25th Sunday Ordinary Time
Fr. Peter Robinson
Preached: September 22,2024
We are all familiar with different points of view, but sometimes those points of view are profoundly different — even dangerously different. Let me provide a classic, historical example:
In the mid-1700s, from the American colonists’ perspective the British government’s policies of taxation were unfair — it was taxation without representation. They believed they were entitled to the same rights as British citizens. They felt oppressed by the British monarchy’s control over their economic and political freedoms. So, they decided to fight for their rights and self-governance.
From the British perspective, however, the American colonies were part of the British Empire. They were expected to contribute to the costs of their own defence and administration; taxes and regulations were necessary measures to manage the global empire’s finances and to maintain order. The final result? The American Revolutionary War.
Now, in today’s Old Testament Reading from Wisdom, ch. 2, we find lax or apostate Jews condemning a faithful Jew, a Jew who is keeping the law of Moses, as well as the unwritten, traditional law of Israel. The enemies of this righteous person say to themselves: “he is obnoxious to us.”
Why, then, does this ancient story apply to us today? Let us ask ourselves a question: have you ever wondered why the religious leaders of Jesus’ day wanted to kill a perfect man? To answer that, we can read these words from the book of Wisdom from the perspective of Jesus’ enemies (who lived two centuries after Wisdom was written). In that light, today’s text gives us two answers why Jesus’ enemies sought his death.
First, his enemies say to themselves: if this “righteous man” [we are thinking now of Jesus] is God’s child, “he will help him and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries.” In other words, if Jesus is truly a great prophet then God will rescue him from danger. After all, why would God let a righteous prophet die? If this sounds familiar, it is — you hear the echo of these words at Easter time. In Matthew 27:43, the chief priests, scribes and elders mock Jesus on the cross, saying: “… let God deliver him now, if he wants to, for he [Jesus] said, ‘I am God’s Son.’ ” What we have here, then, is the mistaken notion that God will NOT allow a righteous person to go through suffering and even death.
Second, Jesus’ enemies say to one another: “he reproaches us for sins against the law.” You see, because Jesus is the ultimate righteous person, as he gets nearer to us he exposes sin in our lives.
Let me share an example I heard years ago: it was time for a family to take a family photo, so the photographer came to their house. The mother loved a neat home, and had carefully dusted the living room for the photo shoot. The camera was set up, the family posed, and the photographer turned on the spot lights. At that instant, everyone heard the mother gasp. Those powerful lights had just exposed every corner and surface of the room, with surfaces only half cleaned of dust … dust that was unseen in natural light.
That, spiritually speaking, is what Jesus does as he draws near to us and exposes our sin. Then, we face a decision, don’t we? We can acknowledge sin in our lives: that which is not holy, that which is selfish and hurtful. Or we can deny it. If we deny sin, we say to Jesus: “he reproaches ME for sins against the law.” We become just like those ancient mockers two centuries before the time of Christ. We find ourselves concluding: therefore, I must destroy this witness, this brightness of light. I must put out this convicting light.
However, thanks be to God, here you all are, gathered today at this mass because you welcome God’s light. Simply by just sitting here, you are saying with the writer of today’s Psalm (54th): “O God, by your name save me … Behold, God is my helper; the Lord sustains my life” (vv. 6-8).
In other words you are saying, “Jesus, please give me MORE light.”
