HAVE WE REALLY HEARD?
There are different ways of accepting God's Word and they produce
different kinds of fruit accordingly. Do we take time to listen or are we too
busy to pray?
It has been said
that puns are the lowest form of humor. Usually, those who do not have the
ability to create a pun repeat that statement. As a matter of fact, God
Himself, through His prophet Nathan, made use of a pun to proclaim an important
prophecy. King David was eager to build a house, a temple, for the Lord.
Nathan, the prophet, told the king that it was actually God Who would build a
house, a dynasty, for David! The prophetic pun is of great theological
significance. It marks the beginning of a belief that God would send a kingly
Messiah to His people, born of the house of David.
In fulfillment of
this prophecy, Jesus, our King, is born of Mary, who is of the house of David.
In addition, He was born in Bethlehem, the city of David; about a thousand
years after the prophecy had been made. It took a long time for God to fulfill
the prophecy, for He is very patient. In His eyes "a thousand years are
like yesterday, come and gone, no more than a watch in the night" (Ps
90:4). Through all those years, as in all the years before them, God was
working His plan for the sending of His Son.
The era of the Old
Testament is important to us because it reveals the unfolding of God's loving
plan. It is our history because the Chosen People are our ancestors just as
surely as David is the ancestor of Jesus Himself. If we receive these words
from the Old and New Testaments, they can be likened to a seed falling on good
soil; they will fill our hearts with a greater love of God and help us grow in
our understanding of the New Testament. These words were heard by our ancestors
and we need to hear them, too, both the Old and the New.
Have we really
heard? The Scriptures frequently use the image of fruit-bearing plants or trees
to convey the principle of spiritual life and death. "Blessed is the man
who trusts in the Lord, whose hope is the Lord. He is like a tree planted
beside the waters that stretches out its roots to the stream: it fears not the
heat when it comes, its leaves stay green; in the year of drought it shows no
distress, but still bears fruit" (Jer 17:7-8).
Jesus' parable of
the sower is aimed at those who hear His Word. There are different ways of
accepting God's Word and they produce different kinds of fruit accordingly. Do
we take time to listen or are we too busy to pray? Are we pre-occupied with
other things, leaving no time to study or meditate on God's Word? When our
minds are open we are then willing to listen and learn.
Do we hunger for
God's Word?