When Moses told the people that a prophet like him the Lord would raise up from among their own kin, there is a wonderful foretelling of our Priest, Prophet, and King, our Lord Jesus Christ, who many did listen to then, and continue to do so, to this day. He raised up from among the Davidic line, someone that the people would be able to relate to, and learn from without fear, as they were terrified of His presence when He spoke, and the people said, “let us not hear again the voice of the Lord, lest we die”. Jesus did indeed come to deliver God the Fathers words to the people, and to deliver His message to them perfectly, exactly as God had spoken it because He is God and knows the words intimately.
Is it any wonder then, that He would speak them in a way unlike anything they had ever heard up to that point? He spoke with perfect knowledge, understanding, and authority. He did not need to analyze, or speculate about his interpretation, because the words came from within, and were always perfectly true to what the Father intended. Moreover, his actions spoke as powerfully as his voice in showing Gods will, for he healed, and cast out evil, and the spirits themselves that possessed so many knew him and feared him, and even testified to who He really was, though He silenced them when they did so. There was no need for efforts at grandeur, He was simply acting in his natural form, and state.
How then do we, as His followers, live to show our love for our Lord, and to do His will? We do so with undivided attention as best we can and try to live in such a way that our priorities are ordered to follow our Lord first and foremost. It is when we try to live duplicitously that we become confused, and anxious, this is what Saint Paul is warning us about when he tells us that he would like us to be free of anxieties. He gives the examples of unmarried women and men being free to focus solely on the Lord, and so it is if someone chooses to live in such a way that there is no division of their time and priorities – these are the people who choose the calling of God, and dedicate themselves in His service, rather than pursue the more conventional domestic structure. Their families are all the people of God, and they serve them all in their vocations. Yet they are not alone in their service to God, we are called to serve Him, and while many of us have nuclear families that we are part of, we too may serve in such a way that we need not be anxious because of duplicity creating tension between serving our Lord and caring for our immediate family. We do this by living in such a way that we and our families all place our Lord, and His will first. We keep our focus on Him in this way, and in doing so, also care for each other as both immediate family and brothers and sisters in Christ. This is how it was intended, and when we live this way, we may truly know His peace, and the blessed prosperity that can only come with this kind of intimacy.
The Deacons Bench 