Friday of Week 21 of Ordinary Time – First Reading

Commentary on 1 Corinthians 1:17-25

In today’s reading, a distinction is made between true and false wisdom. Paul presents us with one of the most central concepts of his teaching, and indeed of our Christian faith. He begins by saying that Christ had not sent him to baptise. In so speaking, he is not in any way minimising baptism. What he is asserting is that his special calling was to proclaim the gospel. It was for others to establish Christian communities after he had gone to preach the Message in another mission field. Peter, too, asked others to baptise the gentile Cornelius and his household after they were received into the community (Acts 10:48).

Today’s passage focuses on the essence of our faith, which transcends all human divisions—a message just as relevant now as it was then. What he says arises out of his displeasure with factions which were forming in the Corinthian communities. Some were saying they were for Paul, others for Apollos, or Cephas (Peter), or even Christ. Paul emphasises that they are all, no matter who baptised them, one in Christ. It was Christ and Christ alone who died for them and saved them. Paul’s particular role or charism was to proclaim the gospel mainly to new communities; he was a founder of churches and communities and so he kept moving from place to place. The other church ministries were left to others to carry out. It is a good example of the diversity of gifts which he will speak about later on.

Further, his role was to preach the Cross of Christ, but not with an orator’s eloquence which might rob the Cross of its real power. Oratory was a highly esteemed talent in those days, especially among the Greeks and Romans, but Paul makes no claim to it and for that he is glad. Paul’s mission was not to couch the gospel in the language of the trained orator, who had studied the techniques of influencing people by persuasive arguments. What Paul shares is not human wisdom, but the wisdom of God. The strength of the message is not in how it is delivered, but in its content.

The Cross will speak for itself and does not need the persuasive language of the orator. The message of the Cross is unique. It requires a special kind of insight to see its meaning and its wisdom, which is itself a gift from God. For those who are not on God’s wavelength, it makes no sense, but for those who are, it speaks of God’s power—above all, the power of love.

Paul quotes from the prophet Isaiah (29:14) in which God says he will bring the wisdom of the wise to nothing. This was originally said in the context of the people of Judah and Jerusalem who thought it was an astute thing to do to make an alliance with Egypt and thus turn away the threats of Sennacherib, the Assyrian king. God had other plans to deal with him, plans which the ‘wise’ never dreamt of. In fact, Sennacherib was forced to withdraw from the gates of the city when his army was unexpectedly decimated by a kind of plague.

And where are the wise men now, Paul asks—all those pagan philosophers, including those Paul met in Athens and who laughed at his message. Perhaps Paul knew of the remark of Aristides who said that on every street in Corinth one met a so-called wise man, who had his own solutions to all the world’s problems (we still see them on our media every day!). Where, asks Paul, are the experts in the Mosaic Law? Where are the “debaters of this age”, those Greek sophists who loved to engage in long and subtle disputes?

Has not God, in Christ, made the wisdom of the world look foolish? Faced with the mystery of the Cross such people have nothing to say.

In a beautifully paradoxical statement (worthy of an orator!) he says:

…since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of the proclamation, to save those who believe.

This does not mean, of course, that Paul’s preaching is foolish, but that the message of Christ crucified is viewed by the world as foolish. Jesus said something similar:

I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants… (Luke 10:21)

And so, the Jews are demanding miracles and signs as proofs of God’s saving power among them. Several times in the Gospels, Jesus was asked for a ‘sign’ to prove his credentials, even though his whole public life was a succession of signs which ordinary people frequently recognised. The Greeks, on the other hand, indulged in endless philosophising about ‘truth‘ and ‘wisdom’ without ever coming to grips with the realities of life.

The Cross is on a completely different level. It does not require great intelligence and learning to be understood. It can be grasped by the totally illiterate person. It is not a message of intellectual depth, but a witness to immeasurable love. It can only be accessed by faith and trust.

Paul and his companions are proclaiming a crucified Lord, a message of power shining through total impotence and apparent failure. On the face of it, it is a total contradiction—except to those who can see its inner meaning. No wonder it is a ‘scandal’, an insuperable obstacle for those Jews who were waiting for an altogether different Messiah. They expected a triumphant, political Messiah, not a crucified one.

Even Jesus’ disciples had this expectation. On the day of the Ascension, they asked him:

Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel? (Acts 1:6)

The answer, of course, was “Yes”, but not in the way they were thinking. Similarly, the two disciples on the way to Emmaus said to the stranger who walked along with them:

…we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.
(Luke 24:21)

It was only after Jesus had explained the Scriptures to them that they realised the real truth behind their question.

And to the Gentiles it made no sense whatever. How could a crucified criminal be proclaimed as the world’s Saviour? Greeks and Romans were sure no reputable person would ever be crucified, so it was unthinkable that a crucified criminal could be the Saviour.

However, for those who have received the call, be they Jews or Greeks, Jesus on the cross speaks eloquently of the power and wisdom of God. The crucified Christ is the power that saves and the wisdom that transforms apparent folly into ultimate and highest discernment. And Paul finishes with a memorable and much-quoted statement:

For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

Today, the Cross is still seen as a stumbling block and as nonsense by those who only see the external image. In a world dedicated to acquisition, power and success, it gives a totally unacceptable message.

The power of the Cross, the power of active non-violence is not understood, and the followers of Jesus are ridiculed and deemed irrelevant. As Christians living in this world, we are probably often caught in the middle. We are carried along by the power-success dream, and at the same time would like to be able to make the weakness-failure Way of Christ ours too. What we need is to be able to see clearly that the real power and wisdom is with Jesus’ Way, and that the way of the world ultimately leads only to nothingness.

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Friday of Week 21 of Ordinary Time – Gospel

Commentary on Matthew 25:1-13

The second chapter of the Eschatological Discourse consists of three long parables, all of which are familiar to us. They have the common theme of preparation for the final coming of the Lord, whenever that will be.

Today’s reading is the parable about the wise and foolish bridesmaids. The story likely reflects common wedding customs of the time. The bridesmaids who attend on the bride are waiting for the bridegroom to come. The time of his arrival is not known. Perhaps, at that time, it was his way of asserting his male authority from the very beginning of their marriage.

In the story there are 10 bridesmaids altogether. Of these we are told five were “wise” and the others were “foolish”. The “wise” young women all brought an extra supply of oil with them while the “foolish” ones only had their lamps. The lamps consisted of oil-soaked rags at the top of a pole and needed to have oil added every 15 minutes or so.

The bridegroom was long in coming. The implication is that he was taking much longer than expected. In fact, he was so long in coming that the bridesmaids all fell asleep. Suddenly, in the middle of the night, the call went up:

Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.

Immediately the young women got ready and trimmed their torches. The charred edges had to be cut away and the rags soaked in more oil. The foolish ones immediately realised they were running out of oil. They ask their companions to share some of their oil. These refused on the grounds that there was not enough to go round and none of them would have enough. The foolish ones were told to go off and buy some more for themselves.

However, while they were still away, the bridegroom arrived. Those who were ready went into the marriage celebration with him and the doors were shut. When the foolish bridesmaids finally arrived with their new supply of oil, they found the doors closed in their face. They cried out:

Lord, lord, open to us.

But the bridegroom answered:

Truly I tell you, I do not know you.

Again this is a parable warning us all to be ready when the Lord comes. In the early Church, he had at first been expected to come in the very lifetime of the early Christians. This belief is reflected in the First Letter to the Thessalonians (read during the weekdays of the Cycle 1 First Readings), which is the earliest writing of the New Testament.

But Jesus did not come and, by the time Matthew’s Gospel appeared, people were beginning to realise that his coming could be in a more distant future. It is in this context that today’s parable gives a warning. If the Lord was not going to come soon, then some people might begin to take things easy and become lax in their living of the gospel. Today’s passage suggests that that is not a very wise way of behaving.

The bridegroom may not have come when expected, but he did come. And, when he came, half of the group were not ready. In other places, Jesus has warned that the:

..day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. (Matt 24:36)

Because:

the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
(1 Thess 5: 2)

The only policy is constant readiness. If we are not ready and he does come, then we may find the doors closed and hear what are perhaps the most chilling words in the whole Gospel:

…I do not know you.

In John’s Gospel, Jesus says that, as the Shepherd, he knows his sheep and they know him. Not to be known by Jesus means to have broken our relationship with him through sinful and loveless behaviour. To be in that state when he comes is truly tragic. The choice is ours, as we have been given adequate warning.

While the Gospel is speaking about the final or eschatological coming of Jesus as King and Lord, it would be very complacent of us to think that there are no signs of its happening in the near future. That would put us in the same category as the foolish bridesmaids! While the final coming may still be far off, our own rendezvous with the Lord can be at any time. For all practical purposes, that is the time for which we must be prepared.

Our news media is full of reports of lives being cut short by accident, illness or violence. Any of us could be one of those victims, young and in perfect health with a whole life before us. But the Lord calls when he calls.

Will I have ‘oil in my lamp’? That is, what would I be able to show the Lord in terms of gospel-centred living? Maybe we think the “wise” young women in the story were selfish not to have shared their oil, but there are some things which we have to bring to the Lord on our own. We cannot borrow the good life that someone else has led. It has to be totally ours.

Clearly, the best way to prepare is not to think anxiously of the future, but to concentrate on the here and now. Let us learn to live totally in the present, to seek and find God there. If we can do that, then all the rest will take care of itself. And, whether the Groom arrives early or late, it will not matter. Because he has been constantly part of our everyday lives. And, apart from the insurance that it gives, is it not by far the best way to spend our days?

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