Commentary to the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time–Year C

THE NEWBORN – A CHRISTIAN MODEL

 Introduction

One day, some mothers present their kids to Jesus so that he may take them in his arms and caress them (Mk 10:13). The disciples, who judge this excessive familiarity as an inconvenience, drive them away with rebukes. Jesus reacts: “the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these” (v. 14). The episode is narrated with varying shades of meaning by the three synoptic gospels. While Mark and Matthew speak of children, Luke says that newborns are presented to Jesus (Lk 18:15).

If these children had had some loving detail they could have, in some way, 'deserved' the love of their parents. Newborns can only receive freely. Jesus places little children as a model of what one should be before God. They are placed at the antipodes of the Pharisee who can proudly boast of the good he has done. One cannot enter the kingdom of God - Jesus says - if one does not become a little child who is not aware of anything and always needs to be given everything to continue to live.

When one thinks of attributing to oneself the good works, s/he could no longer be a newborn and auto-excludes themself from God’s Kingdom. Paul says: “What have you that you have not received? And if you received it, why are you proud, as if you did not receive it?” (1 Cor 4:7).

To internalize the message, we repeat: “O Lord, you reserved to the small ones the gift of the Kingdom of God.”

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First Reading: Sirach 35:12-14,16-18

The Lord is a God of justice, who knows no favorites. Though not unduly partial toward the weak, yet he hears the cry of the oppressed. The Lord is not deaf to the wail of the orphan, nor to the widow when she pours out her complaint. The one who serves God willingly is heard; his petition reaches the heavens. The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds; it does not rest till it reaches its goal, nor will it withdraw till the Most High responds, judges justly and affirms the right, and the Lord will not delay. — The Word of the Lord.

The law is equal to all. However, not all can pay for good lawyers, nor can we expect all the judges to be always impartial. Does God behave like the judges of this world as he pronounces his definitive and irrevocable judgment? In the Old Testament, the order to those who administer justice in Israel is: “Do not accept gifts because gifts blind the eyes of the wise and subvert the cause of the righteous” (Deut 16:19). A wise disposition! One cannot indeed expect impartiality from a judge who receives gifts. In a society where it is easy to domesticate judgment processes with money, someone can mistake God for being corrupted, like the human judges, who can become a business partner with a gift.

Let us take the case of a landowner who does not pay his laborers. He knows he is wrong, and one day he has to give an account to God. What does he do? He goes to the temple, provides a handsome tip to the priests-in-charge, and offers God a fattened lamb or a young bull. He is convinced that, after having received such a generous gift, the Lord will be his friend, will close an eye on the injustices he commits; will not punish him, will not send him diseases nor drought, nor hailstones to destroy his harvest.

Sirach strongly attacks this false religion: “If you attempt to bribe him with gifts he will not accept them; do not rely on offerings from dishonest gain” (Sir 35:11). Then, the passage in our reading explains the reason forhis condemnation: “The Lord is judge and shows no partiality” (v. 12). If he is not partial—we think—he rewards the good and punishes the wicked without discriminating between poor and rich. Instead—here is the surprise!—for him not being partial means to side with the poor. This is his justice!

Friendships, relationships, gifts, threats, and high social positions … do not count before him. The conditions that move him are poverty, the needs of the people; “He will not disadvantage the poor, he who hears the prayer of the oppressed. He does not disdain the plea of the orphan, nor the complaint of the widow”(vv. 13-14). Their prayers pierce the clouds unceasingly until it reaches the throne of God (vv. 15-18). When the one, who has no merit to show and counts only on his/her miseries, presents oneself before him, God is moved and always pronounces a sentence of salvation.

Second Reading: 2 Timothy 4:6-8,16-18

Beloved: I am already being poured out like a libation, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept thefaith. From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearance.

At my first defense no one appeared on my behalf, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them! But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamation might be completed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evilthreat and will bring me safe to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen. — The Word of the Lord.

In the Bible, there are many farewell discourses. Jacob, Moses, Joshua, and Jesus gave farewell messages before dying (Jn 14—17). So did Peter (2 P 1:12-14) and Paul (Acts 20:17-35). The passage from the letter to Timothy that we read today belongs to this literary genre. Paul is now old and tired, locked in a prison in Rome. He foresees the day on which he will leave this world. He takes stock of his life and turns his gaze towards the future.

The tone is moving, and the imagery is very emotional. “I have fought a good fight.” He deliberately dramatizes the conflicts he endured, wherein light and darkness, truth and lie, justice and forces of sin and death face each other. Writing to the Corinthians, he made a persuasive list of what he suffered for the just cause in this battle.

“Five times the Jews sentenced me to thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with a rod, once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked, and once I spent a night and day adrift on the high seas. I have encountered continual hazards on travel because of rivers, because of bandits, because of my fellow Jews, or because of the pagans; danger in the city, in the open country, at sea, danger from false brothers. I have worked and often labored without sleep, I have been hungry and thirsty and starving, cold and without shelter”(2 Cor 11:24-27).

He is in prison and seems defeated. However, It does not matter to him as long as he is on Christ’s side and knows he has made a better choice. He finished the race. He has won the race and is confident that theLord will give him the laurel wreath. He does not speak of merits, accumulated with efforts and fatigue (it would be an incompatible concept with his theology), but the certainty of entrusting himself to the right person, to Christ Jesus who will not delude him nor those who “await his coming with love” (v. 8).

Paul is confident that he has kept his commitments to the faith. For Paul, faith has been a long labor, a new birth, but it was always maintained once conquered. He has led a life of integrity and brought to completion his apostolic mission to which Jesus called him. His gaze is also turned to the future: “I am already being poured out like a libation, and the time for my departure is at hand” (v. 6). His fidelity to Christ will be validated by the most excellent gesture of love: the gift of life. His death will be, like that of the Master, an expiatory sacrifice, and his blood “a libation: on the altar of faith.”

The image of the ship that loosens the sails shows stable conviction that death is not sinking but a heading towards new and splendid shores. Some thirty years later, Clement, an eminent Christian of Rome, would speak of him: After having taught justice to all the world and having reached the extreme occidental borders, he witnessed to Christ before the authorities, so he was removed from the world and assumed into a holy place, becoming a more significant example of perseverance (1 Cor V, 7).

Gospel: Luke 18:9-14

Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else. “Two people went up to the Temple topray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity—greedy, dishonest, adulterous—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’ But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’ I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” — The Gospel of the Lord.

The narrator of the parable always sets a kind of trap for his listeners: he pushes them, without their being aware of it, to favor one or the other characters of the story. Then, when they are fully involved, he draws the moral conclusion. One could miss the message by reading today's parable because one risks identifying oneself with the wrong character.

We are convinced that we have nothing in common with the hypocrite, disagreeable, proud, and presumptuous Pharisee. He despises others with arrogance and thinks of himself just, without being so in reality. Our sympathies are all for the tax collector, the poor guy who did something wrong but has a golden heart. He repented and therefore merited love and understanding. We convince ourselves that this parable is addressed to those who feel aversion towards the Pharisee.

The parable is not that simple as it appears at first sight. First, let us contemplate the Pharisee who, assuming the typical attitude (not proud) of a pious Jew, prays standing (which incidentally the tax collector also does). No pretensions, no hypocrisy. His monologue is a prayer, and when he dialogues with God, opens his heart to him, he indeed cannot lie. It’s enough to re-read attentively and without prejudices (vv. 11-12) to know that he says only what he feels. Immediately we realize that we are faced with an upright and honest person of integrity. He faithfully observes the law's precepts and scrupulously avoids all sins (theft, injustice, and adultery).

He does even more than what is prescribed. The law orders to fast a day each year (Lev 16:29), and the Pharisee fasts twice a week (Tuesday and Thursday) to repel others’ sins and draw God’s blessings on the people. The law establishes that, during harvest time, the farmer immediately gives the priests a tenth of the top products: grain, wine, oil, and the firstborns of the flock (Deut 14:22-27). It deals with offerings destined to benefit the poor, support the expenses of the temple, and form young rabbis. Unfortunately, the farmers—the Pharisee knows it well—are crafty, and they do not fulfill this duty whenever they can. To compensate for their possible (nay probable) theft, he tithes every time he buys their products from his pocket. In short, he can serenely tell God: My Lord, there are so many wicked people in the world but don’t take their wickedness to heart; there are people like me who balance their misdeeds.

If one tries to look for something lacking in this man, one can hardly discover anything reprehensible. He is proud of his righteousness, contrasts himself with other persons, and distances himself from sinners. This indeed creates an unavoidable nuisance but no serious faults, and then he has several reasons to feel better than others. There were people like that, honest, just, and blameless. Let us forgive him a little pride. Paul too, who vigorously attacks the theology of the Pharisees, gives them the right of being zealous persons (Rom 10:2).

In contrast with the first character, the second, a tax collector, appears on the scene. He has immediately attracted our sympathies for his humility. It is he who cheats us. He seems gentle and good-natured at first sight. He is a certified thief, a hateful exploiter, a jackal. He does not extort money from the rich, bleeds the poor, and imposes excessive taxes on the most miserable among the farmers, who do not even have bread to give to their small children. He has nothing good to offer to God. He is loaded with sins. The law says that to save oneself, he must give back all that he has stolen plus 20% interest and immediately abandon his infamous profession. The conditions are so difficult to implement that the rabbis concluded that salvation is something impossible for the tax collectors.

  Now that we have clarified who the two men are, on whose side are we? I hope that the sympathy for the tax collector fades a bit, and the aversion towards the Pharisee is being reappraised. If this is the disposition of our spirit, let us conclude the parable in a meaningful and logical way. Jesus would have liked to express himself more or less like this: the Pharisee should be a bit humbler. His contempt for others ails a bit. As for the rest, he is a model to imitate. With his works and righteousness, he merits justification. He rightfullydeserves paradise.

As for the Tax collector: his repentance—certainly—places him along a good road. However, lowered eyes and a generic sorrow are not sufficient to reconcile with God and people. Something more is needed: that he returns to the poor the stolen money and fulfills the prescriptions of the law because God’s terrible and sudden punishments will surely fall on him. Let's agree with this conclusion of the parable. We have the proper disposition to receive the lesson of Jesus: “I tell you, the tax collector returned home justified unlike the other.”We cannot agree with this sentence. How can one condemn a person who has behaved well and declare just the sinner? Our criteria of justice are distorted.

The reversal of the judgment is not about the moral behavior of the two. Jesus does not say that the tax collector is good and the Pharisee is evil and a liar. He does not say that one is fundamentally virtuous while the other is a sinner who managed to hide his sins. He only says that the first ‘was justified,’ that is, was made just by God. The second returned home as before, with all his undeniable good works but without saying that God was able to make him just. This is the point.

What is the Pharisee’s error? He makes an error because he puts himself before God in the wrong way. He goes to the temple carrying a load of good works accumulated with rigorous penance and through the scrupulous observance of all the commandments. He is convinced that this is sufficient to merit himrighteousness. As if he would say to the Lord: look what a marvelous life I’m presenting! To tell you the truth: I astonished you! You did not expect to have such a faithful worshiper who declares that I am ‘just!’

Note: the Pharisee does not ask God to be made righteous. From God he only claims that God declares—as an exemplary notary—the righteousness that he has built with his own hands. He does not understand that all his good works put together do not confer on him the right to salvation. There is no guarantee that those who do good merit anything; one must only thank the Lord who guided them on the road to happiness. Good works do not make people righteous. They are the signs that the Lord has made us righteous. Good results are like fruits revealing that the tree is full of life. But the fruits do not make the tree alive. Before God, people are empty-handed. We have nothing of ourselves to show. We have nothing that makes us worthy of divine complacency.

Those who reason like the Pharisee are not bad. They are only naïve. They behave like the person who thinks of meriting the father's inheritance like an ideal son, a model student, not a drug addict, and a no-nonsense person. They act correctly by doing their good and must thank the father who educated them. The inheritance belongs to the father and could be received as a gift, not earned. The tax collector is not a model of a virtuous life. He is a poor man who knows he can offer God only his ‘broken and torn down heart.’ The Psalm says, “the Lord does not despise it” (Ps 51:19). The hungry are filled with good things while the rich are sent back empty-handed (Lk 1:53). He does not even run the risk of an illusion that good acts give him the right to lay claim because he has none.

The Pharisee must not renounce his blameless life but the false image of God in his mind: as an accountant who takes note of good and bad works of people; a distributor of prizes and punishments. Other troubles come from this distorted image of God; foremost is the need to create a dividing barrier between righteous and sinners. His very name means separated.

Whoever thinks of accumulating merits before God ends inevitably despising others. They do not want to have anything to do with the wicked. Whoever feels righteous is convinced of being able to involve God in this separation. They would like to enlist God in their group, in the righteous’ club. He would like to make God a Pharisee. God does not fit here. If God has to choose, God will side with the sinners.

The last sentence: “for whoever exalts himself will be humbled and the one who humbles himself will be exalted” (v. 14), seems an invitation to consider ephemeral the triumphs in this world and to cultivate hope that in the future life the positions will be reversed. We should read Jesus’ disclaimer directed to those who confide in their own merits in this context. It refers to the Pharisee who exalts his good works and considers them an advantage before God. If he does not want to find himself empty-handed (humbled), he must accept to make himself small, poor among poor, debtor among debtors. When he has taken this attitude, he will be in the condition to be filled with gifts by the Lord, as it happened to Mary, the poor, humble servant in whom the Omnipotent worked marvels (Lk 1:48-49).

At this point, the introductory verse becomes important (v. 9). It clarifies to whom the parable is directed. The listeners are “some who presumed of being righteous and despised the others.” They are not the Pharisees of Jesus’ time but the Christians of Luke’s community. It is in them that the dangerous Pharisaical mentality is insinuated. The parable is directed to the Christians of all times because the idea of ‘meriting’ before God is profoundly rooted in the person. No one is entirely immune to this ‘leaven’ that pollutes and corrupts the community's life (Mk 8:16)