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The Kingdom of Heaven
Is At Hand
The Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time
June
15, 2008
By Philip D. Ropp
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A tour guide was
leading
a party down the dusty road from Jerusalem through
the Judean wilderness and onwards toward Jericho. On the way, the
group met a shepherd carrying
a lamb that was draped around his neck.
One of the lamb’s legs was neatly splinted and bandaged, and the
tourists were curious about this and asked their guide what could have
happened. Had he fallen into a
ravine? Had a predator attacked
him? To their surprise and horror, the
guide explained that the shepherd had broken the leg of the lamb
himself. It seemed that this lamb was always wandering
off and leading other sheep astray. The
dangers of the harsh terrain and the predators that inhabited it were
very
real, and so, to prevent this lamb from leading himself and others into
harm’s
way and death, the shepherd had broken one of his legs so he could no
longer
wander away.
Now this does
seem harsh:
A cruel and unusual kind of discipline perhaps, but a discipline that,
nonetheless, ultimately benefits not only the lamb with the broken leg,
but the
entire flock. And what becomes of this
broken lamb? His leg is set and bound
until it heals. During this time, he
becomes very special to the shepherd, who carries him from field to
field, hand
feeds him and cares for and nurtures him until he is able to walk
again. The lamb, in turn, learns to depend upon the
shepherd, and when he is mended, follows at his heels and loves him
with an
unceasing devotion. He becomes an
example for the other sheep and, in the end, this harsh discipline
results in a
flock that stays together and whose safety and wellbeing are
assured. The lesson learned is that membership in the
flock carries with it certain responsibilities, and when the individual
honors
these responsibilities the benefits are extended to all.
In Old Testament
Israel, the paschal lamb, the lamb
of the sacrifice, was offered up and had its blood poured out as an
atonement
for the sins of the nation. The lamb
that was chosen for this sacrifice had to be perfect and unblemished,
and could
never have had a bone broken. Therefore,
a lamb such as the one described here would have never been worthy to
be
offered in sacrifice, for the Lord says in Exodus 12:46, “…nor shall
you
break one of its
bones.”
As Christians,
we know that
Jesus was the perfect, unblemished paschal lamb offered up as the once
and for
all sacrifice for the sins of humankind.
As Jesus hung lifeless on the cross, we recall the scene as it is
presented in the gospel of John, in which the soldiers proceed to break
the
legs so as to hasten the death of the two thieves crucified with our
Lord, but
when they come to him and find him already dead we read, “For these
things were
done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, “Not one of His
bones shall be broken.” Jesus, because he is unblemished by sin and
unbroken in death, becomes the one atoning sacrifice that is able to
stand in
our place and bear the weight of our transgressions. He is the
Lamb of God offered up on our
behalf, and when we are washed in the precious blood of his perfect
sacrifice,
we gain access to the very perfection of God.
Because of this, our sins are forgiven and we gain that perfect
salvation that lies beyond the reach of our human mortality: Life
eternal.
The Lord is our
shepherd. Jesus Christ himself is the
master of our human flock. And we are
wayward and rebellious sheep, prone to wander off on our own: prone to
lead
others astray with us. And Jesus, as our
perfect shepherd, does not break our legs to bind us to him, but allows
us to
wander until we have our legs broken by our own sin. He allows us
to be lured into the trap of sin
by the temptations of our one true supernatural predator; that old
master of
evil and deceiver of men; that father of lies and prince of hell; that
old
serpent and snake in the grass, Satan the devil. It is he that
has turned our world into an
evil playground, and it is he that tries to draw us into death with the
bait of
dishonest money, dirty sex, and wicked drugs that mask the pain of sin
and so
lead us ever deeper in to depravity. And
it is Jesus, our perfect shepherd, who runs to us when we turn from the
horrors
of our sin, renounce our wicked ways, and drag ourselves back to him
after we
have had our legs broken by it.
Does Jesus
rebuke the
repentant sinner? Does he punish us, as
we deserve, for our transgressions?
No. He rejoices for us. Like the lamb, we have become very
special to
him, and so he binds our broken lives and he carries us from field to
field,
and he cares for and nurtures us until we are able to walk again.
And when we truly realize what has been done
for us we respond like the lamb; we recognize our dependence on him,
for it is
through him that we are mended, and so we want nothing more from that
time
onward but to follow at his heels and to love him with an unceasing
devotion.
The kingdom of heaven is
indeed at hand. And we are that kingdom.
We are the sheep of that fold, because we share together the knowledge
that it
is Jesus Christ and he alone that is our shepherd, our leader and our
king. It is he that has saved us from ourselves and
out of the kingdoms of the world that serve the lusts of Satan.
And he has done so that we might follow him
and have our life in him; that we might have this life and have it more
abundantly; that we might attain to the most abundant life of all, life
eternal
in the presence of God our Father in heaven forever. Amen! Could there
be a
greater bond of brotherhood than this; knowing that it is Jesus Christ
who
offered himself up in our place as the perfect sacrificial lamb so that
we
might be alive in him forever? That it
is our shepherd who, standing in the place of his imperfect and
blemished
sheep, gave himself up to death so that we might live with him for all
eternity? And, in return, what he asks of us is merely that we love the
God who
has saved us, and each other. And is this
not a small price to pay for a debt so huge? Today the invitation that
Jesus offers to us is the same as that offered to the Twelve so long
ago.
He asks us to
cure the sick as we ourselves
have been cured. He asks us to raise the
dead as we ourselves have been raised from death. He asks us to
cleanse the lepers as we
ourselves have been cleansed. And he
asks us to drive out demons as we ourselves have had our demons driven
out. He asks us to proclaim this good news to the lost
sheep of
the house of Israel: We are not sheep without a shepherd.
We are not troubled and abandoned unto
death. It is this that we have received
without cost, and it is this that we are to give without cost.
For the kingdom
of heaven is at hand.
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June 15, 2008
Ex
19:2-6a
In those days, the Israelites came to the desert of Sinai and pitched
camp.
While Israel was encamped here in front of the mountain,
Moses went up the mountain to God.
Then the LORD called to him and said,
“Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob;
tell the Israelites:
You have seen for yourselves how I treated the Egyptians
and how I bore you up on eagle wings and brought you here to myself.
Therefore, if you hearken to my voice and keep my covenant,
you shall be my special possession,
dearer to me than all other people,
though all the earth is mine.
You shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.”
Ps
100:1-2, 3, 5
R. (3c) We are his people: the sheep of his flock.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
serve the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful song.
R. We are his people: the sheep of his flock.
Know that the LORD is God;
he made us, his we are;
his people, the flock he tends.
R. We are his people: the sheep of his flock.
The LORD is good:
his kindness endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
R. We are his people: the sheep of his flock.
Rom
5:6-11
Brothers and sisters:
Christ, while we were still helpless,
yet died at the appointed time for the ungodly.
Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person,
though perhaps for a good person
one might even find courage to die.
But God proves his love for us
in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.
How much more then, since we are now justified by his blood,
will we be saved through him from the wrath.
Indeed, if, while we were enemies,
we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son,
how much more, once reconciled, will we be saved by his life.
Not only that,
but we also boast of God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Mt
9:36—10:8
At the sight of the crowds, Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for them
because they were troubled and abandoned,
like sheep without a shepherd.
Then he said to his disciples,
“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest.”
Then he summoned his twelve disciples
and gave them authority over unclean spirits
to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness.
The names of the twelve apostles are these:
first, Simon called Peter, and his brother Andrew;
James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John;
Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector;
James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus;
Simon from Cana, and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him.
Jesus sent out these twelve after instructing them thus,
“Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town.
Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons.
Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.”
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