“You shall go!” “Will you go?”
The three words in each sentence are similar, but the meaning is very different. The first is a command spoken to young Jeremiah by the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The passage is from the very first chapter and verses of the Book of Jeremiah: it announces who he is: his father, his family’s home, and his tribe. The divine message moves him deeply: before God caused his conception God dedicated him as “a prophet to the nations.” No demurral will be accepted: “…you shall go…you shall speak.” God touches his mouth and places the words to be spoken.
The tenor of the New Testament changes. In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus, Son of God and our Savior teaches large crowds from a boat: Christ does not command the people. The significant number tells us that the new message of salvation has already been heard in person or from a disciple or friend. Hebrew or Aramaic speakers there probably had an idiom (as we do in English) about words “falling on deaf ears.”
Just so the parable Jesus tells gently prepares them (and us) in the event our joyful invitation to follow the path of Jesus to salvation falls on deaf ears. As every sower knows, some seeds fail. That reality does make the sower give up forever! Each seed that flourishes will yield a great harvest.
As revealed by Jesus, the way to salvation has had and will have countless blessed followers. We have Jesus’ own words to guide us on our way, and we also have his true Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist to sustain us. No thundering command propels us. We have a gentle invitation filled with love and mercy to bring us to eternal life. How can we miss it?
Let us pray:
Dear God, we love your commands and gentle words of love and mercy. Guide us along the path to eternal salvation with you and with the never-ending nourishment of your Holy Eucharist. Amen.