Friday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time (June 9, 2017): A love beyond imagination

Tobit 11:5-17
Ps 146:1b-2, 6-10
Mark 12:35-37
www.usccb.org/bible/readings/060917.cfm

USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/17_06_09.mp3

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Mark.

As Jesus was teaching in the temple area he said,
“How do the scribes claim that the Christ is the son of David?
David himself, inspired by the Holy Spirit, said:

The Lord said to my lord,
‘Sit at my right hand
until I place your enemies under your feet.’

David himself calls him ‘lord’;
so how is he his son?”
The great crowd heard this with delight.

The scribes in today’s Gospel reading (like many other Jews) pictured the Messiah in strictly human terms. He would be a man, they believed, who would deliver them from the alien government that ruled them.

Jesus invited the people to stretch their thinking beyond the limits of their own perceptions and interpretations of scripture. He wanted them to understand that, although the Messiah was from King David’s lineage as expected, he was much more, oh so much more than that!

To prove his point, Jesus quoted from David’s words in Psalm 110: “The Lord said to my Lord” — in which the title “my Lord” was a term of respect for a superior. David had implied that the Messiah would be his superior. If the Messiah were merely a descendent (a “son”) of David, the father would be the greater. But his psalm was a prophecy about God speaking to a Messiah who would be greater than Israel’s most beloved king.

For Yahweh to ask the Messiah to “sit at my right hand”, he was giving the Messiah the most important place of honor in his kingdom. The remainder of Psalm 110 indicates that the Messiah would be a king appointed by God (which the Jews expected). But wait! There’s more! He would also be a royal priest (priests were never kings). And he would be victorious over his enemies (the Romans?). And he would be a “priest forever in the order of Melchizedek” (Jewish priests only came from the order of Levites).

In other words, Psalm 110 points out that the Messiah would be much more than a man, much more than a king, much more than a priest, and much more than a deliverer rescuing the Jews from Roman rule. Most of those who heard Jesus quote from Psalm 110 were delighted. The only ones dismayed by it were those who were certain of their own perceptions and interpretations.

All of our perceptions and interpretations are extremely limited. Only God sees the whole picture. We need to remember that there’s a huge, big, giant universe outside our comprehension, and that God and his love for us and his plans for us are beyond our imagination and comprehension, even beyond our guesswork!

What are you worried about? What are you frustrated about? What are you discouraged about? What are you afraid might happen? What are you disillusioned about?

Hey, you’re only seeing the view inside your 3-pound (1400-gram) brain! God’s concern for you is bigger than the whole huge size of the universe. His plans for you are much better than you can ask for or imagine!

Today’s Prayer:

Beloved Father: Give me wisdom to see Your Word in the light of the Holy Spirit. May Your message of love and its richness not be hidden because of mere human vision. Amen.