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Tuesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time
Ezekiel 28:1–10
Today’s reading comes from a larger section of the Book of Ezekiel:
the oracles against the nations.
Ezekiel speaks about Israel’s neighbors:
Ammon,
Moab,
Edom,
Philistia,
Tyre,
Sidon,
and Egypt.
Some of them had fought against Israel.
Some rejoiced over Jerusalem’s fall.
Some gave false hope.
Some trusted in their wealth, their armies, their position, their gods.
Today, Ezekiel speaks against Tyre.
Tyre was a powerful city by the sea.
It was rich.
It was protected.
It was difficult to conquer.
Its ships crossed the waters.
Its merchants brought treasures from many lands.
Its position gave it a sense of security.
Its wealth gave it a sense of greatness.
And then pride entered.
The ruler of Tyre says:
“I am a god.
I sit on a divine throne in the heart of the sea.”
This is the old temptation.
It began in the garden:
“You will be like God.”
It appeared again at Babel, when people wanted to build a tower reaching the heavens.
It appeared in the empires of the world, where kings and rulers wanted to be worshipped as if they were divine.
Ezekiel’s answer is sharp and simple:
“You are a man, and not a god.”
This sentence strips power of its false glory.
It unmasks the illusion.
It tells the ruler:
your throne is not eternal.
your wisdom is limited.
your wealth cannot save you.
your life is fragile.
You are not God.
You are only a man.
Human beings have always been tempted by this illusion.
Those who have power begin to think they are above others.
Those who have money begin to think they are untouchable.
Those who control nations, markets, armies, or technologies begin to forget that they are mortal.
Hans Christian Andersen captured this truth in the story of The Emperor’s New Clothes.
The emperor walks naked, but everyone pretends to see royal clothing.
No one wants to appear foolish.
No one dares to speak the truth.
Only a child says:
the emperor has no clothes.
Ezekiel says the same to the ruler of Tyre.
You pretend to be a god,
but you are a man.
At this point, we must look at Jesus Christ.
Human beings try to climb upward and become like gods.
But Christ, who was in the form of God, went downward.
He did not grasp at equality with God.
He emptied Himself.
He took the form of a servant.
He became human.
This is the great reversal.
The proud man pretends to be God.
The Son of God becomes man.
And in doing so, He teaches us what it means to be truly human.
Not domination.
Not arrogance.
Not self-worship.
But humility,
service,
obedience,
and love.
Ezekiel’s word is still needed today.
To every empire,
to every ruler,
to every system,
to every human heart intoxicated with power,
the Lord says:
You are not God.
Learn from Christ.
Become human.
Biblical Reflections on the Gospel of Matthew
Scripture Attribution
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition,
copyright © 1989, 1993
the Division of Christian Education of the National Council
of the Churches of
Christ in the United States of America.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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