The “sun of justice” has come in the person of the Son of justice to rule the earth. This Son with blazing heat brings us the healing fire of purification for justice and mercy are both the same act of love. It is his redemptive love of sacrifice on the cross that calls out for justice against the sins of the world. As Jesus says to the people, “All that you see here—the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down” and so it came to pass as history gives testimony.
The same is true for our times and all time that we live in a world where kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall. Nations fight against nations while natural disasters destroy what once stood as a work of human hands leaving only a memory of the past. Jesus is preparing his people for the suffering that is to come from a world that lives for itself and not for him. He is preparing us to fear not but to persevere and we will secure our eternal life. Our call in this life is to give testimony of our faith regardless and despite what hardships and suffering come our way.
Many will question God asking, where is the Son of justice when suffering surrounds, us and the innocent who are persecuted by so much evil. God is always present in the suffering. He brings us his redemption through our suffering but he also offers the sinner his mercy. In the sin of humanity, the Son of justice is suffering the pain of the cross to offer us sinners his mercy and forgiveness that we may be redeemed by a conversion of heart.
St. Paul in his letter to the Thessalonians speaks to those living in a “disorderly way”. These were the ones who expected the end to come in their lifetime and so were living off the hard work of others no longer contributing to the goods and services needed for the community. St. Paul puts it plainly “if anyone is unwilling to work, neither should that one eat.” This is a warning against an attitude of entitlement from the work of others recalling the parable of the one who buried his “talent” and had nothing to show the Master when he returned. We are all called to work for the kingdom of God and it begins by offering our daily work that brings food to the table as our sacrifice to serve others.
Since the time of Jesus there have been voices that call out “the end is near” but Jesus reminds us “See that you not be deceived”. For God time is in the present so that for us we are to live with the end in mind not in fear but in joyful anticipation of the glorified state of the one true kingdom of God. To be set free from the bonds of sin, of disease, of corruption, of suffering and of death is our joyful hope for the end to come.
For now, we live in the near end, almost there but not yet. We are there when we come to receive the mercy and love of God in the sacraments, we are there when we open our hearts to love as God loves, we are there when there is nothing to fear for God is with us. The end is always near, closer than we may realize. The nearer we come to Jesus the more prepared and secure our life is for heaven’s gate.
In the recent past we have seen fires destroy a hardware store, a restaurant, a lumber store and all three had been in our communities for generations. Only the memory of the service they gave to our community remains for us reflect on. With the end have come new structures and new hope but like Lazarus who was raised from the dead but still had to die again what belongs to the earth returns to the earth. We live with the end in mind and it is the end of our suffering for the glory of God and the promise of the Son of justice in his resurrection.
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