Northern Virginia Catholic Bible Study
Northern Virginia Catholic Bible Study house rules/notes…
Meetup is https://meetu.ps/c/4mYPW/F6KR3/a, Zoom Meeting Logon information is the same every week: Zoom ID: 861 1782 2081 Password: 406952
Questions encouraged. If you have questions about anything, you can email the group via Meetup, or me directly at ron@hallagan.net.
The unedited recaps from our meetings will be posted on Meetup immediately after our meeting, and a final edited version will be posted on our Catholic Catacombs Light website https://catholiccatacombs.wixsite.com/website/blog, a week later. You will be notified via Meetup of both.
See The Chosen. Knowing Jesus Christ means being able to better relate to God. Check it out: The Chosen at https://thechosen.link/1Y1R7.
Respectfulness. We will be discussing differences between religions and even between Christian denominations, but we agree to use respectful words and tones in doing so. Specifically, Protestants are our friends and brothers in Christ, and personally I owe part of my return to the faith to them.
No politics. It would be easy for us to self-destruct; however, that’s not our goal. Our goal is to learn the Bible, explain the Catholic faith and help members develop a closer relationship with Jesus Christ in their daily lives.
Catholic Prayer, Fellowship, and Spirituality Meetup led by fellow member Jason Goldberg: https://www.meetup.com/online-catholic-prayer-fellowship-and-spirituality/
Bible Study Format: 5 min prayer, 15 min Catholic Ron topic, 40 min main topic from the weeks listed below
Week 1: April 5 – Gospel Week: The Woman Caught in Adultery – The Jesus Trap
Week 2: April 12 – Bible Genesis-to-Revelations: Gen19-22 – Ishmael and the Sacrifice of Isaac
Week 3: April 19 – Topic of Choice: Purgatory
Topics Survey Results
√ 1) Jesus’ Great Parables
Week 4: April 26: Open Mic
2) Hell, Purgatory, Heaven
3) Christian Comparisons
4) Great Women in the Bible
5) Why is there suffering?
6) World Religions
7) Book of Revelation
Quote of the Week
“Aim at Heaven and you will get Earth thrown in. Aim at Earth and you will get neither.”
– CS Lewis
Opening Prayer
Heavenly Father
I thank you for this wonderful day that you have made.
I thank you for my life and the lives of my loved ones.
I thank you Lord for all the big and small wins that I attain daily and the strength of your Spirit.
I thank you for the roof over my head, the food to eat, and clothes to wear.
I recognize that these things are all a gift from you, that I am your steward, and I am ever grateful.
I pray that I continue to remember that all things – good and otherwise - work together for good for those who love you.
Thank you, Father, in Jesus’ name, with the HS. Amen.
Our Father
Who Art in Heaven, Holy be Thy Name
They Kingdom Come, Thy Will be done
On Earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our Daily Bread
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us
And lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Upcoming Catholic Holy Days
Easter Sunday – was April 17 – the most important day in Christianity for, as Paul said, if Jesus had not resurrected from the dead, then all of this was for nothing.
Ascension – Thursday, May 26 – 40 days after Easter
Pentecost – Sunday, June 5 – 50 days after Easter
Jewish Holy Days
Passover – 7 day celebration: April 15 – April 23.
Shavuot – Sat, June 4 – Jewish Pentecost – 50 days after Passover
Because it is Easter, I emailed you on Sunday that I had received several Easter-related questions. Therefore, I will be reviewing these “Easter Questions” today rather than Purgatory, which we will resume on the next Topic Week).
Passover: Old to New
Q: When Isaac asked Abraham where the lamb was for the burnt offering, Abraham unwittingly foretold the truth of the Messiah. What was it?
Abraham said, “My son, God will provide the lamb for a sacrifice.” – Gen 22:8
Q: Who else unwittingly told the truth about the Messiah?
The High Priest, Caiaphas, when he said, “Do you not realize that it is better that one man die for the people than the whole nation perish?” – John 11:50
Q: Who else unwittingly told the truth about the Messiah?
Pontius Pilate, when he ordered the sign on Jesus’ cross to read, “This is Jesus, King of the Jews” – Mt 27:37
During the Temple sacrifice of atonement, all the sins of Israel were symbolically placed on the lamb that was killed/punished in their place. Once the priest had killed the animal, he would emerge from the place of sacrifice and declare to the waiting crowd “It is finished!” in Hebrew. Yet they also knew that these sacrifices were repeated twice each day (morning and evening) and therefore these sacrifices were never truly completed or finished – they were imperfect and temporary; an imperfect substitute.
Q: What is the meaning of this need for daily sacrifices?
These repeated events reflected the state of the Jewish people – the chosen people – since the Fall of Man.
As we continue reading the Bible, you will notice that every time God helped them get established and flourish, they would soon forget their promises to Yahweh. God would then send prophets to Israel to warn them that their protection would not last forever and remind them that it was linked to their faithfulness. The people of Israel would often run off or kill the prophets. Then their fortunes or kingdom would come tumbling down. Again and again this happens, which is very telling especially since we are talking about these faithful “chosen” people of God who had been given their covenant instructions in writing – and given every other help from God they could want. Yet, man continued to “fall” over, and over, and over again. And so, the Temple sacrifices were repeated, twice every day, over and over again. Each sacrifice purchased only enough forgiveness for one day (or half a day).
Conclusion: Humanity’s fallen state was not fixable by man. The Jews realized this, which is why the anticipation of the coming of a Messiah had increased dramatically over the last five hundred years before Christ.
Q: What was hope based on?
If man could finally see that his future is hopeless without God, will that be enough for him to turn back to God? Without God, man is stuck with no justice, everyone making up their own meaning, no purpose to life or existence, no sense to suffering – all for nothing. Will this be man’s choice? It’s hard to believe, but the ego is strong. Pride has no problem living in denial, as long as we can just protect our own little space and eek out enough pleasure and distraction so we don’t have to pursue truth and surrender the ego to God.
The same God who gave us this spirit that causes all this angst is also the answer to the problem. Separation from God is the disease, and partnership with God is the remedy.
For the Jews of old, the hope was in God’s promise that He would one day send a Kingly/Priestly Messiah to usher in a new age where there would be no more wars, forgiveness was for the asking, and heaven was opened to all.
Q: Jesus was in Jerusalem for what holy day?
Passover (“Pesach”). Also called the feast of the Unleavened Bread. Why?
Q: How long did it last and why?
Seven days, which celebrated the night of the first Passover before their escape from Egypt to… what? The parting of the Red Sea.
Whenever we think of the Exodus story, our minds are immediately filled with visions of the devastating plagues that Israel’s God visited upon the land of Egypt, or more specifically, the events of Passover. While these events are indeed spectacular and memorable, it is the climactic episode of the Exodus story—the crossing of the Red Sea—that seals Yahweh’s victory and allows the early Israelites to overcome the forces of Egypt—gods and the pharaoh alike.
Q: How did the hundred thousand Jews who visited Jerusalem during Passover week participate in the Passover sacrifice?
Each was required to bring a sacrifice to the priests. This is why the merchants had tables set up everywhere – so visitors from afar could buy the necessary sacrifices when they reached Jerusalem. Can you imagine how many animal sacrifices had to be made?
Q: The sacrifices could not be made on the Sabbath (Saturday), so when would they have to be made?
Friday. Before dusk – preferably by mid-afternoon because there was clean-up and Sabbath preparations still. The Sabbath day always starts at sundown the evening prior and ends at sundown on Sat. This is still true today.
When the sacrifices were over, the high priest would come out from the inner place of sacrifice and announce to the crowd, “Tetelestai!” – “It is finished.” (Tetelestai, Greek for “finished, completed, accomplished, fulfilled.”)
Q: Jesus – the Kingly/Priestly/Suffering Messiah, the unblemished (sinless) lamb – was sentenced to die when?
Friday morning.
Q: When Jesus was being scourged, what was happening at the Temple?
Tens of thousands of animals were being butchered by hundreds of priests. They had troughs made just to carry all the blood away from the Temple.
Q: When did Jesus die?
Friday mid-afternoon, about 3PM, the same time the Temple sacrifices would be completed.
Q: Just before Jesus died, what did he say in John 19:30, about the same time as the priests finished their sacrifices at the Temple?
“Tetelestai – it is finished.” Jesus fulfills his “priestly” role in making this announcement.
Mt. Moria Mt. Moria
“Tetelestai!” “Tetelestai”
Q: What has been completed/accomplished?
God has come and delivered his promise by becoming a man. The “suffering servant” Messiah was fulfilled when Jesus was crucified: the perfect and final sacrifice for all sins, for all time.
Q: The First Passover had power to save lives temporally (earthly). How?
The blood of the unblemished lamb on their doorposts enabled death to “pass over” them, and then they left Egypt.
Q: At the Last Supper, what did Jesus say about his blood?
This is my blood of the new covenant, which will be poured out for you, for the forgiveness of sins.
Q: What was the difference in the power to save lives in the first Passover meal and the power to save lives in the new Passover meal?
Instead of saving earthly lives, it is saving eternal lives. Instead of freedom from earthly bondage, we are being offered freedom from sin, which keeps us from God. Forgiveness would now be for the asking.
“And where sins have been forgiven, an offering for sin is no longer needed.” - Hebrews 10:18
Q: What does it mean, “Jesus died for our sins?”
It is sometimes hard to understand the mechanics of what God did for us when we say, “Jesus died for our sins.”
A better comparison might come from another way that “tetelestai” was used in Jesus’ time. It had to do with collecting debts. When a person finally paid off a loan they were issued a receipt that was stamped with the word “teltelestai,” which meant that their debt was now paid in full. This was their verification that they were no longer responsible for any of that debt. Whenever someone was in horrible debt, the only way to keep out of debtor’s prison the rest of your life was if some kind and generous friend was able to come to your rescue. If he paid your debt for you, you could go free, although your life was kind of indebted to this friend.
The Bible teaches us that our sins create a debt to God, a debt that humanity is unable to ever pay back. The Letter to the Hebrews uses this comparison by saying that when Jesus died, he was paying off our debt of sin once and for all. This is the literal meaning of “he redeemed us.”
This is why we say at the end of all prayers, “through Jesus Christ our Lord” because it is through him – by his coattails – that we may now get into heaven. It is for what Jesus did that forgiveness is now offered to us freely. It’s been paid for.
Closing Prayer
Prayer of Mother Teresa
People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.
In the end, it was you and God. It was never between you and them, anyway.
Hail Mary…
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