나바르 매일미사 독서/묵상

Monday

28th Week of Ordinary Time

(I) 1st Reading: Romans 1:1-7

Greeting
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[1] Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the
gospel of God [2] which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy
scriptures, [3] the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David
according to the flesh [4] and designated Son of God in power according to the
Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, [5]
through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obe-
dience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, [6] including your-
selves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ: [7] To all God's beloved in Rome,
who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and
the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Commentary:

1-15. These opening verses of the letter are a combination of greeting, introduc-
tion of the writer and the prologue to the entire text. The passage deals with
themes in no particular order--in line with the style of some other Pauline letters,
especially Romans itself.

Three matters are being covered here--Paul's introduction of himself, and his
plans to visit Rome (vv. 1, 5, 9-15); who the immediate recipients are and their
particular situation (vv. 6-8, 11, 15); and, finally, Paul's purpose in writing to the
faithful at Rome (outlined in his greeting--vv. 2-4, 15 and, to a lesser degree, v.
9).

1-2. The word "gospel", which St Paul uses very often, here refers to the purpose
of his vocation: he has been designated to preach the Gospel of God. This is ob-
viously not a reference to the written Gospels; he is speaking of something com-
plex and profound, already articulated by Christ in his preaching. Jesus said of
himself that he had come to bring Good News (cf. Mt 11:15; Mk 1:14-15; Lk 4:18;
etc.), as the prophets had foretold (especially is 61:1, which Jesus quoted). "As
an evangelizer, Christ first of all proclaims a kingdom, the Kingdom of God; and
this is so important that, by comparison, everything else becomes 'the rest',
which is 'given in addition' (cf. Mt 6:33).

1-2. 성 바오로가 매우 자주 사용하는 "복음(gospel)"이라는 단어는 여기서 다음과 같은
자신의 소명(vocation)의 목적에 관한 것입니다: 그는 하느님의 복음(the Gospel of
God)을 설교하도록 이미 선정되었습니다. 이것은 문자로 기록된(written) 복음서들에
관한 언급이 분명히 아니며, 그리고 그는, 그리스도께서 당신의 설교에서 이미 분명하게
말씀하신, 복합적인 그리고 뜻 깊은(complex and profound) 어떤 것에 대하여 말하고
있는 중입니다. 예수님께서는, 예언자들이 이미 예고하였듯이 (특별히, 예수님께서
인용하셨던, 이사야 61,1), 좋은 소식(Good News)을 가져다 주기 위하여 당신께서
오셨다(마태오 복음서 11,15; 마르코 복음서 1,14-15; 루카 복음서 4,18 등을 참조하라)
라고 당신 자신에 대하여 말씀하셨습니다. "복음을 전하는 자(an evangelizer)로서,
그리스도께서는 무엇보다도 먼저 하느님의 나라(the Kingdom of God)라는
한 개의 나라(a kingdom)를 선포하시며, 그리고 이 나라는 너무도 중요하여,
비교하면(by comparison), 다른 모든 것은 '추가적으로 주어진(given in
addition)' '나머지(the rest)'가 됩니다(마태오 복음서 6,33을 참조하라).

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번역자 주: 예수님께서 공생활 초기에 선포하신 "하느님의 나라[the Kingdom of God,
즉 하늘 나라(the Kingdom of Heaven)]"에 대한 번역자의 안내 및 교황 요한 바오로
2세의 교리 교육용 일반 알현 강론 말씀들의 모음은 다음에 있으니, 별도의 시간을
내어서라도 차분히 꼭 읽도록 하라:

http://ch.catholic.or.kr/pundang/4/soh/894.htm (클릭하십시오)
-----

"As the kernel and center of this Good News, Christ proclaims salvation, this
great gift of God which is liberation from everything that oppresses man but which
is above all liberation from sin and the Evil One" (Paul VI, "(Evangelii Nuntiandi)",
8 and 9).

"이러한 좋은 소식(this Good News)의 핵심이며 중심으로서, 예수님께서는 구원
(salvation)을 선포하시는데, 이것은, 사람을 억압하는 모든 것으로부터의 해방이라는,
무엇보다도 먼저 죄와 마왕(the Evil One, 사탄)로부터의 해방이라는, 하느님의 위대한
선물입니다." [교황 바오로 6세(Paul VI), "현대의 복음 선교(Evangelii Nuntiandi)",
8 and 9].

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번역자 주: 다음의 인터넷 주소들을 클릭하면 교황 바오로 6세(Paul VI)의 권고,
"현대의 복음 선교(Evangelii Nuntiandi)" 전문을 읽을 수 있다:

http://ch.catholic.or.kr/pundang/4/vatican/hf_p-vi_exh_19751208_en_en.htm (영어)
http://ch.catholic.or.kr/pundang/4/cbck/hf_p-vi_exh_19751208_en_kr.htm (우리말)
-----

When he was about to ascend into heaven, Jesus charged his Apostles to pro-
claim the Good News (Mk 16:15; cf. Mt 28:19-20) which was to be "the source
of all saving truth and moral discipline" (Vatican II, "Dei Verbum", 7). For the
Apostles this Good News was nothing more or less than Jesus Christ and his
work of salvation. That is why the Gospel (which the Church is given to hand on
to all generations) is centered on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, as
passed on to us by the Apostles. "The promises of the New Alliance in Jesus
Christ, the teaching of the Lord and the Apostles, the Word of life, the sources
of grace and of God's loving kindness, the path of salvation--all these things have
been entrusted to her. It is the content of the Gospel, and therefore of evangeliza-
tion" ("Evangelii Nuntiandi", 15). Thus we can say with St Thomas Aquinas (cf.
"Summa Theologiae", I-II, q. 108, a.1; "Commentary on Rom." 1, 1) that the core
of the Gospel has to do with uniting men and God, a union which takes a perfect
form in Christ but an imperfect one in us. The superiority of the Gospel over the
Old Law consists in the grace of the Holy Spirit, which Christ confers on us.
Therefore, the Gospel, to which the Apostles dedicated themselves, is, at one
and the same time, a series of truths revealed by our Lord, the saving power of
grace and the Church-in-action.

당신께서 하늘(heaven)로 승천하실 때가 되었을 때에, 예수님께서는 당신의 사도들에게,
"모든 구하는 진리 및 윤리적 규범의 원천이 될"[제2차 바티칸 공의회(Vatican I)I, "Dei
Verbum", 7] 이 좋은 소식(the Good News)을 선포할 것을 명령하셨습니다(charged)
(마르코 복음서 16,15; 마태오 복음서 28,19-20을 보라). 사도들에게 있어 이러한 좋은
소식(this Good News)은 예수 그리스도와 그리고 당신에 의한 구원의 위업 이상도
그 이하도 아닌 것(nothing more or less than)이었습니다. 이것이, 사도들에 의하여
우리에게 전해지고 있듯이, (모든 세대들에 전해 주도록 교회에 주어진) 이 복음
(the Gospel)이 예수 그리스도의 삶과 가르침에 집중되어 있는 바로 그 이유입니다.
"예수 그리스도 안에서의 새로운 맹약(盟約)(the New Alliance, 즉 새 계약)이라는 약속들,
주님과 사도들의 가르침, 생명의 말씀, 은총과 하느님의 자애로운 친절의 원천들, 구원의
길(the path of salvation) -- 이들 모든 것들은 교회에 맡겨져 있습니다. 이러한 것이
바로 복음의 내용이며, 그리하여 따라서 복음 선포의 내용입니다" ["Evangelii Nuntiandi",
15]. 그러므로 우리는 성 토마스 아퀴나스와 함께 ["신학 대전(Summa Theologiae)",
I-II, q. 108, a.1; "Commentary on Rom." 1, 1을 참조하라) 복음의 핵심(core)이,
우리 안에서는 불완전하나 그러나 그리스도 안에서는 완전한 형태를 가지는 결합
(a union)인, 사람들과 하느님을 결합시킴(uniting)과 관계가 있다라고 말할 수
있습니다. 옛 계명에 대한 이 복음의 우위성(superiority)은, 그리스도께서 우리에게
베풀어주시는, 성령의 은총에 있습니다. 그러므로, 사도들이 몸을 바쳤던 이 복음은,
한꺼번에 그리고 동시에, 우리의 주님에 의하여 드러나게 된 일련의 진리들이며, 은총 및
활동 중인 교회(Church-in-action)의 구하는 힘(saving power)입니다.

1. In addressing the Christians at Rome the Apostle uses, of his two names --
Saul and Paul--the one he has used since his first missionary journey (cf. Acts
13:9), a Roman name indicating his Roman citizenship (cf. Acts 16:37; 22:25-28).
It was in fact quite common for Jews to use two names--a national name, Hebrew
or Aramaic, and another name, Greek or Latin, for dealings with people from other
countries in the Empire. We find a number of examples of this in the New Testa-
ment--John-Mark, Symeon-Niger (Acts 13:1), Tabitha-Dorcas (Acts 9:36), etc.

1. 로마에 있는 그리스도 사람들에게 편지를 씀(adressing)에 있어, 이 사도는 사울(Saul)과
바오로(Paul)라는 자신의 두 개의 이름들 중에서, 자신의 첫 번째 선교 여행 이후로 그가
사용해 왔던 이름인(사도행전 13,9를 참조하라), 자신의 로마 시민권을 나타내는 로마식
이름을 사용합니다(사도행전 16,37; 22,25-28을 참조하라). 유다인들이, 히브리어식
혹은 아람어식 한 개의 민족 이름(a national name)과, 로마 제국 안의 다른
나라들 출신의 사람들과 관계하기 위하여, 그리스어식 혹은 라틴어식 또다른 이름을,
이렇게 두 개의 이름들을 사용하는 것은 사실은 상당히 통상적이었습니다. 우리는
신약 성경에서 이러한 경우에 대한 몇 개의 예들을 다음과 같이 발견합니다: 요한-마르코
(John-Mark)(사도행전 15,37), 사울-바오로(Saul-Paul)(사도행전 13,9), 시메온-니게르
(Symeon-Niger)(사도행전 13,1), 타비타-도르카스(Tabitha-Dorcas)(사도행전 9,36) 등.

Paul, who had been born a Roman citizen, was deeply conscious of his Jewish
roots. He was of the tribe of Benjamin (Rom 11:1; Phil 3:5) and bore the name of
one of the most famous members of that tribe--King Saul, son of Kish (Acts 13:
21). He was well able to show his pride in his Jewish descent (cf. 2 Cor 11:22;
Gal 1:13-14) yet was ready to become all things to all men in order to save even
some (cf. 1 Cor 9:22).

St Paul wants to speak about Christ and his saving Gospel, but he cannot avoid
making reference to himself and the mission entrusted to him; this he does by
using three words which are full of meaning: he is a "servant" of Jesus Christ,
called by God to be his "apostle" (envoy), "set apart" or designated by God to
preach the Gospel. These three words tell the whole story of his vocation, and
each of them encapsulates something of the mystery which Paul will expound
in his epistle--the mercy of God, who saves men, justifies them, sanctifies them
and sends them out.

"Servant": this title, also used by St James (Jas 1:1), St Peter (2 Pet 1:1) and St
Jude (Jud 1), comes from the Old Testament. There the great prophets and guides
of the chosen people described themselves as "servants" of Yahweh (cf., for exam-
ple, Samuel: 1 Sam 3:9f; Abraham: Ps 104:6; David: 2 Sam 24:10; Moses, Aaron,
Solomon, etc.), and the entire people of Israel is called the "servant" of God (Is 49:
3); but most prominently there is the Messiah, the "Servant" of God to the extent
of actually giving his life (Is 41:9; 42:1; 49:6; 53:11). In the world of the Hebrew
religion "servant of God" is the equivalent of "worshipper of God", one who offers
religious worship: this notion of servant did not carry the overtones of inhuman
debasement that it had in Greco-Roman culture. When St Paul says that he is
a "servant" (or "slave") of Jesus Christ he is implicitly saying that he renders him
religious adoration.

"Apostle": this word designates preachers of the Gospel, particularly the twelve
chosen disciples of Jesus (cf. Mt 10:24 and Mk 3:16-19) it was quite logically ap-
plied to Matthias when he became one of the Twelve (Acts 1:25). Christ himself
designated Paul an apostle when he appeared to him on the road to Damascus
(Acts 26:16-18; Gal 1:15-16), called him to the faith and charged him with his
mission to preach. By describing himself as "called to be an apostle", St Paul is
saying that he is on an equal footing with the Twelve--for example, Peter, James
and John, whom he calls "pillars" of the Church (Gal 2:9)--since he received his
calling from Christ himself, as had been the case with the other Apostles (cf.
Acts 9:3-18), and not from the leaders of the community of Antioch (Acts 13:2-3).

"Set apart": this refers to the mission entrusted to St Paul of preaching the Gos-
pel to the Gentiles. Possibly it also refers to Paul's place in God's eternal plan;
in this sense he can say that he was "set apart" ever since he was in his mo-
ther's womb (Gal 1:15; cf. Jer 1:5; Is 49:1).

St John Chrysostom comments on this verse as follows: "If Paul constantly re-
calls his vocation it is in order to show his gratitude. This gift, which he did not
solicit, took him by surprise; he simply obeyed and followed the divine inspiration.
As regards the faithful, they too, as he himself says, have been called to holiness"
("Hom. on Rom", 1).

3-4. Scholars are now confident that in Rom 1:3-4 St Paul is quoting from a Chris-
tological formula or hymn (like that in I Tim 3:16 or Phil 2:6-11)--probably used in
the very earliest Christian liturgy. In these two verses St Paul offers, as it were, a
summary of Christology: Jesus Christ, true God and true Man, is the Son sent by
his Father God (v. 3). From all eternity he is God, equal to the Father, and in the
fullness of time he has taken up a human nature which was initially capable of ex-
periencing pain (v. 3) and was later glorified (v. 4).

The Incarnation did not involve any change, as far as the Word was concerned,
either in his divine nature (which he did not shed and which did not alter) or in his
being a Person distinct from the Father and the Holy Spirit. However, by the Incar-
nation he assumed a human nature, being born of a Virgin (cf. Lk 1:27, 35): and
so the Son of God became the Son of David, of the lineage of David. The phrase
"according to the flesh" actually emphasizes the lowliness which the Incarnation
implied--fragility, suffering, self-emptying, humiliation (cf. Jn 1:14 and note; Phil
2:7).

During Christ's life on earth prior to his Resurrection, although it was united to the
Word, his human nature, especially his body, was not fully glorified. Moreover,
although it is true that during that period of his life he showed his divinity by his
miracles (cf. In 2:11) and by words confirmed by those miracles (cf. Jn 10:37ff), it
is also true that his human nature was to the forefront most of the time. After the
Resurrection, his human body and soul were fully glorified and therefore from then
on his divine nature was the more apparent. This real change which took place in
Christ's human nature when he rose from the dead, and the fact that his divinity
became more manifest and he was more easily recognized to be God, are cap-
tured in what St Paul says here in v. 4.

The words "according to the Spirit of holiness" can refer both to Christ's divine na-
ture (in the same way as "according to the flesh" refers to his human nature) and
to the action of the Holy Spirit, whose effects were more easily seen after the
Resurrection, especially from Pentecost onwards (cf. Jn 7:39 and note on same).

5. Here St Paul refers to the mission given him by God the Father through Jesus
Christ at the time of his conversion (cf. Acts 9:15) and which he mentions explicit-
ly in his letter to the Galatians (cf. Gal 2:7). Within the world-wide mission implied
in being an apostle called by Christ himself, St Paul was given a special mission
of his own -- to be the Apostle of the Gentiles; he mentions this mission at the
beginning of this letter to show why he should be addressing the Christians at
Rome, a church which he had not founded.

The purpose and effect of the apostolic ministry is to bring about the "obedience
of faith": when a person believes, he submits his mind and will to God's authority,
freely accepting the truths which God proposes. Apropos of this obedience proper
to faith the Second Vatican Council says: "'The obedience of faith' (Rom 16:26; cf.
Rom 1:5; 2 Cor 10:5-6) must be given to God as he reveals himself. By faith man
freely commits his entire self to God, making 'the full submission of his intellect
and will to God who reveals' (Vatican I, "Dei Filius", chap. 3) and willingly assen-
ting to the Revelation given by him. Before this faith can be exercised, man must
have the grace of God to move and assist him; he must have the interior help of
the Holy Spirit, who moves the heart and converts it to God, who opens the eyes
of the mind and 'makes it easy for all to accept and believe the truth' (Second
Council of Orange III, "De Gratia", can. 7; "Dei Filius, ibid.")" (Vatican II, "Dei
Verbum", 5).

7. "Called to be saints": literally "called saints". This is not just a way of spea-
king: St Paul really is saying that Christians are "called" in the same kind of way
as the Israelites were so open called through Moses (Num 10:14). In the Chris-
tians' case, the calling is to form the new people of God, one of whose characte-
ristic features is holiness. Basing itself on this and other Pauline texts, the Se-
cond Vatican Council has this to say: "As Israel according to the flesh which
wandered in the desert was already called the Church of God (cf. 2 Ezra 13:1;
cf. Num 20:4; Deut 23:1 ff), so too, the new Israel, which advances in this pre-
sent era in search of a future and permanent city (cf. Heb 13:14), is called also
the Church of Christ (cf. Mt. 16:18) [...]. The followers of Christ, called by God
not in virtue of their works but by his design and grace, and justified in the Lord
Jesus, have been made sons of God in the baptism of faith and partakers of the
divine nature, and so are truly sanctified" ("Lumen Gentium", 9 and 40).

This is in fact the basis of the "universal call to holiness". All Christians, by virtue
of their Baptism, should live in line with what that means: they are called to be
saints and their whole life should be a pursuit of holiness: "In baptism, our Father
God has taken possession of our lives, has made us share in the life of Christ,
and has given us the Holy Spirit" (St. J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By, 128).
"We are deeply moved, and our hearts profoundly shaken, when we listen atten-
tively to that cry of St Paul: 'This is the will of God, your sanctification' (1 Thess
4:3). Today, once again, I set myself this goal and I also remind you and all man-
kind: this is God's Will for us, that we be saints" (St. J. Escriva, "Friends of God",
294).

The formula "grace and peace" seems to be St Paul's own: it is a combination of
the usual Greek greeting at the start of letters and the Hebrew shalom (peace).
The Apostle uses this double greeting very often (cf., for example, 1 Cor 1:3 2 Cor
1:2; Gal 1:3; Eph 1:2; etc). It is a Christian greeting, referring to the gifts the Holy
Spirit brings us. Jewish and pagan greetings wished people material prosperity or
good fortune; the Apostle's are wishes for something higher--divine benevolence,
which comes in the form of the gift of sanctifying grace and the virtues and gifts
of the Holy Spirit, and interior peace, which derives from reconciliation with God
brought about by Christ. These gifts, according to the Apostle, come to us from
God our Father, and from Jesus Christ, the Lord, who is equal to the Father. Thus
we see Christian life as being inserted in the intimate life of the Blessed Trinity,
for "grace and peace" came from the goodness and mercy of God, by way of the
Incarnation of the Word and the Redemption wrought by him.

(II) 1st Reading: Galatians 4:22-24, 26-27, 31-5:1

The Two Covenants: Hagar and Sarah
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[22] For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave and one by a
free woman. [23] But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, the
son of the free woman through promise. [24] Now this is an allegory: these wo-
men are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery;
she is Hagar. [26] But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. [27]
For it is written, "Rejoice, O barren one that dost not bear; break forth and shout,
thou who art not in travail; for the desolate hath more children than she who hath
a husband." [31] So, brethren, we are not children of the slave but of the free wo-
man.

Christian Liberty
-----------------------
[1] For freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not submit
again to a yoke of slavery.

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Commentary:

21-31. The entire Old Testament narrative contains lessons for Christians.
The Apostle says as much when he declares that these things have a symbolic
meaning and "were written down for your instruction, upon whom the end of the
ages has come" (1 Cor 10:11). However, certain episodes and people have parti-
cular significance, and this passage cites one (cf. Gen chaps. 16, 17 and 21).
Abraham had been given a promise by God that he would have a son (Gen
15:4) by his wife Sarah (cf. Gen 17:19). However, both of them were quite old,
and Sarah, besides, was barren; so, in keeping with the ancestral customs of
the tribe, Sarah made Abraham take Hagar, her slave-girl, and Hagar had a
son, Ishmael. However, God told Abraham that this son was not the son of the
promise (cf. Gen 17:19). The promise was fulfilled sometime later when, through
a miracle of God, Sarah gave birth to a son. St Paul speaks to us about the
allegorical meaning of this episode: two women--Sarah, Abraham's wife and the
mother of Isaac, and Hagar, her slave and the mother of Ishmael--stand for two
stages in Salvation History. Hagar symbolizes the stage of the Old Covenant
made on Mount Sinai, while Sarah represents the New Covenant sealed forever
by the blood of Christ, the covenant which frees us from the yoke of the Law
and from sin.

Paul's conclusion from this is that Christians are brothers of Isaac, born of the
free woman, and therefore they are heirs of the promise made to Abraham and
his descendants.

24-26. The sacred writer wants to stress that if one continues to be subject to
the Mosaic Law it is equivalent to remaining a slave, to being a son of Hagar.
People in that position constitute the present Jerusalem who is "in slavery with
her children". Against this there is the heavenly Jerusalem, a metaphor also
used in the Apocalypse to describe the Church triumphant in glory (cf. Rev 21:2,
10). This metaphor also conveys the idea of the transcendent, supernatural cha-
racter of the Church.

Undoubtedly St Paul's Jewish contemporaries would have regarded this compa-
rison of Jerusalem with Hagar as virtually blasphemous. However, we do know
that the rabbis of his time did make a distinction between the earthly Jerusalem
and the heavenly Jerusalem, the former being only a pale shadow of the latter.
The Apostle uses these teachings, which can be deduced from Sacred Scrip-
ture, to explain that those who believe in Christ are the true descendants --
spiritual descendants -- of the lawful wife, Sarah, who prefigures the heavenly
Jerusalem; whereas those who do not believe in Christ, although they belong
racially to the people of Israel, are no longer true descendants of the lawful wife,
but rather are children of Hagar.

St Paul then makes a play on words, in typical rabbinical style: since Hagar is
one of the names of the mountainous region of Sinai, to which, according to the
geographical notions of the time, Mount Sion also belongs (Sion being the hill
on which Jerusalem is built), this earthly Jerusalem is connected with Hagar, the
slave, to whom the divine promise was not made. This whole passage, while we
may find it very odd, does reveal St Paul's earlier training as a rabbi, a training
which divine Providence uses to show us the inner meaning of one of the most
important episodes in Old Testament history.

1-3. The Law of Moses, which was divinely revealed, was something good; it sui-
ted the circumstances of the time. Christ came to bring this Law to perfection (cf.
notes on Mt 5:17-19 and Gal 5:14-15). All the elaborate legal and ritual prescrip-
tions in the Mosaic Law were laid down by God for a specific stage in Salvation
History, that is, the stage which ended with the coming of Christ. Christians are
under no obligation to follow the letter of that Law (cf. St Thomas Aquinas,
"Summa Theologiae", I-II, q. 108, a.3 ad 3).

Although in this letter to the Galatians the Apostle is emphasizing, as we have
seen, freedom from the Law of Moses, obviously this liberation cannot be entirely
disconnected from freedom in general. If someone submits to circumcision after
being baptized, it amounts to subjecting oneself to a series of practices which
have now no value and to depriving oneself of the fruits of Christ's Redemption.
In other words, subjection to the Law brings with it a loss of freedom in general.
Paul is using the full might of his apostolic authority when he says, "If you re-
ceive circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you." Christ's Redemption
alone is effective; it has no need of the rites of the Old Testament.

Gospel Reading: Luke 11:29-32

The Sign of Jonah
--------------------------
[29] When the crowds were increasing, He (Jesus) began to say, "This genera-
tion is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign shall be given to it except
the sign of Jonah. [30] For as Jonah became a sign to the men of Nineveh, so
will the Son of Man be to this generation.[31] The queen of the South will arise
at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them; for she came
from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something
greater than Solomon is here. [32] The men of Nineveh will arise at the judgment
with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah,
and behold, something greater than Jonah is here."

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Commentary:

29-32. Jonah was the prophet who led the Ninevites to do penance: his actions
and preaching they saw as signifying that God had sent him (cf. note on Mat-
thew 12:41-42).

[Note on Matthew 12:41-42 states:

41-42. Nineveh was a city in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) to which the prophet
Jonah was sent. The Ninevites did penance (John 3:6-9) because they recog-
nized the prophet and accepted his message; whereas Jerusalem does not wish
to recognize Jesus, of whom Jonah was merely a figure. The queen of the South
was the queen of Sheba in southwestern Arabia, who visited Solomon (1 Kings
10:1-10) and was in awe of the wisdom with which God had endowed the King
of Israel. Jesus is also prefigured in Solomon, whom Jewish tradition saw as
the epitome of the wise man. Jesus' reproach is accentuated by the example
of pagan converts, and gives us a glimpse of the universal scope of Christianity,
which will take root among the Gentiles.

There is a certain irony in what Jesus says about "something greater" than Jo-
nah or Solomon having come: really, He is infinitely greater, but Jesus prefers
to tone down the difference between Himself and any figure, no matter how im-
portant, in the Old Testament.]
　

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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. We encourage readers to purchase
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