Bethany

by Fr. William Rock, FSSP

St. Luke gives us two accounts of the Ascension, one at the beginning of Acts (1:1-11), which is read on the Feast of the Ascension as the Epistle, and another at the end of his Gospel (24:36-53).  In the shorter version given in his Gospel, St. Luke relates something which is not recorded in the longer version given in Acts or in St. Mark’s account (16:14-20), which is read as the Gospel on the Ascension.  In his Gospel account, St. Luke states that Our Lord ascended from or near the town of Bethany (Bethania) on Mount Olivet – “And He led them out as far as Bethania: and lifting up His hands, He blessed them.  And it came to pass, whilst He blessed them, He departed from them and was carried up to heaven” (Luke 24:50-51).

As stated, Bethany was located to the east of Jerusalem, on Mount Olivet.  It was here that Our Lord received hospitality in the house of Martha and Mary during his public ministry (see, for example, John 11:1), especially during the week of His Passion, as He would retire to Bethany in the evenings after teaching in the holy city (see Mark 11).

At least as far back as the ecclesiastical writer Origen, who died around the year A.D. 253, “Bethany” was interpreted to mean “House of Obedience.”¹  “Beth” means “house” and is found in other placenames, such as in “Bethlehem,” “House of Bread.”  While this meaning might not be accepted by modern scholars,² the Christian tradition of understanding Bethany to mean “House of Obedience” is very ancient and much fruit has been gathered from reflecting on this.

To begin with, Our Lord came into this world to undo disobedience.  In the first place, this is the disobedience of Adam who, in eating the forbidden fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, brought sin to the human race.  As St. Paul wrote to the Romans: “by the disobedience of one man, many were made sinners” (Rom 5:19).  But Our Lord also came due to the disobedience found in the sins of all, for, as St. Augustine wrote, sin is a “thought, word, or deed contrary to the eternal law,”³ and thus all sin can be seen as disobedience to God’s Law.  Our Lord counteracted all this disobedience through obedience to His Father and it is by this obedience that men are able to be justified before God – “by the obedience of one, many shall be made just” as St. Paul continues.

It was fitting then, that Our Lord should begin this undoing of disobedience at Bethany, the House of Obedience.⁴  For not only did Our Lord reside in Bethany during Holy Week, but it was the anointing at Bethany before His Triumphal entry which marks the start of His Passion as witnessed by the Matthean and Marcian Passion accounts as they were read in Holy Week before the changes made under Pope Pius XII in the 1950s.

Not only does Christ’s obedience justify sinners, but it also brought Him glory, for, as St. Paul wrote to the Philippians, Christ “humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross.  For which cause, God also hath exalted Him and hath given Him a name which is above all names” (Php 2:8-9).  Our Lord was exalted in His Resurrection, Ascension, and His being seated at the right hand of the Father.  It was fitting, then, that He should ascend from the House of Obedience for it was His obedience which led to His exaltation.

Other interpreters, such as the Venerable Bede (d. A.D. 735), also see in Bethany, the House of Obedience, a type or pattern for the Church⁵ for the Church is called to be obedient to the Lord’s command to the Apostles: “Go ye into the whole world and preach the gospel to every creature….teach ye all nations: baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.  Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Mark 16:15; Matt 28:19-20).  The Church is most herself when she is obedient to Our Lord’s commission, working for the greater external glory of God and the salvation of souls.

The faithful, if they wish to follow Our Lord to Heaven, must be in Bethany, in the House of Obedience, that is, in the Church.  They are also called to be in “obedience to the faith” (Rom 1:5) and be among those who have “obeyed from the heart unto that form of doctrine into which [they] have been delivered” (Rom 6:17).  Holding articles of the Faith to be true is not the same as accepting things as true which can be experienced by the senses or determined philosophically.  The truths of the Faith are mysteries; that is, they are above but not contrary to unaided natural reason.  To accept these mysteries of the Faith as true – things such as the Holy Trinity, the Incarnation, the Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of the Son, the Church, and the Sacraments – an act of the will is needed because the truth of these mysteries is not readily apparent to the intellect.  This act of the will in believing is also a form of obedience for, as St. Thomas wrote in his Commentary on Romans (1:5), “obedience finds its scope in things we can do voluntarily; in matters of faith, since they are above reason, we consent voluntarily.  For no one believes unless he wills to, as Augustine says.”  Thus, as Origen wrote, “every man who is obedient to the word of God is Bethany, and Christ abides in him.”⁶

Fr. William Rock, FSSP was ordained in the fall of 2019 and is currently assigned to St. Stanislaus Parish in Nashua, NH.

In support of the causes of Blessed Maria Cristina, Queen, and Servant of God Francesco II, King 

1. As quoted in St. Thomas’ Catena Aurea, Luke, 19.3.
2. See, for example, Old Catholic Encyclopedia, s.v. “Bethany.”
3. Reply to Faustus XXII.27.
4. See the Venerable Bede as quoted in St. Thomas’ Catena Aurea, Luke 24.7
5. Ibid.
6. As quoted in St. Thomas’ Catena Aurae, Matthew 21.3.