Episode 109: Year C – 4th Sunday of Advent
In this episode, we focus on several details from all three readings for this upcoming 4th Sunday of Advent. The first detail comes from the first reading, which is taken from Micah 5:1-4a. The relevant apologetical topic is Jesus’ Messiahship. The second detail is found in the second reading, which is taken from Hebrews 10:5-10, and the relevant apologetical question there is whether this text supports the “once saved, always saved” doctrine. Finally, in the Gospel reading, taken from Luke 1:39-45, there is a cluster of details that all relate to one theme: Mary the New Ark of the Covenant.
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Hey everyone,
Welcome to The Sunday Catholic Word, a podcast where we reflect on the upcoming Sunday Mass readings and pick out the details that are relevant for explaining and defending our Catholic faith.
I’m Dr. Karlo Broussard, staff apologist and speaker for Catholic Answers, and the host for this podcast.
In this episode, we’re going to focus on several details from all three readings for this upcoming 4th Sunday of Advent. The first detail comes from the first reading, which is taken from Micah 5:1-4a. The relevant apologetical topic is Jesus’ Messiahship. The second detail is found in the second reading, which is taken from Hebrews 10:5-10, and the relevant apologetical question there is whether this text supports the “once saved, always saved” doctrine. Finally, in the Gospel reading, taken from Luke 1:39-45, there is a cluster of details that all relate to one theme: Mary the New Ark of the Covenant.
Let’s begin with the first reading, again, taken from Micah 5:1-4a. The prophet Micah prophesies:
Thus says the LORD:
You, Bethlehem-Ephrathah
too small to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel;
whose origin is from of old,
from ancient times.
Therefore the Lord will give them up, until the time
when she who is to give birth has borne,
and the rest of his kindred shall return
to the children of Israel.
He shall stand firm and shepherd his flock
by the strength of the LORD,
in the majestic name of the LORD, his God;
and they shall remain, for now his greatness
shall reach to the ends of the earth;
he shall be peace.
The key detail here is the prophecy that the Messiah, the ruler of Israel, would be born in Bethlehem. This prophecy, as you know, is prominent in Matthew’s narrative of the wise men’s visit with King Herod. Herod asks his scribes from whence would the Messianic King come, and they rightfully answer, “In Bethlehem in Judea” (Matt. 2:5), and they quote the passage which is our first reading. Matthew, therefore, is revealing to us that Jesus is the Messiah.
Luke doesn’t explicitly quote this passage. But, surely, it’s in the background of his narrative of the angels appearing to the shepherds in the field, proclaiming, “I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; 11 for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11).
So, a key theme for this first reading is Jesus’ Messianic Kingship.
We now come to the second reading, which is Hebrews 10:5-10. The author writes,
When Christ came into the world, he said:
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but a body you prepared for me;
in holocausts and sin offerings you took no delight.
Then I said, ‘As is written of me in the scroll,
behold, I come to do your will, O God.’“
First he says, “Sacrifices and offerings,
holocausts and sin offerings,
you neither desired nor delighted in.”
These are offered according to the law.
Then he says, :Behold, I come to do your will.”
He takes away the first to establish the second.
By this “will,” we have been consecrated
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
The detail that I want to focus on is the last line, “we have been consecrated through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that mortal sin “destroys charity in the heart of man” (1855) and that “to die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God’s merciful love means remaining separated from him forever by our own free choice” in a state of existence that we call “hell” (1033). This means that even a Christian who commits a mortal sin can lose his salvation.
But some Protestants think that Hebrews 10:10,14 contradicts this belief, which is held not only by Catholics but by many Protestants. The author of Hebrews says that we “have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (v.10). The author then says similarly in verse 14, “For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.”
If Christ’s offering has sanctified us “once for all” and “for all time,” then we don’t need to worry about mortal sins causing us to lose our salvation, since when God justifies us he forgives all our sins—past, present, and future.
Note that everything I say here is in written form in my book Meeting the Protestant Challenge: How to Answer 50 Biblical Objections to Catholic Beliefs.
The first thing we can say in response is that this passage can’t mean that all future sins are automatically forgiven, because the Bible elsewhere teaches that there are conditions for having our future sins forgiven.
Consider, for example, Jesus’ teaching in the Our Father: “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matt. 6:12). Jesus then gives us commentary, saying,
For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (vv.14-15).
According to Jesus, a condition for having our sins forgiven is that we forgive others. But by making reception of the forgiveness of sins conditional, it can’t possibly be true that all our future sins are forgiven. What if we don’t forgive others in the future? Jesus seems to imply that it’s possible for a Christian to choose not to forgive his debtors, and thus not be forgiven himself. If our future sins were already forgiven, then such hypotheticals would be unintelligible.
Other elements in the Our Father give support for the ongoing need for forgiveness. Consider that Jesus also instructs us to pray for our “daily bread,” that God’s “will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” that God “lead us not into temptation,” and “deliver us from evil.” Are these requests that make only once in our Christian life?
If Jesus intends us to make these petitions in the Our Father on an ongoing basis, then it stands to reason that he wants us to pray for forgiveness on an ongoing basis, too. But Jesus wouldn’t intend for us to continuously pray that God forgive our sins if all our future sins are forgiven from the moment we’re “saved.”
What Jesus teaches about forgiveness in the Our Father is concretized in his parable about the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18. Jesus tells the story of the servant whose debt of 10,000 talents (worth 164,000 years of daily wages!) was forgiven by the king, and how the servant didn’t extend the same mercy to those who owed him much smaller debts. Upon discovering the wicked servant’s actions, the king threw the servant into prison.
Given that it would have been impossible for the servant to pay back 10,000 talents, which according to late Anglican New Testament Scholar R.T. France, in his The Gospel of Matthew, is like saying he owed “zillions,” the “prison” most likely represents hell. Similar to his teaching in the Our Father, Jesus then tells his audience, “So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”
This parable not only teaches us that there are conditions for receiving God’s mercy, but also that it’s possible for future sins not to be forgiven if the condition of forgiving others is not met. Jesus’ audience consists of those who already had their sins forgiven, his disciples: “And that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’” (Matt. 18:1). If Jesus threatens his disciples with hell for not forgiving their brethren, then he doesn’t intend for their future sins to have already been forgiven.
Notice that the king forgave the servant’s debts, which according to the parable means he was saved—that is, the eternal debt of sin was wiped away. If it were true that that all future sins of saved Christians are forgiven, it wouldn’t have been possible for the servant to be thrown in jail for not forgiving his debtors. How could hell be the destiny of a disciple whose sins had already been forgiven?
We can also look at another passage from the book of Hebrews itself. Verse 4:16 reads, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” If our future sins were already forgiven, this instruction would be unintelligible, since there would be no need to approach God’s throne in order to receive his mercy.
Now, if this passage can’t mean that all future sins are automatically forgiven, then what does it mean? The true meaning of the passage is that the grace Christ won on the cross for the forgiveness of sins can be applied to sinners at all times—on condition that they repent.
The meaning of “once for all” in verse 10 becomes clear in verses 11-12, where the author contrasts the repeated sacrifices that can’t take away sins with Christ’s single sacrifice for sins. The author of Hebrews writes,
And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.
The point the author is making is that Christ ‘s one sacrifice is sufficient to take our sins away (whenever we repent). He doesn’t have to offer himself again to merit the grace that forgives us of any new sins we commit. His single death on the cross 2,000 years ago was sufficient.
Concerning verse 14, where the author says that Christ has “perfected [Greek, teteleiōken] for all time those who are sanctified,” in light of the above passages we know that the author can’t mean that our future sins are forgiven. Therefore, he must mean something else.
A plausible reading is that Christ’s sacrifice makes complete provision for Christians of all times to achieve their goal of perfection. Not only does the Greek word teteleiōken (“he has perfected”) allow for such a reading, it would also fit the context which speaks of Christ’s death precluding any further sacrifices for sins.
Furthermore, the phrase “those who are sanctified” can be translated “those who are being sanctified” (as it is in the ESV translation). The present participle suggests that there is an ongoing application of the merits of Christ’s single offering, unlike the Old Testament sacrifices, which needed to be constantly repeated. This militates against the way the challenge reads the text, since if our future sins were already forgiven, there would be no need for a continuous application of Christ’s merits.
There’s one final point to make in response: the author of Hebrews actually teaches that a person can lose his salvation after being a true believer. In Hebrews 10:26-27, he writes, “For if we sin deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful prospect of judgment, and a fury of fire which will consume the adversaries.” Given that the author is warning his audience against going back to the Old Covenant sacrifices (vv.19-22), what the author means by “there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins” is that by going back to the Old Covenant sacrifices we can’t have our sins forgiven, since the Old Covenant sacrifices lack that power.
Let’s now turn to the Gospel reading, taken from Luke 1:39-45. Luke records,
Mary set out
and traveled to the hill country in haste
to a town of Judah,
where she entered the house of Zechariah
and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting,
the infant leaped in her womb,
and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit,
cried out in a loud voice and said,
“Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And how does this happen to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Blessed are you who believed
that what was spoken to you by the Lord
would be fulfilled.”
As I mentioned in the introduction, there is a cluster of details here that I want to focus on. And there’s one apologetical theme that they all relate to: Mark as the New Ark of the Covenant.
Consider, for example, Elizabeth’s words, “how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (v.43). This is an almost verbatim quote of David, who, when the ark of the covenant is brought into his presence in the city of Jerusalem, cries out, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?” (2 Sam. 6:9).
Elizabeth then tells Mary in verse 44, “For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.” This has a striking parallel to David who danced before the ark when it was brought into his presence: “And David danced before the Lord with all his might . . . 16 As the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window, and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord” (2 Sam. 6:14, 16).
Luke tells us in 1:39 that “Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah.” According to 2 Samuel 6:2, “David arose and went with all the people who were with him from Baale-judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the Lord of hosts who sits enthroned on the cherubim.”
Finally, Luke records that Elizabeth “cried out in a loud voice” (v.42). The Greek verb for “cried out,” anaphōneō, is used in the Septuagint for the “sounds” of the musical instruments that were played in the presence of the ark when it was brought into Jerusalem (1Chronicles 15:28, 1Chronicles 16:4-5, and 2Chronicles 5:13).
All the above details parallel David’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. But there’s another detail in our Gospel reading that focuses our attention Mary as the New Ark of the Covenant—namely, Elizabeth’s blessing, “blessed is the fruit of your womb.”
Here, there’s an emphasis on Mary as the vessel of he who is within, Jesus. Given the prior parallels with the ark of the covenant, one can’t help but see a parallel here with the contents within the old ark of the covenant.
Recall, the ark contained within it the Word of God on stone—the Ten Commandments—Aaron’s high priestly rod that budded, and some of the manna (the bread from heaven). Well, all three items prefigure Jesus who is within Mary’s womb. Jesus is the Word of God made flesh. He is the true high priest. And he is the bread of life.
The emphasis on “the fruit” of Mary’s womb highlights her as the vessel for Jesus, the fulfillment of all the items in the ark, thereby revealing Mary to be the New Ark of the Covenant.
The question now becomes, “What’s the significance?”
Well, there are many reasons why this is significant. But, perhaps, the most apologetical significance is it points to Mary’s immaculate conception and sinlessness.
According to Exodus 25:11, the old ark had to be overlayed with “pure gold,” both “within and without.” In Numbers 4:5-15, instructions were given to cover the ark with the “veil of the screen” and carry the ark with staves lest they touch it and die. Such a threat become a reality in 2 Samuel 6:6-7 when one named Uzzah tried to stay the ark from falling off the back of oxen by touching it and he died.
Given that New Testament fulfillments must always be superior to their Old Testament types, there are certain inferences that we can make about Mary as the New Ark of the Covenant. First, as the old ark was created with the purest of gold, both within and without, Mary was created in purity, free from original sin. Second, as the old ark couldn’t be touched by sinful man, Mary couldn’t be touched by sin throughout her life.
Seeing Mary’s purity through the lens of this New Ark theme is nothing new under the sun. This is found among the early Church fathers. Consider, for example, Dionysius the Great of Alexandria. In his Epistle Against Paul of Samosata, dating to around A.D. 250, he writes,
Christ did not live in a servile tent, but in His holy ark … and He preserved His mother as one who was blessed from head to foot, undefiled, even as He alone knew the manner of her conception and birth.
Notice how he believed Mary, Christ’s “holy ark,” to be “undefiled.”
Athanasius is another example. In his Homily of the Papyrus of Turin, he writes,
O noble Virgin, truly you are greater than any other greatness, O dwelling place of God the Word. To whom among all creatures shall I compare you, O Virgin? You are greater than them all. O [ark of the New] Covenant, clothed with purity instead of gold! You are the ark in which is found the golden vessel containing the true manna, that is, the flesh in which divinity resides . . . If I say that the angels and archangels are great— but you are greater than them all, for the angels and archangels serve with trembling the One who dwells in your womb, and they dare not speak in his presence, while you speak to him freely.
In referring to Mary as greater than the angels, in the context of referencing her “purity,” St. Athanasius unmistakably implies her sinlessness. If she were a sinner, she would not be greater than the angels.
Conclusion
Well, my friends, that’s brings us to the end of this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word. The readings for this upcoming 4th Sunday of Advent, Year C don’t sell us short when it comes to details that are relevant for apologetics:
- We have the prophecy of the Messiah being born in Bethlehem, which both Matthew and Luke see fulfilled in Jesus,
- We have an opportunity to reflect on whether the belief that it’s possible for a Christian to lose his salvation contradicts the author of Hebrews, and
- We have clues in the visitation mystery of Mary as the New Ark of the Covenant, which relates to Mary’s sinlessness.
As always, thank you for subscribing to the podcast. And please be sure to tell your friends about it and invite them to subscribe as well at sundaycatholicword.com. You might also want to check out the other great podcasts in our Catholic Answers podcast network: Trent Horn’s The Counsel of Trent, Joe Heschmeyer’s Shameless Popery, Jimmy Akin’s A Daily Defense, The Jimmy Akin Podcast, and Tim Staples’ 1-on-1 with Tim, all of which can be found at catholic.com.
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I hope you have a blessed 4th Sunday of Advent, Year C. Until next time, God Bless!