Scripture Study for

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Understanding the Word

By Dianne Bergant, C.S.A.

The passage from Zechariah is an oracle of salvation, containing an idealized  picture of an Israelite king and the peaceful kingdom over which he will rule.  Though this is a vision of the future, the verbs are prophetic perfect, indicating  that in God’s time the future is already present. The king is seated on the foal of an ass, a purebred animal born of a female ass rather than of a mule. While  this may be a depiction of a victory march, it is devoid of military ostentation.  Instead, the king proclaims peace to all nations. This king is the agent of God’s  blessings to all people. 

Paul contrasts two ways of living: life in the flesh and life in the spirit. For Paul, flesh is human nature in all of the limitations that sometimes incline one  away from God; by spirit he means a life that is attuned to God. Paul argues that  life in the flesh cannot please God, while life in the spirit is a form of union with  God. Sin may still exact physical death, but it cannot quench the spirit that lives  because of righteousness. Just as Christ conquered death and lives anew, so  those joined to Christ will share in his victory and through the Spirit will enjoy  new life. 

Jesus describes the intimate relationship that he shares with God in terms that  can only be considered a high Christology, an emphasizing of his divine rather than  his human nature. He claims that only the Father can really know him, because  only God has this kind of experiential knowledge of him. Correspondingly, only  he can really know God, for only he has experiential knowledge of the Father. If  anyone else knows the Father it is only because Jesus has revealed God to that  person. In this sense, Jesus is the mediator of knowledge of God. If his hearers  learn from him, they too will be blessed with the revelation of the Father. 

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