Scripture Study for

Twenty-Eight Sunday in Ordinary Time

Understanding the Word

By Br. John R. Barker, OFM

Biblical wisdom literature regularly affirms that wisdom, often  personified as a woman, is a greater treasure than anything else  because wisdom gives insight into the ways of God. Those who  prize wisdom and seek to live according to her teachings are assured  of living in accordance with God’s will, which naturally leads to  happiness. The traditional author of Wisdom, Solomon, is the  representative par excellence of the person who prizes wisdom  above all earthly wealth. Wisdom is more beautiful, splendid, and  enriching than any other of God’s creations because she is “a pure  emanation of the glory of the Almighty . . . the spotless mirror of the  power of God, the image of his goodness” (7:25, 26). Nothing brings  humans closer to God than wisdom.

The section of Hebrews between last week’s and this week’s  readings (3:1 — 4:11) contains an exhortation to remain faithful,  learning from the experience of Israel, whose infidelity in the  wilderness led an entire generation to be denied entry into the  Promised Land, or their “rest.” Thus those who would follow Christ  into their “sabbath rest” must remain faithful. The author has drawn  on several passages from scripture (in which we hear “the word of  God”) to make this point, and now affirms that this same “word  of God,” identified implicitly as Jesus, brings either salvation or  judgment, depending on one’s response. This word of God, which  cannot be deceived, sees further within us than we are able to see  ourselves. 

At first glance Jesus’ correction of the man who calls him “good”  seems like a needless quibble, but its point soon becomes clear. The  man has kept the commandments from his youth, so why ask Jesus  what he must do to inherit eternal life? What more might there be  to do? Perhaps he assumes that he actually lacks nothing, that he  himself is “good.” Jesus’ correction then appears to be a lesson in  humility. The man reveals that he is not able to truly follow Jesus  because he clings not only to his possessions, but perhaps also to a  sense of his own “goodness.” 

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