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From: 2 Samuel 7:4-17

Nathan’s prophecy about the dynasty

[4] But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, [5] “Go and tell my
servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: Would you build me a house to dwell in? [6]
I have not dwelt in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from
Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent from my dwelling. [7] In
all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with
any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel,
saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?’” [8] Now therefore thus
you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from
the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people
Israel; [9] and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your
enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of
the great ones of the earth. [10] And I will appoint a place for my people Israel,
and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place, and be disturbed no
more; and violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, [11] from the time
that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your
enemies. Moreover the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house.
[12] When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise
up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will estab-
lish his kingdom. [13] He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the
throne of his kingdom for ever. [14] I will be his father, and he shall be my son.
When he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, with the stripes
of the sons of men; [15] but I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it
from Saul, whom I put away from before you. [16] And your house and your king-
dom shall be made sure for ever before me; your throne shall be established for
ever.’” [17] In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this
vision, Nathan spoke to David.

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Commentary:

7:1-17. Nathan is a court prophet who will also appear in later accounts connec-
ted with Solomon and Bathsheba, his mother (cf. 2 Sam 12:1-25 and 1 Kings
1:11-40). As prophet he is God’s spokesman (he twice uses the classic formula-
tion, “Thus says the Lord”: vv. 5 and 8); here he has to oppose the king’s plans
(vv. 5-7); he proclaims a message which cannot but have its effect on the listener
because the word of God is true and it always comes to pass.

Nathan’s prophecy is particularly important: it decides who will succeed David,
and it has to do with the Messiah, who will be a descendant of David. What
he says has all the formality of an oracular statement; it conforms the dynastic
succession and specifies the role of the temple among God’s chosen people.

For pagan peoples (Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian etc.) the temple was the cen-
tre of their world and the focus of their religious spirit; it was there that they kept
their gods. In Israel, on the other hand, the temple will have quite a different role.
It is based on the fact that the true God is not content with a temple; he has no
need of a house in which to dwell (cf. 1 Kings 8:27). If he allows there to be sanc-
tuaries or shrines (cf. Gen 28:20-22), the desert tabernacle or tent (cf. Ex 33:7-
11) and later the temple of Jerusalem (cf. 1 Kings 8:1-66), these are only signs
of his presence among the people, not a habitation that he in any sense needs.
Nathan’s prophecy shows that it is not so much the temple as the Davidic dyna-
sty that is the sign of divine presence and protection that God has set up from
the start. Hence the play on words between “house of God” (temple) and “house
of David” (dynasty).

The hereditary monarchy, then, is the centre of Nathan’s prophecy. If Michal’s
sterility cut off the line of succession from Saul, the prophecy assured that Da-
vid’s line would endure. From the central part of the prophecy (vv. 13-16) we can
see that every descendant of David, the figure of the future Messiah, will have
the following qualities:

a) He will be a son to God (v. 14a). This is not natural, human, sonship; it refers
to the closeness of the relationship between God and the king (cf. Ps 2:7; 89:26-
27), so that the person and rule of the king will symbolize the presence of God
and the active role he plays in the life of the people. The king’s sonship to God,
then, is an expression of the covenant established between God and David’s line.
God commits himself to act towards the king as a good father to his son. Jesus
will bring these words and this covenant to full fruition, for he is the “eternal Son
of God” made man (cf. Gal 4:4). Whereas he is the Son of God by natural gene-
ration, all the baptized are “sons in the Son”: “For this is the very reason why
the Word became flesh, why the Son of God became the Son of man: so that
man, by entering into communion with the Word and thereby partaking of divine
filiation, might be converted into a son of God” (St Irenaeus, “Adversus haereses”,
3, 19, 1; cf. “Catechism of the Catholic Church”, 460).

b) He will be punished when necessary, but the punishment will be only tempo-
rary (14b-15), that is, David’s line will not be cut off as happened to Saul, nor will
any dethronement last, because the love of God will always win out. In the light
of this oracular statement, any misfortunes of the people, even the exile in Ba-
bylon, despite being punishment for their sins, will be above all a proof of God’s
mercy. The death of Jesus on the cross, though caused by the sins of men, is
above all a proof of the love of God who gave up his Son (cf. Rom 8:32), and of
the love of Jesus who gave himself up on men’s behalf (cf. Rom 4:25; Eph 5:25).

c) The Davidic dynasty will endure forever (vv. 12-13, 15-16). The title “son of Da-
vid” will refer not only to genealogical descent but also to the fact that the holder
is the beneficiary of this promise and of the Davidic covenant (cf. 1 Kings 8:25;
Ps 132:10-18; Jer 17:24-27; Ezek 34:23-24; etc.). After the exile this is the title
which is most often applied to the Messiah, and the writers of the New Testa-
ment, of course, are at pains to point out that Jesus is the “son of David” (cf.
Mt 1:1; 9:27; Rom 1:3). The liturgy of the Solemnity of St Joseph, Husband of
the Blessed Virgin, includes this text, because it is he who is the guarantor of
the Davidic descent of Jesus (Mt 1:20) through being “of the house of David”
(Lk 1:27).

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: Mark 4:1-20

Parable of the Sower. The Meaning of the Parables

[1] Again He (Jesus) began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd ga-
thered about Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the
whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. [2] And He taught them many
things in parables, and in His teachings He said to them: [3] “Listen! A sower
went out to sow. [4] And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the
birds came and devoured it. [5] Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it had
not much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil; [6]
and when the sun rose it was scorched, and since it had no root it withered
away. [7] Other seed fell among thorns and the thorns grew up and choked it,
and it yielded no grain. [8] And other seeds fell into good soil and brought forth
grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hun-
dredfold.” [9] And He said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

[10] And when He was alone, those who were about Him with the Twelve asked
Him concerning the parables. [11] And He said to them, “To you has been given
the secret of the Kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables;
[12] so that they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not
understand; lest they should turn again, and be forgiven.” [13] And He said to
them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the
parables? [14] The sower sows the word. [15] And these are the ones along the
path, where the word is sown; when they hear, Satan immediately comes and
takes away the word which is sown in them. [16] And these in like manner are
the ones sown upon rocky ground, who, when they hear the word, immediately
receive it with joy; [17] and they have no root in themselves, but endure for a
while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, im-
mediately they fall away. [18] And others are the ones sown among thorns; they
are those who hear the word, [19] but cares of the world, and the delight in riches,
and the desire for other things, enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruit-
ful. [20] But those that were sown upon the good soil are the ones who hear the
word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

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Commentary:

1-34. Parables are a special method of preaching used by Jesus. By means of
them He gradually unfolds before His listeners the mysteries of the Kingdom of
God. Cf. note on Matthew 13:3. Chapter 4 of St. Mark, although much shorter,
is the equivalent of chapter 13 of St. Matthew and chapter 8:4-18 of St. Luke,
which is the shortest synoptic account of the Kingdom parables.

1-9. The ordinary Christian, who seeks holiness in his ordinary work, must be
moved to find how often our Lord uses in His parables examples taken from work
situations: “In His parables on the Kingdom of God, Jesus Christ constantly re-
fers to human work: that of the shepherd (e.g. John 10:1-6), the farmer (cf. Mark
12:1-12), the doctor (cf. Luke 4:32), the sower (cf. Mark 4:1-9), the householder
(cf. Matthew 13:52), the servant (cf. Matthew 24:25; Luke 12:42-48), the steward
(cf. Luke 16:1-8), the fisherman (cf. Matthew 13:47-50), the merchant (cf. Mat-
thew 13:45-46), the laborer (cf. Matthew 20:1-16). He also speaks of the various
forms of women’s work (cf. Matthew 13:33; Luke 15:8-9). He compares the apos-
tolate to the manual work of harvesters (cf. Matthew 9:37; John 4:35-38) or fisher-
men (cf. Matthew 4:19). He refers to the work of scholars too (cf. Matthew 13:
52)” (John Paul II, “Laborem Exercens”, 26).

3-9. With the parable of the sower Jesus wants to move His listeners to open
their hearts generously to the word of God and put it into practice (cf. Luke 11:
28). God expects the same docility also from each of us: “It is a vivid scene.
The Divine Sower is also sowing His seed today. The work of salvation is still
going on, and our Lord wants us to share that work. He wants Christians to open
to His love all the paths of the earth. He invites us to spread the Divine message,
by both teaching and example, to the farthest corners of the earth [...]. If we look
around, if we take a look at the world, which we love because it is God’s handi-
work, we will find that the parable holds true. The word of Jesus Christ is fruitful,
it stirs many souls to dedication and fidelity. The life and conduct of those who
serve God have changed history. Even many of those who do not know our Lord
are motivated, perhaps unconsciously, by ideals which derive from Christianity.”

“We can also see that some of the seed falls on barren ground or among thorns
and thistles; some hearts close themselves to the light of faith. Ideals of peace,
reconciliation and brotherhood are widely accepted and proclaimed, but all too
often the facts belie them. Some people are futilely bent on smothering God’s
voice. To drown it out they use brute force or a method which is more subtle but
perhaps more cruel because it drugs the spirit — indifference” (St. J. Escriva,
“Christ Is Passing By”, 150).

The parable of the sower also shows us the wonderful economy of Divine Provi-
dence, which distributes various graces among men but gives each person e-
nough to reach salvation: “There was then in the eternal providence an incom-
parable privilege for the Queen of Queens, Mother of Fair Love, and most singu-
larly perfect. There were also for certain others some special favors. But after
this life the sovereign goodness poured an abundance of graces and benedic-
tions over the whole race of mankind and upon the angels; [...] every one re-
ceived his portion as of seed which falls not only upon good ground but upon
the highway, amongst thorns, and upon rocks, that all might be inexcusable be-
fore the Redeemer, if they enjoy not this most abundant redemption for their sal-
vation” (St. Francis de Sales, “Treatise on the Love of God”, Book 2, Chapter 7).

11-12. The Kingdom of God is a mystery. If the Twelve know it, it is simply be-
cause the mercy of God has revealed it to them, not because they are better
able, by themselves, to understand the meaning of the parables.

Jesus’s use of parables had many advantages: firstly, because typically the hu-
man mind grasps concepts by first working on sense-information: in His teaching
Christ often clothes spiritual things in corporal images. Secondly, Sacred Scrip-
ture is written for everyone, as St. Paul says: “I am under obligation ...both to the
wise and to the foolish” (Romans 1:4): this meant it made sense for him to put
forward even the deepest truths by using comparisons—so that people could
more easily grasp what he meant (cf. St. Thomas Aquinas, “Summa Theologiae
I”, q. 1, a.9).

The disciples are distinguished here from “those outside” (verse 11) — an expres-
sion which Jews applied to Gentiles, and which Jesus here applies to those Jews
who do not want to understand the signs which He performs (cf. Luke 12:41).

Later on, our Lord does give His disciples even more exact instruction about the
content of the parables. But, since the Jews do not want to accept the signs He
performs, in them are fulfilled the words of the prophet Isaiah (6:9-10). The para-
bles, which were an expression of our Lord’s mercy, were the occasion for His
condemning incredulous Jews, whose sins He cannot forgive because they do
not wish to see or listen or be converted.

17. “They fall away”: they are “scandalized”: the word “scandal” originally refers
to a stone or obstacle which could easily cause one to trip. Here, in the language
of morality, it is used to refer to anything which leads others to commit sin (cf.
note on Matthew 18:1-7). The word is also applied in a broader sense to anything
which could be an occasion of sin—e.g. sorrow and tribulation. In this passage,
falling away or being scandalized means being demoralized, stumbling, giving in
and falling. If a person maliciously professes to be shocked by a good action, he
is guilty of “pharisaical” scandal: that is what St. Paul means when he says that
the cross of Christ was a stumbling-block to Jews, who refused to grasp that the
saving plans of God were to be effected through pain and sacrifice (cf. 1 Corin-
thians 1:23; cf. also Mark 14:27; Matthew 16:23).

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.