Some
people inform, or maybe even test Jesus, about two tragedies which had struck
unexpectedly. They expect a meaningful response. One tragedy was caused by the
Romans who had killed certain Galileans as they were making sacrifices to God
in the temple. Tragedy struck when they
were worshiping God. It was horrific and unexpected. The other tragedy was a
freak accident in which 18 people were killed when a building collapsed on them
in Jerusalem. Totally unexpected deaths.
The response which the listeners receive from Jesus is equally unexpected. Instead of condemning Pilate’s forces for the
atrocity and instead of expressing sympathy with the ones killed in Jerusalem,
Jesus calls his listeners to face their own lives and reform them. The people who have perished in the tragedies
no longer have a chance to reform their lives, however, those who are listening
still can.
Jesus
does not say that the tragedies reported to him were some kind of a punishment
for those people’s sins. That would be not only too simplistic but also inaccurate
and false. While it is true that some
suffering is caused by our own choices, it is not true for all suffering. There are many loving wives and
self-sacrificing mothers, wholesome husbands and just fathers, saintly single
men and women, holy nuns, servant priests, and innocent children who suffer
terribly for no fault of their own! Moreover,
Jesus does not explain why God allows tragedy and pain to strike us. The answer to that question will remain shrouded
in mystery until we see God face to face. Nevertheless, Jesus does offer us a way to be
ready for whatever suffering may come our way.
He invites us to repent. In other words, he encourages us to move away
from that which separates us or moves us away from God and instead draw near to
God and bear the fruit of that closeness.
Jesus
offers the story of the fig tree or rather the story of the patient gardener to
encourage us to undergo whatever process of change we should go through in
order to bear good fruit. In the story,
the fig tree has not produced any fruit for three years. The owner wants to cut
it down, but the gardener intercedes for the tree and promises extra care to
help the tree bear fruit. It is the care that will save the tree as the tree
left on its own would not produce fruit yet another year either.
This
story illustrates the fact that God is constantly calling us to a changed life,
a better life. Furthermore, God does not leave us on our own in this process but
rather offers the help of the teaching of Jesus and the example of others. Like in the story about the caterpillar who
complains to a butterfly, “You’ve changed,” and the butterfly responds: “We’re
supposed to;” we are supposed to change by the transforming power of God. There is always something that needs to be
changed in our lives. Either we remove
the bad and replace it with good. Or we replace good with better. We can always
be more loving, kinder and more forgiving.
The
change or repentance will bring us closer to God. That closeness will produce
abundant fruit in our lives. It will not save us not from suffering, but it
will save us from the sense of meaninglessness of it. Suffering will come. No one is spared it.
Jesus himself was not spared it, and he was holy and blameless. His suffering
and death freely accepted redeemed the world. Our suffering when accepted in
trust unites us to Christ.
A person who
has accepted the care of the Divine Gardener can bear his or her suffering with
peace and grace. God can make that human
suffering holy. Indeed, very often when we see the suffering of someone who is
close to God and loves God, in spite of our powerless and confusion, we know
God is present in the midst of it. Even when the illness changes our loved ones
beyond recognition, like in Alzheimers or other debilitating illness, we know
God is there. In a way, not only do we admire
the work of God in the abundant fruit of his grace in their lives, but we also
are beholding the very presence of the great I AM in the soul set on fire with his
grace and love. We are privileged to
stand on holy ground and hear the invitation to be inspired by the holy life of
others to seek the God who enables such grace and holiness. This holiness is
indeed a gift to behold!
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