14 July 2020 - to whom much is given

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Jesus began to reproach the towns
where most of his mighty deeds had been done,
since they had not repented.

More was expected of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum than was expected of Tyre, Sidon, and even Sodom. Jesus had revealed himself to them, done mighty deeds in their might, and they did not change. They were given much and so much was expected of them (see Luke 12:48). They had been given special grace that those cities of the Old Testament had not been given and would be held accountable to that grace.

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God (see John 3:18)

Woe to us who have been given such graces if we do not respond to those graces. Woe to us who, after having known such graces, still return to our old ways.

For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.” (see Second Peter 2:21-22).

It makes sense that those who have never known Jesus act in ways that are sinful and worthy of condemnation. But we don't have the excuse of ignorance that they have, nor even of our own weakness, for the grace is Jesus is constantly on offer to us. The only reason that makes sense of why we fail to change is complacency.

All of these woes may sound like condemnation. But they are not spoken to condemn, but rather to convict. Jesus desires that we do change, that we repent, meaning that we reorient our lives around him. He is warning us of the risk of being mere spectators of grace without partaking of it. He is calling us to not only sit near the well but to drink deeply, to not only come to the font, but to submerse our hearts entirely in his grace.

Even though telling others about Jesus raises their level of accountability, even though it takes away the excuse of ignorance, we are nevertheless not doing them a disservice. Even if Sodom perished in ignorance, and even if they will find the day of judgment in any sense tolerable, we are meant for more than tolerable. We are meant to be citizens of a city on a hill (see Matthew 5:14), Mount Zion and a heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 12:22), where lives have been changed and there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (see Romans 8:1).

The response that Jesus wants from us is faith. Faith is the only source of true repentance and change. It is the response which keeps us safe and firm where the cities of the reproaches faltered and fell.

But within sixty years and five,
Ephraim shall be crushed, no longer a nation.
Unless your faith is firm
you shall not be firm!

Faith recognizes Jesus and his mighty deeds. It is not content to simply let him pass through the city of our hearts without reorganizing everything around his presence. It calls for our passions, the citizens of our hearts, to repent and be reordered around the king in our midst. It is ultimately this mode of his presence, not just as teacher, but as king, that gives solidity and joy to our own lives.

Mount Zion, “the recesses of the North,”
is the city of the great King.
God is with her castles;
renowned is he as a stronghold.