Today’s Reflection
Gospel: Matthew 19: 23-30
August 19, 2025 | Tuesday

Today’s Gospel

Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I say to you: it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Yes, believe me: it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle than for the one who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.”

On hearing this, the disciples were astonished and said, “Who, then, can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and answered, “For human beings it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”

Then Peter spoke up and said, “You see, we have given up everything to follow you. What, then, will there be for us?”

Jesus answered, “You, who have followed me, listen to my words: on the Day of Renewal, when the Son of Man sits on his throne in glory, you, also, will sit, on twelve thrones, to judge the twelve tribes of Israel. As for those who have left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, children or property for my Name’s sake, they will receive a hundredfold, and be given eternal life. Many who are now first, will be last, and many who are now last, will be first.

Today’s Reflection

Gideon’s story, one of the Judges of Israel, is a story of the Lord’s might have localized on a person who is ordinary and faithful to the Deuteronomic Law. The theme cycle in the Deuteronomic History framework is again operative in this story. There was a bit of sarcasm and irony in the conversation of Gideon and the messenger of the Lord. However, once it is proven that it really came from the Lord, Gideon becomes subservient and amiable, and he is attributed to the power of the Lord in punishing and saving His people. It is a story worth pondering how God develops Gideon into somebody and lets him dedicate his whole life to the service of God, that is, becoming an instrument of God in saving His people. Unlike other Judges of Israel, Gideon enables us to see his personal exercises and how he is led to align with God’s thoughts. Only with God’s help and no human interventions.

The emphatic image of the “passing through the eye of a needle” comes to mind as Jesus increases the standard of following Him and the challenge of being with Him and following more than observing the Deuteronomic Precepts. The parable uncovers that all human efforts are futile sans the help of a loving, forgiving, and merciful God. The subsequent parable further encourages those who follow His will and are observant of His precept. There is no promise here of the “hundredfold return” for those who observe His precepts. We know that persecution and the like will come. But there is always a consolation in this cluster of parables, the parable of the “Parable of the Sheeps and the Goats,” prophesying the restoration, not only of the tribes of Israel but all the peoples of the New Israel. It is just comforting to note that in all the demands of following Jesus, the radical way, the 180-degree turn, the abandoning of those precious to us and our family relationships, He gives us the consolation of the loving Father who gives mercy and justice to His people.

/Vulnerasti, 2025