Hagia Sophia ; Empress Zoë mosaic : Christ Pantocrator; Istanbul, Turkey (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Click here for today’s Scripture readings.
2 Timothy 3: 10-17
Mark 12: 35-37
Who Jesus is never ceases to tantalize his followers or his enemies. We say He is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God, the second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Word made flesh. But during his life here on earth, his identity was revealed in bits and pieces, and, in today’s gospel Jesus challenges the scribes. He takes the 110th psalm written by King David, “The Lord said to my lord…” and asks them, ‘How can the Messiah be both the descendent of David and at the same time his Lord?’
We know and believe that Jesus is the Son of God and Messiah and that in his human form he was also Son of David. But Jesus wanted to clear up some serious misconceptions about those titles. The danger was that people understood messiahship only in political terms and failed to appreciate that Jesus was to be a suffering Messiah. He was also more than just the Son of David; he was the Son of God. “David himself calls him lord, so how is he his son?” Mark tells us, “the great crowd heard this with delight”. But just what Jesus’ hearers may have understood at the time, is a moot point.
We are the beneficiaries of history. The great theologians, saints and mystics have enriched our understanding of who Christ is. But for each one of us, our unique personal encounter with the Lord is something that deepens with every Eucharist we receive and every word of the Gospel we read or hear proclaimed.
May we continue “to become one in faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, and form the perfect man who is Christ come to full stature” (Eph 4:12-13)
- Fr. Damian Towey, CP is a member of the community at Our Lady of Florida Spiritual Center,North Palm Beach,Florida.
