This is one of the most confusing episodes in Israel's
history. Jephthah, the son of a
prostitute who is driven from his home because his mother was a prostitute, surrounded
in the land of Tob by worthless fellows who collected to him, is then retrieved
for leadership against the Ammonites. The
Lord was with him when he went against the enemy and yet he felt the need to
make a vow to the Lord concerning success.
Why did he not simply believe the Lord would give him success? Was he trying to bribe the Lord by saying, if
you do this for me I will do that for you?
The Lord says in Psalm 50 that he doesn't need sacrifices of bulls and goats,
He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. Jepthah
clearly doesn't know the Lord and even when his own daughter comes from the
house, she will thus be the sacrifice according to his vow, he makes no attempt
to know the will of the Lord concerning the matter. To kill her is a violation of the sixth
commandment and yet he asks no one for clarification on the matter. Some commentators say that the fact that she
had not known a man tells us that he put her away as a nun, perpetually a
virgin, but it seems more likely that he fulfilled his vow and sacrificed her
as a burnt offering, doubling his sin.
This Gospel reading always reminds me of Jonah, running from
God, asleep in the ship while the rest of the crew and passengers cry out to
their gods in panic. Jonah admits that
he is the cause of the problem and the only solution is to toss him
overboard. The disciples ask Jesus here
the same question Jonah is asked, don't you care that we are perishing, get up
and do something. Jesus gets up, speaks
to the wind and waves and produces dead calm.
Only God commands the elements. His
next words must have been spoken into a dead silence on the boat, "Why are
you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” Which would cause more fear, the storm
or the one who commands it? You might
want to know more about Him.
Paul knows that no matter what has happened to him, there is
one greater than all these things. His situation
is what it is and he is resigned that following the one who saved him and
commanded him to serve is his lot in life.
Paul accepted that in order for the Gospel to advance he would have to
suffer. We more or less never have to
think about suffering for the sake of the Gospel, certainly not as Paul
did. Paul, unlike Jephthah, trusted the
Lord and believed Jesus when He told the disciples not to take vows, just do
what you're given to do. Trusting Him,
living in faith, is all we are called to do.
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