SAINT BONIFACE, BISHOP AND MARTYR (MEMORIAL)

David himself calls him ‘lord’; so how is he his son?

Are you a fan of brainteasers and riddles?   You know, the ones that go like this: if the only sister of your mother’s only brother has an only child, what is that child’s relationship to you?  (Answer: that child is you.)

The point of these puzzles is to get you thinking outside the box.   And that’s the point of Jesus’ question in today’s Gospel (Mark 12:35 – 37):  how could he be the son of David if David calls him Lord?   If you were one of the scribes, you could answer part of the riddle.   The scribes taught that the Messiah would indeed be the son of David, meaning “descendant” of David.   But that didn’t explain how Jesus could also be David’s Lord.   Unless you dared to think differently.   Unless you understood that Jesus is more than a man—that he is God incarnate.

By asking this question, Jesus was trying to get the crowd and the scribes to see that the Messiah was more than they expected.   He wasn’t an earthly king. He didn’t come to free Israel from Roman oppression.   He came to free everyone from slavery to sin.   Jesus was the fulfillment of all the Scriptures, not just the ones that spoke of Israel’s future freedom and prosperity.

What are your expectations of Jesus?   What kind of box have you tried to confine him to?   Maybe you think of him as a loving and forgiving God but one who is also carefully tallying up all your transgressions.   Maybe you want a closer relationship with him, but you can’t help but picture him as unapproachable or distant.   Maybe you believe Jesus can heal people, but you don’t think he would ever heal you or any of your loved ones.

God cannot be put into a box—and that’s really good news!   Today, spend some time asking him to show you how you might be placing limits on him.   He wants you to know him in a way that goes far beyond all your preconceived notions about who he is.   Only as you lay aside your own ideas about the Lord can he show you just what a great, loving, forgiving, wonder-working God he truly is!

“Lord, I want to know you.   Come and reveal more of yourself to me.”

2 Timothy 3:10-17
Psalm 119:157, 160-161, 165-166, 168