Gospels: Last Weeks of the Liturgical Year

The three synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) are used as Sunday Gospel Readings during Ordinary time in Years A, B, and C. We are now near the end of Year A (Matthew), and will begin year B (Mark) in Advent.

The three synoptic Gospels are also read each year at weekday Masses during Ordinary time in the order Mark (Weeks 1-9), Matthew (Weeks 10-21), then Luke (Weeks 22-34). The Infancy Narratives of Matthew and Luke are not read during Ordinary Time. The Passion Narratives of Matthew, Mark and Luke are not read during Ordinary Time. 

However, SOME of the sections of Mark (and parallel sections of Matthew and Luke) beginning with Jesus Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem up to the Plot to Kill Jesus are read during Ordinary Time (both Sundays and Weekdays).

As depicted in the chart below the episodes of Matthew and Luke very closely parallel Mark with only a few additions or deletions from the story of the Entry into Jerusalem until the Plot of Kill Jesus.

First there is a series of stories (rose) which narrate the encounter of Jesus with various Jewish authorities in the Temple. 

This is followed by a series of stories (yellow) which foretell the destruction of the Temple, persecution and the Coming of the Son of Man. Matthew and Luke add one additional common story on Signs of the End of the Age (orange because it might be from Q the common document beside Mark which they both knew).

	Mark Week  #	Matt C:V	Matt Week #	Luke C:V	Luke Week #	Luke Week Day
Mar 10:17 The Rich Man	28
Mar 10:32 3rd  Prediction of Death/ Resurrection
Mar 10:35 The Request of James and John	29
Mar 10:46 The Healing of Blind Bartimaeus	30
Mar 11:1 Jesus' Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem		21:1		19:28
Luk 19:41 Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem				19:4
Mar 11:12 Jesus Curses the Fig Tree		21:12		19:45		33H
Mar 11:15 Jesus Cleanses the Temple		21:18				33F
Mar 11:20 The Lesson from the Withered Fig Tree
Mar 11:27 Jesus' Authority Is Questioned		21:23		20:1
Mat 21:28 The Parable of the Two Sons		21:28	26
Mar 12:1 The Parable of the Wicked Tenants		21:33	27	20:9
Mat 22:1 The Parable of the Wedding Banquet		22:1	28
Mar 12:13 The Question about Paying Taxes		22:15	29	20:27
Mar 12:18 The Question about the Resurrection		22:23		20:27	32	33 S
Mar 12:28 The Greatest Commandment	31	22:34	30
Mar 12:35 The Question about David's Son		22:41	31	20:41
Mar 12:38 Jesus Denounces the Scribes	32	23:1		20:45
Mar 12:41 The Widow's Offering				21:5		34 M
Mat 23:37 The Lament over Jerusalem		23:37
Mar 13:1 The Destruction of the Temple Foretold		24:1		21:5	33	34 T
Mat 24:3 Signs of the End of the Age		24:3		21:5		34W
Mar 13:9 Persecution Foretold		24:9		21:20		34 H
Mar 13:14 The Desolating Sacrilege		24;15
Mar 13:24 The Coming of the Son of Man	33	24:29		21:25
Mar 13:28 The Lesson of the Fig Tree		24:32		21:29		34 F
Mar 13:32 The Necessity for Watchfulness	1 Adv	24:36		21:34		34 S
Mat 24:45 The Faithful or the Unfaithful Slave
Mat 25:1 The Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids			32
Mat 25:14 The Parable of the Talents			33
Mat 25:31 The Judgment of the Nations			34
Mar 14:1 The Plot to Kill Jesus		26:1		22:1
Mar 14:3 The Anointing at Bethany		26:6
Mar 14:10 Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus		26:14
Mar 14:12 The Passover with the Disciples
Mar 14:22 The Institution of the Lord's Supper

The Ministry of Jesus in the Temple

The basic framework of Mark (adopted by both Matthew and Luke) consists of a public ministry in Galilee, followed by a journey to Jerusalem, a ministry in the Temple, then the passion narrative.  John's narrative of the ministry of Jesus includes a number of journeys between Galilee and Jerusalem.  I agree with many scholars that the public ministry of Jesus beginning with his baptism in the Jordan likely stretched over several years, involving repeated journeys to Jerusalem for the celebration of various Jewish feasts. 

Therefore, along with many scholars I see the narrative of a single Journey to Jerusalem as a literary device. The ministry in the Temple likely did not happen in a brief period of time. More importantly it may not have happened at all! It may merely be a literary device to highlight the differences that Jesus had with the various factions of Judaism.

The stories of the encounter of Jesus with various groups of religious parties (scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees) had a very obvious purpose for Mark, i.e., to explain why Jesus was crucified.  The Passion Narrative explains that the Roman authorities put Jesus to death, and that the Jewish authorities, as collaborators with Rome, urged them to do so. These stories of the Ministry in the Temple make it very clear that all the various factions in Jerusalem had something against Jesus. Finally, the Passion narrative makes clear that the supporters of Jesus failed him: Judas betrayed him, Peter denied knowing him, and the rest fled! Matthew and Luke had little reason to add or detract from Mark's account which set the scene for the plot to kill Jesus and gave a comprehensive historical and sociological explanation of why Jesus was crucified.

Predictions about the Future 

The predictions about the future face the issue of what should Christians expect from both civic and religious authorities, given what had happened to Jesus. Many scholars think that Mark wrote his Gospel at a time when persecutions of Christians were on the upswing. Mark's focus is on Jesus, he paints a dim picture of the followers of Jesus. That dim picture is modified somewhat by Matthew and Luke who wrote at a later time when they could be more optimistic about the followers of Jesus, i.e. the Church. So much so that Luke was able to write the Acts of the Apostles as a continuation of the story of Jesus. He continues the story of the following of Jesus to Jerusalem with the sending of the disciples from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. 

Facing our own times and the future, we must always ask "What would Jesus do?" not what would the apostles do, and what have Christians done in the past.  That history gives us both sterling examples, and major failures. We are called to be saints for our times and for the future which means that we must face all the problems of contemporary religious and secular leadership as well as our own inadequacies and those of our companions. Like Jesus we must say "Thy Kingdom come Thy will be done" for our own futures as well as that of the Church and humanity.

The Gospel Readings in the Lectionary

  

When these three Gospels are read at Sunday and Weekday Masses, their position at the end of the public ministry of Jesus and right before his passion is not clear. We are not usually reminded that Jesus has already had his triumphal entry (we think of that as being on Palm Sunday) and that the plot to kill him is about to unfold. 

The Year of Mark

In the Sunday readings from Mark, we see only a small part of these two sections of his Gospel. Weeks 28, 29 and 30 of the year of Mark concentrate on the readings from Mark right before the Ministry in the Temple.  

Week 31 (the Greatest Commandment) and Week 32 (denouncing the Scribes) are only a small part of the encounters with the religious establishment of his time found in Mark. We are unlikely to conclude from this that (if we follow Jesus) we may expect to have difficulties with the religious and political establishments of our own time. 

At the end of Year of Mark, the lectionary does have the coming of the Son of Man (Week 33); however, the necessity for watchfulness in his Gospel does not occur until the First Sunday of Advent.

The Year of Matthew

Back in Week 26 we read the Parable of the Two Sons, followed in Week 27 by the Parable of the Wicked Tenants in common with Mark, and then on Week 28 by the Parable of the Wedding Guests. These two additions of Matthew to account in Mark are both addressed to the religious authorities. Both contain much material for rethinking our relationships to contemporary religious and civic institutions. Of course, Week 29 (taxes) and Week 30 (the Great Commandment get to the heart of these matters. 

While Matthew only inserted two stories to the Markan narrative of the Jerusalem ministry, he adds another four at the end of that section. Three of these are the final readings for the year. The Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids (Week 32), the Parable of the Talents (Week 33) and the Judgement of Nations (Week 34). Again, all of these should be read against the background of what implications these have for our relationships with the religious and civic organizations of our time. Like Jesus we will probably not find that very simple. 

The Year of Luke

The question of the Resurrection posed by the Sadducees is read on Sunday 32 of Year C, as is the prediction of the Destruction of the Temple on Sunday 33.  We do not get much about Jesus confrontation with the religious authorities of his time nor about Future Predicitons in the Sunday readings at the end of the liturgical year.  

Much more of these two sections of the Gospel of Luke are contained in the last two weeks of weekly lectionary readings form the Gospel of Luke, as detailed in the last column of my table above. These are read every year and have the potential to frame out understanding of the Sunday readings for every year.

In the week(s) before the Feast of Christ the King we can see that feast in the light of the Jesus confrontation with the religious and civic authorities in his time. In the week between the feast of Christ the King and the first Sunday of Advent we can begin to contemplate the meaning of Christ's Kingdom for our time and future times.

Feast of Christ the King

In this Year of Matthew now ending, we see Christ as the Son of Man coming to judge the world. However next year in Mark/John, the Gospel of John has Jesus in response to Pilate, affirming "My Kingdom is not of this world." Finally at the end of the year of Luke Jesus is on the cross with the sign King of the Jews over his head and the repent thief asking "Remember me when you come into your kingdom. 

Therefore, although October-November may appear to be far from Holy Week, we are in fact at the heart of what the Kingdom meant for Jesus and should mean for us.