Wednesday of Week 15 in Ordinary Time
Exo 3:1-6,9-12
Mt 11:25-27
“…no one knows the Son except the Father, just as no one knows the Father except the Son…”
Today’s Gospel is significant, as it is one of the few recorded times when Jesus prayed himself. Previously, I thought he also prayed the “Our Father” (Matthew 6:9-13). He did not. He only taught his disciples to say that prayer. In this prayer, Jesus praises God and acknowledges who God is. He is the Lord of Heaven and Earth.
Jesus praises his Father because (he) has hidden these things from the wise and learned. I always wondered why would Jesus do this and what are these ‘hidden things’? Fortunately, Dr Brian Pitre, a brilliant Bible scholar who founded catholicproductions.com, helped me to understand.
I learnt that the hidden things refer to the mystery of Jesus’s identity. At that time, the Jews thought he was John the Baptist, or Elijah, or one of the prophets. All of them missed the mark. In their mind, he was man. The clue to his identity is actually in the subsequent verse, “…no one knows the Son, except the Father, just as no one knows the Father except the Son”. Jesus calls himself Son of the Father. Since God is eternal and divine, Jesus as Son, is also the eternal, pre-existent and divine Son of the Father. Father and Son are in an eternal relationship. Therefore, Jesus is divine. He is God. This mystery is hidden, unless revealed by Jesus.
For the Catholic Church, this mystery is very important for two reasons. It is the basis for the trinity doctrine. Also, many skeptics have cast doubt that Jesus is God by claiming that only John’s gospel writes about the divinity of Jesus while the other three do not. Matthew 11 : 24 clearly states otherwise.
As a cradle Catholic, I always accepted that Jesus is God and divine. I never thought anything else. Only when I attended the Bible Adventure Course 8 years ago did I realise this issue has led to conflict and schism, especially during the early phase of Christianity – e.g. Arianism and Nestorism.
Sadly, this issue of the divinity of Jesus continues to affect Christianity today, especially Protestants who only believe in the Sola Scriptura doctrine (the Bible is the sole divine infallible Word of God and no Word is wrong). My good friend, who was Protestant for 30 years, told me about his pastor friend. He went to America to do further bible studies and found many inconsistencies in ancient Hebrew and Greek text. In a nutshell, he could not understand how the Word of God could have such ‘mistakes’ and lost his faith completely. My friend also went through this issue, but found solace in the Catholic Church’s traditions and deposit of faith. He is now a Catholic.
I’d like to acknowledge Dr Brian Pitre’s podcast for helping me write today’s reflection and am thankful to be a Catholic. My Protestant friend went through so much searching and found the Catholic Church. I did not search much, but take solace that I am in the right place.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Andrew Sia)
Prayer: Lord, help us all to grow our faith.
Thanksgiving: Thanks be to You for our deposit of faith, which is sacred scripture and sacred traditions as taught by the authority of the Catholic Church.
OXYGEN 
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