JESUS CHRIST THE ONLY TEACHER

Tuesday, Second week of Lent
Reflection from Friar Nicholas, OP


Theme: Jesus Christ the only Teacher

The Father consecrated his only Begotten Son to be our salvation in a covenant relationship. We have amply explained why all our dealings with God is within a covenant framework. God is holy and dedicated to his will expressed in his word communicated to man. The incarnation of the Son of God is the culmination of God's communication of his will to man. Thus, the Father demanded we listen to his beloved Son. The humanity of our Lord is dedicated to the will of the Father as constituting the salvation of man. By that fact, he is our teacher on both aspects. He is our teacher as to what pertain the mystery of the Father from whom we receive our new birth as adopted sons of God. In relation to our salvation, he is also our teacher, teaching us to know and do the will of the Father. In the latter, he is the way leading to our salvation in God; in the former, he is the Truth revealing the mystery of God constituted for our adopted sonship. “You must call no one on earth your father, since you have only one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor must you allow yourselves to be called teachers, for you have only one Teacher, the Christ.”


Therefore, the summary of our revealed religion is obedience to the Father who bids us listen to his Beloved Son, constituted our Teacher. Listening to the Son is the only sacrifice acceptable to the Father. To do otherwise is to disobey the Father’s will. Every sin emanates from this disobedience to the divine will. Thus, the prophet Isaiah referred to the religious leaders in Jerusalem as rulers of Sodom because they were leading the people into sin by their disobedient way of life. Their followers he called the people of Gomorrah. “Hear the word of God, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the command of God, you people of Gomorrah.” The people of Sodom and Gomorrah had no word of God to guide them, yet God punished them for their wicked lifestyle. The religious leaders in Jerusalem had the word of God, but yet were bent on doing their own will. The same religious leaders in Jerusalem formed the topic of Jesus’ instruction in the gospel. He admonished the people to follow the word of God spoken by the leaders, but not their lifestyle inconsistent with the word of God. “The scribes and the Pharisees occupy the chair of Moses. You must therefore do what they tell you and listen to what they say; but do not be guided by what they do: since they do not practise what they preach.” Their preaching, coming from the word of God, is of God. But their doing, coming from their own will and desire, is not of God. To be truly consecrated to God, we must preach Jesus Christ and live what we preach. Then, it would be Jesus Christ, the true Teacher, teaching all through us. Then, Father, or Teacher, would truly be  a reference to God, and to Jesus Christ in us.

Let us pray: Grant us, Lord, to be consecrated to Jesus Christ your Son, in our words and life, so that your kingdom may come among us.      

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

GROWING IN COVENANT AWARENESS

Image
Friday, Fifth Week of Lent/2024 Reflection from Friar Nicholas Okeke,OP Theme: Growing in Covenant Awareness What is necessary for us to grow in the awareness of our Covenant with God is having the word of God as the foundation of our life. In yesterday’s reflection, we distinguished between the physical Promised Land and the spiritual Promised Land. The former is for the physical descendants of Abraham, and the latter is for the spiritual descendants of Abraham, which include Jews and Gentiles alike. The latter is a spiritual reality and, therefore, accessible only through spiritual awareness and growth in the Covenant given by the word of God. We have come to understand that the word of is the foundation and essence of the Covenant. Hence, growth in attending to the word of God makes for growth in awareness of the Covenant. Since the word of God is the principle of spiritual life, we must each day employ it in our daily living and transactions of life to grow in the life it offers.
Read more

A NEW COVENANT IN HIS BLOOD

Image
Sunday fifth week of lent/2024 Reflection from Friar Nick Okeke, OP Theme: A new covenant in his blood God is love and does all things in view of our salvation. At the fullness of time, he came to our rescue with his love which has no limit. The fullness of time is considered with reference to us, and not with respect to God. Time and season have meaning only with reference to us. Thus, when God decided to make a new covenant with his people, he considered an appropriate time to pour out the fullness of his love for the salvation of human race gone astray in sin. The new covenant is to have the satisfaction of the demands of the Law by his Son, so that the merit of his righteousness would be applied to us sinners. What are the merits of the Son’s obedience to the Father’s will? “This is the covenant I will make with the House of Israel when those days arrive—it is the Lord who speaks. Deep within them I will plant my Law, writing it on their hearts. Then I will be their God and they sh
Read more

The offsprings of the Old man and the New Man

Image
Monday, fifth week of lent/2024 Reflection from Friar Nicholas Okeke, OP Offsprings of Old man and New Man To be able to live the new life within the new Covenant in Jesus Christ, the old life must come to an end. The distinctive difference between the old man and the new man is the focus of desires. The old man and all who live by him have their desires focussed on the satisfaction of self. On the other hand, the new man and those living by him desires only to fulfil God's holy will. Thus, the old man and his offspring obey the law of sin and death. Living for self alone breeds sins, and sin causes death. So, the old man and all living by him are dead and harbingers of death to others. They are adept at manipulating the Law of God to perpetuate their interest and selfish desires. An example of this skill is the treatment the two old judges of Israel in Babylon meted out to Susanna, wife of Joachim, employing the Law of Moses as given in the first reading. “Two elderly men had
Read more