The Gospel of John focuses on “the hour” of our Lord, His signs, and moves around the Jewish feasts, especially the Passover. The hour, the signs, and the feasts have their fulfillment in the Liturgy and the Sacraments. The Eucharist is “the source and summit of the Christian life,” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, hereafter CCC, 1324, Lumen Gentium, hereafter LG, 11) and is a sign of Christ’s presence with His people. The Lord’s promise to be with us “to the close of the age” (Mt 28:20) is carried on through the Sacraments and the Church, the mystical body of Christ. When looking at “the hour” on the lips of Jesus, the promise of new wine (Jn 2), a new way of worship (Jn 4), a new way of hearing the Word of God (Jn 5), and of new wheat (Jn 12) one can see that “the hour” is not just focused on Jesus’s glorification but also man’s sanctification through the celebration of the Mass.
Jewish Background
The Jewish liturgical calendar operates in a similar way to our Catechism. The feasts and celebrations call to mind periods of prayer, fasting, and pilgrimage, but also recall events from Israel’s history and covenant with God. John’s Gospel has seven feasts recounted: Passover (Jn 2), the Sabbath, most likely Pentecost (Jn 5), the second Passover (Jn 6), the feast of Tabernacles (Jn 7-8), another Sabbath (Jn 9), the feast of Dedication, more commonly known as Hanukkah (Jn 10), and the final Passover (Jn 11-17). The noun šabbat is derived from the root šbt which means “to cease or stop (work), rest.”... [The Jews rested] because the Sabbath was a sign of God’s covenant with the people (Gale A. Yee, Jewish Feasts and the Gospel of John (Eugene, Or.: Wipf & Stock, 2007), 31. Brackets added). Pentecost followed fifty days after the Passover and commemorated the giving of the Law at Sinai, being led by the pillar of fire, being under the Shekinah cloud of the glory and presence of God, and drinking the water of the rock.
The feast of Tabernacles is known by different names in the Hebrew Bible: the feastof Ingathering (᾽āsȋp) in the earliest liturgical calendars (Ex 23:16 and 34:22) andthe feast of Booths (sukkôt) in the later liturgical calendars (Dt 16:13, 16; Lev 23:34).The Hebrew sukkôt (“booths” or “huts”) is rendered in the Vulgate as tabernacula,hence the English designation of the feast as Tabernacles…The two names ofTabernacles highlight dual aspects of the feast. On one hand, the feast of ingatheringis a celebration of thanksgiving for the harvest. On the other hand, the feast ofBooths commemorates God’s protection of the people as they dwelled in boothsduring their sojourn in the wilderness. — Yee, p. 70-71.
The feast of dedication is the rededication of the Temple in the Maccabean era after the reign of the Greek king, Antiochus. The Temple built by Solomon and in the post-exilic period was dedicated during the feast of Tabernacles, therefore, in order to dramatize the rededication Judah Maccabee followed the dedication ceremonies during the feast of Tabernacles (Yee, p. 87). The Passover is the pinnacle of Jewish feasts and marks the passing of three years in John’s Gospel. The Synoptic Gospels only have Jesus celebrating the Passover before His trial, death, and resurrection. The Passover is central and important to the message of John’s Gospel. John begins his Gospel with Genesis and Exodus typology using phrases like “in the beginning” (Jn 1:1), “the next day” (Jn 1:29, 35, 43), and “the third day” in John 2:1, covering a span of seven days, “the Lamb of God” (Jn 1:29), “light”, “dark”, the presence of a marriage in John 2, and the six stone jars for the ritual of purification (Jn 2:6). Moses becomes a large figure throughout the Book of Signs (Jn 1-12) leading some scholars to believe that John’s Gospel is written for the people of Samaria. The people of Samaria were one with the people of Jerusalem in the Exodus from Egypt, however, after the Assyrian occupation, they were not seen as Israelites anymore by the Jews because of their intermarriage with their captors.
Nevertheless, the centrality and the practice of Passover would have been known to the people of Samaria.
Kill an unblemished male lamb, one year old.
Not a bone of the Lamb is to be broken; it is to be sacrificed whole.
Drip a branch of hyssop in the blood of the lamb.
See AlsoSongteksten.net - ZoekenStrictly allegations a shock, says Craig Revel HorwoodCassandra Abandoned, I & II [Marion's Version], by Matt DeMelloClone of Get Updates: Christians Arise, Pray, and Fast for 40 Days for God to Raise Up Christian Leaders; "The Greatest Revival!"; “We Expect God’s Help” - Steven Andrew, Pastor of USA Christian ChurchSprinkle the blood of the lamb on the doorposts and lintel of the home.
Eat the flesh of the lamb roasted, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
Perform this ritual every year as a “remembrance” of the original Passover.
— Brant Pitre and John Bergsma, Catholic Introduction to the Bible: The Old Testament (Ignatius, 2018), 175.
Yee writes that Pentecost, the consecration of the firstborn, and the feast of unleavened bread became one feast over time, that is, the Passover as we know it now. Aspects of each feast were interpreted in light of the Exodus event…The features of a nomadic lifestyle, e.g., the roasting of the animal whole, and eating the meal as if beginning a journey, now represented a people in flight from their oppressive taskmasters. The unleavened bread symbolized the haste of the people who had no time to allow their bread to rise (Yee, p. 51). The Passover, now, recalls the escape from Egypt, under the leadership of Moses, from under Pharaoh's reign, and going into the desert.
The Temple was the center of Jewish worship. Worship in the ancient world was equivalent to sacrifice. For the pagans, the purpose of sacrifice to their gods was to gain favor, whether that is for a good harvest, good weather, or for personal success financially, romantically, or politically. Sacrifice for the Jews was for the forgiveness of sin, giving thanksgiving to God, and for His peace. The Jews had the burnt offering, the grain or cereal offering, the peace offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering (Pitre and Bergsma, p. 208-209). Nevertheless, sacrifice was central for all ancient world religions and was synonymous with worship. The Temple was where the sacrifices took place, during the feasts, therefore, being the center of worship for the Jews.
The Temple, however, was not just the center of worship but was also the center of life for the Jews. The Temple was home to the scribes and doctors of the law, the Temple treasury, the High Priests and Sadducees, the Sanhedrin, the Pharisees, and of sacrifice. The priesthood, the law, and the judicial system were integral to the Jewish understanding of the Temple and Jerusalem.
Jesus’s Hour
The hour of Jesus is the moving force of John’s Gospel. Both John, the author and narrator, and Jesus speak of the hour multiple times in the Book of Signs (Jn 1-12) and in the crown jewel of the Book of Glory (Jn 13-21). For John, the hour is the Passion of our blessed Lord on the Cross. John narrates the Wedding at Cana where Jesus first says to His Mother, the Woman as referred to by John, both at Cana and at the foot of the Cross, “My hour has not yet come (οὔπω ἥκει ἡ ὥρα μου) (Jn 2:4). The way that John writes his Gospel, the historical events point to theological truths, that is, John writes mystagogically. The historical event of the hour, the crucifixion as John puts it, and the theological meaning of “the hour” where the Son of Man will provide new wine, a way of worship, hearing the word, wheat, as ascertained by Jesus Himself should not be separated.
The narrative is rich in Johannine symbolism and anticipates many of the themesthat will develop through the story. The miracle and its consequences take place aftera discussion over “the hour” (2:4; cf. 4:21, 23; 2:25, 28; 7:30; 8:20; 12:23, 27; 13:1;17:1; 19:27). This is the first of a number of events described as a “sign” (sēmeion:cf. 2:23; 3:2; 6:2, 14, 26, 30; 7:31; 9:16; 10:41; 11:47; 12:18, 37. Cf. 20:30-31). Thetheme of water will return in chs. 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, and 19, and the revelation of the doxais an important theme throughout the Gospels (see doxa in 1:14; 5:41-44; 7:18; 11:4,40; 12:34; 17:5, 22-24, and doxazein in 8:54; 11:4; 12:23, 28; 13:31-32; 17:1-5). — Francis J. Moloney and Daniel J. Harrington, The Gospel of John, vol. 4 (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2005), 66.
John 2:4 is the first mention of the hour. John concludes the first sign narrative: This is the first of his signs (σημείων - sēmeion), Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed in him (Jn 2:11). The next mention of sēmeion (σημεῖον) is in John 2:18: The Jews then said to him, “What sign do you have to show us for doing this?” This is John’s first connection between “the hour” and Jesus’s death: Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” … But he spoke of the temple of his body (Jn 2:19, 21). John is showing his audience that “the hour” of Christ is when He is high and lifted up on the Cross.
How does John connect Christ to the Temple? In John 14, Jesus says that there are many rooms (μοναὶ - monai) in the Father’s house and promises the disciples that He will go and prepare a place (τόπον [from τόπος] - topos) for them (Jn 14:2-3). In Ezekiel’s vision of the Temple in Ezekiel 40, he mentions the chambers where the priests of the altar live. Similarly, the Pharisees, after the raising of Lazarus, said in council: the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place (τόπον [from τόπος] - topos) and our nation (Jn 11:48). When Jesus is washing the feet of the disciples, He tells Peter “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me,” (Jn 13:8), when Peter tells the Lord that He will not wash him. There is this language of abiding in Christ in these passages and in John 15. Not only will the disciples, the new priests of the new covenant have their inheritance, portion, or share in Christ, but He is also the new Moses and the Just Judge. The Temple’s priesthood, law, judicial system, and sacrifice were central in the mind of the Jews. So when Jesus says destroy this Temple, He is not only speaking about the building itself, but its priesthood, law, judicial system, and sacrifice. John’s connection between Jesus and the Temple is highlighted in Paul’s writings, especially Hebrews. Jesus fulfills and surpasses the Father’s promises to David: I.) the son of David is to be called the son of God, II.) the son will be anointed as the messiah/christ, III.) Jerusalem will be the center of worship, where the thanksgiving (todah) offering of bread and wine would take place, IV.) the Temple will be built on the foundation stone in Jerusalem by the son of David, V.) the Kingdom will be an international one, where both Jews and Gentiles are welcome to worship, and VI.) come to know the wisdom of God through the Wisdom Literature [hokmah], VII.) and that this Kingdom is to be an everlasting one. The three secondary features are the prime minister, or royal steward, the queen-mother, and the twelve officers over the twelve tribes.
Jesus is not only the fulfillment of the Temple but also the feasts. Already in John 1:14 (which reads, literally: “The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us”) (Temple and Contemplation: God's Presence in the Cosmos, Church, and Human Heart (Steubenville, OH: St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, 2008), 113.) (καὶ ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο καὶ ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν - et Verbum caro factum est et habitavit in nobis) (Jn 1:14) fulfilling the feast of Tabernacles. The Lord takes on flesh in order to dwell among His people as the people live around the tabernacle in Exodus (Ex 25:8-9; 40:1-4, 34-38). He fulfills Pentecost by being the “light of the world” (Jn 8:12) and being the new Moses, the law-giver. Jesus fulfills the feast of Dedication through the resurrection.
First, by beginning Jesus’ public ministry with the Temple cleansing, John castshis whole ministry in light of the concept that he is the new Temple. Second, bycalling the destruction and raising of his Temple-body a “sign,” John establishes astrong link between this narrative and the account of Jesus’ death and resurrection.This suggests that his death and resurrection should be interpreted as aTemple-(re)building account, while at the same time identifying in advance theseevents as the climactic “sign” in the sequence of “signs” that help to structure thenarrative. — Temple and Contemplation, p. 112-113.
Jesus fulfills the Passover as “the Lamb of God”. John uses extensive Exodus and Moses typology to show Jesus as the Lamb of God and “our Passover Lamb” (1 Cor 5:7). Moses, like Jesus, is compared to a shepherd and a lamb. According to the Jerusalem Targum on Ex. 1.15 Pharaoh dreamed of a pair of scales; on one scale of the balance was the land of Egypt, and on the other a lamb. The lamb proved to be heavier (Thomas Francis Glasson, Moses in the Fourth Gospel (London: SCM Press, 1963), 96.). This led Pharoah to kill the first-born Hebrew male children. Similarly, Herod knew the prophecies from Micah and 1 Samuel about the birthplace of the Messiah and tried to kill all the male Jewish children. In John 6, Jesus refers to Himself as the “bread of life” (Jn 6:35) and the bread that comes down from Heaven (Jn 6:31, 33, 38) and the crowds recall their “fathers ate the manna in the wilderness,” (Jn 6:31). In John 4, when the Samaritan woman, Saint Photini, says, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet,” (Jn 4:19), she is referring to the prophet like unto Moses in Deuteronomy 18.
In connexion with John 6 it must also be remembered that bread was a term used inthe Jewish Torah, and behind this whole section is the implication that the law ofMoses is now replaced by Jesus, who is himself the bread of life…We have thereforein this chapter not only Jesus as the second Deliverer repeating the deeds of thefirst, but also the instance which runs right through the book that the law of Moseshas now been fulfilled and displaced by the Lord Jesus. — Glasson, p. 47.
However, John doesn’t just use Mosaic typology but also direct connections with the Passover lamb. The lamb had to be male, one year old, and unblemished. Jesus is perfect, being God, the Son of God and male in His humanity, and is the only begotten on God, being eternally begotten. No bone in the lamb could be broken. John tells us when they [the soldiers] came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs (Jn 19:33, brackets added). The Israelites were to dip a hyssop branch in the blood of the lamb and spread it on the doorposts of the home. When Jesus said “I thirst”, a soldier put a sponge full of sour wine on the end of a hyssop branch and gave it to him to drink (Jn 19:29). The flesh of the lamb was to be eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Jesus in the bread of life discourse refers to Himself as the bread of life and compares himself to the manna that the Israelites ate in the desert, which was a flat, wafer-like bread. God also called the Israelites to perform the ritual every year as a remembrance of the original Passover. The Catechism of the Catholic Church uses the term anamnesis, that is, not only recalls the event that saved us but actualizes them, makes them present (CCC 1104). The Catechism teaches in accordance with Scripture that Christ’s sacrifice was offered “once for all” (Heb 10:10), and that His sacrifice is not repeated but is made uniquely present by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Brant Pitre also points out the Jewish practice of lamb crucifixion. He points to evidence in the first century A.D. of the Jews crucifying the lambs: at the time when the Temple stood, after the sacrifice of the lamb, the Jews would drive “thin smooth staves”' of wood through the shoulders of the lamb in order to hang it and skin it (Pesahim 5:9). [Which] seems to show that in Jerusalem the Jewish paschal lamb was offered in a manner which resembled a crucifixion (Brant James Pitre and Scott Hahn, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist: Unlocking the Secrets of the Last Supper (New York: Image Books, 2016), 63., brackets added).
Jesus and the Feasts of the New Covenant
As Jesus fulfilled the feasts of the old covenant, He established a new “sign” of the new covenant: the celebration of the Eucharist in the Liturgy. Jeremiah speaks of the Lord “will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah,” (Jer 31:31) and he will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel and rebuild them “as they were at first”. Significantly, this restoration will include the forgiveness of sin (Jer 33:8), the restoration of nuptial joy (Jer 33:11), and the offering of the todah, or sacrifice of thanksgiving (Jer 33:11) (Pitre and Hahn, p. 791.). This is accomplished in His Passion, death, and resurrection and also in the Liturgy. We have said that the Incarnation was ordered to accomplish a mystical marriage between the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ, and the head of that Body, the Lamb of God (Lawrence Feingold, The Eucharist: Mystery of Presence, Sacrifice, and Communion (Steubenville, OH: Emmaus Academic, 2018), 27). “The hour” must be remembered in the celebration of the Mass.
These two dimensions of the “hour” are part of the one Paschal Mystery of Christ.We cannot, therefore, drive a wedge between the historical and liturgical, betweenthe sacrificial gift of Christ to the Father on the Cross and the sacramental gift ofChrist to us in the liturgy. This was recognized in the early Church where the “hour”of Jesus referred not only to his suffering and death, but, as in the ancient liturgies ofSt. James and St. Mark, the expression “this hour” referred to re-presentation ofthe Passion in the eucharistic celebration. — Curtis Mitch and Scott Hahn, The New Testament (San Francisco, CA: Ignatius Press, 2010), 170.
The Eucharist is like unto the Passover in the Catholic Tradition, not only because it is the fulfillment of the Passover celebration of the Jews but because it is the sign of Jesus’ true presence among His people, “our daily bread”, (Mt 6:11) and the “source and summit of the Christian life” (CCC 1324, LG 11). Saint John Chrysostom says “this is no enigma, or parable, but ye must really eat the body of Christ; or He means to say that the true meat was He who saved the soul,” (Catena Aurea by St. Thomas Aquinas, accessed December 3, 2022, https://www.ecatholic2000.com/catena/untitled-111.shtml) Those who were present with Christ were confused by this saying and wanted clarification. If Jesus was only speaking metaphorically, He would have corrected the crowd’s understanding or John would have made the correction, as in John 2:21 when he parenthetically adds “But he spoke of the temple of his body.”
The signs in John’s Gospel can be understood as pointing to the seven Sacraments, defined by the Council of Trent. The first sign, the Wedding at Cana in John 2 points to the Sacrament of Matrimony. The bride and groom are not mentioned by name. Instead, the only figures named are Jesus and Mary. This, of course, is not a typical marital union of the body but a marriage of wills. Every Christian is called to marry their will to that of Christ. When Christians get married, they unite themselves to each other becoming “one flesh” (Gen 2:24) but are also called to “Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ,” (Eph 5:21). The second sign of healing the official’s son in John 4 looks forwards to the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick, or Extreme Unction. The official’s son is on the verge of death and Jesus heals Him. Jesus, however, is not present at the official’s house. Jesus is able to heal with the Holy Spirit who is the anointing. The Father is the anointer and the Son is the anointed, making the Holy Spirit the anointing. Jesus is able to heal the official’s son with the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Holy chrism [oil] is used to anoint the forehead of the person receiving the healing and fortification of the Holy Spirit. The purpose of the Anointing of the Sick is not primarily to heal the person, though it can happen because God is not bound by His Sacraments. However, the main purpose of this Sacrament is to prepare the person for the trials of death by fortifying their soul. The fear of death along with any suffering whether it be physical or emotional could lead the person to deny Christ out of fear. Moral theology speaks of fear or coercion reducing someone’s culpability, not taking it away. This Sacrament is to strengthen the soul and will of the individual so that they do not turn away from Christ out of natural fear. The third sign is the healing of the man crippled for thirty-eight years in John 5. This sign relates to the Sacrament of Confession, or Penance. The man has been sitting by the pool of Beth-za’tha, a pool that is supposed to heal an individual of whatever ailment they are suffering. This man has been sitting at this pool for thirty-eight years and when Jesus asks if he wants to be healed, he does not answer the question. Rather, he says “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me,” (Jn 5:7). John shows that people must take initiative to be healed and cannot wait for someone to heal them because it is ultimately Jesus who heals. This sign relates to Confession because Jesus makes this crippled man whole again. Sin can debilitate us and leave us spiritually maned and unable to move. Through this healing, John shows what Jesus is doing spiritually for this man. The fourth sign is the feeding of the five thousand, which relates to the Eucharist. With Jesus’ references to the manna and our treatment of Jesus as the bread that comes down from Heaven, one can see how this sign, in John 6, relates to this Sacrament of our spiritual nourishment and union with God and each other. The fifth sign, the healing of the blind man, in John 9, corresponds with Baptism. When the disciples ask Jesus whether this man sinned or his parents sinned, Jesus says that this man was born blind so that the works of God can be made manifest in him (Jn 9:2-3). The way Jesus heals this man should call to mind how God made the first man, out of the ground of the Earth. Jesus takes dirt in His hands, spits in it, and rubs it on the man’s eyes, making Him a new creation in Christ. Christians must be baptized because of the sin of their first parents. God told Adam and Eve to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil “for in the day that you eat of it you shall die,” (Gen 2:17) however; God was speaking of spiritual death, not physical. “Through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,” (Ti 3:5) our souls are filled with sanctifying grace and are spiritually reborn. The sixth sign is the raising of Lazarus, which points forward to the Sacrament of Confirmation. After Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, the officials who were plotting to kill Jesus wanted to kill Lazarus as well (Jn 12:10). In the old rite, the bishop would lightly slap the side of the confirmandi’s face to remind them that they should be prepared to suffer persecution for the sake of Christ’s Name. The seventh sign is the resurrection, first pointed out by John in John 2 when the scribes and Pharisees demand a sign from Christ. The high priestly prayer spanning from John 13 to 17 shows how this sign is related to the Sacrament of Holy Orders. When Jesus washes the disciples’ feet, He is performing the same act that the Israelites did when Aaron and his sons were ordained as the priests in Leviticus 8:6.
Jesus tells the newly ordained disciples that they “will do greater works than these,” (Jn 14:12). The promise of “greater works” calls John’s audience to look not only backward but also to the present, where Christ continues to remain active through his presence by the Paraclete and his proclaimed word…Mark reports that Jesus uttered a loud, perhaps inarticulate cry (Mark 15:37); in John, that note is a cry of triumph: “It has been completed!” (19:30). The perfect tense most likely connotes action finished in the past with continuing effects in the present (Craig S. Keener, The Gospel of John A Commentary, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2012), 947, 1147.). Catholics are called to be transformed by the Liturgy by Christ, however, it is not a passive receptivity, but an active participation as called for in Sacrosanctum Concilium.
“The hour” was the time for the Son of God to be glorified, however, if we understand the promise of new wine, a way for worship, a way of hearing and receiving the Word, and wheat, we should see the Mass inseparable from “the hour” and the Sacraments which are extensions of Christ’s power and presence with His people.
Only then will man come to realize what the divine name “I AM” means when appliedto Jesus (viii 28). Verse 28 gives us the Johannine form of the petition in the Lord’sprayer, “Hallowed by your name.” (This petition, properly translated as, “May yourname be sanctified,” is not a request for men to praise God’s name, but a requestfor God to sanctify His own name - see TS 22 [1961], 185-88. The first three petitionsin the Lord’s prayer are synonymous, and the first petition has the same generalimport as the third: “Your will be done” or “May your will come about.” As we havepointed out, the parallel in the agony for John’s “Glorify your name” is in the “Your willbe done” of Matt xxvi 42.) — Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel According to John (I - XII), vol. 1 (New York: Doubleday, 1966), 476.
Brown speaks of the need of the Lord to glorify His Name. Saint Irenaeus says “The glory of God is man fully alive, therefore, in order for God to be glorified, man must be sanctified and restored to the right relationship with his Creator. This is “the mystery to come” for the Essene Jews in Qumran. They know not the mystery to come (רז בﬣ֙ﬣ) nor do they understand the things of the past. They know not that which shall befall them, nor do they save their soul from the mystery to come (Mary L. Coloe and Tom Thatcher, John, Qumran, and the Dead Sea Scrolls: Sixty Years of Discovery and Debate (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2012), 54). The presence of Christ in the Eucharist, celebrated at Mass in Heaven and on Earth is the culmination of “the mystery to come” and the prophet like unto Moses. Jesus became the Eucharist for the same reasons that He became incarnate. God became man to dwell among us in a way proper to us, as a man among men, taking on our nature, so that we could encounter Him sensibly in our world and in our time. This supreme divine condescension was progressively prepared for by God in His revelation to Israel (Lawrence Feingold, The Eucharist: Mystery of Presence, Sacrifice, and Communion (Steubenville, OH: Emmaus Academic, 2018), 12). This supreme act of love was to show the followers of Christ how they would be called to love one another. Love is interrelationship among Christians, between Christians and Jesus, and between Christians and the Father: “He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me; and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him” (Jn 14:21) (George Macrae, Faith in the Word, the Fourth Gospel (Chicago: Franciscan Herald, 1973), 53). It is in the Liturgy that Catholics can respond to this divine and superabundant gift.
The Pauline letters reflect this renewed liturgical milieu. Paul assumes that his letterwill be read in the assembly (ekklesia, church), and he concerns himself often withboth the liturgical expressions and the inner dispositions of worshippers. Thesethemes dominate 1 Corinthians 10-11, of course; but they inform many other passagesas well. Recent scholarship, across denominational lines, has examined Paul’s useof technical cultic terms such as leitourgia (liturgy; e.g., Phil 2:17), eucharistia(thanksgiving, eucharist; e.g., 2 Cor 9:11), thusia (sacrifice; e.g., Phil 4:18), heirougien(priestly service; e.g., Rom 15:16), and prosphoron (offering; e.g., Rom 15:16),concluding that Paul’s usage has sometimes suffered misunderstanding in translationand interpretation. — Scott Hahn, Letter and Spirit: From Written Text to Living Word in the Liturgy (London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 2006), 45.
Conclusion
“The hour” in John’s Gospel understood solely as the Passion and death of our blessed Lord would not be wrong, but would be wildly incomplete. The promise of new wine, new wheat, and a new way of worship is present in the Liturgy of the Eucharist and fulfillment of the cereal, todah, thank offering, and the promise of hearing and receiving the Word of God in a new way is fulfilled in the Liturgy of the Eucharist. To read John 2, 4, 5, and 12 in this light when Jesus Himself speaks of “the hour” is doing so in the literal sense. Augustine, Aquinas along with other Fathers and Doctors of the Church read the Scripture on its own terms and with a multiple literal sense. “The hour” is also not just Jesus’ glorification, but also man’s sanctification because through the Mass and the Sacraments can we be brought back into the right relationship with God. The Mass and Sacraments are a gift from the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit. It is nothing that people do to earn their salvation. It is part of the superabundant gift of Christ. This is also not a foreign idea inserted into the Bible or Judaism, rather it was an organic development that fulfilled the Law and the Prophets.
All these sacrifices are figures of the sacrifice of Calvary, which is made present inthe Mass. For Christ gave Himself entirely, holding absolutely nothing back, and inthis He is a whole burnt offering or holocaust. He offers Himself under thesacramental sign of (unleavened) bread, and in this the Mass is like the cerealofferings. Christ offers Himself to atone for the sins of the world, and this fulfills thetypes of sin and guilt offerings that were offered in propitiation for sin. Finally,Christ’s sacrifice establishes peace between God and man and between men, andthus it fulfills types of the peace offerings. Furthermore, the immolated victim is givento all the faithful in communion, and this is also represented in the peace offerings. — Lawrence Feingold, The Eucharist: Mystery of Presence, Sacrifice, and Communion (Steubenville, OH: Emmaus Academic, 2018), 50.
Jesus is not just the fulfillment of the old covenants with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David, but is the fulfillment of the Temple. Jesus is the New Temple where the new priesthood of the disciples and their successors, the law of the Spirit, the judgment of the Father, and the sacrifice of Christ of our Passover Lamb takes place. A sacramental and mystagogical reading of John is necessary not only to see John’s ecclesiology and sacramentalism but also to read the Gospel on its own terms.
