Year A
Memorial of Saint Bernard
Ezekiel 36:23-28
Psalm 51:12-13.14-15.18-19 (R. Ezekiel 36:25)
Matthew 22:1-14
A New Heart and A New Spirit
The death of Jesus is what initiated the New covenant for on holy Thursday he said the blood of the new covenant is his blood (cf. Matthew 26:28). But this draws our minds to the covenant at Exodus 24:8. However there is more to the new covenant that should keep us thinking, these are the New heart and the New Spirit.
There are a lot of elements in the new covenant version of Ezekiel in today's first reading that draws our attention to Garden of Eden. God causing us to walk in his status and be careful to observe his ordinances, and so on. But this statement concludes and clarify it; verse 35 "And people will say: This land, so recently a waste, is now like a Garden of Eden..." Thus the stress is on restoration of our heritage.
However there is something crucial about the Garden of Eden that we didn't hear. It is about the two trees that were in the Garden of Eden; the tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Why?
Well the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21 to 22 solves this. There are also similarities between the new Jerusalem and the Garden of Eden. In the New Jerusalem description in Revelation, the only tree mentioned among the two is the tree of life. Thus is because the tree of the knowledge of good and evil which lead to the disobedience is removed from the New Eden that is why The New covenant talks about God causing us to follow his status and carefully Observing his ordinances. So after the narrative on the tree of life in Revelation 22:2, we here in verse 3 that "The curse of destruction will be abolished."
This statement about the curse of destruction been abolished is from zechariah 14: 11 and is in a context of eschatological battle where the stress is on the day of the Lord, where all nations will gather at Jerusalem, and when that day comes, living water issue from Jerusalem and God will become king of the whole world, and so on.
Obviously by the mention of the Jerusalem or the new Jerusalem in Revelation, and with similar elements of this with Eden and also the Prophecy of Zachariah, we are also drawn to one thing that makes Jerusalem what it is, the temple of God. In fact Ezekiel had a vision about the temple of God which is distinct from the two that were built by Solomon and was destroyed in the year 587 BC, and that by Herod which was destroyed in the year 70 AD.
This temple of Ezekiel's vision have a lot of similarities with the New Jerusalem or Eden and also is what will help us understand why the new covenant is so powerful. This vision of the temple spans from Ezekiel 40 to 47.To make my point clear I will show the pictures of the three temples and we will look at something striking about the third temple which Ezekiel saw around the year 572 BC.
SOLOMON'S TEMPLE
HEROD'S TEMPLE
It is a fact that this third temple has not been built. The Israelites believe that, one thing that will be part of the mission of the Messiah will be to build the temple which was destroyed in the year 70 AD. But the site that the temple will be built is where the al-Aqsa Mosque is currently located, and for the Messiah which the Israelites believe has not yet come to come a build the third temple, it will lead to third world war.
Okay let's concentrate on the third temple and see something very interesting. When you look at this temple carefully; the image you will see is the Cross.
Isn't it interesting, so if the Cross was what Ezekiel saw as the third temple, and the river of life from the temple is also mentioned in Zachariah and Revelation, then what Ezekiel actually saw was about the person whose blood will become the blood of the New Covenant and cause transformation to the whole world.
In fact Revelation makes us aware that there is no temple in the New Jerusalem because Lord God almighty and the Lamb were themselves the temple. So whatever happened during Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the Cross is for the restoration of our heritage.
The stress about the Holy Spirit is about the living water in this Prophecies and narratives. Now here is where the clarity is about the Trinity in heaven;
Revelation 22:1" Then the angel showed me the river of life, rising from the throne of God and of the Lamb and crystals crystal-clear."
In Revelation 21:6, God said he will give water from the well of life free to anybody who thirsty. The Holy Spirit is the reason why the new covenant is about new heart and new spirit.
The marriage theme of the Garden of Eden is also clear about the Cross where Jesus's side was opened like Adam and his Bride the Church was formed through the water of Baptism and the blood of the Communion like Eve who was formed with the rib. But is the Holy Spirit who makes these Sacraments possible.
By
Sylvester Amakye-Quayson
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