Don't Trust Me
Mar 9: Thursday of the Second Week of Lent
Some parables can be confusing, or a little obscure. Not today! The meaning is so obvious, it’s almost like the obviousness is the whole point.
Reading 1
Jer 17:5-10
Thus says the LORD: Cursed is the man who trusts in human beings, who seeks his strength in flesh, whose heart turns away from the LORD. He is like a barren bush in the desert that enjoys no change of season, But stands in a lava waste, a salt and empty earth. Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose hope is the LORD. He is like a tree planted beside the waters that stretches out its roots to the stream: It fears not the heat when it comes, its leaves stay green; In the year of drought it shows no distress, but still bears fruit. More tortuous than all else is the human heart, beyond remedy; who can understand it? I, the LORD, alone probe the mind and test the heart, To reward everyone according to his ways, according to the merit of his deeds.
Jeremiah’s writing is so clear and vivid here, I really don’t know what to add. Trust in God, don’t trust in people; it’s pretty simple.
I didn’t know that lava appeared in the bible, though, so that’s cool.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Blessed the man who follows not
the counsel of the wicked
Nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,
But delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
He is like a tree
planted near running water,
That yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Not so, the wicked, not so;
they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
For the LORD watches over the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked vanishes.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
I think, though I can’t find a definitive answer, that this Psalm was written after Jeremiah, and so the Psalmist is cribbing the “tree planted near running water” imagery from Jeremiah.
The first verse is interesting to Christians, since it instructs us to not sit with the insolent or walk with sinner. But didn’t Jesus do exactly that?
Well, yes. Just not like that. He wasn’t “following the counsel of the wicked.” He dined with sinner sin order to bring them over to His side.
Our goal, in these circumstances, should be to bring others to God, not go with them and away from Him.
Verse Before the Gospel
See Lk 8:15
Blessed are they who have kept the word with a generous heart
and yield a harvest through perseverance.
Bringing others to God is the “harvest” Jesus is talking about. Keep God’s word, and you’ll be a good example to others, who will then start to follow God and be a good example to still more, and on and on. A virtuous circle.
Gospel
Lk 16:19-31
Jesus said to the Pharisees: "There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man's table. Dogs even used to come and lick his sores. When the poor man died, he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham.
The rich man also died and was buried, and from the netherworld, where he was in torment, he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he cried out, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering torment in these flames.'
Abraham replied, 'My child, remember that you received what was good during your lifetime while Lazarus likewise received what was bad; but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented. Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established to prevent anyone from crossing who might wish to go from our side to yours or from your side to ours.'
He said, 'Then I beg you, father, send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they too come to this place of torment.'
But Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.'
He said, 'Oh no, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'
Then Abraham said, 'If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.'"
As far as I can tell, there’s no explanation for why there are two Lazaruses in the bible. Jesus was the man in this parable named after Jesus’ good friend? That’d be a weird story to hear, right?
A few weeks after Jesus tells this story, the real Lazarus died. How did the disciples respond to that? We don’t know. Seems strange.
Or is it? Jesus brought Lazarus back to life. And how did the Pharisees respond? They plotted to kill Jesus.1 And Lazarus.2 Again.
So Jesus outright tells people that the rich and powerful won’t repent even if a dead man comes back to life, and that exact thing happens. They’re not even listening to Jesus. They’re meeting up with the Sanhedrin and listening to each other.
They’re building their house on lava, like Jeremiah said.
But we shouldn’t look down on them too much. After all, we not only have Lazarus, but Jesus coming back to life. And yet, do we always act like we know and believe? Do we always follow the LORD and plant our tree near running water?
Probably not, and definitely not as much as we should.