“Whose Son is He?” It is the central question of our life. In fact we must answer this question to understand how we might live in His presence. So let us take up the challenge and see where it leads us. We must consider the context of the question, then we shall look at the attitude of the Jew and finally draw some reflections from the silence which came upon the Jewish nation.
Our Lord was among the legal experts who sought to test Him at every possible moment. Their intentions were clear to Him but He patiently tried to use theological reasoning to bring about their conversion. His desire was to do His Father’s will which always seeks the good of the human soul. Thus the question came to Jesus: “Which is the greatest commandment in the law?” To this famous question came the equally well known answer: “Thou shalt love the Lord, your God, with your whole heart, your whole soul, your whole mind and with all your strength. The second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Knowing that the Jews were trying to trap Him, He then asked them a question: “Whose Son is the Christ?” Their quick response was “David’s”. Our Lord then asked a question based on psalm 109: “How is it that David in the spirit says: ‘The Lord said to my Lord sit at my right hand.’ If the Christ is the son of David how is it that David calls Him his Lord?” This silenced them totally. They could not fathom the depth of the question and the reality of the true answer. They would never ask Him another question but what is the answer.
Theologically, it is true that the messiah would come from David’s line. This is the source of His human nature. But this is not the source of His divine nature which called forth David before he was conceived. We understand this mystery as the “hypostatic union” and it is the source of many heresies because like the Jew people find it hard to believe that God should become
a man like us in all things but sin.
So now what is the power of this insight. We who love the Lord realize that He came into our human nature to transform us into His divine nature. We are not to remain as we are but we are to enter into the mystery of His incarnation in us. The poet writes truly:
“Lord, you have no hands but our hands to do Your work today;
You have no feet but our feet to lead others in Your way;
You have no tongue but our tongues to tell men and women how You lived and died;
and You have no help but our help to bring others to your side.”
This is the great mystery that the Jews failed to grasp and so the joyful Gentiles receive it and treasure it and seek to fulfill our Lord’s desire to remain within us.
As Our Lord left us the great sacrament of His Body and Blood, so He gave us the means of incorporation and identification. We are part of His Body because He lives in our bodies through the grace He gives us. We are cleansed of our sins because of the Blood He shed for us upon the Cross. As St. Paul we say we live no longer as ourselves but as Christ Who lives in us. What a great
mystery to live a divine life within the human sphere of this world.
Consider how the highest honor of our race became the heart of the Mystical Body with all the apostles and disciples surrounding her in the upper room. She became the link between her divine Son and all those baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. She is the example of the Christ-like life for the early church and beyond. To us she is our Mother and gives us birth into the eternal life of her son.
Praise God for this mystery of mysteries. Let us hold this truth within our hearts daily and seek to fulfill the Lord’s wish that He will truly remain in us and we will remain in Him forever.
In the hearts of Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
Fr. Voigt
Comments are closed.