Wisdom 12:13, 16 – 19
Welcome to my annotated commentary on Sunday’s readings. The purpose of my commentary is to give you the background for each reading, a little better understanding of its message and the message that all of the Sunday readings together provide us.
As we celebrate the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, we address an issue that is certainly on our minds today as we continue to struggle with the coronavirus pandemic: does evil exist? This virus certainly seems to be a force of evil. It has forced us to cower in our homes, afraid for our lives. Worldwide, it has killed over 588,000 people and left millions struggling for their lives. So, we ask ourselves, how can a good God allow for such an evil to exist? Did he create it? If so, why? If not, who did and why doesn’t he stop it? As we examine this Sunday’s readings, we are provided with the Christian response.
This Sunday, we will hear first from the Book of Wisdom. This is part of the Wisdom literature found in the Bible. It dates back to the first century before Christ and was most likely written in Alexandria, Egypt. The author is unknown but sometimes speaks in the person Solomon, who was highly regarded as a wise man.
The section from which we will hear a portion this Sunday begins at 9:1 and is presented as a protracted prayer by Solomon. It speaks of God’s might as a source of his mercy. Unlike the gods of the Egyptians and Canaanites, the God of Israel is a mighty God who cares for everyone and whose justice is tempered by his mercy. Let’s review this short passage which, as always, prepares us for the Gospel:
13 For neither is there any god besides you who have the care of all, that you need show you have not unjustly condemned;
is there any god besides you: this phrase makes it very clear that the prayer was composed well after Solomon. You will recall that, during Solomon’s time, there was no clear understanding of only one God; Solomon actually built temples to gods and goddesses that some of his wives worshiped.
14 Nor can any king or prince confront you on behalf of those you have punished.
15 But as you are just, you govern all things justly; you regard it as unworthy of your power to punish one who has incurred no blame.
you are just: unlike the kings of the other nations, Israel’s God is just and punishes only those who deserve it.
16 For your might is the source of justice; your mastery over all things makes you lenient to all.
your might is the source of justice…lenient: We see here a clear understanding that God’s might leads to justice – not domination – and that even his justice is tempered by his mercy. This is a late concept for the ancient Israelites.
17 For you show your might when the perfection of your power is disbelieved; and in those who know you, you rebuke temerity.
Disbelieved: The brunt of God’s anger and vindictive justice is borne by those who know him and yet defy his authority and might (cf. Wisdom 1:2; 12:27; 18:13).
18 But though you are master of might, you judge with clemency, and with much lenience you govern us; for power, whenever you will, attends you.
master of might, you judge with clemency…lenience: again, we learn about God’s mercy.
19 And you taught your people, by these deeds, that those who are just must be kind; And you gave your sons good ground for hope that you would permit repentance for their sins.
you taught your people…that those who are just must be kind: God taught his people how to treat one another by his own treatment of his people. Even though the God of Israel is often seen as being vengeful, he is also depicted by this time as being merciful toward those who repent of their sins. This reading prepares for the gospel by admitting that there is evil in the world but, in the end, God’s mercy and justice will prevail.
Matthew 13: 24 – 43
This week, we hear the continuation of last week’s discourse. The section we will hear on Sunday constitutes the second half of the discourse in parables, the third great discourse of Jesus in Matthew. You will recall that we identified all five of the great discourses of Jesus found in Matthew’s Gospel last week. We’re all familiar with the first – the Sermon on the Mount (5:1 – 7:29). The second is his discourse as he commissioned his disciples (10:5 – 11:1); we heard from that in the first two Sundays as we returned to Ordinary time (12th and 13th Sundays in Ordinary Time). We hear most of the third discourse (13:3 – 52) last Sunday and this Sunday. The last two discourses are the “church order” discourse (18:3 -35) and the eschatological discourse (24:4 – 25:46).
In the verses we will hear on Sunday, Matthew follows the Marcan outline (Mark 4:1-35) but has only two of Mark’s parables; the five others probably came from Q and M. We haven’t mentioned this before but some scripture scholars posit four sources for the gospels of Matthew and Luke: Mark’s Gospel, Q, M (a lost source for Matthew’s Gospel) and L (a lost source for Luke’s Gospel). As we learned last week, in addition to the seven parables, the discourse gives the reason why Jesus uses this type of speech (Mt 10-15), declares the blessedness of those who understand his teaching (Mt 16-17), explains the parable of the sower (Mt 18-23). We will not hear on Sunday that he continues with several more parables, using weeds, a mustard seed, yeast, a treasure buried in the field, a pearl of great price, and a net thrown into the sea. The chapter then ends with a concluding statement to the disciples (Mt 51-52).
The first parable (vss. 24 – 30) is peculiar to Matthew. The comparison in Matthew 13:24 does not mean that the kingdom of heaven may be likened simply to the person in question but to the situation narrated in the whole story. The refusal of the householder to allow his slaves to separate the wheat from the weeds while they are still growing is a warning to the disciples not to attempt to anticipate the final judgment of God by a definitive exclusion of sinners from the kingdom. In its present stage it is composed of the good and the bad. The judgment of God alone will eliminate the sinful; we read about that in the final, eschatological discourse (24:4 – 25:46). Until then, there must be patience and the preaching of repentance.
24 He proposed another parable to them. “The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field.
25 While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off.
Weeds: darnel, tares or cockle – a poisonous weed that in its first stage of growth resembles wheat.
26 When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well.
27 The slaves of the householder came to him and said, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?’
28 He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ His slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
29 He replied, ‘No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them.
30 Let them grow together until harvest; then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters, “First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn.”‘”
Harvest: a common biblical metaphor for the time of God’s judgment; cf Jer 51:33; Joel 3:13; Hosea 6:11.
31 He proposed another parable to them. “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field.
Another parable: Cf. Mark 4:30-32; Luke 13:18-21. The parables of the mustard seed and the yeast illustrate the same point: the amazing contrast between the small beginnings of the kingdom and its marvelous expansion.
32 It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush, and the ‘birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.'”
the smallest of all the seeds: this must have been a common proverb at the time; curious because the mustard seed is not, in fact, the smallest of all seeds. This parable signifies the arrival of the reign of God from beginnings so small that they are hardly perceptible. The humble beginning of the reign of Jesus was, indeed, a scandal to the Jews and even to his own disciples.
birds of the sky come: Cf. Daniel 4:7-9; Ezekial 17:23; 31:6.
33 He spoke to them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened.”
Yeast: As you will read in the footnote, except in this Q parable and in Matthew 16:12, yeast (or “leaven”) is, in New Testament usage, a symbol of corruption (cf. Matthew 16:6,11-12; Mark 8:15; Luke 12:1; 1 Cor 5:6-8; Gal 5:9).
Three measures: an enormous amount, enough to feed a hundred people. The exaggeration of this element of the parable points to the greatness of the kingdom’s effect.
34 All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables. He spoke to them only in parables,
Only in parables: we saw an explanation for this last week in Matthew 13:10-15.
35 to fulfill what had been said through the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables, I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation (of the world).”
The prophet: some textual witnesses read “Isaiah the prophet.” The quotation is actually from Psalm 78:2; the first line corresponds to the LXX text of the psalm. The psalm’s title ascribes it to Asaph, the founder of one of the guilds of temple musicians. He is called “the prophet” (NAB “the seer”) in 2 Chron 29:30 but it is doubtful that Matthew averted to that; for him, any Old Testament text that could be seen as fulfilled in Jesus was prophetic.
36 Then, dismissing the crowds, he went into the house. His disciples approached him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”
Dismissing the crowds: As you will read in the footnote, the return of Jesus to the house marks a break with the crowds, who represent unbelieving Israel. From now on his attention is directed more and more to his disciples and to their instruction. The rest of the discourse is addressed to them alone.
37 He said in reply, “He who sows good seed is the Son of Man,
He said in reply: In the explanation of the parable of the weeds emphasis lies on the fearful end of the wicked, whereas the parable itself concentrates on patience with them until judgment time. As we learned last week, parables are sometimes allegorical and each aspect of the parable has a meaning; Jesus explains the meaning of the various aspects of this parable for our benefit.
38 the field is the world, the good seed the children of the kingdom. The weeds are the children of the evil one,
The field is the world: this presupposes the resurrection of Jesus and the granting to him of “all power in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18).
39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
The end of the age: this phrase is found only in Matthew (13:40,49; 24:3; 28:20).
40 Just as weeds are collected and burned (up) with fire, so will it be at the end of the age.
41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers.
His kingdom: the kingdom of the Son of Man is distinguished from that of the Father (Matthew 13:43); see 1 Cor 15:24-25. The church is the place where Jesus’ kingdom is manifested, but his royal authority embraces the entire world; see the note on Matthew 13:38.
42 They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.
43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears ought to hear.
the righteous will shine like the sun : cf. Daniel 12:3.
Romans 8: 26 – 27
We hear some more of Paul’s letter to the community in Rome this Sunday. The section we will hear picks up where we left off last week. It continues Paul’s reflections on the result of Christ’s death and resurrection on the baptized.
26 In the same way, the Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.
Intercedes: the Greek actually speaks of interceding over and above.
27 And the one who searches hearts knows what is the intention of the Spirit, because it intercedes for the holy ones according to God’s will.
the one who searches hearts: this is an OT phrase for God; cf. Prv 20:27; Ps 139:1. Only God comprehends the language and the mind of the Spirit and he recognizes such assisted prayer.
according to God’s will: it is part of God’s loving plan of salvation that the Spirit should play such a dynamic role in the aspirations and prayers of Christians.
Does evil exist? This is a question that has haunted humanity from the beginning of time. Various religions answer it in various ways. In the ancient Greek religion, the gods and goddesses were very much like us – some good, some bad, none of them perfect. Taoism offers Yin and Yang, the two opposing forces of good and evil, light and dark, life and death. The Hindu religion, a henotheistic religion, provides for good and evil gods and spirits. Through its many epic stories – the Ramayana is perhaps the most famous – Hinduism offers a mythological explanation for the existence of good and evil.
According to the monotheistic religions, however, God is all good and evil is simply the lack of good. As we read in today’s gospel account, it is brought into the world by the devil and his children.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church provides some very helpful insights into this aspect of our lives that is, for all of us, difficult to understand. Allow me to read some of the passages we find there:
GOD AND EVIL
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
308 The truth that God is at work in all the actions of his creatures is inseparable from faith in God the Creator. God is the first cause who operates in and through secondary causes: “For God is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Phil 2:13). Far from diminishing the creature’s dignity, this truth enhances it. Drawn from nothingness by God’s power, wisdom and goodness, it can do nothing if it is cut off from its origin, for “without a Creator the creature vanishes” (Gaudium et Spes 36 # 3). Still less can a creature attain its ultimate end without the help of God’s grace.
Providence and the scandal of evil
309 If God the Father almighty, the Creator of the ordered and good world, cares for all his creatures, why does evil exist? To this question, as pressing as it is unavoidable and as painful as it is mysterious, no quick answer will suffice. Only Christian faith as a whole constitutes the answer to this question: the goodness of creation, the drama of sin and the patient love of God who comes to meet man by his covenants, the redemptive Incarnation of his Son, his gift of the Spirit, his gathering of the Church, the power of the sacraments and his call to a blessed life to which free creatures are invited to consent in advance, but from which, by a terrible mystery, they can also turn away in advance. There is not a single aspect of the Christian message that is not in part an answer to the question of evil.
310 But why did God not create a world so perfect that no evil could exist in it? With infinite power God could always create something better. But with infinite wisdom and goodness God freely willed to create a world “in a state of journeying” towards its ultimate perfection. In God’s plan this process of becoming involves the appearance of certain beings and the disappearance of others, the existence of the more perfect alongside the less perfect, both constructive and destructive forces of nature. With physical good there exists also physical evil as long as creation has not reached perfection.
311 Angels and men, as intelligent and free creatures, have to journey toward their ultimate destinies by their free choice and preferential love. They can therefore go astray. Indeed, they have sinned. Thus has moral evil, incommensurably more harmful than physical evil, entered the world. God is in no way, directly or indirectly, the cause of moral evil. He permits it, however, because he respects the freedom of his creatures and, mysteriously, knows how to derive good from it:
For almighty God. . ., because he is supremely good, would never allow any evil whatsoever to exist in his works if he were not so all-powerful and good as to cause good to emerge from evil itself. (St. Augustine, Enchiridion II, 3)
312 In time we can discover that God in his almighty providence can bring a good from the consequences of an evil, even a moral evil, caused by his creatures: “It was not you”, said Joseph to his brothers, “who sent me here, but God. . . You meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive (Gen 45:8; 50:20). From the greatest moral evil ever committed – the rejection and murder of God’s only Son, caused by the sins of all men – God, by his grace that “abounded all the more” (Rom 5:20), brought the greatest of goods: the glorification of Christ and our redemption. But for all that, evil never becomes a good.
313 “We know that in everything God works for good for those who love him (Rom 8:28).” The constant witness of the saints confirms this truth:
St. Catherine of Siena said to “those who are scandalized and rebel against what happens to them”: “Everything comes from love, all is ordained for the salvation of man, God does nothing without this goal in mind” (Dialogue IV, 138 “On Divine Providence”). St. Thomas More, shortly before his martyrdom, consoled his daughter: “Nothing can come but that that God wills and I make me very sure that whatsoever that be, seem it never so bad in sight, it shall indeed be the best” (The Correspondence of Sir Thomas More, letter 206). Dame Julian of Norwich: “Here I was taught by the grace of God that I should steadfastly keep me in the faith… and that at the same time I should take my stand on and earnestly believe in what our Lord shewed in this time – that ‘all manner (of) thing shall be well'” (Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love, 32, 99-100).
314 We firmly believe that God is master of the world and of its history. But the ways of his providence are often unknown to us. Only at the end, when our partial knowledge ceases, when we see God “face to face” (I Cor 13:12), will we fully know the ways by which – even through the dramas of evil and sin – God has guided his creation to that definitive sabbath rest for which he created heaven and earth.
385 God is infinitely good and all his works are good. Yet no one can escape the experience of suffering or the evils in nature which seem to be linked to the limitations proper to creatures: and above all to the question of moral evil. Where does evil come from? “I sought whence evil comes and there was no solution”, said St. Augustine (Conf. 7, 7, 11), and his own painful quest would only be resolved by his conversion to the living God. For “the mystery of lawlessness” is clarified only in the light of the “mystery of our religion” ( 2 Th 2:7; I Tim 3:16). The revelation of divine love in Christ manifested at the same time the extent of evil and the superabundance of grace. We must therefore approach the question of the origin of evil by fixing the eyes of our faith on him who alone is its conqueror.
- WHERE SIN ABOUNDED, GRACE ABOUNDED ALL THE MORE
The reality of sin
386 Sin is present in human history; any attempt to ignore it or to give this dark reality other names would be futile. To try to understand what sin is, one must first recognize the profound relation of man to God, for only in this relationship is the evil of sin unmasked in its true identity as humanity’s rejection of God and opposition to him, even as it continues to weigh heavy on human life and history.
387 Only the light of divine Revelation clarifies the reality of sin and particularly of the sin committed at mankind’s origins. Without the knowledge Revelation gives of God we cannot recognize sin clearly and are tempted to explain it as merely a developmental flaw, a psychological weakness, a mistake, or the necessary consequence of an inadequate social structure, etc. Only in the knowledge of God’s plan for man can we grasp that sin is an abuse of the freedom that God gives to created persons so that they are capable of loving him and loving one another.
Original sin – an essential truth of the faith
388 With the progress of Revelation, the reality of sin is also illuminated. Although to some extent the People of God in the Old Testament had tried to understand the pathos of the human condition in the light of the history of the fall narrated in Genesis, they could not grasp this story’s ultimate meaning, which is revealed only in the light of the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. We must know Christ as the source of grace in order to know Adam as the source of sin. The Spirit-Paraclete, sent by the risen Christ, came to “convict the world concerning sin”, by revealing him who is its Redeemer.
389 The doctrine of original sin is, so to speak, the “reverse side” of the Good News that Jesus is the Savior of all men, that all need salvation and that salvation is offered to all through Christ. the Church, which has the mind of Christ, knows very well that we cannot tamper with the revelation of original sin without undermining the mystery of Christ.
How to read the account of the fall
390 The account of the fall in Genesis 3 uses figurative language, but affirms a primeval event, a deed that took place at the beginning of the history of man. Revelation gives us the certainty of faith that the whole of human history is marked by the original fault freely committed by our first parents.
- THE FALL OF THE ANGELS
391 Behind the disobedient choice of our first parents lurks a seductive voice, opposed to God, which makes them fall into death out of envy. Scripture and the Church’s Tradition see in this being a fallen angel, called “Satan” or the “devil”. The Church teaches that Satan was at first a good angel, made by God: “The devil and the other demons were indeed created naturally good by God, but they became evil by their own doing (Lateran Council IV [1215]: DS 800).”
392 Scripture speaks of a sin of these angels. This “fall” consists in the free choice of these created spirits, who radically and irrevocably rejected God and his reign. We find a reflection of that rebellion in the tempter’s words to our first parents: “You will be like God.” The devil “has sinned from the beginning”; he is “a liar and the father of lies” (I Jn 3:8; Jn 8:44).
393 It is the irrevocable character of their choice, and not a defect in the infinite divine mercy, that makes the angels’ sin unforgivable. “There is no repentance for the angels after their fall, just as there is no repentance for men after death” (St. John Damascene, Defide orth. 2, 4).
394 Scripture witnesses to the disastrous influence of the one Jesus calls “a murderer from the beginning”, who would even try to divert Jesus from the mission received from his Father. “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (I Jn 3:8). In its consequences the gravest of these works was the mendacious seduction that led man to disobey God.
395 The power of Satan is, nonetheless, not infinite. He is only a creature, powerful from the fact that he is pure spirit, but still a creature. He cannot prevent the building up of God’s reign. Although Satan may act in the world out of hatred for God and his kingdom in Christ Jesus, and although his action may cause grave injuries – of a spiritual nature and, indirectly, even of a physical nature – to each man and to society, the action is permitted by divine providence which with strength and gentleness guides human and cosmic history. It is a great mystery that providence should permit diabolical activity, but “we know that in everything God works for good with those who love him.”
So, we learn that the presence of evil in the world is beyond our full understanding but is part of God’s plan. We strive to live good lives, always aware of the devil’s temptations and the ultimate power of God – through his Son, Jesus, and the working of the Holy Spirit – to help us overcome evil and live forever in God’s goodness.