Gospel: Matthew 13:44-52

These three little parables about the kingdom are closely related in their message, yet each has a distinct point to contribute. In the first parable (v 44), the kingdom is a treasure, and the man is a seeker. Upon recognizing its value, he decides it is worth changing his whole life for. Note the true seeker’s concern is for the treasure itself, not its monetary value. Even to sacrifice everything else is insignificant by comparison with the treasure.

The second parable (vv 45-46) seems to say the same thing, but really is just the opposite. In the first parable, the kingdom was the treasure, the object of the search. In the second, the merchant’s search itself is identified with the kingdom. God finds our response to him so valuable that he is willing to give up all (divinity "humiliated" in the incarnation of his Son) to purchase the pearl of his reign in love over humanity.

The third parable (vv 47-50) contains its own interpretation (vv 49-50), and echoes the parable of the wheat and weeds. It indicates that patience is need between the foundation of the kingdom and its fulfillment. The final outcome is to be left to God’s judgment.

Note that this group of three parables begins with a sense of joy in discovery (v 44) and ends with a contrasting picture of envy on the part of those who do not bother to seek (v 50). The concluding verses (51-52) point to the unity of the old Law with the Gospel: Jesus has truly come to fulfill the past, not to throw it away.

From its beginnings, Solomon’s reign (961 to 922 B.C.E.) was different from that of his father, David. The period of conquest for territory and unification of one nation out of twelve tribes was over, and Solomon’s task was the peaceful organization and development of a settled people. Here the young king, awed by this responsibility, seeks the Lord’s wisdom, for he recognizes that the people he governs are the Lord’s.

This wisdom, however, is not the divine wisdom of later writings, which seeks a part in God’s wisdom as its own end. Solomon here is asking for nothing more profound than the practical judgment needed to govern the people well. He is not so much aspiring to the heights of the mystery of divinity as assuring the tools he needs to be God’s good king.

This psalm is a long alphabetic hymn (the titles before each group of verses are the letters of the Hebrew alphabet) which teaches the value of devotion to the Law of God as the source of wisdom. Response: "Lord, I love your commands."

The problem of predestination ("How can a God who loves all choose some and reject others?") becomes clearer if we understand it in the sense of God’s initiative. He did not create anybody for the purpose of damnation. He has given us all an eternal destiny with him. This is his initiative, not ours. Yet, we are free to choose him or to reject him. The stages of the Christian life (call, baptism, faith, death — v 30) are God’s work, not ours. We simply open ourselves to his work in us.

VV 31-34, which emphasize God’s saving will, are read on the Second Sunday of Lent, Year B.

1. Discuss what it costs you to accept God into your life.

2. How do you reconcile the word "predestined" in Romans with freedom of the will?