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Friday – Eighteenth week – OT2
Readings: Nah 2:1, 3; 3:1-3, 6-7; Mt. 16:24-28
1/ Reading I: RSV Nahum 2:1 The shattered has come up against you. Man, the ramparts; watch the road; gird your loins; collect all your strength. 3 The shield of his mighty men is red; his soldiers are clothed in scarlet. The chariots flash like flame when mustered in array, the chargers prance. RSV Nahum 3:1 Woe to the bloody city, all full of lies and booty — no end to the plunder! 2 The crack of whip, and rumble of wheel, galloping horse and bounding chariot! 3 Horsemen charging, flashing sword and glittering spear, hosts of slain, heaps of corpses, dead bodies without end — they stumble over the bodies! 6 I will throw filth at you and treat you with contempt and make you a gazing-stock. 7 And all who look on you will shrink from you and say, wasted is Nineveh; who will bemoan her? Whence shall I seek comforters for her?
2/ Gospel: RSV Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life? 27 For the Son of man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay every man for what he has done. 28 Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.”
I. THEME: The art of living
In God’s providence, He wants us to live with others. When we need help, others shall help us; and when others need our help, we must help them. There are many people when they become prosperous, they forgot their past and many helps from others. Instead of returning favors to God, their parents and benefactors, they take pride on themselves and insult all others. When these people need help again, who shall help them out?
Today readings help us to recognize the art of living and how to live our life correctly. In the first reading, the prophet Nahum foresaw the day when Nineveh shall be destroyed due to all terrible crimes which the people of Nineveh committed against God and others. Nahum’s prophecy was fulfilled on 612 B.C. when Nineveh was completely destroyed. In the Gospel, Jesus teaches people the art of living, “Whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
II. ANALYSIS:
1/ Reading I: God shall restore His remnant.
The prophet Nahum lived at the time when his country is in crisis (~ 7th BC): the Northern Kingdom was already fallen into the hands of the Assyrians and the Southern Kingdom is being in deep trouble. The two main reasons for this crisis are they turned their back against God and treated others unjustly. God continually sends His prophets to call people back to Him and to stop their injustice; but they ignored God’s prophets and continued their reckless life. This is the reason why God must use their enemies’ hands to punish them.
Nahum is the very talented poet, not many can be compared with his poetic style. We rarely know about his Book because it is only read today. Some Old Testament scholars think that his Book must be studied in parallel with the Book of Jonah because both the Books mentioned Nineveh: Nahum stressed heavily on God’s justice—the reason for Nineveh’s destruction, while Jonah emphasized God’s mercy—the reason for Nineveh being forgiven.
1.1/ The Lord God shall restore power for Jacob and Israel: Like the majority of prophets, Nahum revealed for people that God used the Assyrians as a rod to punish the Israelites because they disobeyed God’s teaching; but God shall restore the remnant of the Israelites if they repent and return to God. The Israelites thought they can live without God and others; but God showed them that they can’t live without Him and building up others. In God’s providence, God could use the Assyrians as His rod to punish the Israelites; and He can break it when He finishes if the rod “insults” the One who holds it.
Nahum abbreviated God’s message in the one word, peace. If the remnant of the Israelites recognizes their sins and return to the Lord, they shall be restored, and their enemy shall be completely destroyed. The prophet foresaw the day of complete unity between the Northern and the Southern Kingdoms as the two branches of one tree after their exiles in the foreign lands.
1.2/ Nineveh shall be left desolate: Nineveh is located on the right side of Tigris River and was the capital of the Assyrian Empire (the northern part of the modern Iraq). The Assyrian Empire was very cruel and violated all of human rights. Like many tyrants, the Assyrian Emperor thought that violence is the only way to conquer people. The prophet Nahum wanted to teach him a lesson: If the Emperor wants to last long, he shouldn’t build his empire on deceptive plans and violence because God shall punish those who maltreat others, use violence and worship idols.
Nahum foretold the end of Nineveh due to their crimes as follows, “Woe to the bloody city, all full of lies and booty–no end to the plunder!” When the destruction of Nineveh happens, people shall be startled but joyful. Nineveh shall not be consoled by anybody because all surrounded nations were maltreated by the Ninevites.
2/ Gospel: “He will repay every man for what he has done.”
2.1/ Christ’s way of life: Jesus taught his disciples, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
When we study these words, we recognize that Christ’s way of life opposes with the worldly way of life, especially the way of life of many people today. Many modern people put their rights and material things above all others’ rights. For examples, the individualists and the materialists only worry about themselves and anything that brings benefits for them; they don’t worry how others suffer or being affected by their lifestyle.
However, experience shows these people can’t survive and being advanced. The wise, the successful, and the loved ones are those who live according to God’s way. Jesus also taught, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (Jn 12:24). This is the main reason why we must sacrifice and die in order to be lived.
Moreover, the faithful look for not only the benefits in the present world, but their eyes also look for the eternal inheritance which is the eternal life. That is the reason why Jesus also taught, “For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life?” Some truth about material things which shall help us to know their true value:
– People can’t bring anything with them when they die.
– Material things can’t prolong one’s life, even only a short period of time.
– People must answer to God about material things that they unjustly possess. At that time, it is too late for people to repent.
2.2/ God shall remember everything which people did during their time on earth: Jesus said, “For the Son of man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay every man for what he has done.” People come from God and shall return to Him to be judged; therefore, people’s life isn’t a straight line so that all events happened in their life shall completely pass; but people must return to God and shall be responsible for these events before God.
The next verse is difficult to understand when Jesus promised, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.” If we understand this sentence according to the literal meaning, it can’t be happened because all contemporary people with Jesus died. Mark’s account is more reasonable, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power” (Mk 9:1). This can be explained as follows: After Jesus went up to heaven; his disciples went out to preach the Gospel and saw countless people who believed in Christ. This shows God’s power is at work right from this world, and God’s kingdom shall come in the future.
III. APPLICATION IN LIFE:
– Living is an art. If we know how to live correctly, our life shall be happy and peaceful; if we don’t know, we must pay a dearly price for our ignorance.
– To love God above all things and to love others as oneself are two fundamental principles for the art of living.
– We must learn how to respect and to live with others. To insult and to treat others unfairly only produce hatred and revenge. No one is benefited from a selfish, hatred and violent lifestyle.