Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)
From: Wisdom 2:12-17-20
Life Leads to Death (Continuation)
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[12] "Let us lie in wait for the righteous man, because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions; he reproaches us for sins against the law, and accuses us of sins against our training.
[17] Let us see if his words are true, and let us test what will happen at the end of his life; [18] for if the righteous man is God's son, he will help him, and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries. [19] Let us test him with insult and torture, that we may find out how gentle he is, and make trial of his forbearance. [20] Let us condemn him to a shameful death, for, according to what he says, he will be protected."
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Commentary:
1:16-2:24. This section describes the way the ungodly think and behave, and their error in so doing. Righteousness is immortal; but the ungodly think that life ends at death and therefore they try to strike a bargain with death (1:16-2:19). Moreover, they hound the righteous man because he thinks and acts differently from the way they do (2:10-20). They have no idea what life is all about (2:21-24).
2:10-20. Not content with enjoying the pleasures of life, the ungodly go further: they persecute the just man because he is a constant reproach to them. They want to see if God, whom the just man calls his father, will protect and rescue him. He calls God his father? Let us see what protection God gives him. If God fails to come to his aid, then they are proved right, and the just man wrong. Their words are echoed in the insults offered by scribes and Pharisees to Jesus when he was on the cross (cf. Mt 27:40-43; Mk 15:31-32; Lk 23:35-37).
Interestingly, the just man calls himself a "child of God" (v. 13). This is something new in Jewish thinking, because prior to this it was the entire people of Israel or the king their representative who was considered a "son of God" (cf. Ex 4:22; Deut 14:1; 32:6; Ps 2; Is 30:1, 9; Hos 11:1). But in the later books of the Old Testament (for example, in Sir 23:4; 51:14) we begin to see the fatherhood of God towards every just person. The title of "child of God" is applied to all the righteous, and more properly to the Messiah, who is the Righteous One.
As the RSV note "e" points out, the Greek word pais which it translates as "child" can also mean "servant". The "servant" in the Old Testament acquires special significance from the book of Isaiah forward, where the "Suffering Servant" appears (cf. Is 52:13-53:12). This man will, through his suffering, set Israel free of Its sins. This dual meaning of pais prepares the way for the revelation of Jesus Christ, Son of God and Servant of the Lord.
True and False Wisdom (Continuation)
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[16] For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. [17] But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, without uncertainty or insincerity. [18] And the harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
The Source of Discord
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[1] What causes wars, and what causes fightings among you? Is not your passions that are at war in your members? [2] You desire and do not have; so you kill. And you covet and cannot obtain; so you fight and wage war. You do not have, because you do not ask. [3] You ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
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Commentary:
13-18. These verses point out the qualities of Christian wisdom (cf. 1:5). After exhorting his readers to manifest their wisdom by their actions (verse 13), he attacks the signs of false wisdom (verses 14-16) and explains the qualities of the true (verses 17-18).
St. Paul also makes a distinction between worldly wisdom--the wisdom of man when he veers away from his correct goal--and the wisdom of God, which reaches its highest expression on the Cross (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:18-3:3). St. James pays particular attention to the practical effects of godly wisdom--meekness, mercy and peace.
False wisdom, on the contrary, leads to bitter zeal, rivalry and resentment: it is "earthly" because it rejects things transcendental and supernatural; "unspiritual" (merely natural, psychi in the original Greek), as befits people who follow their nature as wounded by Original Sin, deprived of the help of the Spirit (cf. notes on 1 Corinthians 2:14-16; Jude 19-20); "devilish", in the sense that such people are inspired by the devil, who is envious (cf. Wisdom 2:24), "a liar and the father of lies" (John 8:44).
18. What this verse means is that the "peacemakers" of the Beatitudes (cf. Matthew 5:6 and note) create around themselves an environment making for righteousness (holiness), and they themselves benefit from the peace they sow. "There can be no peace," Pope John XXIII says, "between men unless there is peace within each of them: unless, that is, each one builds up within himself the order wished by God" (Pacem In Terris, 165).
The "harvest of righteousness" is the equivalent of righteousness itself: it is keeping the law of the Gospel, doing good works, which show true wisdom. The passage is reminiscent of Isaiah 32:17-18: "and the effects of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust for ever. My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings and in quiet resting places."
Every Christian who strives to live in accordance with his vocation is a sower of holiness and justice-with-peace: "Through your work, through the whole network of human relations," (St) Monsignor Escriva says, "you ought to show the charity of Christ and its concrete expression in friendship, understanding, human affection and peace. Just as Christ `went about doing good' (Acts 10:38) throughout Palestine, so much you also spread peace in your family circle, in civil society, at work, and in your cultural and leisure activities" (Christ Is Passing By, 166).
1. "Wars" and "fighting" are an exaggerated reference to the contention and discord found among those Christians. "Passions", as elsewhere in the New Testament, means concupiscence, hedonism, pleasure-seeking (cf. verse 3; Luke 8:14; Titus 3:3; 2 Peter 2:13).
St. James points out that if one fails to fight as one should against one's evil inclinations, one's inner disharmony overflows in the form of quarreling and fighting. The New Testament often refers to the good kind of fight, which confers inner freedom and is a prerequisite for salvation (cf., e.g., Matthew 11:12; Romans 7:14-25; 1 Peter 2:11).
"How can you be at peace if you allow passions you do not even attempt to control to drag you away from the 'pull' of grace?
"Heaven pulls you upwards; you drag yourselves downwards. And don't seek excuses--that is what you are doing. If you go on like that, you will tear yourself apart" (St J. Escriva, Furrow, 851).
2-3. St. James is describing the sad state to which free-wheeling hedonism (specifically, greed for earthly things) leads.
"You do not receive, because you ask wrongly": "He asks wrongly who shows no regard for the Lord's commandments and yet seeks Heavenly gifts. He also asks wrongly who, having lost his taste for Heavenly things, seeks only earthly things--not for sustaining his human weakness but to enable him to indulge himself" (St. Bede, Super Iac. Expositio, ad loc.).