Jeremiah 11:18-20
John 7:40-53
Francis Martin writes that,
“Once again Jeremiah's words open for us some secrets of the soul of Jesus. God has made known to Jeremiah the plans of his enemies.
“Let us try to enter into the sacramental power of his prayer in reaction to the betrayal and suffering being prepared for him. There we can see, even if only imperfectly, a foreshadowing of the suffering of Jesus, who knew what awaited him.
“Jesus could see himself as a lamb being led to the slaughter, and this rejection and lack of love, this hatred of the light, filled him with great sadness.
“Far more than Jeremiah, Jesus knew how much those who were plotting his death ran the risk of depriving themselves of the eternal life he came to restore to humanity. His sadness was a human sadness.
"As St. Jerome expresses it: 'Our Lord, to prove the truth of the manhood he had assumed, experiences real sadness.'
“To appreciate this sadness is to be purified of sin and to grow in likeness to Jesus, who has promised, in the fourth verse of the fifth chapter of Matthew: 'Blessed are they who mourn, they shall be consoled.'
“There are three things to bear in mind when considering Jeremiah's prayer for justice. First, Jeremiah knows that God is just, he is the Just Judge, and he will punish those who plot murder and carry it out.
“Secondly, Jeremiah sees that his death will mean that the word of God entrusted to him, which has caused him so much suffering, will no longer be available to the people whom he loves so much. Thirdly, in other places Jeremiah prays for his enemies.
“In the eleventh verse of the fifteenth chapter we read, 'I swear, O Lord, that I have served you for their good, I have interceded with you in time of trouble and misfortune: you know I have.'
“This third point teaches that a prayer for justice is not always a prayer of anger and revenge. The proof of this particular kind of justice can be seen in the prayer of those slain for their Christian faith.
“In the tenth verse of the sixth chapter of Revelation, we read, 'O Lord, holy and true, how long will you not judge and avenge our blood on the inhabitants of the earth?'
“This too is not a prayer for personal satisfaction at seeing one's persecutors punished, but a plea that God manifest his justice as he sees fit.
“Again, we read after the parable of the insistent widow who finally prevails upon the unjust judge, in the seventh and eighth verses of the eighteenth chapter of Luke: 'Will not God obtain the rights of his chosen ones who cry out to him by day and night?
'Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give them justice soon enough. But when the Son of Man comes will he find faith [prayer and an understanding of God's justice] on the earth?'
“Justice is not served by making light of wrongdoing, but it is brought to a divine perfection in forgiveness. The proof of this principle of God's justice is made manifest in the cross of Christ.”
Posted by John
at 12:01 AM CST
