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𝐒𝐄𝐏𝐓. 𝟏𝟕, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟏: 𝟏 𝐓𝐢𝐦 𝟑:𝟏𝟒-𝟏𝟔

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟏𝟏:𝟏-𝟔 “𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐋𝐊 𝟕:𝟑𝟏-𝟑𝟓

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏?” (𝒗.31) 

When Jesus warned Peter and the other disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah who came from God he had a reason for doing so and it was because he still needed to reorient the concept of the Messiah that his disciples like most of the Jews were expecting.

          And to be able to understand the Gospel passage today, we need to go back by at least one verse which says: “𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒘 𝒓𝒆𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝑮𝒐𝒅’𝒔 𝒑𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔, 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒃𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒛𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝑱𝒐𝒉𝒏.” (𝒗.30)

         This particular verse was the predicate that will provide us the foundation as to why Jesus asked: “𝑻𝒐 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏, 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏? 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆?” (𝒗𝒗.31-32) Jesus was apparently referring to the Pharisees and the Scribes who have alienated the people instead of bringing them closer to God.     

         In defining the actuations of the Pharisees, Jesus compared them to the kind of games that children play in the marketplace, and many would definitely ask what connection do games played by children have to do with the Kingdom of God?

         Games are the favorite pastime of children who play to their heart’s delight until their energy is spent. The more interaction between and among the playmates the merrier it would be. The children in Jesus' parable react with disappointment because they cannot convince others to join in their musical play.

         They complain that when they make merry music such as played at weddings, no one dances or sings along; and when they play mournful tunes for sad occasions such as funerals, it is the same dead response.

This refrain echoes the words of 𝑬𝒄𝒄𝒍 3:4 “𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉; 𝒂 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆.” Take for example the birth of a child and the homecoming of a hero or the loss of a loved one and the destruction of a community or nation, these are joyous and sad occasions, and they demand a response.

Look at what is happening to our country today. If this is a game, it has divided us as a nation, and we have become a people that is so fragmented that we don’t know any more what happened to our upbringing as Christian Catholics and where our values went. To show indifference, lack of interest or support, or disdain, is unfitting and unkind.        

The proclamation of the kingdom of God by Jesus should have been regarded by the Jews in the ancient times as Good News that produces great joy and hope for those who will listen, but it is also a warning of disaster for those who refuse to accept God's gracious offer. So, the question we need to ask is why were the messages of John the Baptist and that of Jesus met with resistance and deaf ears?

Was it out of jealously and spiritual blindness that the scribes and Pharisees even attributed John the Baptist's ministry to the devil and they referred to Jesus' table fellowship as evidence for messianic pretense. What they did was they only succeeded in frustrating God's plan for their lives because they had closed their hearts to the message of John the Baptist and closed their ears to that of Jesus.

         In this life, we can draw a parallelism to what many of us do to the “children squatting in the city square and calling to their playmates” because we as Christians are not supposed to just sit idly by while the opportunities to exercise our gifts to make this world into a better place pass us by.

         Like the generation in the time of Jesus, many among us have become spiritually dull and slow to hear God's voice which is a requisite to salvation. Our world today is marked by indifference and contempt, especially with regards to the things of God's kingdom.

         Indifference is what dulls our ears to God's voice and to the Good News being proclaimed to us. Contempt, on the other hand, is what moves us to reject Jesus altogether because we find his ways as too demanding for comfort as it intrudes into our personal agenda to be merry and be happy because life is too short.

        God gave us the Gifts of the Holy Spirit: “𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑯𝒐𝒍𝒚 𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝒖𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒘𝒂𝒚. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒍𝒍. 𝑻𝒐 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒅𝒐𝒎. 𝑻𝒐 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒅𝒈𝒆. 𝑻𝒐 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉. 𝑻𝒐 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒈𝒊𝒇𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑻𝒐 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒐 𝒎𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒔. 𝑻𝒐 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒚. 𝑻𝒐 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕. 𝑻𝒐 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒔.” (1 𝑪𝒐𝒓 12:7-11)       

It cannot be that God will just give us gifts for us to waste. It doesn’t work that way. Life has a purpose, and God expects us to use these gifts to equip us when we set out into the world to “𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒈𝒆.” (𝑴𝒕 28:19-20)       

And Christians who heard the Good News and listened to what God is saying are to use these Gifts of the Holy Spirit to bear fruit: “𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒖𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆, 𝒋𝒐𝒚, 𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒆, 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔, 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔, 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔, 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇-𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒍. 𝑨𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐 𝒍𝒂𝒘. (𝑮𝒂𝒍 5:22-23)       

What we must keep in mind is that only the humble of hearts who are hungry for God are the ones who will find true joy and happiness that can only be possible if we do what we are commanded to do instead of squatting in the marketplace to play games. Life is not a game. It is a vocation in which success is largely dependent on losing our life for the gospel in order to gain it. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘚𝘦𝘱𝘵. 16, 2025)