Scripture with the Fathers

We look at the Passover liturgical rite as a prefigurement of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. We look to St. Cyril of Alexandria and Dr. Bergsma and Dr. Pitre to gain insight to the parallels between the institution of the Passover and that of the Sacrifice of Christ. St. Cyril interprets the five day period between the 10th day of Nisan and the 14/15 day of Nisan as the ages of the world and huma...

Jesus ends the third discourse and then goes to his home-town and those who "knew" Him take offense at Him at His wisdom and mighty works. So they were aware of the miracles He worked and the wisdom of His speech. We hear from Pope St. Gregory the great and of course St. John Chrysostom and St. Jerome. WE look back at Sirach and Genesis to get a full understanding of Jesus using parables...

We hear from St. Cyril of Alexandria, St. John Chrysostom, and St. Jerome and see that the Passover sacrificial offering is a type of the actual everlastic covenant that is sealed in the Blood of Jesus Christ. We begin unpacking the typology in light of the "Lamb of God." What does it mean to do something as a memorial? Is the bread of wine, used in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, greate...

We continue looking at the third discourse of Jesus about the kingdom of God. We begin with a quote from St. Jerome about the Mustard Seed and how the Gospel may be seen in this way. He compares the Gospel mustard seed to the Philosophies of Men, which at first blush seem great, but over time come to nothing. We continue Matthew 13 and the parables of the kingdom of God with the treasure in a fiel...

Pharaoh Mock God and in doing so provides the very curse he uses against God's servant Moses, is the very plague that God delivers to the Egyptians. We do a quick review of the first nine plagues and the movement of Pharaoh's heart from not knowing who God is to negotiating the terms on which the Hebrews can worship. Pharaoh wants to and attempts to set terms on where, how and who will wor...

Jesus down shifts to teaching using parables and using analogous agricultural themes to teach heavenly realities about the kingdom. What is a tare? How did the farmer allow his field to be invaded at night, "while the servants were sleeping?" How can the kingdom of God be compared to a mustard seed? We turn to Chrysostom, Hilary, Augustine and Jerome for answers.

Locusts and Darkness lead up to the final plague as Pharaoh's heart becomes even more hardened. I AM has now destroyed the last of the agriculture of Egypt by the invasion of locusts, after which a supernatural darkness covers the land of Egypt for three days. Meanwhile the Hebrews experience none of these plagues, beginning with the fourth. Pharaoh tries to set terms for the liturgical worship of...

Jesus gives his third discourse and explains the kingdom of God. However, there is a shift in the manner in which Jesus speaks and conveys this teaching. He explains the meaning to his disciples only, after the teaching to the crowds. Jesus is fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah in real time. The kingdom is explained in these sayings of Jesus in its various facets, what it is like, who it is that wi...

Systematically, "I AM" the God of the Hebrews, is systematically defeating the gods of Egypt, this time Apis, Hathor, Sekhmet, Nut, Shu, Tefnut, Senehem. Pharaoh at first ignores the plague, but upon the rain, hail and fire, pharaoh agrees to let the people go, and then goes back on his word. But in this pharaoh asks Moses to "entreat the Lord to relent the hail and I will let the people go," Is P...

What is the sign of Jonah? Was it just one thing as Jesus articulates or is there more? He alludes to the third sign of Jonah and what that will be. We turn to St. Jerome and St. John Chrysostom to get insight. Is the return of the unclean spirit associated with the sign of Jonah? Next Jesus describes His true kindred as being those who do the will of His Father. In this statement, is He possibly...

God sends Moses to Pharaoh to demand, on behalf of God to let His people go to serve the Lord God. God gives Pharaoh a choice, let my people go or the Nile will bring forth frogs. Pharaoh says no and the frogs come forth. But the magicians of Egypt did the same. Then the gnats from the dust of the earth. The magicians fail. Snakes from sticks, Nile water into blood, frogs from the Nile; all duplic...

Jesus shows us the way in which to be meek and gentle, even when we are being attacked. However, as the Pharisees continue the false accusations this time reaching a point to which they have committed the unforgivable sin; the sin against the Holy Spirit. What is this sin that will not be forgiven in this age or the age to come? How can we know what this is to avoid it?

God hardens Pharaoh's heart. Pharaoh hardens his heart. Pharaoh's heart was hardened. So which is it? Who is hardening Pharaoh's heart? How can we decipher what is happening to Pharaoh's heart? In the first plague the waters in the Nile become blood. Why blood? What is God doing in these plagues on Egypt? Who is God executing judgment upon with these plagues.

Matthew shows us a facet of Jesus as the warrior king, the goel, who comes to rescues His people; to take back that which belongs to Him. Jesus in demonstrating that which Isaiah wrote foreshadowing the anointed of God, the Messiah who would rescue the people from the tyrant, announces to His accusers, the Pharisees that He is that one. In doing so Jesus declares that, "if it is by the power...

We are introduced to the coming conflict between God and the gods of Egypt. Pharaoh, representing the tyrant of the devil responds to the modest request of a three days journey to enter into a feast, or liturgical sacrificial worship of God. Pharaoh does not know God and therefore intensifies the work required so as to consume all of the time of the Hebrews so that they cannot be idle. The worldly...

What is the proper understanding of the Sabbath Rest? Is it lawful to do good or evil, to save life or kill? In the Gospel of Mark, we see in the same event as recorded in Matthew 12. But why does Jesus ask this question? The reference interestingly enough is in the Old Testament. We look at Jesus equation of Himself with the Temple and as such He is the Lord of the Sabbath. We look to the Fathers...

First God calls Moses to go to Egypt to Free His people, then God was going to kill Moses on the over-night stay. How can we explain this? What was the reason for God's seemingly turn around from calling Moses to intending to kill him? Why is Zipporah doing the circumcision? Why does God call Israel His "first born son"? What is the significance of the first born son?

Jesus makes reference to King David and his men from 1 Kings 13 and also Leviticus and Deuteronomy in refuting the Pharisees' accusation that He was breaking the law of the Sabbath. Jesus first insults his accusers by asking them, "have you not read...?" Certainly they had, but Jesus is pointing out once again, that their interpretation of the law was legalistic, in the same manner i...

We continue in our discussion of the Essence of God as revealed to Moses, and the significance of giving someone your name. God sends Moses on a Mission and Moses objects. God answers Moses' objections and provides the necessary ezer (in Aaron) grace and tools to carry out the mission God gives to Moses. How one of these signs is repeated in the book of Kings and Jesus repeats the sign of His...

Jesus prays to His Father. Does this mean that He is a being less than the Father? However, Not only the Fathers, St. Augustine, St. Chrysostom and St. Hilary, but Dr. Edward Sri agree, Jesus' prayer is conversation with His Father and they all confirm that Jesus is of the same divine substance as His Father, yet a different person. Jesus ends this prayer with the image of being yoked to Him,...

Moses the prince of Egypt becomes a shepherd and while tending the flock of his father-in-law, the Priest of Midian, he sees a burning bush. From this apparition of this unusual sight, Moses hears the Lord and for the first time in Scripture reveals His name. What is in a name? If it is God's name, a great deal. We learn what the Fathers drew from this and the significance of the name, I AM Wh...

We complete Jesus discussing John the Baptist, as Jesus brings out that John and Jesus' arrival are fulfilling the prophecy of Malachi. Jesus shifts to examining those that have seen his miraculous healings and heard His teachings and yet remain unrepentant. Jesus puts before him that in John they saw asceticism and in Jesus celebration, and yet didn't respond to either call to repentance. What is...

We go into detail about Moses fleeing into Midian. Where is Midian, and why is that location called Midian? Why would, in God's providence have Moses wind up in Midian as opposed to somewhere else? Who is Reuel, the priest of Midian. Was he a priest of some polytheistic pagan religion or something else? God's thread of his holy ones meeting their wives at water wells continues with Moses as it had...

How is it that John points out Jesus as the Lamb of God, the Bridegroom, and One whom he is unworthy to even untie His sandals and yet sends two of his disciples to ask Jesus if He is the One to Come, the Messiah promised to Israel? Who was John and why was he eating locust and wild honey and wearing camel hair clothing? Why was he at the Jordan River at the crossing near Jericho, north of the Dea...

We here from St. Cyril of Alexandria who gives us a typological sense of the book of exodus and sees the actions of Moses, the taskmasters and Pharaoh as types of Christ, the demons and Satan respectively. St. Cyril goes beyond the historical setting and literal meaning of the text, but sees Exodus in the broader sense of the entirety of salvation history.