The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 313: The Ark of the New Covenant (2023)

Episode Date: November 9, 2023

As we begin reading the Gospel of Luke, Fr. Mike draws our attention to Mary. He clarifies the difference between Zechariah's response and Mary's response to the angel Gabriel, and also explains why Mary is the Ark of the new Covenant. We learn that through Mary, God begins to fulfill his promises to the people of Israel. Today's readings are Luke 1-2, and Proverbs 25:24-26. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. It is Palindrome Day. It is day 313, 313, and we're reading today, as you probably know, the fourth installment of our messianic fulfillment, the beginning of a new chapter,

literally and figuratively, of the gospel of Luke. We are entering into the New Testament and we will be journeying through the New Testament for the next, until the end, until day 365. And so here we are reading Luke chapter 1 and 2, as well as Proverbs. We still dip back into Proverbs for the rest of the year as well. Proverbs chapter 25 verses 24 through 26. As always, the Bible translation I'm reading from is the Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition. I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in a Year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year. You can also subscribe to this podcast by clicking on subscribe

and receiving daily episodes and daily updates. It is day 313. We have Luke's Gospel, chapters 1 and 2, Book of Proverbs, chapter 25, verses 24 through 26. The Gospel According to Luke, chapter 1. Dedication to Theophilus. In as much as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things which have been accomplished among us, just as they were delivered to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word,

it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the truth concerning the things of which you have been informed. The birth of John the Baptist foretold. In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah of the division of Abijah, and he had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly, but they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years. Now, while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, it fell to him by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of

the people were praying outside at the hour of incense, and there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer is heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, And many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord, and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,

to make ready for the Lord a people prepared. And Zechariah said to the angel, How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years. And the angel answered him, I am Gabriel, who stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things come to pass, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time. And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they wondered at his delay in the temple. And when he came out, he could not speak to them, and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he made signs to them, and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he made signs to them

and remained mute. And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home. After these days, his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she hid herself, saying, Thus the Lord has done to me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men. The birth of Jesus foretold. In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you. But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her,

Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of David his father,

and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. And Mary said to the angel, How can this be, since I have no husband? And the angel said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called Holy, the Son of God. And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth, in her old age, has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible. And Mary said, Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word.

And the angel departed from her. Mary visits Elizabeth and Mary's song of praise. In those days, Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country to a city of Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the child leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why is this granted me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the voice of your greeting

came to my ears, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord. And Mary said, For he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm. He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of low degree. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away. He has helped his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy

as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his posterity forever. And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home. The birth of John the Baptist Now the time came for Elizabeth to be delivered, and she gave birth to a son. And her neighbors and kinsfolk heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have named him Zechariah after his father, but his mother said, Not so, he shall be called John. And they said to her, None of your kindred is called by this name.

And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he would have him called. And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, His name is John. And they all marveled. And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, Blessing God. And fear came on all their neighbors, and all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea. And all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying,

What then will this child be? For the hand of the Lord was with him. Zechariah's Prophecy And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel! For he has visited and redeemed his people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, to perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant,

the oath which he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life. And you child will be called the prophet of the most high for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins through the tender mercy of our God. When the day shall dawn upon us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in

the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness till the day of his manifestation to Israel. Chapter 2. The Birth of Jesus. In those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria, and all went to be enrolled each to his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be enrolled with Mary his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to be delivered.

And she gave birth to her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. The Shepherds and the Angels And in that region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, Be not afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people. For to you is born this

day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased. When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us. And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying which had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary kept all these

things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen as it had been told them. Jesus is circumcised and named. And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. Jesus is presented in the temple.

And when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, as it is written in the law of the Lord, every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord, and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons. Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death

before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And inspired by the Spirit, he came into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him according to And inspired by the Spirit, he came into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him according to the custom of the law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord, now let your servant depart in peace according to your word. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,

a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel. And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him, and Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against. And a sword will pierce through your soul also, that the thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed. And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher.

She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years from her virginity and as a widow till she was 84. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour, she gave thanks to God and spoke of him to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. The return to Nazareth.

And when they had performed everything according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him. The Boy Jesus in the Temple Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it.

But supposing him to be in the company, they went a day's journey, and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintances. And when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem seeking him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them, and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. And when they saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously.

And he said to them, How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my father's house? And they did not understand the saying which he spoke to them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. And his went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. And his mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man. The book of Proverbs chapter 25 verses 24 through 26.

It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house shared with a contentious woman. Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked. Father in heaven, we give you praise and glory. We thank you so much. Thank you for this corner that we've turned. Thank you for this new day and this new mercy, this new grace, this new gift that you've given to us today. We thank you for the fulfillment of your promises, not only in Jesus Christ, in the gospels, but also your promises in our lives.

Lord God, you never promised a life free of suffering. You just promised that you would be there in the midst of suffering. You never promised a life without trials. You just promised that you would be there as our defender in our trials. And so we ask you in this moment, please be there, be with us, be here, defend us, protect us, and continue to guide us so that we can do everything for your glory and for the sanctification and salvation of sanctification and salvation of our brothers and sisters. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. In the name of the Father,

and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Gosh, you guys, here we are. This is phenomenal. Obviously, we've already read three gospels up till now, but Luke's gospel stands in a unique spot. I mean, they're all unique because they are written from four different perspectives, but Luke's gospel, as he begins the entire thing, he says, many people have undertaken to compile a history of the events. Here's what happened in the life of Jesus. I'm doing this myself. We know that Luke was a physician. He was one of Paul's traveling companions. And so here is Luke who's interviewed. We assume he's interviewed a number of these eyewitnesses to get the story and to get the story straight. Not to say that Mark, Matthew,

and John didn't get the story straight, but Luke being a Greek, right? Luke wasn't Jewish. He was a Greek physician who became a Christian, whereas the other gospels were written by people who have a Jewish origin. Luke being Hellenized, right? He's been Greekified. He has a different kind of perspective, and that different perspective is more of a Greek situation. Whereas the Jewish perspective wouldn't be overly concerned with chronology, won't be overly concerned with telling the story in a certain way. Luke was. So here he even gives us a little introduction and he dedicates this to Theophilus. Theophilus maybe being an actual character, maybe a real human being, but also could be any friend of God, anyone beloved by God. That's what Theophilus means, right? So Theos is God and Philo is love.

And so either the one who loves God or the beloved of God, either way. Anyways, moving on with our story, we have two origin stories. Essentially, we have the origin of John the Baptist and the origin of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. And we recognize that the angel Gabriel appears both to Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, as well as Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ. It's interesting because it seems that when Zechariah asks a question, so the angel Gabriel appears to Zechariah and says, here's the deal. Your wife, Elizabeth, shall bear your son. You should call his name John. And then says a lot of important things about what he'll be, what this prophet will ultimately be.

He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah. This is, ah, you guys, remember? You know who Elijah is. You know the prophecy about how Elijah would precede the Messiah. And Zechariah said to the angel, how shall I know this? For I'm an old man and my wife is advanced in years. And Gabriel responds basically saying,

I'm Gabriel who stand in the presence of God, sent to speak to you and my wife is advanced in years. And Gabriel responds, basically saying, I'm Gabriel who stand in the presence of God, was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. Behold, you'll be silenced and unable to speak until the day these things come to pass because you did not believe my words. And then we are confused sometimes because Mary, after Gabriel comes to Mary and says, do not be afraid. You have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb to bear a son. You shall name him Jesus. A number of things about him. He'd be great, called the son of the most high. And Mary said to the angel, how can this be since I have no husband? And she doesn't get silenced for the next nine months. She gets instead the answer. Now, what is going on here?

I think what's going on is there's a way to ask a question, and there's a way to ask a question. There is a way to ask the question that says, I don't believe you. And there's a way to ask a question that says, just give me some clarifying details here. Zechariah has a reason to ask a question. The reason is we're old. We've never had children before. How can this be? Mary has a reason to ask the question. There is a tradition. It's a small t tradition, meaning it's not necessarily a doctrine or a dogma in the church, but it is that Mary had arranged that she'd be a virgin perpetually, that when she and Joseph married, the understanding was on her part that she had

already consecrated her virginity to the Lord. And so the question would be, how can this be since I have no husband? Now, Mary is already betrothed to Joseph. So she actually does have a husband in the technical sense. But if it is the case, and this is just a theory, right? As I say, it's a small tea tradition. If it is the case that Mary and Joseph were never intending to consummate their relationship, then that would make sense for the question, right? So with Zechariah, it makes sense that he'd ask a question. With Mary, it would make sense that she would ask the question. But there's a way to ask a question, and there's a way to ask the question. And in this case, we have Zechariah, whose the understanding is in the

subtext is that he's challenging the message of God through the angel. Whereas Mary is asking a clarifying question. How can this be since I have no relations with a man? Not I'm too old, like Zechariah is saying, this is impossible. But the idea of I have a clarifying question, angel Gabriel, and God through through Gabriel, answers the question. Here's the answer. The Holy Spirit will come upon you. The power of the Most High will overshadow you.

Therefore, the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. So that's remarkable. We already covered this a little bit. And one of the reasons you might be listening to this thinking, wait, why would Mary be perpetually a virgin? We already talked about in past episodes about the quote-unquote brothers of Jesus and how that Greek word is adelphoi, right? So the Greek word adelphoi can mean brothers. It can mean like I have a brother named Mark, I have a brother named

Matt, but also can mean relatives, any relation. So Lot and Abraham were adelphoi, even though you and I know that Abraham was Lot's uncle and Lot was Abraham's nephew, but they're still called Adelphoi. So Adelphoi can mean brothers, like actual siblings. It can also mean simply relatives or kin. And so later on when we have the brothers or the Adelphoi of Jesus, it's very important to understand that that doesn't mean siblings. It means kin, not brothers. So even James, the brother of Jesus, James the Adelphoi, or the kin, cousin, whatever, of Jesus. Now, why would that be the case? Well, for one, it's fitting, very fitting, that Jesus would be the only son of Mary. Why? Because it is a tradition

in the church, and we might have mentioned this before, it is a tradition in the church that goes all the way back to the very beginning, that Mary not only was perpetually a virgin, that after she gave birth to Jesus, that she and Joseph never consummated their relationship, but also that Mary is referred to as the new ark of the new covenant. Why? We talked about this a little bit, again, a little review, and that is because for a number of reasons, a number of reasons. One is what was in the old Ark of the Covenant? We had the manna, the bread from heaven. You had the commandments, the word of God, and you had Aaron's staff, a symbol of the high priesthood. What is Jesus? Jesus is the great high priest. He's the word made flesh, and he is also the true bread come down from heaven. And so in the womb of Mary is,

in so many ways, the fulfillment of those three things in the old Ark of the Covenant. Not only that, in the book of Revelation, chapter 11 and 12, what you have is you have John the Beloved, he's looking into heaven and he sees the Ark. Remember, we just, within the last month, shoot, I think within the last two weeks, we heard that Jeremiah had taken the Ark and he'd put it away. No one's ever seen it. Here's John looking into heaven and he sees the Ark of the Covenant for the first time ever since Jeremiah hid it away. And the very next verses, as John is looking into heaven and he sees the Ark of the Covenant, he says, then I saw a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon at the stars of her feet

and around her head, a crown of 12 stars. And she gave birth to a son. And so that the image of that is not only is this woman giving birth to a son who could be, it could just be the church giving birth to Christians, but it also is seen as Mary giving birth to our Lord and savior Jesus. So the arc then blends into being a woman. So like, you know how you have a vision or have a dream where something becomes something else. Here is John looking into heaven, seeing the arc, and then at the simultaneously seeing the woman who gave birth to the son, to the Messiah, Mary. Now, okay, maybe that's a stretch, but here's the next thing. In this same chapter, chapter one of Luke's

gospel, verse 39, it says, in those days, Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country to a city of Judah and she went to the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. This is remarkable because what happened back in the book of Samuel? Well, when the Ark of the Covenant was lost, it was taken away from the city of Jerusalem. What did David do? It was being moved to the city of Jerusalem. What did David do? He went with haste, same words, went with haste into the hill country of Judea to see

the Ark and even says the words that Elizabeth said. He says, how is it that the ark of the Lord should come to me? Elizabeth says to Mary, or says to the world or whatever she says, she says, who am I that the mother of my Lord should come to me? And then also what happens? Behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the child in my womb leaped for joy. When David was bringing the ark into Jerusalem, what was he doing?

He was leaping and dancing before the ark. So you might say, but it really isn't necessary. And I would say, it's not necessary. It is poetically necessary. It's not necessary. It's what you call fitting. It is fitting that Mary, being the new ark of the new covenant, would also be without, she'd be perpetually virgin is what I'm trying to say.

Now, that's a little apologetic. There's more other reasons for this to be the case. But I just wanted to offer that as a piece of seeing here is the whole story going all the way back to when Moses and the people of Israel were wandering in the wilderness and they made the Ark of the Covenant all the way to this moment here in Luke's gospel, where here is the fulfillment, the fulfillment of all the promises of God, the fulfillment of the covenant of God, the fulfillment of God's presence, right? Remember what would happen is the ark would be where the presence of God would abide. What is Mary in this moment?

She is where the presence of God, the word made flesh is abiding. And so there's something, there is a connection, even if we as Christians might argue that, that's completely fine if you want to argue that. But as Catholics fine if you want to argue that. But as Catholics, I just wanted to share that that's one of the reasons, that's one of the things we believe, and that's some of the reasons why we believe that as a reality, that Mary is the new ark of the new covenant

because Jesus Christ is the true and real presence of God among us. And so, gosh, we got to have the rest of chapter two as well, the birth of Jesus. Merry Christmas, you guys, because what a gift we get to go through the story of the nativity and the story of the shepherds and Jesus being circumcised and presented in the temple. Remember, as the firstborn, he had to be redeemed and he was redeemed by a pair of turtle doves

or two young pigeons, which indicate and reveal to us that Mary and Joseph were poor. Because if you were poor, you got to, I don't want to say get away with, but you got to get away with only offering a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons. And that's a place to end. I think there's something really beautiful about this sense of, he'd say, man, the price of God, you know what I'm saying, price, but the redemption price was a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons. I imagine how inadequate Mary and Joseph felt in that moment saying, this is the son of the most high. All we can afford is a pair of turtle doves. All we can afford is two young pigeons. And yet we give what we can because

that's what all God wants from us. Just give what you can, do what you can. Don't worry about what you can't. Don't give what you can't. Don't do what you can't. Just give what you can and do what you can. That's all he needs. That's all he wants. That's all he's asking. And Mary and Joseph being a great model for us today and every day. I'm praying for you.

Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless. you