In today’s first reading, Saint Paul reminds Saint Timothy that not only is Jesus descended from King David, but that he is indeed risen from the dead. This is an allusion to the dual nature in Christ: human and divine. Yet it is also more than that. It is a reaffirmation that the Scriptures had been fulfilled and therefore we ought to rejoice in knowing that God always keeps his word. We recall that Jesus himself told the disciples on the road to Emmaus, in his resurrected form, and showed them where in scripture the prophecies concerning his passion, death and resurrection were to be found, and that therefore we should be of heart that Jesus is indeed, the truth, the way and the life.
This was the consistent message of Paul which landed him in being imprisoned and in chains. While writing this very letter he was awaiting a sentence, or even his execution. Yet, even in this painful suppression of his freedom, he rejoices in the fact that the message… the gospel, cannot be put in chains, for it is already spreading like a wildfire throughout the world, and eventually to every nation.
Also, imprisoning someone who many people perceive as representing a change for the better, a true martyr for the cause, always ignites a passion in any group of followers. The greatest spark of all however, was the burning heart of the Saviour as he was made a spectacle to the nations, nailed to the cross, where the sun hid in shame, and the angels shook with horror. It was a humility that sent Lucifer tumbling down right out of heaven. Paul does not consider it out of the ordinary that he, the Lord’s follower, should also be imprisoned, and he could only expect a similar fate, but a similar glory. Elsewhere he would say to the Romans: “Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later” 8:18.
Paul is encouraging the early Christian communities to persevere through hardships, for the God of goodness, who sees all things, will recompense those who withstood the onslaught of their persecutors, offered up their pains, forgave their fellow human beings, but warred against the infernal demons who had fallen from grace. This is us. This is who we could become if we haven’t yet fully committed ourselves as Catholics to the Cross of Christ. Christ on the Cross, not the effeminate cross without Christ of our protestant brothers and sisters. We need a captain who leads us in war, not a captain who runs away. Jesus on the cross, before our eyes, is our strength to endure another day of sorrow if need be.
In the final words in the reading, Timothy is told to tell the people “to avoid wrangling over words”. This is a warning against the ideas of Gnosticism. Hymenaeus (see 1 Tim 1:20) and Philetus, were two leaders of this heresy which denied the bodily resurrection and asserted that there is only a spiritual resurrection (1 Cor 15:12-19). Gnosticism interpreted the resurrection allegorically or symbolically, but not as a reality. Paul told the Corinthians that:
“…if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain and your faith is in vain” 1 Corinthians 15:14.
My dear brothers, how wounding to the heart of our Saviour is the one who does not acknowledge his resurrection since it indirectly limits the power of God, and robs Him of the victory over death, which Scripture calls his final enemy, let alone how it invalidates the faith handed down to us by the apostles, as we just heard in the previous quote from Paul.
We get a glimpse of how much our Lord treasures simple faith and trust in today’s gospel, as we examine the movements and the dynamic on display in the dialogue between this one scribe who approaches Jesus with a sincere question, rather than one posed as such but is actually meant to trap him. So Jesus is already pleased at this point, which explains why he so freely gave the scribe an answer to his question regarding the greatest commandment. The reading is short, so I shall read it to you in its entirety:
“One of the scribes came up to Jesus and put a question to him, ‘Which is the first of all the commandments?’ Jesus replied, ‘This is the first: Listen, Israel, the Lord our God is the one Lord, and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all
your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: You must love your neighbour as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.’ The scribe said to him, ‘Well spoken, Master; what you have said is true: that he is one and there is no other. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself, this is far more important than any holocaust or sacrifice.’ Jesus, seeing how wisely he had spoken, said, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’ And after that no one dared to question him any more” Mark 12:28-34.
Again, Jesus readily answers the scribe’s question as it came from a sincere heart. Jesus is pleased with this man. He is seeing that this man gets it. This man is understanding the groundwork for the new commandment – to love your neighbour as yourself, and to love one another as Jesus himself loved us – sacrificially. The scribe, rather than offering Jesus resistance borne of pride, or jealousy, or envy… has allowed himself to hear with his heart. Jesus tells him he is not yet within the Kingdom of God, and perhaps it is not yet within him, but he is not far. Just a few more steps, and this man is on his way to becoming a great disciple.
How about you, my dear sister, my dear brother? Where are you at? Where are you? What are you doing with your life? What do you think? Are you close to the Kingdom of God? Are you trying to daily get closer to the heart of Christ who loves you more than you will ever know?
Always remember Jesus’ words, as risen, he walks by your side daily:
“And being asked by the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come? he answered them, and said: The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say: Behold here, or behold there. For lo, the kingdom of God is within you” Luke 17:20-21.
Amen.
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