Agur the son of Jakeh essentially recaps God's argument with
Job to begin his oracle. If you haven't
been in God's shoes, if you didn't exist prior to creation, if you didn't
create all things, if you don't know all things, you should probably keep your
mouth shut about your own wisdom. Nevertheless,
there are some things that can be known and these should cause us to
marvel. The wisdom and knowledge he
cites, however, is that small doesn't always mean inconsequential. Lizards can be held in the hand but they can
get into king's palaces. It doesn't make
them king but it does make them adaptable.
We have come to despise small in our day and in our place but small can
be quite a good thing as well. As a
coach I had as a kid liked to say, "Dynamite comes in small
packages." Let us reconsider our
place in the universe and recognize our own small-ness and return thanks that
He has made much of us in coming among us as one of us. The time has come for us to have humility
restored.
Where is the power in the Gospel lesson? From an earthly perspective it is certainly
in the hands of Pilate. The Jews have no
power to do what they want, they can judge Jesus according to their law but
they can't execute anyone. Jesus certainly
seems to have no power, He is a prisoner awaiting judgment. Pilate has all the power to act here. He could simply set Jesus free but the power
of the mob is great enough to circumscribe Pilate's power, this could get
ugly. In questioning Jesus Pilate hears
that Jesus thinks the power is ultimately beyond Pilate, Jesus' kingdom is not
of this world. Things are not as they
seem to the eye. Jesus is completely in
control here, God's will is being done and will be done.
Paul speaks of the Jews, his own people, as dogs and
evildoers, they who mutilate the flesh. We,
he says, are the circumcision. Who is
this "we"? The we includes those
of faith, who put not trust in their own righteousness or obedience to the law
at any level, but those who put their trust in the man crucified by Pontius
Pilate. The circumcision to which Paul
appeals is the circumcised heart, the true circumcision, as the prophets
foretold. Whatever once Paul exalted in
himself has become as nothing at all to him.
Thomas Aquinas' great work is called the Summa Theologica and although
unfinished, the Summa is "one of the classics of the history of
philosophy and one of the most influential works of Western literature." The story goes that the reason it is
unfinished is simple, as he celebrated the Mass one day he received a
revelation. Later, his secretary asked
when they would recommence writing and Aquinas responded, "The end of my
labors has come. All that I have written appears to be as so much straw after
the things that have been revealed to me."
He got the right perspective, the perspective Job got.
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