This four part series is based on the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church By DeLisle Callender & Ivo Corazza The Pentateuch/Torah The books of the Old Testament (OT) are written in many different literary genres between approximately 1450 B.C. to 450 B.C.  The first five books of the OT (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) comprise the Pentateuch/Torah and their authorship was ascribed to Moses.  They form the theological foundation of the Bible. In the Pentateuch, God explained how sin entered the world and revealed His Divine plan.   He demonstrated His power through signs and wonders and gave mankind laws to follow so that he could lead a life pleasing to God.   God revealed the relationship man could have with Him if man was obedient, as well as the consequences of sin and man’s disobedience. The Pentateuch is partly historical and partly legal and “give us the history of the Chosen People from the creation of the world to the death of Moses.   The books als

“Again you have heard that it was said to your ancestors, ‘Do not take a false oath, but make good to the Lord all that you vow.’ But I say to you, do not swear at all; not by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is his footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Do not swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the evil one (Mt. 5:33-37)." Jesus quoted the OT Law which stated, “ You shall not swear falsely by my name, thus profaning the name of your God. I am the Lord (Lev. 19:12).'  And with respect to keeping an oath OT Law stated, “ When a man makes a vow to the Lord or binds himself under oath to a pledge, he shall not violate his word, but must fulfill exactly the promise he has uttered (Num. 30:3).”  With respect to OT swearing falsely, one should not make a vow to the Lord that one has no intention of keeping.  After quoting

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect (Mt. 5:43-48).” There was a false interpretation of the OT that said love your neighbor and hate your enemy.  The biblical quotation for the first part is, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Lev. 19:18),” and there is no specific OT quotation, ‘hate your enemy.’  Jesus reinterpreted the Torah and continued his teaching on retaliation - do not resist your enemies but do double what they ask you (Mt 5:41), and extend a

'And when he was alone, those present along with the Twelve questioned him about the parables. He answered them, “The mystery of the kingdom of God has been granted to you. But to those outside everything comes in parables, so that ‘they may look and see but not perceive, and hear and listen but not understand, in order that they may not be converted and be forgiven.’” Jesus said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables? The sower sows the word. These are the ones on the path where the word is sown. As soon as they hear, Satan comes at once and takes away the word sown in them. And these are the ones sown on rocky ground who, when they hear the word, receive it at once with joy. But they have no root; they last only for a time. Then when tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Those sown among thorns are another sort. They are the people who hear the word, but worldly anxiety, the lure of ri

'On another occasion he began to teach by the sea. A very large crowd gathered around him so that he got into a boat on the sea and sat down. And the whole crowd was beside the sea on land. And he taught them at length in parables, and in the course of his instruction he said to them, “Hear this! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky ground where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep. And when the sun rose, it was scorched and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it and it produced no grain. And some seed fell on rich soil and produced fruit. It came up and grew and yielded thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” He added, “Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear (Mark 4:1-9).”    The crowd gathered around Jesus and was pressing on him, so he got into a boat on the sea of Galilee and taught the crowd on the sh

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on [your] right cheek, turn the other one to him as well. If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as well. Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow (Mt. 5:38-42). ' With respect to an eye for an eye, the legal rule in Exodus is, “When men have a fight and hurt a pregnant woman, so that she suffers a miscarriage, but no further injury, the guilty one shall be fined as much as the woman’s husband demands of him, and he shall pay in the presence of the judges. But if injury ensues, you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe (Ex. 21:22-25).”  This was meant to limit retaliati

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into Gehenna.  “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce.’ But I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery (Mt. 5:27-32)” Jesus gave a deeper insight into what God expected of marriage.  It was an indissoluble contract between a man and a woman.  It is a covenant of personal love between husband and wife similar to the covenantal relationship betwe

“You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, ‘You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raqa,’ will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court with him. Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny (Mt. 5:21-26).” Jesus imposed a more stringent interpretation of the Torah than the Jewish religious leaders in spite of their many laws.  He t

'They came to Jerusalem, and on entering the temple area he began to drive out those selling and buying there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. He did not permit anyone to carry anything through the temple area. Then he taught them saying, “Is it not written: ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples’? But you have made it a den of thieves.” The chief priests and the scribes came to hear of it and were seeking a way to put him to death, yet they feared him because the whole crowd was astonished at his teaching. When evening came, they went out of the city (Mk. 11:15-19).’ Jesus’ actions fulfilled the prophesies foretold about the cleansing of the Temple (Mal. 3:1-5; Zech. 14:21).  There was a crowd buying and selling animals to be sacrificed as well as other ritual necessities in the Court of the Gentiles in the Temple area.  The money changers would be trading Greek or Roman coins for Jewish coins.  Dov

' The disciples approached him and said, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” He said to them in reply, “Because knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted. To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because ‘they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.’ Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says: ‘You shall indeed hear but not understand, you shall indeed look but never see. Gross is the heart of this people, they will hardly hear with their ears, they have closed their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and be converted, and I heal them (Mt. 13:10-15).' Knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven, with respect to God’s hidden plan for establishing His kingdom by defeating the forces of evil,

'For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with devotion, devotion with mutual affection, mutual affection with love. If these are yours and increase in abundance, they will keep you from being idle or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Anyone who lacks them is blind and shortsighted, forgetful of the cleansing of his past sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more eager to make your call and election firm, for, in doing so, you will never stumble. For, in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you (2 Pt. 1:5-11).' Christians should increase their faith in God by practicing virtue if they are to attain the spiritual fullness to which God has called them.  Virtues are necessary for attaining knowledge of Christ.  The virtues of faith and love are most important to our sp

'Therefore, you are without excuse, every one of you who passes judgment. For by the standard by which you judge another you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the very same things. We know that the judgment of God on those who do such things is true. Do you suppose, then, you who judge those who engage in such things and yet do them yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you hold his priceless kindness, forbearance, and patience in low esteem, unaware that the kindness of God would lead you to repentance? By your stubbornness and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself for the day of wrath and revelation of the just judgment of God, who will repay everyone according to his works: eternal life to those who seek glory, honor, and immortality through perseverance in good works, but wrath and fury to those who selfishly disobey the truth and obey wickedness. Yes, affliction and distress will come upon every human being who does evil, Jew firs

“Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. And should he come in the second or third watch and find them prepared in this way, blessed are those servants. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come (Lk. 12:35-40).” ‘Gird your loins’ means be prepared, and when guards are on watch waiting for someone to arrive they keep lamps burning.  Those who serve the Cristian community should vigilant and faithful in serving the Church while they await the second coming of Christ.  'Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the devil is p

'He began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and left on a journey. At the proper time he sent a servant to the tenants to obtain from them some of the produce of the vineyard. But they seized him, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. Again he sent them another servant. And that one they beat over the head and treated shamefully. He sent yet another whom they killed. So, too, many others; some they beat, others they killed. He had one other to send, a beloved son. He sent him to them last of all, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ So they seized him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. What [then] will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come, put the tenants to death, and give the vineyard to others. Have you not read this scri

'When they arrived at Bethsaida, they brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. Putting spittle on his eyes he laid his hands on him and asked, “Do you see anything?” Looking up he replied, “I see people looking like trees and walking.” Then he laid hands on his eyes a second time and he saw clearly; his sight was restored and he could see everything distinctly. Then he sent him home and said, “Do not even go into the village (Mk. 8:22-26).”' Jesus used symbolism to heal the blind man and the healing was different from most of the other healings of Jesus which were instantaneous.  The blind man asked Jesus to lay hands on him, but Jesus took him outside the village, put spittle on his eyes and then laid hands on him.  Jesus used spittle when healing someone on three occasions - Mk. 7:33; Mk. 8:23; Jn. 9:6.  The healing took place in two stages; first partially then completely.  Jesus will cure our

'In the first book, Theophilus, I dealt with all that Jesus did and taught until the day he was taken up, after giving instructions through the holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them by many proofs after he had suffered, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While meeting with them, he enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for “the promise of the Father about which you have heard me speak; for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the holy Spirit (Acts 1:1-5).” The first book was the Gospel of Luke and St. Luke the Evangelist is also presumed to be the author of the Acts of the Apostles.  The risen Lord gave final instructions through the holy Spirit to the Apostles before he ascended to heaven.  The 40 days means a ‘sufficient’ period of time where the risen Christ appeared to the apostles and taught them about the Kingdom of God.  He also appeared to

“There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed on the housetops. I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body but after that can do no more. I shall show you whom to fear. Be afraid of the one who after killing has the power to cast into Gehenna; yes, I tell you, be afraid of that one. Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins? Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God. Even the hairs of your head have all been counted. Do not be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows. I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before others the Son of Man will acknowledge before the angels of God. But whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God (Lk. 12:2-9).” Jesus warned the disciples (and all Christians) about hypocrisy of the Pharisees and within

'The Lord said to him, “Oh you Pharisees! Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil. You fools! Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside? But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you. Woe to you Pharisees! You pay tithes of mint and of rue and of every garden herb, but you pay no attention to judgment and to love for God. These you should have done, without overlooking the others. Woe to you Pharisees! You love the seat of honor in synagogues and greetings in marketplaces. Woe to you! You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk.” Then one of the scholars of the law said to him in reply, “Teacher, by saying this you are insulting us too.” And he said, “Woe also to you scholars of the law! You impose on people burdens hard to carry, but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them (Lk. 11:39-46).' Jesus was invited to dinner at the home of a Phari

'When it was evening, his disciples went down to the sea, embarked in a boat, and went across the sea to Capernaum. It had already grown dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea was stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they began to be afraid. But he said to them, “It is I. Do not be afraid.” They wanted to take him into the boat, but the boat immediately arrived at the shore to which they were heading (Jn. 6:16-21).' John told this story a bit differently than the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark & Luke).  At this point in Jesus’ ministry, the disciples’ faith was still weak so they could not conceive of what was about to happen.  John did not present a story about the disciples’ faith but told of an epiphany – “It is I (Am).  ‘I Am’ is how God introduced himself to Moses (Ex. 3:14) and how John presented Jesus (Jn. 8:58).  John’s readers were pro

'Every high priest is taken from among men and made their representative before God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He is able to deal patiently with the ignorant and erring, for he himself is beset by weakness and so, for this reason, must make sin offerings for himself as well as for the people. No one takes this honor upon himself but only when called by God, just as Aaron was. In the same way, it was not Christ who glorified himself in becoming high priest, but rather the one who said to him: “You are my son; this day I have begotten you”; just as he says in another place: “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek (Heb. 5:1-6).”' The high priest offers sacrifices for sins as on the Day of Atonement, “For on this day atonement is made for you to make you clean; of all your sins you will be cleansed before the Lord (Lev. 16:30).”  The high priest is able to make sin offerings for others who commit sins out of weakness, but he is weak also and mu