Friday, June 9, 2017
9th Week in Ordinary Time
1st Reading: Tb 11:5-17
Gospel: Mark 12:35-3
As Jesus was teaching in the Temple, he said, “The teachers of the Law say that the Messiah is the son of David. How can that be? For David himself, inspired by the Holy Spirit declared: The Lord said to my Lord: sit at my right until I put your enemies under your feet. If David himself calls him Lord, in what way can he be his son?” Many people came to Jesus and listened to him gladly.
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
In previous Gospel passages, the enemies have been harassing Jesus with questions intended to trap him. They had placed him in a dilemma with the question about the legality of paying taxes to the Emperor (Mark 12:13-17), they had challenged him by ridiculing the teaching on the resurrection (Mat. 12: 18-27), they have even used on him the obvious question about the greatest of all commandments (Mat. 12: 28-34).
In today’s Gospel, it was Jesus’ turn to challenge them by shaking the foundations of their traditional beliefs. The Jews have always believed that the Messiah would descend from David (Jer 23:5; Ez 37:23-24; Daniel 9:25-26). Jesus stirred their minds by asking them this question: “If David himself calls (the Messiah) Lord, in what way can the Messiah be David’s son?”
Was Jesus trying to deny that the Messiah was to descend from David? No, he could not do that; for indeed he came from David’s line. (See Matt. 1:1-17). Jesus just wanted to emphasize that beyond being connected to David by blood, his messiahship was a fulfillment of a promise that God made long ago to his people.
We can learn two lessons from this Gospel passage. First: we must examine ourselves if we too have become slaves to our traditional views. My aunts were fighting. The elder refused to initiate reconciliation because of the traditional viewpoint that the younger should bow to elders. But the youngest aunt insisted on another traditional viewpoint that elders should show good example to the young ones. Up to now they are still at war. The better traditional viewpoint they should pay attention to is this: there is no reconciliation without stooping down. Are we similarly enslaved by traditional views?
Second: At times we sulk because of some unanswered prayers. Today’s Gospel tells us that God answers prayers. We should wait in patience. After all, the Jews waited for many years from the time the promise was made to Abraham to the time of the Incarnation.
By stubbornly sticking to our narrow traditions and by doubting God’s sincerity in fulfilling his promises, we may end up joining the bandwagon of Jesus’ critics. – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM
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