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REVERSAL BEYOND IMAGINATION - stephenkhoo - 06-04-2021 12:14 PM
REVERSAL BEYOND IMAGINATION
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Tb 11:5-17; Ps 146:2,7-10; Mk 12:35-37 ]
The ending of the story of Tobit was beyond anyone’s expectations. His son came back home safely. Not only did he recover his eyesight, but he also gained a beautiful daughter-in-law. Sarah was also delivered from the oppression of the demon. Over and above these, he got back the silver he placed on trust with his cousin, Gabael at Rages in Media. The reversal in fortunes brought them great joy and happiness. It was certainly a comforting ending to a story on romance and living a virtuous life. They praised God for His mercy.
This, too, was the case of Jesus as well when He presented a conundrum to the scribes. The latter were supposed to be experts on the scriptures but when challenged, they could not provide an answer to Jesus’ question, “How can the scribes maintain that the Christ is the son of David? David himself, moved by the Holy Spirit, said: The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand and I will put your enemies under your feet. David himself calls him Lord, in what way then can he be his son?”
What was the implication of His question? The dilemma was that the Anointed One was supposed to be the Son of David so that his dynasty could continue in him. This would be a fulfillment of the prophecy of 2 Samuel 7:11-16 that David’s line would continue in perpetuity. It was the popular expectation that the Messiah would be a descendent of David. Hence, David was regarded as a Messianic title. In Mark, ironically, Jesus was addressed by a blind beggar as the Son of David, which He did not reject. (Mark 10:46-52) However, in the mind of Jesus, the Messiah, if He were the Son of David, was more than just a fulfillment of the hopes and promises of the Davidic Kingdom. So the real issue was not regarding the Messiah’s line of descent. That was presumed.
Rather, it concerned the nature of the Messiah’s kingship. Indeed, if David called the Messiah his Lord, then the kingdom of David would no longer be the model for the Messiah’s rule. It implies that the kingdom to be established by David’s son, the future Messiah, could be a kingdom of a higher measure than that of David’s own kingdom. The Messiah would not just restore the Kingdom of David but would go even beyond what the Kingdom of David was. Consequently, the rule of David was just a type of the Messianic kingdom to come. The Messianic kingdom would be wider and greater beyond all expectations the Jews had of the kingdom of David. It would be based on a different set of criteria than just politics and territory, but it would cut across nations, races, languages and cultures.
Indeed, the reference to Psalm 110 corrects the popular understanding of the role and nature of the Messiahship. The Jews expected a political and perhaps military Messiah who would help them to overthrow the power of Rome. Instead, this Messiah, who is addressed as the Lord by King David, would also be a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek, bearing in mind that the latter was not an Israelite but a pagan priest from Canaan. So this Messianic king is distinguished from David because he would be not just a king but a priest as well. Hence, the Messiah could not just be merely a man or an ordinary human king because he was also David’s Lord.
But how could this be realized? The fact is that no one had the answer because they did not know the true identity of our Lord. Of course we know from hindsight that Jesus was referring to Himself. Jesus is the Christ, the Son of David. This explains why the Lord said that the prophecy of King David was inspired by the Holy Spirit. “David, himself, moved by the Holy Spirit, said: The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand and I will put your enemies under your feet.” Indeed, only in Christ could the prophecy be fulfilled, for the Messiah would be the judge of all nations. “The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. He will execute judgment among the nations.” (Ps 110:5f) All the ends of the earth would acknowledge His kingship and as the judge of all men. Christ, by His death and resurrection, was given the glory of the Father to judge the world.
In asking them this question, Jesus was giving them the hint to His authority, a question which was put to Him by the authorities in Jerusalem after He cleansed the Temple. His ability to answer the question posed to Him with regard to the payment of taxes to Caesar in an amazing manner (Mk 12:13-17), His orthodox response to the question of the resurrection in the Old Testament (Mk 12: 18-27) and His wise answer to the question of what was the greatest commandment, (Mk 12:28-34) all showed that Jesus was a man of His own authority. His ability to surprise them with answers to their trick questions, silencing them, indicated that Jesus was certainly more than the Son of David. On the contrary, He was more. He was David’s Lord and of course the Messiah, not according to the limited historical and nationalistic perspective of the Jews but the global understanding of His kingship. He was certainly more than just a conquering military Messiah, establishing an earthly kingdom, but He would be the one to establish God’s kingdom over the whole world.
Jesus was the eternally begotten Son of God, of the Father. He was greater than any king on this earth. He would extend the rule of God to the ends of the earth and build a kingdom that rules the hearts and minds of man, not of lands. He would come to free us from sin, from evil and most of all, from death. Furthermore, He is the High Priest of the New Covenant, as the letter of Hebrews instructs us. “We have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary and the true tent that the Lord, and not any mortal, has set up.” (Heb 8:1f)
In the light of today’s scripture readings, we too are challenged to reframe our understanding of how God works in our lives. Often, our perception of Him is rather narrow and limited by our world view, our presuppositions and our lack of faith in His power and wisdom. We tend to reduce God to our level and make Him think the way we do, even though Isaiah wrote, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isa 55:8f) Indeed, only God sees everything. Our apprehension of His love, mercy and justice are totally inadequate.
This is why we must rely on the wisdom and power of God, as St Paul urges us. “Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish. But we speak God’s wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, “these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.” (1 Cor 2:6-10)
Hence, we must not be too discouraged when things do not turn out the way we want, just as in the case of Tobit. He remained firm in the Lord and lived a virtuous and honest life even though he thought that the most merciful way for the Lord would be to take his life. He felt that his sufferings were too much for him to handle, or for God to help him. Sarah too felt that way. But they were wrong. God is able to do much more than we can imagine. God was waiting for the right moment to intervene in the life of Tobit and of Sarah. God had prepared the angel Raphael to help Tobit and Sarah. All these were already planned and arranged by the Lord. He knew what they needed and when to help them. Let us therefore entrust our lives to the Lord with confidence and faith.