1 Kings 3:5, 7 – 12
Over the past few Sundays, we’ve heard the Gospel of Matthew speak in various ways about the kingdom of God. Five weeks ago, on the 12th Sunday, we heard Jesus assure those who acknowledged him would be acknowledged before God in his heavenly kingdom. The next week, we heard Jesus declare that “whoever loves father or mother, son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” But, “whoever receives a prophet…will receive a prophet’s reward” which is, ultimately, union with God in heaven. The following week, we heard Jesus teach: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me…and you will find rest for yourselves.” Two weeks ago, when we heard Jesus teach about the seed sown on the path, rocky ground, among thorns and on rich soil, he then explained that this was a parable about hearing the word of the kingdom. Last week, we heard Jesus present three parables about the kingdom of God: the parable of the wheat and the weeds, the parable of the mustard seed and the parable of the leavened bread. This week, we hear two other parables about the kingdom: one about treasure buried in a field and the other about the pearl of great price. This Sunday’s gospel passage ends with the angels separating those worthy of the kingdom from those who are not. All of these readings lead us to prepare for the fullness of God’s kingdom and our share in it. And, this Sunday’s two other readings speak of the kingdom, as well. The first one remind us about God’s blessing the Kingdom of Israel under Solomon’s rule while he was faithful to God. And, the second reading encourages us to live in a right relationship with God so that we can be glorified in God’s eternal kingdom. Let’s examine these readings and then discuss the Kingdom of God.
This Sunday, we will hear from the first book of Kings, one of the historical books. Let’s examine again the historical setting for this account. Solomon succeeded David as king of Israel around 960BC. He started out very well, as we will see in this Sunday’s account, asking God for wisdom rather than any other treasure. Unfortunately, as we all know, he turned away from an exclusive relationship with God and began to worship the gods and goddesses of his wives. We see an account with a similar structure to this Sunday’s reading in 1 Kg 11:1-13, but with very negative outlook; we’ll examine that after we review Sunday’s reading. 1 Kings was written before the fall of Jerusalem and finally edited shortly after its fall.
Let’s begin with the beginning of the chapter to hear the fuller setting:
1 Solomon allied himself by marriage with Pharaoh, king of Egypt. He married the daughter of Pharaoh and brought her to the City of David, until he should finish building his own house, and the house of the LORD, and the wall around Jerusalem.
2 The people were sacrificing on the high places, however, for up to that time no house had been built for the name of the LORD.
3 Although Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father, he offered sacrifice and burned incense on the high places.
4 The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, because that was the great high place. Upon its altar Solomon sacrificed a thousand burnt offerings.
5 In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream at night. God said, “Ask something of me and I will give it to you.”
Gibeon: This was a hill (the name itself means “hill”) northwest of Jerusalem (cf. map 5 in the Catholic Study Bible) where the local tribes worshiped their gods and goddesses. So, it would be normal for Solomon to go there since the temple to their God had not yet been built. You will recall that Abraham went to Bethel and Shechem, other high places, to worship God.
Dream: revelation by dream was very common in the OT.
6 Solomon answered: “You have shown great favor to your servant, my father David, because he behaved faithfully toward you, with justice and an upright heart; and you have continued this great favor toward him, even today, seating a son of his on his throne.
7 O LORD, my God, you have made me, your servant, king to succeed my father David; but I am a mere youth, not knowing at all how to act.
8 I serve you in the midst of the people whom you have chosen, a people so vast that it cannot be numbered or counted.
9 Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong. For who is able to govern this vast people of yours?”
10 The LORD was pleased that Solomon made this request.
11 So God said to him: “Because you have asked for this – not for a long life for yourself, nor for riches, nor for the life of your enemies, but for understanding so that you may know what is right –
12 I do as you requested. I give you a heart so wise and understanding that there has never been anyone like you up to now, and after you there will come no one to equal you.
Of all the riches that Solomon could have asked for – power, wealth, prestige, long life – he asked for wisdom to govern his people. This request speaks well of Solomon and God gives him not only wisdom but long life and wealth as we read in vss. 13+14. Remember, God promises longevity, prosperity and progeny to those who are faithful to him. And, in a time before there was a clear understanding of everlasting life in a heavenly kingdom, this was the way to live on.
As I mentioned earlier, an account in the same style is found in 1 Kg 11:1 -13; let’s take a look at that.
Of course, the people of Solomon’s time didn’t have a concept of eternal life after death so the focus was on this life. In the resurrection, we can live in hope of eternal life; that’s what is addressed in this Sunday’s Gospel and second reading. Let’s examine them now.
Matthew 13: 44 – 52
This week, we hear the continuation of last week’s discourse. The section we will hear on Sunday presents three parables that continue the themes we have heard over the past two weeks: the kingdom of God and the final judgment. The first two of the last three parables make the same point. The person who finds a buried treasure and the merchant who finds a pearl of great price sell all that they have to acquire these finds; similarly, the one who understands the supreme value of the kingdom gives up whatever he must to obtain it. The joy with which this is done is made explicit in the first parable, but it may be presumed in the second also. The concluding parable of the fishnet resembles the explanation of the parable of the weeds with its stress upon the final exclusion of evil persons from the kingdom. All three parables are peculiar to Matthew, another example of the M source I mentioned last week.
Let’s first look at Proverbs 2:1-4; 4:7 to hear a foretaste of this message. Now, let’s study the gospel passage:
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
treasure buried in a field: As you will read in the footnote, in the unsettled conditions of Palestine in Jesus’ time, when foreign invasion and thievery were common, property owners would often try to guard valuables by burying them in the ground. The treasure could have remained buried for several generations and no one would have legal claim to it.
a person: where the other parables speak of the reign of God and its members as a group, these parables are addressed to the individual person.
45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls.
46 When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.
sells all that he has: the reign of God requires total renunciation of everything else (cf. 6:24, 8:18-22, 10:37-39). Here, the emphasis is less on the renunciation than on the supreme value of the reign; renunciation has its reward. We all know that, sometimes you have to give up something of lesser value to obtain something else of greater value.
47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind.
48 When it is full they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away.
49 Thus it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous
50 and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.
51 “Do you understand all these things?” They answered, “Yes.”
Do you understand: Matthew typically speaks of the understanding of the disciples.
52 And he replied, “Then every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.”
Scribe…instructed in the kingdom of heaven: Although there are no references in the NT to Christian scribes, it has to be assumed that there were scribes among the members of the early Christian community. Some even think that the author of Matthew was such a Christian scribe. The scribe instructed in the kingdom of heaven knows both the teaching of Jesus (the new) and the law and prophets (the old) and provides in his own teaching both the new and the old as interpreted and fulfilled by the new. The scribe who has become a disciple will employ both the old – the Law and the Prophets – and the new – the Gospel. As Vatican II stated so clearly, neither is sufficient without the other, for the Gospel is the fullness of the Law.
head of a household: (for the same Greek word translated householder in Matthew 13:27), see the note on Matthew 24:45-51.
Romans 8: 28 – 30
We hear two more verses of Paul’s letter to the community in Rome this Sunday. The section we will hear picks up where we left off last week. It continues Paul’s reflections on the result of Christ’s death and resurrection on the baptized. These verses outline the Christian vocation as it was designed by God: to be conformed to the image of his Son, who is to be the firstborn among many brothers (Romans 8:29). God’s redemptive action on behalf of the believers has been in process before the beginning of the world. Those whom God chooses are those he foreknew (Romans 8:29) or elected. Those who are called (Romans 8:30) are predestined or predetermined. These expressions do not mean that God is arbitrary. Rather, Paul uses them to emphasize the thought and care that God has taken for the Christian’s salvation. He wants us all to join him in heaven but also gives us the free choice to love God – or not. Let’s examine the reading.
28 We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.
We know that all things work for good for those who love God: as you will read in your footnote, a few ancient texts have God as the subject of the verb, and the verb can be seen as either transitive or intransitive. Consequently, there are three possible translations:
– “In everything, God works for good with those who love him,” (stresses God’s cooperation “in all things” which can be seen as the realization of his loving plan of salvation)
– “We know that God makes everything work for good for those who love him,” and
– “We know that all things work for good for those who love God.”
In all three, it is clear that God’s purpose and plan are what is really behind all that happens to Christians. God is in control of everything.
29 For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
he foreknew he also predestined: Paul’s vocabulary stresses the divine primacy in the process of salvation – he causes it – and is not intended to misunderstood in terms of “predestination.”
Image: while man and woman were originally created in God’s image (Genesis 1:26-27), it is through baptism into Christ, the image of God (2 Cor 4:4; Col 1:15), that we are renewed according to the image of the Creator (Col 3:10). According to the divine plan of salvation, the Christian is to reproduce in himself an image of Christ by a progressive share in the risen life of Christ himself.
30 And those he predestined he also called; and those he called he also justified; and those he justified he also glorified.
Predestined: recall that these writings are for believers – those whom God had already chosen. All of God’s plan – call, election, predestination, justification – is aimed only at the final destiny of glory! Paul is not speaking of predestination as we understand it (e.g., of individuals) but rather is describing God’s design for all Christians!
All three readings lead us to reflect on the Kingdom of God. Whereas the first reading considered only God’s Kingdom here on earth – among the Israelites who considered themselves to be God’s chosen ones – the other two encourage us to reflect on the eternal kingdom: heaven. Once again, the Catechism of the Catholic Church offers us with extensive reflections on this very important topic; let’s examine them.
THE KINGDOM OF GOD
From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
Glossary: The reign or rule of God: “the kingdom of God is…righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom14:17). The kingdom of God draws near in the coming of the Incarnate Word; it is announced in the Gospel; it is the messianic Kingdom, present in the person of Jesus, the Messiah; it remains in our midst in the Eucharist. Christ gave his Apostles the work of proclaiming the kingdom, and through the Holy Spirit forms his people into a priestly kingdom, the Church, in which the kingdom of God is mysteriously present, for she is the seed and beginning of the Kingdom on earth. In the Lord’s Prayer (“Thy Kingdom come”) we pray for its final glorious appearance, when Christ will hand over the kingdom to his Father.
“The kingdom of God is at hand”
541 “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying: ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent, and believe in the gospel'” (Mk 1:14-15). “To carry out the will of the Father Christ inaugurated the kingdom of heaven on earth” (Lumen Gentium 3). Now the Father’s will is “to raise up men to share in his own divine life” (LG 2). He does this by gathering men around his Son Jesus Christ. This gathering is the Church, “on earth the seed and beginning of that kingdoms” (LG 5).
542 Christ stands at the heart of this gathering of men into the “family of God”. By his word, through signs that manifest the reign of God, and by sending out his disciples, Jesus calls all people to come together around him. But above all in the great Paschal mystery – his death on the cross and his Resurrection – he would accomplish the coming of his kingdom. “and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” Into this union with Christ all men are called. (Jn 12:32; cf. LG 3).
The proclamation of the kingdom of God
543 Everyone is called to enter the kingdom. First announced to the children of Israel, this messianic kingdom is intended to accept men of all nations (cf. Mt 8:11; 10:507; 18:19). To enter it, one must first accept Jesus’ word:
The word of the Lord is compared to a seed which is sown in a field; those who hear it with faith and are numbered among the little flock of Christ have truly received the kingdom. Then, by its own power, the seed sprouts and grows until the harvest. (cf. Mk 4:14, 16-29; Lk 12:32)
544 The kingdom belongs to the poor and lowly, which means those who have accepted it with humble hearts. Jesus is sent to “preach good news to the poor” (Lk 4:18); he declares them blessed, for “theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 5:3). To them – the “little ones” the Father is pleased to reveal what remains hidden from the wise and the learned (cf. Mt 25:11). Jesus shares the life of the poor, from the cradle to the cross; he experiences hunger, thirst and privation. Jesus identifies himself with the poor of every kind and makes active love toward them the condition for entering his kingdom (cf. Mt 25:31-46).
545 Jesus invites sinners to the table of the kingdom: “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mk 2:17). He invites them to that conversion without which one cannot enter the kingdom, but shows them in word and deed his Father’s boundless mercy for them and the vast “joy in heaven over one sinner who repents” (Lk 15:7). The supreme proof of his love will be the sacrifice of his own life “for the forgiveness of sins” (Mt 26:28).
546 Jesus’ invitation to enter his kingdom comes in the form of parables, a characteristic feature of his teaching (cf. Mk 4:33-34). Through his parables he invites people to the feast of the kingdom, but he also asks for a radical choice: to gain the kingdom, one must give everything (cf. Mt 13:44-45; 22:1-14). Words are not enough, deeds are required (cf. Mt 21:28-32). The parables are like mirrors for man: will he be hard soil or good earth for the word (cf. Mt 13:3-9)? What use has he made of the talents he has received (cf. Mt 25:14-30)? Jesus and the presence of the kingdom in this world are secretly at the heart of the parables. One must enter the kingdom, that is, become a disciple of Christ, in order to “know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 13:11). For those who stay “outside”, everything remains enigmatic (Mk 4:11; cf. Mt 13:10-15).
The signs of the kingdom of God
547 Jesus accompanies his words with many “mighty works and wonders and signs”, which manifest that the kingdom is present in him and attest that he was the promised Messiah (Acts 2:22; cf. Lk 7:18-23)
550 The coming of God’s kingdom means the defeat of Satan’s: “If it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Mt 12:26, 28). Jesus’ exorcisms free some individuals from the domination of demons. They anticipate Jesus’ great victory over “the ruler of this world” (Jn 12:31; cf. Lk 8:26-39). The kingdom of God will be definitively established through Christ’s cross: “God reigned from the wood.”
“The keys of the kingdom”
551 From the beginning of his public life Jesus chose certain men, twelve in number, to be with him and to participate in his mission (cf. Mk 3:13-19). He gives the Twelve a share in his authority and ‘sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal” (Lk 9:2). They remain associated for ever with Christ’s kingdom, for through them he directs the Church:
As my Father appointed a kingdom for me, so do I appoint for you that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Lk 22:29-30).
Christ already reigns through the Church…
668 “Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living” (Rom 14:9). Christ’s Ascension into heaven signifies his participation, in his humanity, in God’s power and authority. Jesus Christ is Lord: he possesses all power in heaven and on earth. He is “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion”, for the Father “has put all things under his feet” (Eph 1:20-22). Christ is Lord of the cosmos and of history. In him human history and indeed all creation are “set forth” and transcendently fulfilled.
669 As Lord, Christ is also head of the Church, which is his Body. Taken up to heaven and glorified after he had thus fully accomplished his mission, Christ dwells on earth in his Church. The redemption is the source of the authority that Christ, by virtue of the Holy Spirit, exercises over the Church. “The kingdom of Christ (is) already present in mystery”, “on earth, the seed and the beginning of the kingdom” (LG 3; cf. Eph 4:11-13).
670 Since the Ascension God’s plan has entered into its fulfillment. We are already at “the last hour” (1 Jn 2:18; cf. 1 Pt 4:7). “Already the final age of the world is with us, and the renewal of the world is irrevocably under way; it is even now anticipated in a certain real way, for the Church on earth is endowed already with a sanctity that is real but imperfect” (LG 48 §3; cf. 1 Cor 10:11). Christ’s kingdom already manifests its presence through the miraculous signs that attend its proclamation by the Church.
. . . until all things are subjected to him
671 Though already present in his Church, Christ’s reign is nevertheless yet to be fulfilled “with power and great glory” by the King’s return to earth (Lk 21:27; cf. Mt 25:31). This reign is still under attack by the evil powers, even though they have been defeated definitively by Christ’s Passover (cf. 2 Thess 2:7). Until everything is subject to him, “until there be realized new heavens and a new earth in which justice dwells, the pilgrim Church, in her sacraments and institutions, which belong to this present age, carries the mark of this world which will pass, and she herself takes her place among the creatures which groan and travail yet and await the revelation of the sons of God. That is why Christians pray, above all in the Eucharist, to hasten Christ’s return by saying to him (cf. 1 Cor 11:26; 2 Pt 3:11-12): Maranatha! “Our Lord, come” (1 Cor 16:22; Rev 22:17, 20).
672 Before his Ascension Christ affirmed that the hour had not yet come for the glorious establishment of the messianic kingdom awaited by Israel which, according to the prophets, was to bring all men the definitive order of justice, love and peace. According to the Lord, the present time is the time of the Spirit and of witness, but also a time still marked by “distress” and the trial of evil which does not spare the Church (cf. Acts 1:8; 1 Cor 7:26; Eph 5:16; 1 Pt 4:17) and ushers in the struggles of the last days. It is a time of waiting and watching (cf. Mt 25:1, 13; Mk 13:33-37; 1 Jn 2:18; 4:3; 1 Tim 4:1).
In the Kingdom and the Exile
709 The Law, the sign of God’s promise and covenant, ought to have governed the hearts and institutions of that people to whom Abraham’s faith gave birth. “If you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, . . . you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex 19:5-6). But after David, Israel gave in to the temptation of becoming a kingdom like other nations. The Kingdom, however, the object of the promise made to David, would be the work of the Holy Spirit; it would belong to the poor according to the Spirit.
The Church – instituted by Christ Jesus
763 It was the Son’s task to accomplish the Father’s plan of salvation in the fullness of time. Its accomplishment was the reason for his being sent. “The Lord Jesus inaugurated his Church by preaching the Good News, that is, the coming of the Reign of God, promised over the ages in the scriptures” (LG 5). To fulfill the Father’s will, Christ ushered in the Kingdom of heaven on earth. The Church “is the Reign of Christ already present in mystery” (LG 3).
764 “This Kingdom shines out before men in the word, in the works and in the presence of Christ” (LG 5). To welcome Jesus’ word is to welcome “the Kingdom itself” (LG 5). The seed and beginning of the Kingdom are the “little flock” of those whom Jesus came to gather around him, the flock whose shepherd he is. They form Jesus’ true family. (Mt 12:49). To those whom he thus gathered around him, he taught a new “way of acting” and a prayer of their own (Mt 5 – 6).
765 The Lord Jesus endowed his community with a structure that will remain until the Kingdom is fully achieved. …By all his actions, Christ prepares and builds his Church.
769 “The Church…will receive its perfection only in the glory of heaven” (LG 48), at the time of Christ’s glorious return. Until that day, “the Church progresses on her pilgrimage amidst this world’s persecutions and God’s consolations” (St. Augustine, De Civitate Dei, 18, 51; cf. LG 8). Here below she knows that she is in exile far from the Lord, and longs for the full coming of the Kingdom, when she will “be united with her king” (2 Cor 5:6; LG 5). The Church, and through her the world, will not be perfected in glory without great trials. Only then will “all the just from the time of Adam, ‘from Abel, the just one, to the last of the elect,’ …be gathered together in the universal Church in the Father’s presence” (LG 2).
2046 By living with the mind of Christ, Christians hasten the coming of the Reign of God, “a kingdom of justice, love and peace.” They do not, for all that, abandon their earthly tasks; faithful to their master, they fulfill them with uprightness, patience and love.
2820 By a discernment according to the Spirit, Christians have to distinguish between the growth of the Reign of God and the progress of the culture and society in which they are involved. This distinction is not a separation. Man’s vocation to eternal life does not suppress, but actually reinforces, his duty to put into action in this world the energies and means received from the Creator to serve justice and peace.