for July 18
Saturday of the Fifteenth Week of Ordinary Time

Today’s second reading is a perfect example of why it is important to consider a passage in the context of the whole gospel in order to see the full picture that an evangelist presents of Jesus.

If you take today’s passage from Matthew on it on its own, you might see a portrait of Jesus meek and mild. He withdraws from confrontation with the Pharisees; he warns the crowds who follow him to keep quiet about him; he is compared to the servant who will not cry out or quench a smoldering wick. This image of gentle Jesus, sweet and mild focuses on personal consolation and salvation, and sometimes it is use to chastise those who raise their voices in the streets and cry out for justice.

But pull back your focus a little, and the picture shifts. In just the previous chapter of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus confronted the Pharisees, challenging their authority. He fed his hungry followers, healed a withered man, and re-interpreted the law, all on a Sabbath day. This is the Jesus the Pharisees plotted to kill: a man wise as a serpent, self-sure of his relationship to God and of his mission.

Pull back even further, and yet more is revealed. Recall the moment at Jesus’ baptism when he emerges from the river. The Spirit of God descends, and a voice from heaven is heard to announce, “This is my beloved Son.” Now the emphasis shifts in the prophecy that Matthew quotes in today’s gospel; now it sounds as an echo of Jesus’s baptism: ‘behold my beloved; I shall place my Spirit on him.’ Now, look ahead to the “great commission” at the close of Matthew’s gospel. Notice how Isaiah’s prophecy now foreshadows that mission to “make disciples of all nations: with its promise that “in his name will the Gentiles hope.” 

No longer does today’s gospel reveal a gentle servant, but the very Son of God and bearer of God’s Spirit, a man of power and world-changing purpose. Consider today’s second reading in the context of Matthew’s whole gospel, and our perspective shifts from Jesus as savior of individual souls to Jesus as the One who will bring justice to victory, fulfilling the hopes of all people. 

Even though we might now have a clearer picture of Jesus, at least as Matthew would have us understand him, some questions remain: Where do we fit in this picture? What do we hope for? 

What will the victory of justice be like? Can we hope for safe shelter, for enough to eat, to live in peace surrounded by a caring community, to find meaning in our lives and work, and to know that these things are freely available to all, not just the result of good fortune or or the accidents and advantages of our birth? All of which leads to a final question: what will we do to fulfill these hopes for the world?
—BJ Brown

Today’s readings can be found on the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ website.