Deuteronomy 11:1-12
Isaiah 40:12-17
2 Corinthians 2:12-16
Mathew 20:1-16
Today in the eight Sunday of the season of the
Elijah cross Moses church shows us, through the four readings the nothingness
of human judgment and human organizations and the greatness of Yahweh’s
righteousness. So church calls our attention to God who is Almighty and
righteous and acknowledge His righteousness.
In Deuteronomy 11:1-12 we see Moses is instructing
the people to obey the ordinance and commandments always. Here he is
instructing the people who have seen the righteousness of God directly. They
have experienced the righteousness of God in their difficulties and hardships
of Exodus event. He gives this instructions after receiving the commandments of
God for the second time. And Moses wanted his people to obey God throughout
their lives. He tells them that the Promised Land is a gift from God for the
obedience of His commandments. So in order to continue in His grace they have
to obey the commandments of God. He is instructing people about these things,
because he knows that people are going to enter the Promised Land without him.
So they are liable to make their own judgments which can go wrong. So he makes
them to understand the importance of God’s law and His righteousness, which
they themselves experienced.
When we come to Isaiah 40:12-17 we see God as
creator, because here we see the verbs like measuring, directing, perfecting,
which shows that God is the creator of the universe. These are the metaphorical
actions of the creator so Isaiah tells the people that God is all powerful and
sovereign. And all the rebellious nations will be judged by Yahweh. And tells
us that God is all powerful and sovereign and in front of Him all the nations
are nothing. All nations are accountable before God. Here too we see God as
powerful creator who righteously judge the world.
In 2
Corinthians 2:12-16 clearly conveys the idea of nothingness of human
organizations and judgments in front of God. Paul says to Corinthians that they
are the aroma of Christ. They are called to spread the greatness of Christ and
his judgments to all the people. So according to him those who believe and
accept the word of God and God’s righteousness, for them it is the fragrance
from life to life. And those who do not accept his power, for them it is the
fragrance from death to death. Here Paul wanted to tell the Corinthians that
those who are trusting human organizations and judgment are trusting in things
which are perishing. At the same time those who trust in the righteousness of
Lord trust in things which is eternal.
Today’s Gospel passage too gives a clear picture of
God’s righteousness. It also shows the difference between man’s justice and
God’s righteousness. That is clearly expressed through a parable of the
laborers in the vineyard of Mathew 20:1-16. Here we see that Jesus says that
“the kingdom of God is like a land owner.” Here Jesus wanted to show the
difference between kingdom of God, which is eternal and kingdom of earth, which
is perishing.
In this parable the master of the vineyard acts
differently from the masters of the earth. He goes out in different times to
invite laborers to his vineyard. He offers them the due wage. He even deals
with them gently. He gives all of them the usual daily wage. He did not show
any partiality in giving the wage. He did not even mind the time they came to
work, the gender they belong to, the amount of work they have done etc. the
earthly masters mind all these things, according to all these criteria they
calculate the wages. That is why here the evangelist rightly tells us that
God’s righteousness surpasses all the human justice. He is almighty and all
good. So what is our duty is to acknowledge God’s righteousness.
Now let us turn to our hearts. Are we really trust
in God’s righteousness or human justice? Do we really go to God in our
hardships? Do we really consider our material wellbeing as God’s gift?
Sometimes in our life we give priority to man’s
judgment than to God’s righteousness. When tension occurs in our family life we
like to go to meditators than to God. We tend to think about others opinion on
us in certain actions. Many of the time our actions are directed by others
feeling. We may think what others will think about me I I do it in this way. We
know that we have to do in certain situations in that way, but act in other way
to please others. But God asks us to do the right thing at right time. Think
only about the righteousness of God which surpasses man’s judgments.
So let us turn our actions infer of God. Our actions
should not be led by the judgment and opinions of others. It should be based on
God’s righteousness. So for that grace let us pray in the Holy Eucharist. Amen.
By Boby Kaiyalakakathu MST
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