There is no commandment in the Scriptures that Jesus Himself did not practice or experience. Do you see God as a dictator or a companion? - Daily Reflections December 15,2014

HAVE YOUR WAY WITH ME, O GOD!

 

A pupil asked his teacher: “Ma’am, would you punish me for something I didn’t do?” The teacher replied, “Well, of course not.”

         The pupil continued, “That’s great, because I didn’t do my homework.” Students don’t usually want to do their homework. They usually resent it when their teachers give assignments.

         In today’s Gospel, the chief priests and the elders approached Jesus like unhappy students resenting their teacher. “On what authority do you do these things?” Jesus refused to answer their questions directly because they were not asking the right questions. Jesus was teaching in the Temple not on the strength of authority or power (though He obviously has both).

         The season of Advent invites us to ponder on this mystery of a God who could have directed the world on the sheer strength of power and authority but did not. Couldn’t God just have dropped a manual from heaven and directed humanity to study it and prepare for an examination under pain of damnation in case of failure? He could have, but He didn’t.

         The deep mystery of Christmas is the mystery of a God who became man in order to show humanity how to live his own humanity. Isn’t that the mystery behind the name of the child Mary was to bear? Emmanuel — the God who is with us. The deep mystery of Christmas is the mystery of a God whose way is not to impose but to propose.

         And there lies the paradox. Before Someone who does not wish to impose through sheer power and authority, I do not mind to be imposed upon. Before Someone who does not wish to impose through sheer power and authority, I can willingly surrender.

         Now we understand the docility expressed in today’s Responsorial Psalm: “Teach me your ways, O Lord.” God’s ways are not cold, whimsical instructions from a distant God residing in His ivory palace. Jesus taught nothing in the Scriptures that He Himself did not experience or practice. That is why He became Emmanuel — the God who is with us! Fr. Joel Jason

 

REFLECTION QUESTION: There is no commandment in the Scriptures that Jesus Himself did not practice or experience. Do you see God as a dictator or a companion?

 

“Your ways, O Lord, make known to me; teach me Your paths. Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are God my Savior.”