Our Knowledge of God
by Fr.Gus Carter
7/3/05

In following Jesus, in living the Christian life, there is no text in Scripture that is more important than the Gospel we have read today. To remind you again I quote, "No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him." Knowledge of the social situation in Jesus' time helps us penetrate more deeply into the meaning of this passage. In Jesus' time Jewish fathers were expected to teach their sons to read and to understand the Jewish Law, the Torah. Jewish sons were expected to learn the trade of their fathers. These associations were meant to foster father-son relationships. It was expected that they would have a firm and loving relationship. In the light of this knowledge one of the greatest modern New Testament scholars translated the passage I read a moment ago as follows: "Just as a father talks to his son, just as he teaches him the letters of the Torah, just as he initiates him into the well-prepared secrets of his craft, just as he hides nothing from him and opens his heart to him as to no one else, so God has granted me knowledge of himself. I will reveal the Father to whoever approaches me with a sincere heart."
The immensity of space, our sense of time in the universe, hint at why we can never grasp the full meaning of God in this life. Our minds could never rise to understand the infinity of God without the help of the Lord Himself.

Certainly we could never know the Lord well enough to have a personal relationship with our God. To remedy this lack in us the Word of God, the Son of God, came to dwell among us. Through the human nature he took unto Himself in the Incarnation, the Word of God translated through his human words and human actions what God is like in terms that we can understand and respond to.

Today's Gospel reveals to us how deeply and thoroughly Jesus knew our Creator and how well he understood Almighty God's plan for the world.

When we become Jesus' disciples and imitate his life, we can have absolute certainty that our lives have meaning, that we will be carrying out the ultimate reason for our creation. We will be making a better life for the whole world. We will be providing ourselves with a perfect destiny, that is, living divine life in eternal love.

The "word" of God in Scripture is often used to express the Lord's power.

"By the breath of his mouth the heavens were made," said the psalmist.

The point is that the "word" of God is not just about knowing. The "word" of God is the instrument through which Almighty God reaches out to us, by which our God empowers us. It is especially true that when we read the Gospel prayerfully, when we reflect on Jesus' words and actions, we are not just learning, we are being empowered to carry out the way of living Jesus teaches. We call our Scriptures Sacred because they are the channel through which our God contacts us, relates to us, influences in a special way our lives. The Scriptures are so powerful that St. Teresa of Avila said that if we continue to pray the Sacred Scriptures, our souls will never be lost.

We readjust a few weeks ago that "Jesus was moved with pity for the crowds because they were troubled and abandoned like sheep without a shepherd." Jesus teaches out of compassion for us because we are easily misled and confused about what is really important in life. One of the images Matthew used throughout his Gospel is that Jesus is the "Wisdom" of God, translated into terms that each human being can understand. Human powers on earth are generally oppressive. The power of Jesus always communicates life and well-being. No wonder the saints loved the Scriptures and were enthusiastic in reaching out to others to allow themselves to be touched by "The Lord, the Lord, merciful and gracious, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity." It is this gracious God who reaches out to us in today's Gospel: "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest."