart.

What a stunning turn of events.

The statement Jesus made put them out of the rock throwing business forever, and it will do the same for you. There is a great lesson here for all of us to learn. Before you look at others through your eyes, you better look at yourself through God's eyes.

You see this woman was ashamed and she should have been ashamed. There is nothing wrong with shame – God gave us this emotion as a red flag to get us to stop and rethink and reach out to him. But anytime we use the shame of someone else to make ourselves feel better about our own self-righteousness, we need to remember two things. First, we are not without sin either. Secondly, if a few of our life’s circumstances were different and but for the grace of God, we could well be in the other person's position. So, where the Pharisees had come to Jesus pointing at this woman, screaming out, "Shame on you!", Jesus had turned the whole situation on its ear and was raising the question, "Shame On Who?"

The story doesn't stop there. But that’s where we will stop today.

Why did we pick this adulteress as one of our Influential Women in the Bible?

Because it is the Church’s position that this is also Mary Magdalene, the women with 7 demons who went on to become the “Apostle to the Apostles.”

Closing Prayer

Hail, holy Queen

Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope.

To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve.

To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.

Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us,

and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary!

Pray for us, O holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Amen.