By Father Paul Nord, O.S.B.
Sunday Scripture
First Reading: 1 Kings 3:5, 7-12; Responsorial: Psalm 119:57, 72, 76-77, 127-130; Second Reading: Romans 8:28-30; Gospel: Matthew 13:44-52
The first two chapters of 1 Kings describe the events preceding King David’s death and how Solomon became king of Israel after his father David died. King Solomon’s greatest accomplishment was his construction and dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem. This is described in 2 Kings 5-8. Between these two sections is 2 Kings 3-4, which describe Solomon’s wisdom in governance and the abundant prosperity that Israel enjoyed during Solomon’s reign as king.
Today’s reading describes how Solomon asked the Lord God for the gift of wisdom when God invited him to “ask something of me.” Solomon said: “Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong.” As king, Solomon needed to make just decisions in governing the Israelites. By asking for wisdom, Solomon asked God for a gift that would benefit others.
So God grants Solomon “a heart so wise and understanding” that no one will ever equal him. The Lord God is pleased by Solomon’s request because a more self-interested person might ask for long life, riches or military success. But God also grants Solomon unsurpassed “riches and honor” (1 Kings 3:13). Solomon’s encounter with God is described as “a dream” in both 3:5 and 3:15. Thus Solomon was granted a vision by God.
Following today’s reading is an account of King Solomon resolving a terrible dispute between two harlots (1 Kings 3:16-28). The narrative is well-known. Each harlot gave birth to a son, but one harlot’s son died from suffocation at night. But the mother of the dead son falsely claimed that the living son really belonged to her. Naturally, the other mother disputed this fiercely. But Solomon devised an ingenious method of determining the true mother of the living son. This became a famous example of Solomon’s wisdom in judging justly.
The Old Testament work known as the “Book of Wisdom” has also been traditionally known as “Wisdom of Solomon.” Most scholars place this work between 30 B.C. and A.D. 37. King Solomon lived more than 900 years before that. Despite this, the Book of Wisdom sometimes speaks in the person of Solomon. This associates Solomon’s reputation for wisdom with the teachings of this biblical work.
Psalm 119 begins: “Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk by the law of the LORD. Praising and keeping God’s law is the main theme of the 176 verses of Psalm 119. It is the longest psalm in the Bible — consisting of 22 sections of eight verses apiece. The first section of the psalm begins with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The second section begins with the second Hebrew letter, and so on through the entire 22-letter Hebrew alphabet.
Today’s refrain is: “Lord, I love your commands” (Psalm 119:97a). All four stanzas praise God and his law. The first stanza vows “to keep your words” and proclaims that “the law of (God’s) mouth” is “to me more precious” than much gold and silver. Similarly, the second stanza says to God: “your law is my delight.”
In the third stanza, the author proclaims, “I love your commands more than gold.” He professes to “go forward” following God’s “precepts.” The fourth stanza marvels that God’s decrees are “wonderful … I observe them.”
Next, St. Paul writes to the Romans: “We know that all things work for good for those who love God.” Paul is developing previous comments about “the sufferings of this present time” (8:18) and the way that “the Spirit also helps our weakness.” Despite sufferings and weakness, God will bring good out of all this if we love God and obey his commands.
Paul continues: “those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son … those he predestined he also called; and those he called he also justified; and those he justified he also glorified.”
The phrase “conformed to the image of his Son” describes a sharing in Christ’s being. This is a sharing in Christ’s suffering, death and resurrection. As God’s only begotten Son, Jesus has become the firstborn of many brothers and sisters, adopted as God’s children.
To be conformed to Christ is to share in Christ’s relationship with God the Father — to be incorporated into that relationship of love and life. Christ is firstborn, but Christ’s disciples are called to be born into this new life with God. Thus Jesus tells Nicodemus that he must be “born again” to see the kingdom of God (John 3:3). As the Prologue of John’s Gospel says, to those who accept Jesus, he gives “power to become children of God” (1:12).
Paul teaches that Christ has already “justified” and “glorified” those disciples whom Christ has called and predestined. It is striking that these verbs are all in the past (aorist) tense. This means that Christ’s disciples have already now been “justified” — that is, vindicated by God’s judgment as worthy of salvation. Further, Christ’s disciples have already been “glorified.” We know that Christ has been glorified by his crucifixion, resurrection and return to the Father. Paul insists that Christ’s disciples share in his glory already now.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells three short parables about the kingdom of heaven. The first parable presents the kingdom of heaven as a hidden treasure. Because of its incalculable value, it is worth selling all that we have in order to possess this treasure, God’s kingdom.
The second parable describes the kingdom of heaven as “a pearl of great price.” Like in the first parable, the pearl’s immense value should cause us to sell all that we have in order to possess this great “pearl” — the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus’ third parable compares the kingdom of heaven to “a net thrown into the sea.” Because such a net collects many bad things as well as good things, we conclude that we must be patient as we await God’s judgment “at the end of the age.” The righteous will be separated from the wicked at that time.