In John 20:19-31, the Gospel reading for Sunday, April 11, we explored the risen Christ appearing to His then frightened disciples, helping put their troubles at ease, and proving that He fulfilled all of God’s Covenants by dying and then rising for humanity’s sins. This reading also reveals the famous story of “doubting Thomas”, and which concluded with the very essence of the mystery of faith: “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”
Luke 24:35-48, the Gospel reading for this Sunday, April 18 gives its own, similar accounts about Christ’s Resurrection, with Jesus continuing to console His disciples’ fear and confusion. In addition, this reading further emphasizes Christ fulfilling all prophecies and allegorical clues throughout Scripture, all of which point to His death and Resurrection. Verses 45 and 46 sum this up as follows:
“And he said to them, ‘This it is written that the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.’”
This passage stands out not only because it links Scripture to Christ, but also mentions Jerusalem – which is the literal, allegorical, moral, and anagogical center of God’s ultimate Covenant – salvation through Jesus Christ – with humanity.
In fact, in a combo blog / video series I recently released on the Four Senses of Scripture, I refer to Jerusalem as a flagship example of the anagogical sense, and as Mark Shea so astutely explains in Making Senses Out of Scripture. Therefore, by Jesus mentioning “beginning from Jerusalem”, it brings us full circle to what Jerusalem ultimately represents, with each arc (if you will) in the circle representing each Scriptural Sense of Jerusalem:
*Literal: Jerusalem is a real city on Earth and within Israel, where the Church was first physically established.
*Allegorical: Jerusalem is the spiritual Church (or Shea puts it, “an image of the church”) where Christ died and resurrected for our salvation.
*Moral: Because our salvation is born from Christ’s death and resurrection, and that we uphold our salvation by adhering to Church teaching, Jerusalem, as Shea describes, “is an image of the soul”.
*Anagogical: Jerusalem represents spiritually connecting with God’s kingdom, that we will one day live in the everlasting Jerusalem – God’s eternal kingdom provided to us through salvation. Which also means eternally dwelling in Heaven.
That said, Jesus’ statement in versus 45 and 46 sets up a colossal stage for the advent of Christianity: the building and propagating of our now 2000-year-old Church; and that the starting point, Jerusalem, also represents the ultimate spiritual reality: The establishment of God’s eternal kingdom.
I pray this week that I continue to anchor my faith journey to all that Jerusalem signifies. And that although I was not an eyewitness to Christ fulfilling God’s Covenants, we have Sacred Scripture and Church Tradition to help us see the fullness of our salvation, as well as an overall Truth that guides humanity toward an everlasting relationship with God.
I will continue to reflect on this throughout the week: Am I helping build and support God’s kingdom? Do I keep the spiritual realities of Jerusalem in mind as I grow my relationship with God and His purpose for us? Do I effectively share our Catholic faith with those who have lost sight of Jerusalem’s literal and spiritual significance –and above all, Christ’s greatest act of love for us?
And thus, our faith journey continues…