Copyright © 2006 By Doug Lawrence. All Rights Reserved.
Catechism Of The Catholic Church Reprinted With Permission.
- 46 -
The Holy Spirit, the source of all wisdom, dwelled in the Temple at Jerusalem, yet
the very people who were responsible for maintaining the Temple Worship System
obstinately refused to recognize God's own Son. Instead, they opposed Him at
every turn and finally, had Him crucified.
Here's what Jesus told those Chief Priests and Pharisees about
losing the Kingdom:
Matthew 21:42
- 44 Jesus saith to them: Have you never read in the Scriptures:
The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the
corner? By the Lord this has been done; and it is wonderful in our eyes.
Therefore I say to you that the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and shall
be given to a nation yielding the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this
stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it shall grind him to
powder.
And here's what happened in the Jewish Temple at the moment of
Christ's death:
Mark 15:37 - 39 And Jesus, having cried out with a loud voice, gave up the
ghost. And the veil of the temple was rent in two, from the top to the bottom.
And the centurion who stood over against him, seeing that crying out in this
manner he had given up the ghost. said: Indeed this man was the son of God.
Supernatural darkness covered the earth, the ground quaked and the veil of the
Temple was torn down the middle as the Holy Spirit withdrew His presence
(and the Kingdom) from that magnificent, but now, cursed edifice.
The starkness of Catholic Churches on Good Friday and the lack
of holy water in the fonts, commemorates this state of spiritual
desolation, soon to be replaced by the abundant spiritual fruits of
Christ's Resurrection on Easter Sunday (which, interestingly
enough, is also the Jewish Feast of First Fruits).
Within forty years, (the span of one Biblical generation) the Jerusalem Temple
ceased to exist.
Referring to the earlier passage from Matthew 21:42, who is the
"nation" that would now receive God's Kingdom?
Matthew 21:43 Therefore I say to you that the kingdom of God shall be taken
from you and shall be given to a nation yielding the fruits thereof.
That "nation" is the Holy Catholic Church, which Jesus Himself
established, and of which Jesus remains the head. Here's what
St. Peter, our first Pope, speaking in the original scriptural
context, said about the Church:
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