Scripture Study for
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Zephaniah 2:3; 3:12–13 / Matthew 5:3 / 1 Corinthians 1: 26–31 / Matthew 5: 1–12a
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Understanding the Word
By Dianne Bergant, C.S.A.
Zephaniah addresses the people with a threefold exhortation: Seek the Lord! Seek righteousness! Seek humility! Israel is told to seek the Lord after having violated the covenant; to seek righteousness after having turned to sin; to seek humility after having acted arrogantly. The second part of the reading provides a very different picture. This section is an oracle of salvation, loving words of God that offer assurance and hope. The path of righteousness followed by the remnant will be the consequence of their deliverance, not its cause. The blessings are not rewards for their fidelity. Rather, every good that comes to them is a gift from God.
Paul reminds the Corinthians that, judged by the standards of society, they are really nobodies. They have little about which they can boast. According to Paul, God chooses the nobodies of the world in order to shame those who think they are somebodies. Those who lack honor in the eyes of the world are highly honored by God by being chosen, while those whom the world honors are shamed by being overlooked by God. God acts this way so that no one can boast of her or his own accomplishments. Since every good thing is received because of Christ, “Whoever boasts, should boast in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:31).
The sermon on the mount was directed to Jesus’ close followers, not to the broader crowds. While his teachings are all in some way directed toward the establishment of the reign of God, the type of behavior or values that he advocates here is frequently the opposite of that espoused by society at large. This fact offers us a way to understand the challenges set before us in the Beatitudes.
One way to interpret them is to look first at the blessings promised. We may see that the behavior that Jesus is advocating is at odds with what society claims will guarantee the blessing that we seek.