TWELFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (2023)
Readings:
Jeremiah 20:10-13
Psalms 69:8-10, 14, 17, 33-35
Romans 5:12-15
Matthew 10:26-33
Sometimes there is more Old than New Testament in us than we would like to admit. Perhaps especially given the position in which I find myself, the thought that God will one day smite my enemies and take vengeance on them gives me a lot more comfort than it should. I wanted to applaud after Jeremiah in the first reading states: “my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph. In their failure they will be put to utter shame, to lasting, unforgettable confusion.” Jeremiah is rightly called the reluctant prophet. Just a few verses before our first reading, Jeremiah laments: “You seduced me, Lord, and I let myself be seduced; you were too strong for me, and you prevailed.” Jeremiah’s “terror” was the head priest of the Temple, who did not like what Jeremiah was saying, so he put Jeremiah in stocks and placed him at one of the gates where all who passed by could mock him. Understandably, no one wanted to hear that God was soon to punish them and send them off to be captives in Babylon. Our first reading gives us a glimpse of Jeremiah’s miserable life, and he is able to endure that life because he has a profound faith that it is the Lord who has asked him to suffer, and it is the Lord who will “rescue the life of the poor from the power of the wicked.” Throughout the Old Testament, the Lord wins battles and wreaks vengeance on the enemies of Israel. Now that is a God worth bragging about!
Jeremiah’s laments and regrets should not completely overshadow his deep and profound faith. In spite of all the friends who were “on the watch for any misstep” of Jeremiah, Jeremiah can still “Sing to the Lord” and “praise the Lord.” Jeremiah’s hope rests in the Lord who has asked him to share words that are very much unwelcome, and “zeal for the Lord’s house consumes him” (Psalm). It is the same zeal that motivates St. Paul in his letter to the Romans. Paul wanted the Romans to know that while sin and death entered the world through one man, Adam, their redemption also was assured through one man, God’s Son, Jesus the Christ, who obediently embraced a death like Adam’s that all people might never have cause to fear death again. “For if by the transgression of the one [Adam] many died, how much more did the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ overflow for the many.”
In our short passage from Matthew’s gospel, Jesus tells His disciples three times, “fear no one,” “do not be afraid.” Like Jeremiah, Jesus’ disciples are going to experience difficulties. In the passage just preceding our Sunday selection, Jesus tells His disciples He is sending them out on a mission “like sheep in the midst of wolves.” They will be “handed over to courts and scourge you in the synagogues;” “you will be hated by all because of my name.” They are the ones not to be feared! “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” And in a great moment of tenderness He speaks of His Father, who knows when a sparrow falls to the ground, He knows the number of hairs on everyone’s head. “So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”
The living Word of God reaches across the centuries to provide comfort to us who sometimes feel confined to overwhelming and endless darkness. When the world doesn’t seem to care, God cares. When the neighbor doesn’t love, God loves. When the boss is ready to fire you, God is waiting to hire you to work in His vineyard. When the world turns upside down, God is waiting to set it aright. “Fear no one,” for even though they might kill the body they can never kill the soul. The vengeful thread that runs though the Old Testament is replaced by the tenderness and love of Jesus, a love that banishes fear and makes vengeance not an option. Both Old and New Testaments have much to teach us, but as Christians may we lean heavily on the teaching of Jesus, where no one is to be feared for our soul is destined for great things.
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