"The word of God is something alive and active: it cuts like any double-edged sword but more finely." (Hebrews 4:12)
In Sunday’s second reading, why is the word of God compared not merely to a sword but to a two-edged one?
In the book of Sirach we read that "there is no healing for the wound [a two-edged sword] inflicts" (21:3). The word of God can have a decisive and lasting effect on us, fatally wounding our sin, if we welcome it.
The death that God’s word deals to our sin can be a total surprise: Ehud killed the unsuspecting Eglon, King of Moab, by stabbing him with a concealed two-edged sword, just after delivering tribute to him, and saying "I have a message from God for you" (Judges 3:20).
So too, Jesus’ words pierce the heart of the unsuspecting rich young man in the Gospel. He is not aware that he is overly-attached to his wealth until Jesus’s verbal killer blow: "There is one thing you lack. Go and sell everything you own and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me" (Mark 10:21).
This double-edged sword comes from love – Jesus "loved him as he looked at him" (Mark 10:21) – and lays bare the youth’s "secret emotions and thoughts" (Hebrews 4:12).
It is striking that this sword can "slip through the place where the soul is divided from the spirit" (Hebrews 4:12), dividing what is psychological from the spiritual. This distinction is often lost: unbelievers can claim that everything is psychological and believers can think everything is spiritual. Both realms exist within us, and the Word of God can help us identify them.
Let’s welcome the words of Jesus deep within us, even if they can be surprising and painful, because they stem from his loving gaze upon us.
The mortal wounds they inflict on our sin give us clearer self-knowledge to follow him, and free our hearts from worldly attachments to receive the "hundred-fold" he promises (Mark 10:30).
This requires dedicating time to praying with the Sacred Scriptures, letting them spur us to personal conversation with, and listening to, Jesus. He received a real blade into his side to redeem us, so let’s receive the two-edged sword of his word.
<em>(Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images.)</em>
<em>Fr David Howell is an assistant priest at St Bede’s in Clapham Park. His previous studies include canon law in Rome, Classics at Oxford and a licence in Patristics at the Augustinianum Institute in Rome.</em>
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