Reflection on the Word for the Sunday of March 20, 2022
Repentance is essential to live - Luke 13:1-5
At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. He asked them, "Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them--do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did." …………………………………………………………………...…………
Very straightforwardly, Jesus, at this time made it very clear, that the general population faces doom unless they repent. It did not mean only, that if they misbehave, they will not enter Heaven after this life, but that their doom is immanent in their very earthly life, and the punishment in the Afterlife will be an extra.
In the Gospel story some Galileans revolted against the cruel measures of Pontius Pilate, the appointed governor of Judea, who had them killed by his soldiers, and a massacre happened. Not the first time.
Also a tower collapsed in Jerusalem, eighteen people perished in a terrible accident, not the first time, either. The victims, said Jesus, as people, were not worse, compared to those who did not perish, he made it clear. Just like the others. The general population, statistically saying, lived for the day, carpe diem, and did not repent. According to the declaration of Jesus, sin always has consequences, and unless someone repent, the landing of the striking punishment on the person or on the people, is just a matter of time, sooner or later, it will be coming through.
Jesus wept over the foreseen fate of Jerusalem and explicitly told the disciples regarding the city they saw from the hill and celebrated its beauty and grandiosity, its sophistication and its attempted holiness, that "As for these things which you see, the days will come, in which there will not be left here one stone on another that will not be thrown down."
And it happened, around forty years later the temple was burnt, the city was ruined, the population was killed, was enslaved, was exiled by the mighty Roman Empire. In the Gospel of Mark Jesus also foretold them, that a fearsome future is coming, filled with local wars, famines, plagues, earthquakes, floods, world wars, unimaginable calamities and disasters. He insisted, that repentance helps, and not only in Heaven, but on Earth as well. And he was right, of course he was right. Repentance helps, and only repentance helps.
Imagine a united world, where all live in peace and harmony. It might be considered a utopia, be we have to see that only a general repentance of all can lead to a world where everybody loves God and loves one’s neighbor. What a different world it would have been instead of the time when John the Baptist was beheaded and Jesus was brutally tortured and crucified. What a different world it would have been during the world wars, if repentance of all would have prevailed. Same today, same today and probably tomorrow.
Repentance can help, because, repentance is not only a little compunction here and there, and then we move on with our lives, but repentance makes a determined decision to fully change course of one’s life, and keeps walking on the right path. The wide path which leads to danger, peril, distraction, devastation and even to perdition must be abandoned. The narrow path, right behind Jesus, which leads to life and peace, prosperity and harmony, and eventually to Heaven, must be followed by following Jesus. Otherwise we are doomed.
It sounds harsh, but true. Without repentance we are doomed.
As a world, nowadays, we have also arrived to very strange crossroads as well. In the rising era of the artificial intelligence, there is a growing concern even among scientists in favor of them, or among manufacturers like the Honda or Elon Musk, that despite of its immediate expediency, the artificial intelligence may pose a great threat to humanity, regarding our very survival or its implications on the next generations.
The problem is not only the always quadrupling computing capabilities of the machines, and their cutting edge effects in human warfare, meanwhile exploring nano-robotics as well, but what if the machines trespass the threshold between being a mere machine and a self-aware entity. What if the mechanic people revolt against their human masters and will enslave them or even eradicate them, bypassing the proposed robotic laws of Isaac Asimov.
The other incomprehensible development might also be the cyborgization of humans, when humans are enhanced by microchips and sophisticated digital accessories, implanted into their bodies, as a new normal. We are also on the verge of a biological revolution with unpredictable consequences of a new world full of clones and everyday DNA engineering, with injected nano-particles. DNA tinkered superheros, biochemically enhanced soldiers, artificially created new species, automatized biological warfare, they are all on the table. These are doomsday scenarios, however we should recognize that as a globalized humanity we are breaching some red line boundaries, where we really would need divine guidance of moral directions and destinations in a rapidly changing reality. We desperately need divine guidance.
The Apostle Paul insists in his letter to the Romans, chapter two, that “for when Gentiles who don’t have the law do by nature the things of the law, these, not having the law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the law written in their hearts, ”. It means that he is talking about the inner voice of our conscience in us, which commands us or rebukes us, as an inner guidance. This voice is either loud in most people, or quite quiet, suppressed, muffled in some, or others even try hard to ignore and have it muted.
However, this inner voice in our heart is instinctive in its designed nature, and most of the time itself alone is not strong enough to fight sin and temptations. Thus, we need more guidance, and we must learn exactly, what is right and what is wrong.
The same Apostle Paul wrote himself, confessing that “However, I wouldn’t have known what is sin, except through the law (of Moses). For I wouldn’t have known coveting, unless the law (in the Ten Commandments) had said, ‘You shall not covet.’ ”
In order to strengthen the innate contempt of sin, God gave the Holy Scriptures to us, to make us fully aware of right and wrong, and be able to distinguish between holy and sinful. In the Scriptures, God gave personal guidance to all people, one by one, and to the humanity as a whole, as Paul wrote it to Timotheus that “Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that each person who belongs to God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
The Bible Study is so important that the sages held that the mere study of the holy books softens the heart. It must be obvious, that we have to learn what is right and wrong, as it is written by Isiah that the Immanuel child “shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good.”
And Jesus calls upon us all that “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart; and you will find peace for your souls." May we learn the Peace of the Lord, and may his Peace be with us all,
AMEN.
