Daily Reflection – 6/8/2023
Sacred Scripture
As Jesus was teaching in the temple area he said, “How do the scribes claim that the Christ is the son of David? David himself, inspired by the Holy Spirit, said: ‘The Lord said to my lord, “Sit at my right hand until I place your enemies under your feet.”’ David himself calls him ‘lord’; so how is he his son?” The great crowd heard this with delight. (Mark 12:35-37)
Reflection
The answer is a great deal if you reflect on today’s scripture.
Mark takes us to the temple courtyard where many of the rabbis taught. Today Jesus Christ is sitting there facing the scribes. The scribes were Jewish scholars and teachers of the law and they didn’t believe that Jesus was both human and divine. To them Jesus was only human and since he is human Jesus is the Son of David or descendant of King David. But David inspired by the Holy Spirit called Him Lord, Jesus was indirectly telling the Jews that if David called Him Lord. Then they should also believe in Him as the Son of God not as a son of David.
The people gathered to hear Jesus were filled with delight as they listened to Jesus respond to the scribes. “Filled with delight” This is a common reaction to the teaching and presence of Jesus in our lives. The Psalms are filled with images like this. “I delight in the Lord.” “How sweet are Your words.” “I delight in Your commands.” These and many other references reveal one of the effects of Jesus’ words and presence in our lives. His word and His presence in our lives is extraordinarily pleasurable.
But this fact begs the question, “Do I delight in Jesus’ words?” Too often we see the words of Christ as a burden, restriction or limitation to what we want in life. For that reason, we can often see the will of God as something difficult and burdensome.
Truth be told, if our hearts are rooted in sin or in the pleasures of the world, then the words of our Lord may sting and feel like a burden to us. But that’s just because we find them in contradiction to the many unhealthy things we become attached to.
If you find that the Word of God, Jesus’ words, are hard to hear, then you are starting to head down the right road. You are starting to let His Word “do battle,” so to speak, with the many other lures and enticements that ultimately only leave us dry and empty. This is the first step to being able to delight in the Lord and His words.
The good news is that if you can allow His Word to cut through the many unhealthy attachments you have in life, you will begin to discover that you greatly love His Word and delight in His presence in your life.
You will begin to discover that the pleasure and delight you experience from His presence in your life far outweighs any other passing attachment or pleasure you may have. Even sin can produce a false sense of satisfaction.
In that case, the satisfaction is more like a drug that soon wears off. The delight of the Lord is something that continually draws you higher and fulfills you more deeply every day.
Spend time, today, pondering whether or not you truly do allow yourself to be filled with delight in the Lord’s presence and His words. Try to taste their sweetness. Try to let yourself be drawn in.
A relationship with God is interactive. He is always with us, sometimes supporting, sometimes consoling, sometimes just helping us see the inner beauty of a person or an event. But we need to respond to Him and we often can do that by reflecting on His word and asking for guidance on its meaning to our life. He is the Lord of you and me. In Him lies the glory if we choose to understand it.
Prayer of The Day
“Lord Jesus, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of David and the Son of God. You are my Lord and I willingly submit myself to your rule in my life. Be Lord and King of my life, my thoughts, heart, home, relationships, work and all that I do.”
Daily Note
What does it mean to acknowledge that Jesus is Lord? The word Lord means “ruler” or “king” — the one who is owed “fealty” and “submission”. The Lord or Master of our lives is the person or thing we give our lives over to or submit to in a full way. We can be ruled by many things — our unruly passions, the love of money, alcohol, drugs, etc. Only one Lord can truly set us free to love and to be loved as God intended from the beginning. When we acknowledge that Jesus is Lord we invite him to be the King of our heart and the ruler of our thoughts, relationships, and all that we do. Is the Lord Jesus the true King of your heart and do you give him free reign in every area of your life?
