Harden not your hearts today,
but listen to the voice of the Lord. PS 94:8
JUDGES 11:29-39
My Soul's Beloved,
Jephthah already had God on His side, and true to His Covenant, deliverance of the enemy would have been theirs that day, and they would have been victorious whether or not he made a vow and a very rash one at that, as it turns out, in exchange for God granting them triumph against the Ammonites.
Lord God, all we need to do is discern Your will and do it, trusting You to provide all we need to carry out all that You desire, if we do so with faith. To make a vow to God to discipline and mortify ourselves is one thing, but to make rash promises that could harm another or even ourselves is foolish. This is why, when we do, we ought to be certain that anything we vow to undertake will not go against wisdom or plain common sense.
Jephthah's foolishness cost him the life of his only and most precious daughter. Keep us from making rash promises, O Lord. Rather, let us trust You to watch over us and care for us and help us through the right interpretation of God's laws to rely on You in faith, to help us triumph over the world, the flesh, and the devil.
The spirit of the Lord came on Jephthah, who crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through to Mizpah in Gilead, and from Mizpah in Gilead made his way to the rear of the Ammonites. And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, ‘If you deliver the Ammonites into my hands, then the first person to meet me from the door of my house when I return in triumph from fighting the Ammonites shall belong to the Lord, and I will offer him up as a holocaust. Jephthah marched against the Ammonites to attack them, and the Lord delivered them into his power. He harassed them from Aroer almost to Minnith (twenty towns) and to Abel-keramim. It was a very severe defeat, and the Ammonites were humbled before the Israelites.
As Jephthah returned to his house at Mizpah, his daughter came out from it to meet him; she was dancing to the sound of timbrels. This was his only child; apart from her he had neither son nor daughter. When he saw her, he tore his clothes and exclaimed, ‘Oh my daughter, what sorrow you are bringing me! Must it be you, the cause of my ill-fortune! I have given a promise to the Lord, and I cannot unsay what I have said.’ She answered him, ‘My father, you have given a promise to the Lord; treat me as the vow you took binds you to, since the Lord has given you vengeance on your enemies the Ammonites.’ Then she said to her father, ‘Grant me one request. Let me be free for two months. I shall go and wander in the mountains, and with my companions bewail my virginity.’ He answered, ‘Go’, and let her depart for two months. So she went away with her companions and bewailed her virginity in the mountains. When the two months were over, she returned to her father, and he treated her as the vow that he had uttered bound him. She had never known a man.
PSALM 39(40):5,7-10
Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.
Happy the man who has placed
his trust in the Lord
and has not gone over to the rebels
who follow false gods.
You do not ask for sacrifice and offerings,
but an open ear.
You do not ask for holocaust and victim.
Instead, here am I.
In the scroll of the book it stands written
that I should do your will.
My God, I delight in your law
in the depth of my heart.
Your justice I have proclaimed
in the great assembly.
My lips I have not sealed;
you know it, O Lord.
Jesus began to speak to the chief priests and elders of the people in parables: ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a feast for his son’s wedding. He sent his servants to call those who had been invited, but they would not come. Next he sent some more servants. “Tell those who have been invited” he said “that I have my banquet all prepared, my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, everything is ready. Come to the wedding.” But they were not interested: one went off to his farm, another to his business, and the rest seized his servants, maltreated them and killed them. The king was furious. He despatched his troops, destroyed those murderers and burnt their town. Then he said to his servants, “The wedding is ready; but as those who were invited proved to be unworthy, go to the crossroads in the town and invite everyone you can find to the wedding.” So these servants went out on to the roads and collected together everyone they could find, bad and good alike; and the wedding hall was filled with guests. When the king came in to look at the guests he noticed one man who was not wearing a wedding garment, and said to him, “How did you get in here, my friend, without a wedding garment?” And the man was silent. Then the king said to the attendants, “Bind him hand and foot and throw him out into the dark, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.” For many are called, but few are chosen.’
The spirit of the Lord came on Jephthah, who crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through to Mizpah in Gilead, and from Mizpah in Gilead made his way to the rear of the Ammonites. And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, ‘If you deliver the Ammonites into my hands, then the first person to meet me from the door of my house when I return in triumph from fighting the Ammonites shall belong to the Lord, and I will offer him up as a holocaust. Jephthah marched against the Ammonites to attack them, and the Lord delivered them into his power. He harassed them from Aroer almost to Minnith (twenty towns) and to Abel-keramim. It was a very severe defeat, and the Ammonites were humbled before the Israelites.
As Jephthah returned to his house at Mizpah, his daughter came out from it to meet him; she was dancing to the sound of timbrels. This was his only child; apart from her he had neither son nor daughter. When he saw her, he tore his clothes and exclaimed, ‘Oh my daughter, what sorrow you are bringing me! Must it be you, the cause of my ill-fortune! I have given a promise to the Lord, and I cannot unsay what I have said.’ She answered him, ‘My father, you have given a promise to the Lord; treat me as the vow you took binds you to, since the Lord has given you vengeance on your enemies the Ammonites.’ Then she said to her father, ‘Grant me one request. Let me be free for two months. I shall go and wander in the mountains, and with my companions bewail my virginity.’ He answered, ‘Go’, and let her depart for two months. So she went away with her companions and bewailed her virginity in the mountains. When the two months were over, she returned to her father, and he treated her as the vow that he had uttered bound him. She had never known a man.
PSALM 39(40):5,7-10
Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.
Happy the man who has placed
his trust in the Lord
and has not gone over to the rebels
who follow false gods.
You do not ask for sacrifice and offerings,
but an open ear.
You do not ask for holocaust and victim.
Instead, here am I.
In the scroll of the book it stands written
that I should do your will.
My God, I delight in your law
in the depth of my heart.
Your justice I have proclaimed
in the great assembly.
My lips I have not sealed;
you know it, O Lord.
Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.
Gospel AcclamationPs118:27
MATTHEW 22:1-14
My Soul's Beloved,
Gospel AcclamationPs118:27
MATTHEW 22:1-14
My Soul's Beloved,
Every living soul is created by God, redeemed by God, Sanctified by God for an eternal purpose - to love Him, serve Him, and worship Him our whole life with all our strength and our entire being. From the moment God revealed Himself to Abraham, calling him out of his familiar life and surroundings to go to a place that God desired to give him and his innumerable descendants, he did as he was commanded in faith. The people of Israel were chosen by God from all the nations of the world, not because they were the greatest, but because they were the weakest. This is God's way. He chooses what is foolish and weak, so no one can doubt that it is He who is at work in us that makes us great, as You did with the Twelve.
Today's parable is a wonderful and apt commentary on the nation that God chose but who rejected Him so thoroughly and completely. They boast to themselves that although they are today a tiny nation, God's favor remains with them since they are still powerful because they have strong allies. While it is true that You will never withdraw Your favor on those You have chosen, Beloved, they rejected the fulfillment of God's eternal Covenant with them. They rejected You, their Messiah, out of hand, Lord, and not just rejecting You but condemning You to death by crucifixion. The religious authorities of the day ensured the complete destruction of their nation. What they feared that belief in You would do, they did by their own hand and hubris.
Today, while individual Jews will come to know You, love You, and be baptized into Your Church, the political and religious authorities who continue to reject You as the Messiah who has already come into the world and redeemed it will never taste true freedom and peace. God's Covenant with them is eternal, but they have forsaken it and the consequences remain of their own stubborn, hard-hearted making.
Jesus began to speak to the chief priests and elders of the people in parables: ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a feast for his son’s wedding. He sent his servants to call those who had been invited, but they would not come. Next he sent some more servants. “Tell those who have been invited” he said “that I have my banquet all prepared, my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, everything is ready. Come to the wedding.” But they were not interested: one went off to his farm, another to his business, and the rest seized his servants, maltreated them and killed them. The king was furious. He despatched his troops, destroyed those murderers and burnt their town. Then he said to his servants, “The wedding is ready; but as those who were invited proved to be unworthy, go to the crossroads in the town and invite everyone you can find to the wedding.” So these servants went out on to the roads and collected together everyone they could find, bad and good alike; and the wedding hall was filled with guests. When the king came in to look at the guests he noticed one man who was not wearing a wedding garment, and said to him, “How did you get in here, my friend, without a wedding garment?” And the man was silent. Then the king said to the attendants, “Bind him hand and foot and throw him out into the dark, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.” For many are called, but few are chosen.’
No comments:
Post a Comment