Daily Word: Mark 12:35-37 – The Lord of David, the King on the Cross | Friday, June 5 (St. Boniface)
Jesus asks: How can the Messiah be David’s son and David’s Lord? A reflection on divine humility, with St. Boniface as a model of faithful witness.
WORD OF GOD
spwworship
6/5/20263 min read
Scripture Reference: Mark 12:35-37 (Friday of the 9th Week in Ordinary Time)
Second Reading: 2 Timothy 3:10-17
Memorial: Saint Boniface, Bishop and Martyr (c. 675–754)
“How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? David himself, inspired by the Holy Spirit, said: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”’ (Mark 12:35-36)
Jesus is still in the Temple precincts, surrounded by scribes, Pharisees, and curious crowds. He has dismantled traps about taxes, resurrection, and the greatest commandment. Now, He turns the tables and becomes the questioner — not to trap, but to reveal.
“How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?”
It was a universally accepted belief: the Messiah would be a descendant of David, a king like David, a conqueror like David. But Jesus points to Psalm 110, where David himself calls the Messiah “Lord.” How can a father call his son “Lord”? Unless the son is not only human but divine.
The crowd listened with delight. For once, the scribes had no answer. The Messiah is greater than David — not a political liberator, but the Son of God made flesh.
The Lord Who Sits at the Right Hand — and Descends to the Cross
Psalm 110 speaks of enemies placed under the Messiah’s feet. But Jesus redefines victory. His throne is a cross. His enemies — sin, death, and Satan — are conquered not by a sword, but by His own surrendered body.
This is the radical humility of God: the Lord of David becomes David’s son. The one who sits at the Father’s right hand becomes a fetus in a virgin’s womb, a child in a manger, a man nailed to wood.
St. Paul, in today’s second reading (2 Timothy 3:10-17), reminds Timothy — and us — that following this Lord comes with a cost: “You have followed my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, my faith, my patience, my love, my endurance, my persecutions and sufferings.”
To confess that Jesus is Lord — the very title David gave Him — is to walk the same narrow road of suffering and glory.
Saint Boniface: The One Who Cut Down the Oak
Today we honor Saint Boniface, an English Benedictine missionary who brought the Gospel to pagan Germany in the 8th century. His life was a living commentary on today’s Gospel.
The pagan tribes worshipped the god Thor. Near Geismar, there stood a great oak tree — sacred to Thor, a symbol of their gods’ power. Boniface, armed only with an axe and the name of Jesus, walked up to the tree and began to cut it down. The pagans waited for the god to strike him dead.
Nothing happened. The oak crashed to the ground, split into four pieces. Boniface then built a chapel from its wood.
Boniface understood that the “enemies” of the Lord are not flesh and blood but the idols of fear, violence, and false gods. And he knew that the true Lord — the one David called “my Lord” — does not need armies to conquer. He needs obedient witnesses.
Boniface was martyred in 754 at the age of 79, killed by pagans while preparing converts for confirmation. His last gesture? He raised a book (the Gospels) to shield his head. The axe that killed him also crowned him. He had spent his life proclaiming that Jesus is Lord — not Caesar, not Thor, not any earthly power. And he died holding the Word.
What This Means for Your Friday
You may not be called to chop down an oak tree or face a martyr’s axe. But every day you are invited to confess, by word and deed, that Jesus is Lord — even when the world insists on other lords: money, reputation, comfort, control.
Is there an “oak tree” in your life — a stubborn attachment, a fear, a false security — that needs to be cut down?
Do you truly believe that the Lord who sits at the right hand of the Father is also the one who walks beside you in weakness?
St. Boniface wrote to a fellow bishop: “Let us stand fast in the Lord. We have no other teacher but Christ. He who is the Lord of David is also our strength.”
A Short Prayer
Lord Jesus, Son of David and Lord of heaven, I confess with my lips and my life: You alone are King. Give me the courage of Saint Boniface — to cut down the oaks of my pride, to trust not in force but in faithfulness, and to hold Your Word until the end. May I, like him, die with the Gospel in my hands and Your name on my lips. Amen.
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