5th Sunday of Lent, Cycle B


1st Reading: Jeremiah 31:31-34

The New Covenant
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[31] ”Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new cove-
nant with the house of Israel and the house of Judith, not like the covenant which
I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the
land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke, though I was their husband, says
the LORD. [33] But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it
upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. [34] And
no longer shall each man teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know
the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,
says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no
more.”

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Commentary:

31:31-37. The words of this oracle are central to Jeremiah’s message, and they
constitute the passage in the book that has had most impact on the New Testa-
ment and on Christian teaching. Most ancient and modern commentators consi-
der these words to be original words of Jeremiah, and they generally attribute
them to the early stages of his, ministry, because they express support for King
Josiah’s religious reform.

31,31-37. 이 신탁의 표현들은 예레미야의 메시지의 중심이며, 그리고 그들은 이 책에서 
신약 성경과 그리스도교 가르침에 가장 커다란 영향을 주어왔던 구절을 이룹니다. 가장 
오래된 그리고 현대의 주석자들은 이들 표현들을 예레미야에 의한 최초의 표현들이라고 
생각하며, 그리고 그들은 이 표현들을 일반적으로 그의 사역의 초기 단계들에 돌리는데, 
이는 이 표현들이 요시야 임금(King Josiah)의 종교적 개혁에 대한 지지를 표현하기 
때문입니다.

The oracle is made up of two contrasting parts: the first (vv. 31-32) describes the
Old Covenant, broken by the people’s sins; the second (vv. 33-35) speaks very
forcefully of the New Covenant which will endure forever.

이 신탁은 다음과 같은 두 개의 대조적인 부분들로 이루어져 있습니다: 첫 번째 부분
(제31-32절)은, 이 백성의 죄에 의하여 파기된, 옛 계약을 묘사하며, 그리고 두 번째 부분
(제33-35절)은 영원히 지속할 새 계약에 대하여 매우 힘있게 말합니다. 

The Old Covenant is described in terms of three characteristic features: it carried
the force of tradition because it was a pact made "with the fathers”; it was a sign
of divine election, as can be seen from a phrase exclusive to Jeremiah: "when "I
took them by the hand" to bring them out of the land of Egypt”; and it showed the
Lord’s authority over his people.

옛 계약은 다음과 같은 세 개의 특징적인 특색들로 이루어진 말들로 묘사되고 있습니다:  
이 계약은 전통의 힘을 전달하였는데 이는 이 계약이 "조상들과" 맺었던 한 개의 
계약이었으며, 그리고 이 계약은, "내가 그 조상들의 손을 잡고 이집트 땅에서 이끌고 
나올 때에 그들과 맺었던 계약" 이라는 예레미야에게 독점적인 한 개의 구절로부터 
보여질 수 있듯이, 하느님의 선택(divine election)에 대한 한 개의 표징(a sign)이었으며, 
그리고 이 계약은 당신의 백성에 대한 주님의 권한(authority)을 나타내었습니다.

The new pact has three key features, too: it is "new", it is something "interior",
and it is "heartfelt", written upon their hearts. It is "new", because prior to this
the pact with God was never described in that way; that is, it is new not in terms
of the previous covenant which has ceased to operate (cf. Heb 8:11-13) but in the
sense that it is definitive and will not be superseded. When, at the Last Supper, 
Jesus said the words of consecration over the chalice: "This cup which is poured
out for you is the new covenant” (Lk 22:20; 1 Cor 11:25), he brings Jeremiah’s
words to fulfillment. It is "interior" because it is etched in the heart of the people
and of each individual. Its content did not change (it is the Law of God) but peo-
ple will know it in a different way: the previous covenant was written on tablets
of stone (Ex 31:38; 34:28ff), but this one will be written on the heart and soul of
man. Therefore, it is part of a person’s very being; it is not just an external obli-
gation; people’s well-formed consciences tell them what they ought to do; if
they fail to live up to the demands of the Covenant, they lose their identity until
they are converted and are redeemed from sin. In the Letter to the Hebrews it
says, by way of explaining this passage, that in the New Covenant Christ has
obtained forgiveness of sins for us through the cross, and therefore the old sin
offerings no longer have any effect: "Where there is forgiveness (of sins), there
is no longer any offering for sin” (Heb 10:18). 

이 새로운 계약은, 또한, 다음과 같은 세 개의 핵심 특징들을 가지고 있습니다: 이 계약은 
"내면적인(interior)" 어떤 것이며, 그리고 이 계약은, 그들의 심장(hearts)들에 기록된, 
"진실하게 그리고 깊게 느껴지게(heartfelt)" 됩니다. 이 계약은 "새로운" 계약인데, 
이는 이 계약 이전에 하느님과의 계약은 바로 이러한 방식으로 결코 묘사되지 않았으며, 
즉 이 계약은, 효과를 나타내는 것을 이미 멈추어버린(히브리 8,11-13 참조), 이전의 
계약의 용어들로 새로운 것이 아니라 이 계약이 최종적이며 그리고  향후 대체되지 
않을 것이라는 의미에 있어 새롭습니다. 최후의 만찬에서, 예수님께서 포도주 잔에 
대하여 "이 잔은 너희를 위하여 흘리는 내 피로 맺는 새 계약이다" (루카 복음서 22,20; 
1코린토 11,25) 라는 축성의 말씀을 하셨을 때에, 당신께서는 예레미야의 표현들을 
실현으로 이르게 하십니다. 이 계약은 "내면적"인데 이는 이 계약이 이 백성의 심장과 
각 개인의 심장(heart)에 식각되어(蝕刻, eched) 있기 때문입니다. 그 내용는 변하지 
않았으나 (이 계약은 하님의 율법을 말한다) 그러나 사람들은 이 계약을 다음과 같이 
향후 다른 방식으로 알게 될 것입니다: 이전의 계약은 돌 판들에 기록되었으나
(탈출기 31,38; 34,28부터 이어지는 몇 개의 절들), 그러나 이 계약은 향후 사람의 
심장과 영혼(heart and soul)에 기록될 것입니다.  그러므로, 이 계약은 한 인격의 
바로 그 존재의 일부분이며, 그리하여 이 계약은 단순히 외면적인 의무가 아니며, 
그리고 사람들의 잘 형성된 양심(consciences)들은 그들이 행하여야 하는 바를 그들에게 
말할 것이며, 그리하여 그들이 이 계약의 요구들에 어울리는 생활을 하지 못하게 되면, 
죄로부터 그들이 회심하게 되고 그리고 대속될 때까지 그들은 자신들의 정체성(identity)을 
잃습니다. 히브리인들게 보낸 편지에서, 이 구절에 대한 설명을 위하여, 새 계약 안에서 
그리스도께서 십자가를 통하여 우리를 위하여 죄들에 대한 용서를 획득하셨으며, 
그리하여 그 결과, "이러한 것들(죄들)이 용서된 곳에는 더 이상 죄 때문에 바치는 
예물이 필요 없습니다"(히브리 10,18) 라고 하면서, 옛 속죄 제물들은, 더 이상 어떠한 
효능도 가지지 못한다고 말합니다.  

Finally, it is "heartfelt" because it is based on a loving relationship between God
and his people. The wording that Jeremiah likes so much ("I will be their God,
and they shall be my people” (Jer 31:33; cf. 7:23) implies bonds, of fidelity and
love. The nearest precedent for this is Hosea, who used the metaphor of mar-
riage as the hinge of his preaching and who defined sin as estrangement from
God, and punishment in terms of marital breakdown: "Call his name not my peo-
ple, for you are not my people and I am not your God” (Hos 1:9). Therefore, moral
imperatives should not come via legal imposition from outside; they should arise
from a person’s heart--the aim being not so much perfect, guiltless behavior as
living in union with God: "All who keep his commandments abide in him, and he
in them” (1 Jn 3:24).

끝으로, 이 새로운 계약은 "진실하게 그리고 깊게 느껴지게(heartfelt)" 되는데 이는 
이 계약이 하느님과 당신의 백성 사이에 사랑하는 관계에 근거하고 있기 때문입니다. 
예레미야가 너무도 좋아하는 말씨(wording) ["나는 그들의 하느님이 되고 그들은 
나의 백성이 될 것이다" (예레미야 31,33; 7,23을 참조하라)]는, 충실과 사랑으로 
이루어진, 유대(bonds)를 뜻합니다. 이 말씨에 대한 가장 가까운 이전의 예는 
호세아(Hosea)인데, 그는 혼인 은유(隱喩)(the metaphor of merriage)를 자신의 
설교의 경첩(hinge)로서 사용하였으며 그리고 그는 죄(sin)를 하느님으로부터 
멀어짐(estrangement)으로서 정의하였고(defined), 그리고 벌(punishment)을 
다음과 같이 결혼 생활의 붕괴(marital breakdown)라는 표현으로 정의하였습니다: 
"너희는 내 백성이 아니며 나는 너희를 위하여 있지 않다"  (호세아 1,9). 그러므로, 
윤리적 의무(moral imperatives)들은 외부로부터 법적 부과를 통하여 와서는 아니되며, 
이 의무들은 한 인격의 심장(heart)(*)으로부터 일어나야 합니다 -- 이는 그 목표가 
완미하고(perfect), 죄의식 없는 처신(guiltless behavior)이라기 보다는 하느님과의 
일치(unity) 안에서 살아가는 것이기 때문입니다: "그분의 계명을 지키는 사람은 그분 
안에 머무르고, 그분께서도 그 사람 안에 머무르십니다" (1요한 3,24). 

The New Covenant has given its name to the, "New Testament”, on which the
new people of God is founded, as the Second Vatican Council says: "At all times
and in every race God has given welcome to whosoever fears him and does what
is right. God, however, does not make men holy and save them merely as indivi-
duals, without bond or link between one another. Rather has it pleased him to
bring men together as one people, a people that acknowledges him in truth and
serves him in holiness. He therefore chose the race of Israel as a people unto
himself. With it he setup a covenant. Step by step he taught and prepared this
people, making known in its history both himself and the decree of his will and
making it holy unto himself. All these things, however, were done by way of pre-
paration and as a figure of that new and perfect covenant, which was to be rati-
fied in Christ, and of that fuller revelation which was to be given through the Word
of God Himself made flesh. ‘Behold the days shall come saith the Lord, and I 
will make a new covenant with the House of Israel, and with the house of Judah.
[...] I will give my law in their bowels, and I will write it in their heart, and I will be
their God, and they shall be my people.[...] For all of them shall know Me, from
the least of them even to the greatest, saith the Lord’ (Jer 31:31-34). Christ insti-
tuted this new covenant, the new testament, that is to say, in his Blood, calling
together a people made up of Jew and Gentile, making them one, not according
to the flesh but in the Spirit" ("Lumen Gentium", 9).

이 새 계약(New Covenant)은 그 이름을 "신약(New Testament)"에 이미 넘겨주었는데, 
하느님의 새 백성은, 제2차 바티칸 공의회가 다음과 같이 말하듯이, 바로 이 신약 위에 
기초하게 됩니다: "모든 시대들과 그리고 모든 민족(race)에 있어 하느님께서는 
당신을 두려워하고 그리고 올바른 바(what is right)를 행하는 자 누구든지를 이미 
환영하셨다. 그러나 하느님께서는 서로 서로 사이에 아무런 유대 혹은 연결없이 
단순히 개인들로서 사람들을 거룩하게 하고 그리고 그들을 구하지(save) 않으신다. 
그 보다는 진리 안에서 당신을 인정하는 그리고 거룩함 안에서 당신을 섬기는 
하나의 백성(one people)인, 한 개의 백성으로서 사람들을 함께 불러모으는 것이 
당신을 기쁘게 해 왔다. 그러므로 당신께서는 이스라엘 민족을 독자적으로 하나의 
백성으로서 선택하셨다. 이 백성과 함께 당신께서는 하나의 계약을 체결하셨다. 
단계적으로 당신께서는, 이 백성의 역사 안에서 당신 자신과 당신 의지의 법령
(the decree of his will) 둘 다를 알게 하심으로써 그리고 독자적으로 이 백성을 
거룩하게 하심으로써,  이 백성을 가르치셨으며 그리고 준비하게 하셨다. 그러나 
이러한 일들 모두는 준비라는 과정을 통하여 그리고, 그리스도 안에서 승인 될 
예정이었던, 새롭고 완미한(perfect) 바로 그 계약에 대한 하나의 표상(表象, a figure)
으로서, 그리고 스스로 사람이 되셨던 하느님의 거룩한 말씀(the Word of God)을 
통하여 주어지게 될 예정이었던 바로 그 충만한 계시에 대한 하나의  표상으로서, 
행하여졌다. '보라, 그날이 온다. 주님의 말씀이다. 그때에 나는 이스라엘 집안과 
유다 집안과 새 계약을 맺겠다. [...] 나는 그들의 가슴(bowels)에 내 법을 넣어 
주고, 그들의 심장(heart)에 그 법을 새겨 주겠다(I will write it in their heart).(*)  
그리하여 나는 그들의 하느님이 되고 그들은 나의 백성이 될 것이다. [...] 그들이 
낮은 사람부터 높은 사람까지 모두 나를 알게 될 것이기 때문이다. 주님의 말씀이다.' 
(예레미야 31,31-34). 그리스도께서는, 신약(the new testament), 즉 당신의 
성혈(Blood) 안에서, 유다인(Jew)들과 이방인(Gentiles)들로 구성된 하나의 백성을 
함께 부르심으로써, 육체에 따라서가 아니라 거룩한 영 안에서, 그들을 하나로 
만드심으로써, 바로 이 새 계약(new covenant)을 제정하셨다" [제2차 바티칸 
공의회, "인류의 빛(Lumen Gentium)", 9]. 

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(*) 번역자 주: 여기서 영어로 "heart"로 번역되는 표현을 "마음" 으로 번역하지 않고  
"심장"으로 직역 번역(literal translation)하였는데, 이렇게 번역하는 것이 예레미야서 
31,31-34의 의미를 글자 그대로 이해할 수 있기 때문이다. 이에 대한 더 자세한 
내용은 다음에 있으니 필독하라:

http://ch.catholic.or.kr/pundang/4/soh/1032.htm 
-----
　

2nd Reading: Hebrews 5:7-9

Christ Has Been Made High Priest by God the Father
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[7] In the days of the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplica-
tions, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and
he was heard for his godly fear. [8] Although he was a Son, he learned obedience
through what he suffered; [9] and being made perfect he became the source of
eternal salvation to all who obey him.

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Commentary:

7-9. This brief summary of Christ's life stresses his perfect obedience to the
Father's will, his intense prayer and his sufferings and redemptive death. As in
the hymn to Christ in Philippians 2:6-11, the point is made that Christ set his po-
wer aside and, despite his being the only-begotten Son of God, out of obedience
chose to die on the cross. His death was a true self-offering expressed in that
"loud voice" when he cried out to the Father just before he died, "into thy hands
I commit my spirit" (Lk 23:46). But although Jesus' obedience was most obvious
on Calvary, it was a constant feature of "the days of his flesh": he obeyed Mary
and Joseph, seeing in them the authority of the heavenly Father; he was obedient
to political and religious authorities; and he always obeyed the Father, identifying
himself with him to such a degree that he could say, "I have glorified thee on
earth, having accomplished the work which thou gavest me to do [...]. All mine
are thine and thine are mine" (Jn 17:4, 10).

The passage also points to Jesus prayer, the high point of which occurred in
Gethsemane on the eve of his passion. The reference to "loud cries and suppli-
cations" recalls the Gospel account of his suffering: "And being in an agony he
prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling
down upon the ground" (Lk 22:44).

Hebrews 5:7-9 is probably referring not so much to his prayer in the Garden, still
less to any prayer of Christ asking to be delivered from death, but to our Lord's
constant prayer for the salvation of mankind. "When the Apostle speaks of these
supplications and cries of Jesus," St John Chrysostom comments, "he does not
mean prayers which he made on his own behalf but prayers for those who would
later believe in him. And, due to the fact that the Jews did not yet have the eleva-
ted concept of Christ that they ought to have had, St Paul says that 'he was heard',
just as the Lord himself told his disciples, to console them, 'If you loved me, you
would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father; for the Father is greater than I'
[...]. Such was the respect and reverence shown by the Son, that God the Father
could not but take note and heed his Son and his prayers" ("Hom. on Heb", 11).

7. "In the days of his flesh", a reference to the Incarnation. "Flesh" is synony-
mous with mortal life; this is a reference to Christ's human nature--as in the pro-
logue to St John's Gospel (elf. Jn 1:14) and many other places (Heb 2:14; Gal
2:20; Phil 1:22-24; 1 Pet 4:1-2) including where mention is made of Jesus being
a servant and capable of suffering (cf. Phil 2:8; Mt 20:27-28). Jesus' human nature
"in the days of his flesh" is quite different from his divine nature and also from his
human nature after its glorification (cf. 1 Cor 15:50). "It must be said that the word
'flesh' is occasionally used to refer to the weakness of the flesh, as it says in 1
Cor 15:50: 'flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God'. Christ had a weak
and mortal flesh. Therefore it says in the text, 'In the days of his flesh', referring
to when he was living in a flesh which seemed to be like sinful flesh, but which
was sinless" (St Thomas Aquinas, "Commentary on Heb", 5, 1). So, this text
underlines our Lord's being both Victim and Priest.

"Prayers and supplications": very fitting in a priest. The two words mean much
the same; together they are a form of words which used to be employed in peti-
tions to the king or some important official. The plural tells us that there were lots
of these petitions. The writer seems to have in mind the picture of the Redeemer
who "going a little farther fell on his face and prayed, 'My Father, if it be possible,
let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt" (Mt 26:39).
St Thomas comments on this description of Christ's prayer as follows: "His ac-
tion was indeed one of offering prayers and supplications, that is, a spiritual sacri-
fice: that was what Christ offered. It speaks of prayers in the sense of petitions
because 'The prayer of a righteous man has great power' (Jas 5:16); and it speaks
of supplications to emphasize the humility of the one who is praying, who falls on
his knees, as we see happening in the case of him who 'fell on his face and
prayed' (Mt 26:39)" ("Commentary on Heb", 5, 1).

To emphasize the force of Christ's prayer, the writer adds, "with loud cries and
tears". According to rabbinical teaching, there were three degrees of prayer,
each stronger than the last--supplications, cries and tears. Christian tradition has
always been touched by the humanity of the Redeemer as revealed in the way
he prays. "Everything that is being said here may be summed up in one word--
humility: that stops the mouths of those who blaspheme against Christ's divinity
saying that it is completely inappropriate for a God to act like this. For, on the
contrary, the Godhead laid it down that [Christ's] human nature should suffer all
this, in order to show us the extreme to which he truly became incarnate and as-
sumed a human nature, and to show us that the mystery of salvation was accom-
plished in a real and not an apparent or fictitious manner" (Theodoret of Cyrus,
"lnterpretatio Ep. ad Haebreos, ad loc."). Christ's prayer, moreover, teaches us
that prayer must 1) be fervent and 2) involve interior pain. "Christ had both [fervor
and pain], for the Apostle by mentioning 'tears' intends to show the interior groa-
ning of him who weeps in this way [...]. But he did not weep on his own account:
he wept for us, who receive the fruit of his passion" (St Thomas, "Commentary
on Heb., ad loc.").

"He was heard for his godly fear." St John Chrysostom's commentary is very ap-
posite: "'He gave himself up for our sins', he says in Gal 1:4; and elsewhere (cf.
1 Tim 2:6) he adds, 'He gave himself as a ransom for all'. What does he mean
by this? Do you not see that he is speaking with humility of himself, because of
his mortal flesh? And, nevertheless, because he is the Son, it says that he was
heard for his godly fear" ("Hom. on Heb.", 8). It is like a loving contention between
Father and Son. The Son wins the Father's admiration, so generous is his self-
surrender.

And yet Christ's prayer did not seem to be heeded, for his Father God did not
save him from ignominious death--the cup he had to drink--nor were all the Jews,
for whom he prayed, converted. But it was only apparently so: in fact Christ's pra-
yer was heard. It is true that, like every one, the idea of dying was repugnant to
him, because he had a natural instinct to live; but, on the other hand, he wished
to die through a deliberate and rational act of his will, hence in the course of the
prayer, he said, "not my will, but thine, be done" (Lk 22:42). Similarly Christ wan-
ted to save all mankind--but he wanted them to accept salvation freely (cf. "Com-
mentary on Heb., ad loc.").

8. In Christ there are two perfect and complete natures and therefore two different
levels of knowledge--divine knowledge and human knowledge. Christ's human
knowledge includes 1) the knowledge that the blessed in heaven have, that is,
the knowledge that comes form direct vision of the divine essence; 2) the know-
ledge with which God endowed man before original sin (infused knowledge); and
3) the knowledge which man acquires through experience. This last-mentioned
knowledge could and in fact did increase (cf. Lk 2:52) in Christ's case. Christ's
painful experience of the passion, for example, increased this last type of know-
ledge, which is why the verse says that Christ learned obedience through suffe-
ring. There was a Greek proverb which said, "Sufferings are lessons." Christ's
teaching and example raise this positive view of suffering onto the supernatural
level. "In 'suffering there is concealed' a particular 'power that draws a person in-
teriorly close to Christ', a special grace [...]. A result of such a conversion is not
only that the individual discovers the salvific meaning of suffering but above all
that he becomes a completely new person. He discovers a new dimension, as
it were, 'of his entire life and vocation'" (John Paul II, "Salvifici Doloris", 26).

In our Lord's case, his experience of suffering was connected with his generosity
in obedience. He freely chose to obey even unto death (cf. Heb 10:5-9; Rom 5:19;
Phil 2:8), consciously atoning for the first sin, a sin of disobedience. "In his suffe-
ring, sins are canceled out precisely because he alone as the only-begotten Son
could take them upon himself, accept them 'with that love for the Father which
overcomes' the evil of every sin; in a certain sense he annihilates this evil in the
spiritual space of the relationship between God and humanity, and fills this space
with good" ("Salvifici Doloris", 17). Christ "learned obedience" not in the sense
that this virtue developed in him, for his human nature was perfect in its holiness,
but in the sense that he put into operation the infused virtue his human soul al-
ready possessed. "Christ knew what obedience was from all eternity, but he
learned obedience in practice through the severities he underwent particularly in
his passion and death" (St Thomas Aquinas, "Commentary on Heb., ad loc.").

Christ's example of obedience is something we should copy. A Christian writer
of the fifth century, Diadochus of Photike, wrote: "The Lord loved (obedience) be-
cause it was the way to bring about man's salvation and he obeyed his Father
unto the cross and unto death; however, his obedience did not in any sense di-
minish his majesty. And so, having--by his obedience--dissolved man's disobe-
dience, he chose to lead to blessed and immortal life those who followed the
way of obedience" ("Chapters on Spiritual Perfection", 41).

9. Obviously Christ as God could not increase in perfection. Nor could his sacred
humanity become any holier, for from the moment of his Incarnation he received
the fullness of grace, that is, he had the maximum degree of holiness a man
could have. In this connection Thomas Aquinas points out that Christ had union
(that is, the personal union to the Son of God gratuitously bestowed on human
nature): clearly this grace is infinite as the person of the Word is infinite. The
other grace is habitual grace which, although it is received in a limited human na-
ture, is yet infinite in its perfection because grace was conferred on Christ as the
universal source of the justification of human nature (cf. "Summa Theologiae", III,
q. 7, a. 11). In what sense, then, could Christ be "made perfect"? St Thomas pro-
vides the answer: Christ, through his passion, achieved a special glory--the im-
passibility and glorification of his body. Moreover, he attained the same perfec-
tions as we shall participate in when we are raised from the dead in glory, those
of us who believe in him (cf. "Commentary on Heb., ad loc."). For this reason our
Redeemer could exclaim before his death, "It is finished" (Jn 19:30)--referring not
only to his own sacrifice but also to the fact that he had completely accomplished
the redeeming atonement. Christ triumphed on the cross and attained perfection
for himself and for others. In Hebrews the same verb is used for what is translated
into English as "to be made perfect" and "to finish". Christ, moreover, by obeying
and becoming a perfect victim, truly pleasing to the Father, is more perfectly posi-
tioned to perfect others. "Obedience" is essentially docility to what God asks of
us and readiness to listen to him (cf. Rom 1:5; 16:26; 2 Cor 10:5; Heb 4:3).
Christ's obedience is a source of salvation for us; if we imitate him we will truly
form one body with him and he will be able to pass on to us the fullness of his
grace.

"Now, when you find it hard to obey, remember your Lord: 'factus obediens usque
ad mortem, mortem autem crucis": obedient even to accepting death, death on a
cross!'" (St. J. Escriva, "The Way", 628).
　

Gospel Reading: John 12:20-33

Jesus Foretells His Glorification
----------------------------------------------
[20] Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks.
[21] So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him,
"Sir, we wish to see Jesus." [22] Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew went with
Philip and they told Jesus. [23] And Jesus answered them, "The hour has come
for the Son of man to be glorified. [24] Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of
wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much
fruit. [25]He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world
will keep it for eternal life. [26] If any one serves Me, he must follow Me; and
where I am, there shall be My servant also; if any one serves Me, the Father will
honor him.

[27] "Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this
hour'? No, for this purpose I have come to this hour. [28] Father, glorify thy name."
Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." [29]
The crowd standing by heard it and said that it had thundered. Others said, "An
angel has spoken to him." [30] Jesus answered, "This voice has come for your
sake, not for mine. [31] Now is the judgment of this world, now shall the ruler of
this world be cast out; [32] and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all
men to myself." [33] He said this to show by what death he was to die. 

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

20-23. These "Greeks" approach Philip because seemingly this Apostle, who has
a Greek name, must have understood Greek and been able to act as interpreter.
If that was the case, then this is a very important moment because it means that
people of a non-Jewish culture came in search of Christ: which would make them
the firstfruits of the spread of the Christian faith in the hellenic world. This would
make it easier to understand our Lord's exclamation in v. 23, about his own glori-
fication, which has to do not only with his being raised up to the right hand of the
Father (cf. Phil 2:6-11) but also with his attracting all men to himself (cf. Jn 12:32).

Jesus refers to "the hour" on other occasions also. Sometimes he means the end
of the world (cf. Mt 13:32; Jn 5:25); sometimes, as is the case here, it means the
moment of Redemption through his death and glorification (cf. Mk 14:41; Jn 2:4;
4:23; 7:30; 8:20; 12:27; 13:1; 17:1).

24-25. There is an apparent paradox here between Christ's humiliation and his
glorification. Thus, "it was appropriate that the loftiness of his glorification should
be preceded by the lowliness of his passion"(St. Augustine, "In Ioann. Evang.",
51, 8).

This is the same ideas as we find in St. Paul, when he says that Christ humbled
himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross,and that there-
fore God the Father exalted him above all created things (cf. Philippians 2:8-9).

This is a lesson and an encouragement to the Christian, who should see every 
type of suffering and contradiction as a sharing in Christ's cross, which redeems 
us and exalts us. To be supernaturally effective, a person has to die to himself, 
forgetting his comfort and shedding his selfishness. "If the grain of wheat does 
not die, it remains unfruitful. Don't you want to be a grain of wheat, to die through 
mortification, and to yield a rich harvest? May Jesus bless your wheatfield!" (St. J. 
Escriva, "The Way", 199).

26. Our Lord has spoken about his sacrifice being a condition of his entering his
glory. And what holds good for the Master applies also to his disciples (cf. Mat-
thew 10:24; Luke 6:40). Jesus wants each of us to be of service to him. It is a
mystery of God's plan that he--who is all, who has all and who needs nothing
and nobody--should choose to need our help to ensure that his teaching and the
salvation wrought by him reaches all men.

"To follow Christ: that is the secret. We must accompany him so closely that we
come to live with him, like the first Twelve did; so closely, that we become identi-
fied with him. Soon we will be able to say, provided we have not put obstacles in
the way of grace, that we have put on, have clothed ourselves with our Lord Jesus
Christ (cf. Romans 13:14). [...]

"I have distinguished as it were four stages in our effort to identify ourselves with
Christ--seeking him, finding him, getting to know him, loving him. It may seem
clear to you that you are only at the first stage. Seek him them, hungrily; seek
him within yourselves with all your strength. If you act with determination, I am
ready to guarantee that you have already found him, and have begun to get to
know him and to love him, and to hold your conversation in heaven (cf. Phil 3;20)"
(St. J. Escriva, "Friends of God", 299-300).

27. The thought of the death that awaits him saddens Jesus, and he turns to the
Father in a prayer very similar to that of Gethsemane (cf. Mt 26:39; Mk 14:36; Lk
22:42): our Lord, as man, seeks support in the love and power of his Father God,
to be strengthened to fulfill his mission. We find this very consoling, for we often
feel weak in moments of trial: like Jesus we should seek support in God's strength,
for "thou art my rock and my fortress" (Ps 31:4).

28. "Glory" in Sacred Scripture implies God's holiness and power; the "glory of
God" dwelt in the sanctuary in the desert and in the temple of Jerusalem (cf. Ex
40:35; 1 Kings 8:11). The voice of the Father saying "I have glorified it and I will
glorify it again" is a solemn ratification that the fullness of divinity dwells in Jesus
(cf. Col 2:9; Jn 1:14) and that, through his passion, death and resurrection, it will
be made patent, in his human nature itself, that Jesus is the Son of God (cf. Mk
15:39).

This episode evokes other occasions--at Christ's baptism (cf. Mt 3:13-17 and par.)
and his transfiguration (Mt 17: 1-5 and par.)--when God the Father bears witness
to the divinity of Jesus.

31-33. Jesus tells them the results that will flow from his passion and death.
"Now is the judgment of this world", that is, of those who persist in serving Satan,
the "prince of this world". 

Although 'world' means the totality of mankind whom Christ comes to save 
(cf. Jn 3:16-17), it also often means all that is opposed to God (cf. note on Jn 1:10), 
which is the sense it has here. On being nailed to the cross, Jesus is the supreme 
sign of contradiction for all men: those who recognize him as Son of God will be saved 
(cf Lk 23:39-43); those who reject him will be condemned. Christ crucified is the 
maximum expression of the Father's love for us (cf. Jn 3:14-16; Rom 8:32), the sign 
raised on high which was prefigured in the bronze serpent raised up by Moses in the 
wilderness (cf. In 3:14; Num 21:9).

Our Lord on the cross, then, is the Judge who will condemn the world (cf. Jn 3:17)
and the devil (cf. Jn 16:11); in fact they have provoked their own condemnation by
not accepting or believing in God's love. From the Cross the Lord will attract all
men to himself, for all will be able to see him there, crucified.

"Christ our Lord was crucified; from the height of the cross he redeemed the world,
thereby restoring peace between God and men. Jesus reminds all of us: 'et ego,
si exaltatus fuero a terra, omnia traham ad meipsum" (Jn 12:32), and I, when I am
lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to myself'. If you put me at the center
of all earthly activities, he is saying, by fulfilling the duty of each moment, in what
appears important and what appears unimportant, I will draw everything to myself.
My kingdom among you will be a reality!" (St. J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By",
183). Every Christian, following Christ, has to be a flag raised aloft, a light on a
lampstand--through prayer and mortification, securely attached to the cross,
always and in every situation, a sign to men of the saving love of God the Father.

"Through his Incarnation, through his work at Nazareth and his preaching and
miracles in the land of Judea and Galilee, through his death on the Cross, and
through his resurrection, Christ is the center of the universe, the firstborn and
Lord of all creation.

"Our task as Christians is to proclaim this kingship of Christ, announcing it
through what we say and do. Our Lord wants men and women of his own in all
walks of life. Some he calls away from society, asking them to give up involve-
ment in the world, so that they remind the rest of us by their example that God
exists. To others he entrusts the priestly ministry. But he wants the vast majori-
ty to stay right where they are, in all earthly occupations in which they work--the
factory, the laboratory, the farm, the trades, the streets of the big cities and the
trails of the mountains" ("Ibid.", 105).

32. "I will draw all men to myself". The Latin Vulgate, following important Greek
manuscripts, translates this as "omnia", "all things"; the New Vulgate, using
equally important and more numerous manuscripts, opts for "omnes", "everyone".
There is no compelling reason for adopting one or other reading: in fact, both are
theologically correct and neither excludes the other, for Christ attracts all crea-
tion to himself, but especially mankind (cf. Rom 8:18-23).


*********************************************************************************************
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase
The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.


[참고: 이 파일은 저서명 "가톨릭 교회의 말씀 전례에 따른 성경공부 해설서"(엮은이: 소순태, 
출판사: 가톨릭출판사)의 각주의 연장으로 마련되었습니다. 그리고 본문 중의 우리말 번역문에 
대한 저작권은 엮은이에게 있으며, 본문 중의 우리말 번역문들을 복사하여 가져가는 것을
허락하지 않습니다.]