Crucifixes, Justification, and Jesus the New Moses

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Hey everyone, welcome to The Sunday Catholic Word, a podcast where we reflect on the upcoming Sunday Mass readings and pick out the details that are relevant for explaining and defending our Catholic faith.  

I’m Dr. Karlo Broussard, staff apologist and speaker for Catholic Answers, and the host for this podcast.  

In today’s episode, we’re going to look at five details in the Mass readings for this upcoming 14th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C. The first two come from the second reading, taken from Galatians 6:14-18. The relevant topics are the Catholic practice of having crucifixes and the nature of justification. The other three details are found in the Gospel reading, which is taken from Luke 10:1-12, 17-20. The relevant topics are the historicity of the Gospel portrait of Jesus as an exorcist, the relation of Satan’s binding and the millennial reign of Christ in the Book of Revelation, and Jesus as the New Moses.  

Let’s start with the second reading, again, taken from Galatians 6:14-18. Paul writes,  

May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

through which the world has been crucified to me, 

and I to the world. 

For neither does circumcision mean anything, nor does uncircumcision, 

but only a new creation. 

Peace and mercy be to all who follow this rule 

and to the Israel of God. 

From now on, let no one make troubles for me; 

for I bear the marks of Jesus on my body. 

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, 

brothers and sisters. Amen. 

The first detail that I want to highlight is Paul’s statement, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”  

Often, Catholics are criticized by our Protestant brothers and sisters for having crucifixes, a cross with Christ’s body on it. It’s argued that we shouldn’t keep Christ on the cross because he is risen from the dead.  

I think Paul’s teaching here can help us respond to this Protestant criticism. Would a Christian say to Paul, “Hey Paul, you shouldn’t be so focused on the crucifixion. Don’t you know that Christ is risen from the dead?” Surely, no Christian would think this way.  

But if Paul can focus on Christ’s crucifixion without taking away from Christ’s resurrection, then so can we. Having a crucifix is a visible reminder of this inspired teaching of Paul: We boast in nothing except the cross of Jesus Christ. It also visibly reminds us that through faith in Christ the world is crucified to us and we to the world. Is it such a bad thing to have a constant reminder of this truth? Of course not! Since crucifixes are reminders of this truth, it follows that having crucifixes is not a bad thing.  

There are other passages from Paul that fit this same theme. For example, in 1 Corinthians 1:23, Paul writes, “[W]e preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles.” At the beginning of the very next chapter, in 1 Corinthians 2:2, he tells the Corinthians, “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”  

Having a crucifix is simply one way in which we imitate Paul in “preaching” Christ crucified, and “knowing nothing” except Christ crucified. If Paul can preach Christ crucified in word and in writing, and focus his attention on this act of love, then we can preach Christ crucified and focus our attention on this act of love through imagery. 

So, anytime a Protestant challenges you for having a crucifix, you can use this biblical passages to explain to them that this devotional practice is biblically rooted. And then invite them to be a “bible Christian” and do the same.  

The second detail that has apologetical significance is Paul’s teaching, “For neither does circumcision mean anything, nor does uncircumcision, but only a new creation.” I submit that this teaching is evidence that Paul views the nature of justification to be a state of interior righteousness as opposed to the view that justification is merely a forensic declaration by God that we are just. Let me explain!  

Paul’s statement in verse 14 that he has been crucified to the world and that the world to him indicates that Paul is no longer governed by sin, which means he’s articulating a state of interior holiness, which all Christians call the state of “sanctification.”  

Now, Paul then goes on to describe this state as a “new creation.” Again, it’s clear that Paul has a state of interior holiness in mind.  

The question now becomes, “Does Paul envision this new state of interior holiness as justification?” I answer yes.  

Consider how Paul contrasts this new state of interior holiness with circumcision. He writes, “Neither does circumcision mean anything, nor does uncircumcision, but only a new creation.” The reason why Paul gives this teaching is because the Christians in Galatia were being tempted to seek justification (being at peace with God) by being circumcised.  

This is evident throughout the epistle. For example, in Galatians 5:4-5, Paul warns them, “You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we wait for the hope of righteousness.”  

So, in our second reading Paul contrasts two states: the state of seeking justification through circumcision and the state of being a new creation in which we are crucified to the world, no longer being governed by sin. And Paul is rejecting the first state and affirming the second.  

The implication for Paul is that justification is not on account of being circumcised, or by way of extension obedience to the Mosaic Law, but rather being a new creation. And given that being a new creation is a state of interior holiness, it follows that Paul envisions justification to be a state of interior holiness. This directly contradicts the view that our justification is merely on account of the forensic declaration by God.  

Okay, let’s now turn to the Gospel reading, which, again, is taken from Luke 10:1-12, 17-20. This is the passage where Luke tells us that Jesus sent 70 disciples out two by two to preach in various towns and gives them several instructions.  

Rather than read the entire passage, I’ll just highlight the relevant verses. First, Luke tells us that “The seventy-two returned rejoicing, and said, ‘Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name.’” This verse by itself doesn’t have all that much apologetical value. However, it does fit within a larger framework of evidence for the reliability of the Gospel portrait of Jesus as an exorcist.  

Here, we have a passing reference to demons being driven out by the name of Jesus. This fits with other passing references to Jesus as an exorcist. Mark 1:34, for example, reads, “[Jesus] healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons.” A similar passing reference is also found in both Luke 4:40-41 and Matthew 8:16, which many scholars say comes from an independent unnamed source that Luke and Matthew apparently drew some of their material from. This being the case, Mark 1:34 and Luke 4:40-41 provide us with two independent brief references to Jesus’ exorcisms. The references to demons being driven out in Jesus’ name can be counted as a third, thereby providing more credence to the Gospel portrait of Jesus as an exorcist.  

These passing references corroborate the seven non-overlapping accounts of exorcisms within the Synoptics. For these, check out episode 63 of the Sunday Catholic Word, which was the episode for the 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B.  

Now, this same detail of the disciples driving out demons, along with the next detail where Jesus says, “I have observed Satan fall like lightning from the sky,” provides us with evidence for the claim that Christ’s millennial reign spoken of in Revelation 20 is not a literal 1000 years but rather the Church age beginning with the ministry of Christ.  

In Revelation 20:2, we read about an angel seizing the devil, binding him up, and sealing him off in a pit for 1000 years so that he may no longer “deceive the nations.” Many scholars have argued that this “binding of Satan” maps on with the proclamation of the Gospel by Christ, his disciples, and throughout the rest of history during the Church age. The reason is because, as our Gospel passage states, the disciples are “binding” Satan through exorcisms and Jesus says he saw Satan fall like lightning.  

So, these details are relevant for discussions about the end times and Christ’s millennial reign. 

The last detail that’s worthy of note is Jesus’ choice to send the “72” disciples out. There is some debate as to whether Jesus sent 72 or 70. There are discrepancies in the manuscript tradition. But the stronger tradition is that Jesus sent “70” disciples out. And this makes sense it would fit with them of Jesus being theme New Moses in the Gospels.  

Moses sent 70 elders to be prophets to Israel, according to Numbers 11:24-25. Thus, by Jesus sending out 70 disciples to be prophets—in the sense of announcing the good news, Jesus sees himself as the New Moses who is forming the New Israel of God.  

Of course, this is what Holy Mother Church wants us to focus given that she gives us
Galatians 6:16 as part of the second reading, where Paul calls the Christian people the “Israel of God.” The Church is the New Israel.  

Conclusion  

Well, my friends, that’s all I have for this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word. The second reading and Gospel for this upcoming 14th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C provide us a few details that are relevant to apologetical discussions:  

• We have material from Paul’s teaching about the crucified Christ that can help us justify the Catholic practice of having crucifixes as sacramentals,  

• Paul reveals his view of justification by way of contrasting seeking justification through circumcision with being a new creation,  

• We have material that fits with other evidence to give credence to the Gospel portrait of Jesus as an exorcist,  

• The detail of exorcisms and Satan falling from the sky indicates that the “binding of Satan” spoken of in Revelation 20 is a reference to the Church age rather than a literal 1000 years, and  

• We have Jesus revealing to us that he is the New Moses and the Church is the New Israel of God. 

That’s actually quite a bit to ponder for apologetics.  

As always, I want to thank you for subscribing to the podcast. And please be sure to tell your friends about it and invite them to subscribe as well through any podcast platform that they use. You can also access the archived episodes of the Sunday Catholic Word at sundaycatholicword.com.  

You might also want to check out the other great podcasts in our Catholic Answers podcast network: Trent Horn’s The Counsel of Trent, Joe Heschmeyer’s Shameless Popery, and Jimmy Akin’s The Jimmy Akin podcast,” all of which can be found at catholic.com. And if you want to follow more of my own work, check out my website at karlobroussard.com  

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I hope you have a blessed 14th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C. Until next time, God Bless.