THE JOURNEY OF GOD'S PEOPLE


MONDAY, SIXTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

Exo 14:5-18; Exo 15:1-6; Mt 12:38-42

Something Greater than Solomon

The children of Israel, setting out from Egypt under the leadership of Moses, who represented Yahweh’s word given to them for their deliverance, constituted the most formidable force on earth then. Made up of different and assorted people, believing and unbelieving, they set out according to the will of God and guided and guarded by the divine presence established by the word of God. It was foolhardy on the part of Pharaoh to have decided to chase after them. “When Pharaoh, king of Egypt, was told that the Israelites had made their escape, he and his courtiers changed their minds about the people. ‘What have we done,’ they said, ‘allowing Israel to leave our service?’ So Pharaoh had his chariot harnessed and gathered his troops about him, taking six hundred of the best chariots and all the other chariots in Egypt, each manned by a picked team.” It was a decision made in ignorance of God and the power of the word of God so amply demonstrated in Egypt, which he and his army paid for with their lives. Thus, we read that the Lord made him stubborn. Marching under the direction and protection of Yahweh, whose word they were following, no force could stop the children of Israel from advancing. Even forces of nature gave way to the people of God as they advanced according to his will.

The only deterrent to the advance of the people of God is their unbelief in the word of God, which they started manifesting at the first sign of physical danger or difficulty. “To Moses they said, ‘Were there no graves in Egypt that you must lead us out to die in the wilderness? What good have you done us, bringing us out of Egypt?” The Lord gave his word to Moses to part the sea so that the people of Israel would cross. The people of Israel marching under the leadership of Moses is only a type of the Christian people marching under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, the Eternal Word made flesh for our salvation. As no physical, human, or political force could deter them from setting out of Egypt on their onward journey to the promised land, no physical, cosmic, or spiritual force would hinder the faithful Christians from setting out from the kingdom of this world to the heavenly kingdom of God. Only the lack of faith in Jesus Christ would cause our failure to cross over to spiritual life, as the Israelites’ lack of faith in Moses was their undoing in their journey to the promised land.

Based on this, our Lord Jesus Christ called those scribes and Pharisees an evil generation, who witnessed his miracles and heard the gracious words from his mouth, yet demanded a sign for them to believe. “Some of the scribes and Pharisees spoke up. ‘Master,’ they said, ‘we would like to see a sign from you.’ He replied, ‘it is an evil and unfaithful generation that asks for a sign!” They are similar to the Israelites who verbally assaulted Moses at every sign of difficulty on the way. No miracle or wonder wrought by the word of God was able to make them believe in the presence and power of the living word of God. So, signs and wonders do not cause faith in the faithless if they fail to believe in the word of God. We must believe in God when we hear his word proclaimed to us, for God and his word are the same. Thus, the Lord reprimanded these scribes and Pharisees by reminding them that the people of Nineveh did not see any sign before they believed the word of God proclaimed to them by the prophet Jonah. “The only sign it will be given is the sign of the prophet Jonah.” The Queen of the South, who set out from her faraway kingdom to visit Solomon on hearing the report of his God-given wisdom, had more faith than they, for she took such a pain and risk to see and hear King Solomon. Both the Ninevites and the Queen of the South would stand against us if we hear the Gospel of the Son of Man and the Son of God, and refuse to believe.

Let us pray: Show us favour, O Lord, who are your servants and make us fervent in the practice of faith, hope and charity, so that we may be ever watchful in keeping your commands and following your will. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.  

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