Reading 1 Ex 12:37-42
The children of Israel set out from Rameses for Succoth,
about six hundred thousand men on foot,
not counting the little ones.
A crowd of mixed ancestry also went up with them,
besides their livestock, very numerous flocks and herds.
Since the dough they had brought out of Egypt was not leavened,
they baked it into unleavened loaves.
They had rushed out of Egypt and had no opportunity
even to prepare food for the journey.
The time the children of Israel had stayed in Egypt
was four hundred and thirty years.
At the end of four hundred and thirty years,
all the hosts of the LORD left the land of Egypt on this very date.
This was a night of vigil for the LORD,
as he led them out of the land of Egypt;
so on this same night
all the children of Israel must keep a vigil for the LORD
throughout their generations.
Gospel Mt 12:14-21
The Pharisees went out and took counsel against Jesus
to put him to death.
When Jesus realized this, he withdrew from that place.
Many people followed him, and he cured them all,
but he warned them not to make him known.
This was to fulfill what had been spoken through Isaiah the prophet:
Behold, my servant whom I have chosen,
my beloved in whom I delight;
I shall place my Spirit upon him,
and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
He will not contend or cry out,
nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.
A bruised reed he will not break,
a smoldering wick he will not quench,
until he brings justice to victory.
And in his name the Gentiles will hope.
When God sent Moses to Pharaoh to demand the release of the people of Israel, Pharaoh stood his ground that it will never happen. A man stood against the “Great I AM.”
Pharaoh actually tried all he could but he lost it all. Today, the people of Israel were finally hurried out of the land of Egypt.
No one can contend with God, no one battles with God and wins, God’s will prevails at last.
This is the same as the story of Joseph. His brothers stood against his dreams and God’s plans for him but their enmity was used as a catalyst to speed up the fulfilment, they ended up paying more homage than they swore never to do.
In the Gospel, we see how resolved the Pharisees were to kill Jesus and put an end to the “Jesus’ problems.” Unfortunately, that Jesus’ problem hasn’t died till today. God will always prevail.
It may take a while but God will always win. We are told the people of Israel spent four hundred and thirty years in Egypt. Their last fifty or so years were horrible years of torture and indescribable persecution. They must have cried and cried over and again perhaps losing hope.
However, at God’s time, He rescued them. Ecclesiastes 3:11, he has made all things beautiful in its own time.
Sometimes I also wish I can rush God, sometimes I think He is slower than He should but then He has made all things beautiful in its own time and experience has taught me that His time is always the best. He may not rush as I am rushing but He is never late.
However, I acknowledge that the process and period of waiting is most times very stressful and painful, uncertainty about the outcome of waiting makes it more difficult. So can we pray today for deeper faith and submission to God in our different crises and for greater patience knowing that God’s time is always the best.
Sermon preached by Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Okami on July 20. 2019.