Wisdom 2: 12, 17 – 20
Welcome back, everyone, as we return to Bible Study/Faith Sharing in person and virtually. I hope you all had a great summer and that you and your families have continued to successfully navigate this pandemic. Our God has continued to remain with us and his plan for us continues to unfold, just as it has throughout the ages. We just need the wisdom, humility and courage to understand and accept it. This upcoming Sunday’s readings help us to do just that so let’s begin by examining the first reading.
This Sunday, we will hear from the Book of Wisdom. As usual, it prepares us for the Gospel and its message for us. Since it’s been a long time since we’ve heard from this book, let’s quickly review the “who, what, when, where, why and to whom” of this book. It is called the Wisdom of Solomon in the LXX manuscript; Book of Wisdom in the Vulgate. Most probably originally written in Greek, not Hebrew, by an anonymous author somewhere between 100 – 50BC, probably in Alexandria, Egypt, one of the largest centers of the Jewish Diaspora. The author appears to have been a devout, Greek-speaking Jew, acquainted with Greek philosophy and culture, probably a native of Alexandria. The purpose of the writing was to strengthen the faith of his fellow Jews in Alexandria who were living in the midst of pagans who were enthralled by the latest scientific discoveries and the cosmopolitan society of this great city.
The passage we will hear on Sunday is often applied to the Passion of our Lord; many have understood these verses as a direct prophecy. (cf. Matthew 27:41-44). It also appears to be a response to the proclamation we heard last week in the first reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah 50:5-9; let’s re-read that
To understand this Sunday’s first reading better, let’s read from the beginning of the book to 3:11. This is half of the first part of the Book of Wisdom, which addresses the issues of retribution for good and evil and the blessing of immortality that Wisdom offers. And, you’ll recognize a lot of thinking of that day because it is so similar to the way so many think today: a nihilism (“there is no remedy for our dying”), Darwinism (“by mere chance we were born and hereafter we shall be as though we had not been”), materialism (“let us enjoy the good things that are here”), wanton disregard for the good of others (“Let us oppress the righteous poor; let us neither spare the widow or revere the aged”) and a disregard for objective truth before God (“Let us lie in wait for the righteous one, because he is annoying to us”); this is how this Sunday’s reading begins.
12 Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us; he sets himself against our doings, reproaches us for transgressions of the law and charges us with violations of our training.
Law…training: the law of Moses; training has the same meaning.
13 He professes to have knowledge of God and styles himself a child of the LORD.
14 To us he is the censure of our thoughts; merely to see him is a hardship for us,
15 Because his life is not like other men’s, and different are his ways.
16 He judges us debased; he holds aloof from our paths as from things impure. He calls blest the destiny of the just and boasts that God is his Father.
17 Let us see whether his words be true; let us find out what will happen to him.
18 For if the just one be the son of God, he will defend him and deliver him from the hand of his foes.
19 With revilement and torture let us put him to the test that we may have proof of his gentleness and try his patience.
20 Let us condemn him to a shameful death; for according to his own words, God will take care of him.”
The message continues, however, as we see in the remaining verses: 2:20 – 3:11; let’s read these verses.
Of course, as is usually the case, the verses we hear on Sunday are intended to prepare us for the Gospel, where we hear Jesus, once again, predict his suffering, death and resurrection and then call his disciples to the same kind of servant leadership that his has provided them.
Mark 9:30 – 37
This week, we continue to hear from Mark’s Gospel. We skip over the Marcan account of the Transfiguration, which we heard on the Second Sunday of Lent, and two other sections, found only on weekdays, and find ourselves listening to Mark’s second account of Jesus’ prediction of his suffering, death and resurrection. We also hear how his disciples – once again – miss the point, just as Peter did last week.
30 They left from there and began a journey through Galilee, but he did not wish anyone to know about it.
They left from there: they had just returned from Mount Tabor where Jesus was transfigured and had also experienced Jesus expelling a demon and teaching that this can only occur through prayer.
he did not wish anyone to know: notice the similarity with 7:24. It seems that Jesus does not want to become well known until he completes his work.
31 He was teaching his disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death he will rise.”
The Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death he will rise: Here, we hear Jesus repeat the message he had given his disciples for the first time in last week’s gospel. Again, they do not understand, as their silence indicates. Rather than responding with sadness or empathy, or by asking Jesus to explain himself – remember, they had first followed Jesus because he preached that “the kingdom of God is at hand (1:14) and he healed the sick and fed the hungry – they remain silent, as we hear next.
32 But they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to question him.
they were afraid to question him: What were they afraid of? Earlier in the Gospel, we hear that people responded with fear when Jesus calmed the storm (4:41), or exorcized the man living among the tombs (5:15), or healed the woman who touched his garment (5:33), or when he walked on water (6:50) or finally, when he rose from the dead (16:8). In all of these instances, it was the awesome power that Jesus exhibited that led them to be fearful. But here, it seems to be his vulnerability that frightened them. In both cases, they responded in fear to things they didn’t understand. That’s a normal and, in fact, a healthy response. But, as in our daily frightening encounters, we need to face the fear and discover its source so we can overcome it. Jesus shows his disciples how to overcome their fear, as we will eventually hear in today’s Gospel account.
33 They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house, he began to ask them, “What were you arguing about on the way?”
“What were you arguing about on the way?”: Although they had initially been silent, they must have gotten engaged in a discussion beyond Jesus’ earshot and we now hear Jesus ask them about it. Mark probably intends this incident and the sayings that follow as commentary on the disciples’ lack of understanding (Mark 9:32). Their role in Jesus’ work is one of service, especially to the poor and lowly.
34 But they remained silent. They had been discussing among themselves on the way who was the greatest.
35 Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”
If anyone…servant of all: an apparent abbreviation of 10:43-44. discipleship requires the reversal of the worldly view of authority; this is made possible by Jesus’ own mission of service.
36 Taking a child he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it he said to them,
37 “Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the one who sent me.”
Whoever receives one child: Children were the symbol Jesus used for the anawim, the poor in spirit, the lowly in the Christian community.
As I mentioned a few minutes ago, people began to follow Jesus because he spoke of the fulfillment of the kingdom and he healed the sick and fed the hungry. But, like most of us, they didn’t listen to his entire message. Let’s go back to 1:15. He admonishes “Repent, and believe in the gospel.” Everything that Jesus said and did from that moment was a revelation of God’s reign, but it was so different from everyone’s experience and expectations that little glimpses of it were often frightening. Jesus’ message that the powers of evil would muster all their strength against him was, indeed, frightening. But, Jesus looked at life with the same lens that we heard in this Sunday’s first reading and, relying on God, he was confident that darkness and death would be overcome by God’s ultimate power. This is an important lesson for all of us to learn.
James 3:16 – 4:3
We hear again a section from the letter of James. It is taken from a section (3:13-18) that speaks of the qualities of wisdom and (4:1-12) causes and remedies of strife.
16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice.
17 But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without inconstancy or insincerity.
18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for those who cultivate peace.
CHAPTER 4
1 Where do the wars and where do the conflicts among you come from? Is it not from your passions that make war within your members?
where do the conflicts among you come from: The concern here is with the origin of conflicts in the Christian community. These are occasioned by love of the world, which means enmity with God (4). Further, the conflicts are bound up with failure to pray properly (cf. Matthew 7:7-11; John 14:13; 15:7; 16:23), that is, not asking God at all or using God’s kindness only for one’s pleasure (James 4:2-3). In contrast, the proper dispositions are submission to God, repentance, humility, and resistance to evil (James 4:7-10).
[2] (1-3) Passions: the Greek word here (literally, “pleasures”) does not indicate that pleasure is evil. Rather, as the text points out (James 4:2-3), it is the manner in which one deals with needs and desires that determines good or bad. The motivation for any action can be wrong, especially if one does not pray properly but seeks only selfish enjoyment (James 4:3).
2 You covet but do not possess. You kill and envy but you cannot obtain; you fight and wage war. You do not possess because you do not ask.
3 You ask but do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
Adulterers: a common biblical image for the covenant between God and his people is the marriage bond. In this image, breaking the covenant with God is likened to the unfaithfulness of adultery.
Our readings this weekend remind us that suffering and death are part of our journey toward God. But, if we follow Jesus’ example of resolute commitment to the Father’s will, we will rise with Jesus on the last day. What an important message for all of us to reflect on this weekend.