The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament (345 page)

* 
Mt 21:9
: The crowd openly recognizes Jesus as the Messiah and he allows it for the first time.

* 
Mt 21:23
: They object to the assumption of authority implicit in the manner of his entry into the city and in his expulsion of the sellers from the temple.

* 
Mt 21:33-44
: This parable is really an allegory in which almost every detail represents something in God's dealings with Israel.

* 
Mt 22:11
: The wedding garment represents the dispositions necessary for admission to the kingdom.

* 
Mt 23:5
,
phylacteries
: Little leather boxes containing, on a very small scroll, the principal words of the law; cf. Deut 6:4-9. Taking the command literally, they fastened these to their arms and their foreheads.

* 
Mt 23:9
: i.e., "Do not use the title without reference to God's universal fatherhood." He cannot mean that the title is never to be used by a son to his father.

* 
Mt 24:1—25:46
: The "Eschatological Discourse," as it is called, deals with the fall of Jerusalem and the end of the world. The two themes seem to be inextricably intermingled in the Gospel as we now have it, but it is possible that originally they were in separate discourses. However, the fusion of the two does bring out their connection. The one prefigures the other. Moreover, in the reverse direction, so to speak, the language used to describe the day of the Lord in Joel and elsewhere is here applied to the fall of Jerusalem, the details of which must therefore not be taken too literally (
24:29
).

* 
Mt 25:29
: See note on
Mt 13:12
.

* 
Mt 26:17
: The passover supper was eaten this year on the Friday evening (
Jn 18:28
). Jesus must have anticipated the passover meal because he would be dead the following day and because the meal prefigured his death.

* 
Mt 26:26
: The details of the Eucharist are superimposed on the ritual of the passover.

* 
Mt 26:51
: It was Peter, as John in his later Gospel tells us (
Jn 18:10
), though Matthew is reluctant to say so.

* 
Mt 26:59
: They sought evidence against him and this was necessarily false.

* 
Mt 26:64-65
: For the first time Jesus speaks clearly of his own identity. Caiaphas evidently understands him to claim divinity.

* 
Mt 27:46
: Jesus applies Psalm 22 (Vulgate 21) to himself.

* 
Mt 27:66
: The sealing and guarding only helped to make the subsequent resurrection more obvious.

* 
Mt 28:1-20
: The resurrection appearances. There are divergent traditions in the gospels, Galilean and Judean. Paul adds his own record (
1 Cor 15
). The accounts do not easily fit together, but this is surely evidence of their genuineness. There is no attempt to produce an artificial conformity.

Mark

* 
Mk 1:34
: Throughout his ministry Jesus forbade the demons and those he healed of their infirmities to reveal his identity as Messiah, because the people, with their ideas of a national leader to come, were only too prone to mistake his true mission.

* 
Mk 2:14
,
Levi
: Mark does not identify him with Matthew the apostle; cf.
Mt 9:9
.

* 
Mk 3:31
,
brethren
: See note on
Mt 12:46
.

* 
Mk 4:12
,
so that
 . . . : One might rephrase this: "so that the Scripture might be fulfiled"; cf.
Jn 18:32
;
19:24
,
28
. It was not God's intention to prevent their understanding. Matthew avoids this difficulty by writing, "I speak to them in parables,
because
seeing they do not see"
Mt 13:13
).

* 
Mk 5:43
: Knowing their nationalistic views about the Messiah to come, Jesus wished to avoid a tumult.

* 
Mk 7:3
: Mark, writing for Gentiles, explains these Jewish customs.

* 
Mk 8:36
,
life
: See note on
Mt 16:26
.

* 
Mk 9:13
,
Elijah has come
: i.e., in the person of the Baptist
Mt 11:14
).

* 
Mk 10:24
,
amazed at his words
: The Old Testament often records God's offers of material rewards for observance of his laws. This was because the future life was not yet revealed. It was therefore taken for granted, in spite of contrary evidence, that riches were a sign of God's favor.

* 
Mk 10:30
: Some of the reward will be given in this life.

* 
Mk 14:13
: It was unusual for a man to carry water; it was a woman's task.

* 
Mk 14:51-52
: This young man is usually supposed to have been the evangelist himself.

* 
Mk 15:1
: The Jews could not execute Jesus without the Roman governor's permission.

* 
Mk 15:40
,
the younger
, or "the Less."

* 
Mk 16:1
: There had been no time on the Friday to anoint him before the sabbath rest.

* 
Mk 16:9-20
: This passage is regarded as inspired and canonical Scripture even if not written by Mark. As it is missing from some important manuscripts, it is possible that Mark did not write it. On the other hand, he would hardly have left his Gospel unfinished at verse 8. Many think that the original ending was lost at a very early date and that this ending was composed at the end of the apostolic period to take its place.

Luke

* 
Lk 1:3
: Theophilus is again referred to in
Acts 1:1
, but nothing is known of him.

* 
Lk 1:5—2:52
: The "Infancy Gospel," as it is called, is written in a markedly Semitic style, which differs from that of the rest of the Gospel. It appears to be based on the reminiscences of Mary.

* 
Lk 1:30
: The words of the angel are drawn from Messianic passages in the Old Testament.

* 
Lk 1:34
: 
How can this be
: alternate reading is
How will this be
.

* 
Lk 1:46-55
: The Magnificat is based on the Song of Hannah (1 Sam 2:1-10), and other Old Testament passages that describe God's favor toward Israel and especially toward the poor and lowly.

* 
Lk 1:69
,
a horn of salvation
: i.e., a mighty savior.

* 
Lk 2:7
,
first-born
: The term connotes possession of certain rights, privileges, and obligations; cf. Ex 13:1-2, 11-16. The word is used even in modern times without necessarily implying subsequent births.

* 
Lk 2:34
,
for the fall
: i.e., in the sense that by rejecting his claims many would sin grievously.

* 
Lk 2:49
: Jesus stresses the priority of his duty to his Father, which involves a high degree of independence of earthly ties.

* 
Lk 3:2
: See
note on Jn 18:13
.

* 
Lk 3:7
,
brood of vipers
: This epithet seems to have been directed mainly at the Pharisees; cf.
Mt 3:7
.

* 
Lk 3:23
: This genealogy is more universalist than that of Matthew. Like Matthew, however, it gives the genealogy of Joseph, though Mary may well have been of the family of David.

* 
Lk 4:16-30
: This account of the visit to the synagogue seems to be composed of the details of more than one visit. Luke is trying here to underline the contrast between Christ's offer of salvation and the people's refusal of it.

* 
Lk 6:20-49
: Luke's discourse is shorter than that of Matthew because it does not contain Matthew's additional material collected from other occasions, or his details that would interest only Jews.

* 
Lk 7:28
: John, by virtue of his office, belonged to the old dispensation, the time of preparation for the kingdom. In terms of spiritual status, even the humbler members of the kingdom were superior to him.

* 
Lk 7:47
: The preceding parable suggests that she loved much because she had been forgiven much. Jesus now implies that her love is a sign rather than a cause of forgiveness, thus confirming the point of the parable.

* 
Lk 8:19
,
brethren
: See note on
Mt 12:46
.

* 
Lk 8:39
: There was no reason for secrecy (to avoid popular disturbance) in a non-Jewish area.

* 
Lk 9:51
: Here begins the "Travel Narrative" of Luke, which continues up to the passion.

* 
Lk 9:51
: 
received up
: i.e., into heaven; cf. 2 Kings 2:9-11;
Acts 1:2
,
11
. The term here includes his passion, death, resurrection, and ascension.

* 
Lk 9:51, 53
: The Samaritans worshiped on Mount Gerizim, while orthodox Jews, of course, went to Jerusalem, and to Jerusalem only, for sacrifice.

* 
Lk 10:18
: Jesus refers to the fall of the angels (cf.
Rev 12:9
), while he speaks of his conquest of the forces of evil.

* 
Lk 14:26
: Christ's disciples must be prepared to part from any one who prevents them from serving him.

* 
Lk 16:8
: The master commended his foresight without approving what he actually did.

* 
Lk 17:20
: At that time many persons were expecting to see the kingdom inaugurated with striking manifestations; cf.
19:11
.

* 
Lk 19:41-44
: These moving words spoken over the city are full of scriptural allusions. Moreover, the details given could apply as well to the siege of 587
B.C.
as to that of
A.D.
70. It is not safe, therefore, to argue from this passage that the fall of the city had already taken place when Luke wrote his Gospel.

* 
Lk 20:37
: As elsewhere (
1 Cor 15:13-19
), survival after death is linked with the resurrection of the body.

* 
Lk 21:24
,
the times of the Gentiles
: i.e., those during which the Gentiles will take the place of the unbelieving people of Israel. Evidently, therefore, the end of the world does not coincide with the fall of Jerusalem. St. Paul says that the Jews will be converted before the end (
Rom 11:26
).

* 
Lk 22:52
: Matthew and Mark describe the arrest first, before Christ's words. Luke and John both put his address to the soldiers and officials before the arrest, doubtless to stress his command over events.

* 
Lk 23:2
: They purposely produce political charges, as these alone would interest Pilate.

* 
Lk 23:14
: Luke, writing for Gentiles, makes it clear that Pilate wanted to release Jesus.

* 
Lk 23:31
: One does not burn green wood. The meaning is that, if an innocent man is thus punished, what must the guilty (dry wood) expect?

* 
Lk 24:38
: Luke stresses this episode for the benefit of his Greek readers, for whom the resurrection of the body was both impossible and absurd; cf.
Acts 17:32
.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN

* 
Jn 1:1
: John begins by giving his Gospel a theological background. By speaking at once of "the Word" he implies that his readers are familiar with the term. To Gentiles it indicated some form of divine revelation or self-expression. Jews would equate it with the divine Wisdom described in Proverbs, which already appears as something more than a divine quality and has some relationship with the visible world. In Sirach and Wisdom the idea is further developed. In the last-named book, Wisdom appears as a pre-existing person, taking part in the creation of the world and having a mission to reveal God to his creatures; cf. Wis 7:22—8:1.

* 
Jn 1:5
,
light . . . darkness
: One of the familiar themes of the Gospel.

* 
Jn 1:29
: John applies to Jesus the Messianic prophecy of Isaiah 53:6-7, perhaps worded more explicitly by the evangelist in later years.

* 
Jn 2:4
,
What have you to do with me?
: What is that to you or to me? While this expression always implies a divergence of view, the precise meaning is to be determined by the context, which here shows that it is not an unqualified refusal, still less a rebuke.

* 
Jn 2:12
,
brethren
: See note on
Mt 12:46
.

* 
Jn 3:22
,
baptized
: A baptism like that of John. The time for baptism "in the Spirit" had not yet come.

* 
Jn 3:24
: From the other Gospels we learn that, after John was arrested, Jesus withdrew from Judea.

* 
Jn 4:20
,
this mountain
: Gerizim, on which the Samaritans worshiped.

* 
Jn 5:18
,
broke the sabbath
: i.e., broke the sabbath as interpreted by them; see note on
Mt 12:14
.

* 
Jn 6:51
: Jesus is the "living bread" both as Word of God (
verses 32ff.
) and as sacrificial victim for the salvation of man.

* 
Jn 6:52
: A natural question to ask. Jesus answers, not by explaining it away, but by reemphasizing the reality, though not, of course, in the crude sense implied in their question.

* 
Jn 6:62
: When Jesus ascends into heaven they will know that he spoke the truth.

* 
Jn 7:3
,
brethren
: See note on
Mt 12:46
.

* 
Jn 7:53—8:11
: This passage, though absent from some of the most ancient manuscripts, is regarded as inspired and canonical by the Church. The style suggests that it is not by St. John, and that it belongs to the Synoptic tradition.

* 
Jn 8:21
,
die in your sin
: Theirs is that sin against the truth which is the sin against the Spirit; cf. Mt 12:31.