Denver Catholic

Perspectives T he Bible doesn't keep secrets in terms of deliberately hiding details from us. Its meaning, however, comes alive for those with faith, who can understand its supernatural message. We also can miss important biblical details by being so far removed from the original his- torical and cultural context. I previously reviewed a coauthored book, A Catholic Introduction to the Bible: The Old Testament, by the great Catholic exegetes John Bergsma and Brant Pitre, who unlock so many hidden details for us. They both have recent books that help us to read the New Testament through "Jewish eyes," how its original audience would have seen it. THE ROLE OF MARY, MOTHER OF THE MESSIAH Pitre's book, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary: Unveiling the Mother of the Messiah (Image/Augustine Institute, 2018) draws not only upon the Old Testament to understand Mary's place in salvation history, but also upon "ancient Jewish traditions outside the Bible that may have circulated at the time of Jesus. In particular, there are Jewish phrases, customs, practices, and beliefs reflected in both the New Testament and these extrabiblical Jewish writings" (195-96). This approach pays div- idends, as Pitre shows how the New Testament draws upon the Old to portray Mary as the New Eve, the new Ark of the Covenant, the Queen Mother of the Messiah, a perpetual virgin, miraculous mother of Jesus and the Church, and the new Rachel. The book contains helpful charts that lay out parallels between Old Testament passages and those in the New related to Mary. For instance, one points to the similarities in terminology between Genesis' descrip- tion of Eve and John's portrayal of Mary in his Gospel (29). Another compares vocabulary used to describe the Ark to Luke's description of the Annunciation and Visitation (58). One fascinating chart looks at how Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah would be born outside of normal labor and its pains, but also how the pains mentioned by John in Rev- elation speak of how Mary shared Jesus' pain in birthing the Church (144; also 146). The last chapter explores a lesser known parallel to the matriarch Rachel, looking at how her sorrowful motherhood of Joseph and Benjamin turned into a mystical intercession for Israel's later suf- fering, pointing to an Old Testament type for Mary's intercession for the Christian faithful (177). All of these parallels provide biblical support for the Catholic understanding of Mary's role in salvation. "From a Jewish perspective, the idea that God would give a special place and power to the prayers of a living and sorrowful mother," especially the mother of the Messiah, "is not only plausible but also compelling " (183). THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF JUDAISM DURING THE LIFE OF CHRIST In the Gospels, we meet two common sects of the Jews: the Pharisees and Sadducees. In addition, there was a third major sect, the Essenes, that do not appear by name in any of the Gospels. They are described in detail by the Jewish historian Josephus, though they did not receive much attention until the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, beginning in 1946. We now know enough about the sect to see how their unique way of life relates to many details of the Gospels. In fact, digging into the details of the prayer, ritual, and communal life among the Essenes sheds much light on the historical background of Jesus' teaching. Unlocking the Secrets of the Bible 19 DENVER CATHOLIC | MAY 9-22, 2020 DR. R. JARED STAUDT The Catholic Reader R. Jared Staudt, PhD, is a husband and father of six, the director of formation for the Archdiocese of Denver, a Benedictine oblate, prolific writer, and insatiable reader.

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