The first reading for mass today is about Balaam who gave an oracle from God, in the book of Numbers. If it seems a bit odd, then you should read more about him, because Balaam is quite a character in the bible. Besides giving oracles from God, encountering a talking donkey, and an angel, Balaam actually taught the king how to trap the Israelite people into making them sin against their faith. God would not permit him to curse the Israelite people directly, so Balaam figured out where their weaknesses were and explained to the king how to attack their weaknesses and cause them to sin.
Long story short, Balaam was initially close to God and received these special favors to give oracles from God, however, through his own greed and sins, he fell from grace and died dishonorably. The story of his life gives us a lot of warnings about what can go wrong in a right relationship with God. Just because we were once close to God, that is no indication that we will remain so. It all depends on whether we are loyal to God and do His will, or if we get sidetracked by our own wants, or become overly confident in our relationship with God and believe we can’t fall from grace. (This was a danger that Judas fell victim to as well.)
However, in today’s gospel, Jesus also figured out where the chief priests and elders weaknesses were and laid a trap for them. Yes, Jesus! He outsmarted the foxes. It’s enough to make you want to laugh. The chief priests and elders were out to take him down a notch or two in the eyes of the people, by questioning his authority to do the things he did. Jesus countered them with a question of his own: “Where was John’s baptism from? Was it of heavenly or human origin?” It was just like a game of chess. It made them think before they responded, and of course Christ had already thought through that process and knew they couldn’t answer him. We don’t often think of Jesus as being clever, but he certainly was in today’s gospel!
The two readings today both depict two very different but clever traps. In the first reading, Balaam thought himself a little too clever for his own good and ended up falling from grace and dying a dishonorable death, because he wasn’t loyal to God. He did initially speak for God, but later turned and betrayed Him and caused His people to sin.
Jesus mentions John the Baptist in his clever trap for the chief priests and elders in today’s gospel reading. Was his baptism of heavenly or human origin? In the case of Balaam, he was initially speaking for God, but then turned to human motivations.
It can be confusing sometimes, to be sure if a thing is from God or not. That is why Jesus talked about “fruits” so much. Our actions speak louder than our words. John the Baptist dedicated his life to the Lord and was loyal to him until the very end, as we heard in Sunday’s gospel when he was in prison. John died on Christ’s behalf. Balaam died dishonorably after betraying God’s people. In the end, the nature of who they really were, revealed itself.
One last thought about today’s readings for mass that might apply to our own lives. In the case of Balaam, Jesus, and John the Baptist, things were not what they appeared to be at any given moment in their lives. Balaam seemed to be in God’s grace and even spoke oracles for him at a certain point in his life, but it turned out that he was only interested in himself. Jesus appeared to be crazy, or a fake to the chief priests and elders but of course we know how his life turned out. He really is the son of God. John the Baptist was in prison in yesterday’s gospel. He certainly didn’t seem to be a fine, upstanding member of society at that point in his life, but John the Baptist died a martyr and a saint. Jesus said he was the greatest of all those born to women.
Our lives are not what they seem to be on the surface of things at any given moment in time. If there are things going on in your life, or your family, that you are not so proud of at the moment, then remember that your life does not consist of your life’s worst moments. God sees the whole picture of your life, not just the tiny little periods of time the rest of the world sees. Who you really are will be revealed over the long term. Our lives are a book that is still in the process of being written and the way things look on the surface of things, is not always the truth. That can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on where our loyalties lie.
