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| “The Queen of Sheba Kneeling before King Solomon” by Johann Friedrich August Tischbein, c 1790s |
Reading I: 1
Kings 10:1-10
The queen of Sheba
came to test him with subtle
questions.
She arrived in Jerusalem
and with camels bearing
spices,
a large amount of gold, and
precious stones.
She came to Solomon and
questioned him on every subject
in which she was interested.
King Solomon explained
everything she asked about,
and there remained nothing
hidden from him
that he could not explain to
her.
When the queen of Sheba
the palace he had built, the
food at his table,
the seating of his ministers,
the attendance and garb of his waiters,
his banquet service,
and the burnt offerings he
offered in the temple of the LORD,
she was breathless.
“The report I heard in my
country
about your deeds and your
wisdom is true,” she told the king.
“Though I did not believe the
report until I came and saw with my own eyes,
I have discovered that they
were not telling me the half.
Your wisdom and prosperity
surpass the report I heard.
Blessed are your men, blessed
these servants of yours,
who stand before you always
and listen to your wisdom.
Blessed be the LORD, your
God,
whom it has pleased to place
you on the throne of Israel
In his enduring love for Israel
the LORD has made you king to
carry out judgment and justice.”
Then she gave the king one
hundred and twenty gold talents,
a very large quantity of
spices, and precious stones.
Never again did anyone bring
such an abundance of spices
as the queen of Sheba
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Commentary on 1 Kgs 10:1-10
This selection documents the
visit of the Queen of Sheba. (Queen of Sheba: women rulers among the Arabs are
recorded in eighth-century-B.C. Assyrian inscriptions. Sheba was for centuries the leading principality
in what is now the Yemen .
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 37:5-6, 30-31, 39-40
R. (30a) The mouth of the just murmurs wisdom.
Commit to the LORD your way;
trust in him, and he will
act.
He will make justice dawn for
you like the light;
bright as the noonday shall
be your vindication.
R. The mouth of the just murmurs wisdom.
The mouth of the just man
tells of wisdom
and his tongue utters what is
right.
The law of his God is in his
heart,
and his steps do not falter.
R. The mouth of the just murmurs wisdom.
The salvation of the just is
from the LORD;
he is their refuge in time of
distress.
And the LORD helps them and
delivers them;
he delivers them from the
wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in
him.
R. The mouth of the just murmurs wisdom.
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Commentary on Ps 37:5-6, 30-31, 39-40
This
selection of Psalm 37, the main thrust of which is evil will pass away but God
and his Law are eternal, exhorts the listener to trust in God, and the “light”
of truth will show the way of righteousness. The psalm appropriately extols the
true teaching of God.
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Gospel: Mark 7:14-23
Jesus summoned the crowd
again and said to them,
“Hear me, all of you, and understand.
Nothing that enters one from
outside can defile that person;
but the things that come out
from within are what defile.”
When he got home away from
the crowd
his disciples questioned him
about the parable.
He said to them,
“Are even you likewise
without understanding?
Do you not realize that
everything
that goes into a person from
outside cannot defile,
since it enters not the heart
but the stomach
and passes out into the
latrine?”
(Thus he declared all foods
clean.)
“But what comes out of the man,
that is what defiles him.
From within the man, from his
heart,
come evil thoughts,
unchastity, theft, murder,
adultery, greed, malice,
deceit,
licentiousness, envy,
blasphemy, arrogance, folly.
All these evils come from
within and they defile.”
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Commentary on Mk 7:14-23
Jesus takes that first command of
God to man in the Garden (Genesis 2:15-17) and
interprets it. It was not the fruit of "the tree of knowledge of good and
evil," but the spirit of evil which caused them to disobey God's word.
The Lord also seems to refute
Jewish Dietary Law that declares some foods to be unclean. The importance of
this statement to the Christian community would not be understood until the
debate about the need for Gentiles to follow Jewish Law was taken up (see Acts 10:14ff; 15:28-29; Galatians 2:11-17). The
point he makes is that the food that enters the body cannot destroy it but
actions and words that contravene God’s Law will.
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Reflection
The Wisdom of Solomon pales
in comparison to the insights of Jesus.
The Lord sees many of the Jewish dietary laws as being impediments to
understanding the real purpose the Father intended. While not contradicting the spirit of
discipline relating to the Laws, Jesus points out that true sin comes not from
what goes into the body but actions that violate God’s laws.
Jesus is making it clear in
this passage that human behaviors governed by the love of God and neighbor are
the important elements of life as opposed to fearing for one’s salvation
because a person unwittingly violated one of the dietary regulations. His purpose in clarifying God’s will was to
establish a hierarchy of virtue.
What we must take away from
this scripture is at the heart of our thoughts when reviewing our actions. We must, as disciples of Christ, look to what
comes out of us. We are called to be
beacons of light to the world. How can
we do that if what issues from us is clothed in the darkness of sin? Our call is to be emissaries of Christ. How can we do that if we do not live his
message?
Today we are reminded that we
must work diligently to conform ourselves to Christ; to avoid sin and the near
occasion of sin; to become children of light so that all the world might see us
and believe in the true Son of God.
Pax
[1]
The picture is “The Queen of Sheba Kneeling before King Solomon” by Johann
Friedrich August Tischbein, c 1790s
[3]
The readings are taken from the New American
Bible with the exception of the Psalm and its response which were developed by
the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This re-publication
is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4]
See NAB footnote on 1 Kings 10:1
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