The Wisdom of the Cross
As we near the end of the Church’s liturgical year, our Sunday readings tend to deal more and more with the end times. In our first reading (Malachi 3:19-20a), the prophet says, “Lo, the day is coming, blazing like an oven, when all the proud and all evildoers will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire, leaving them neither root nor branch, says the Lord of hosts. But for you who fear my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays.”
In our Gospel reading (Luke 21:5-19), Jesus predicts the destruction of the Temple. When people ask Him when this will occur and what signs will there be to indicate that it will happen, Jesus says, “See that you not be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and ‘The time has come.’ Do not follow them!” Then Jesus speaks of “wars and insurrections,” “earthquakes, famines and plagues…and mighty signs will come from the sky.” And then Jesus tells them that before all that, they will be persecuted: “It will lead to your giving testimony. Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand, for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute…You will be hated by all because of my name, but not a hair on your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance you will secure your lives.”
I believe that the “wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute” of which Jesus is speaking is the Cross, in other words, the love God has for us, even to the point of sacrifice. When we love as Jesus loves, what wisdom is there to refute what we do? In fact, I wonder whether we might be hated as much by people who profess the same faith that we have than by those who don’t.
When we reflect on the love God has for us from the Cross, and thus our commandment to love others, it is harder for us to be deceived by false prophets. We would not be deceived by people promoting hate and fear, while at the same time promoting themselves as the Second Coming.
In our second reading from 2 Thessalonians (3:7-12), St. Paul is exhorting his fellow Christians to follow his example of renouncing privilege, but to work as he was working. And then he says, “In fact, when we were with you, we instructed you that if anyone was unwilling to work, neither should that one eat.” Some might read this, forgetting about the Cross, and decide that we are given a license to deny charity to those in need. I don’t think that was what Paul is saying, otherwise he, in other letters that he wrote, would not have taken up a collection for the Christians in Jerusalem. I think he was talking about those who wanted to use privilege as a reason for not working, or for those others who were keeping tabs on how everyone else was working or not and not paying attention to the work they were called to do. We are still called to charity and justice.
Knowing God’s love for us from the Cross and being willing to love others in the same way, can lead us to perseverance even in the midst of chaos, as Good Friday leads to Easter Sunday. And knowing that the Cross leads us to Resurrection helps us believe in the promise of which Malachi spoke: “But for you who fear my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays.”
May we follow the Gospel of God’s love in Jesus Christ and not be deceived and fall into fear and hate but rather live under the “sun of justice with its healing rays.”
I welcome any comments or questions. Thanks for your time.
In Christ,
Phil, CP
