Who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?

Qo 1,2; 2,21-23; Ps 89; Col 3,1-5.9-11; Lk 12,13-21
4 AUGUST

Jesus is the Mediator, indeed the only one, the only Mediator of light, truth, justice, peace, eternal life, glorious resurrection and every grace of redemption and salvation between God and men. This truth is the essence, substance and foundation not of faith, but of the substance of God and of men. As the whole creation was made by the Father through the Word in the Holy Spirit, so all the redemption and the work of salvation was accomplished by the Father, in the Incarnate Word, through the Holy Spirit. And today it is always realized by the body of Christ, which is his one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church, through the Holy Spirit. Our faith is the confession of this truth. If this truth is not confessed, our faith is dead. It is of no use.

At that time Jesus said in reply, “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him. “Come to me, all you who labour and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light” (Mt 11,25-30).

“I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you (Jn 16,12-15).

Why then Jesus says “O man, who constituted me judge or mediator above you?” Jesus is the mediator between God and every man, to tell every man the will of his Father and to give every grace of salvation and redemption, in view of eternal life. He is not a mediator between man and man, in the sense that he must say the will of a man to another man, asking him to obey the will of the other. Jesus is not the mediator between human wills. He is the mediator between the will of God and the will of men. He must call every will of men to conform and obey the rules of the will of the Father. This is why he was sent: to show us the heart of the Father so that we welcome him and make him ours in him, with him and through him through the power of the Holy Spirit. That of Jesus is a heavenly, divine mission to bring man back to God.

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.” He replied to him, “Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?” Then he said to the crowd, “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.” Then he told them a parable. “There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. He asked himself, ‘What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?’ And he said, ‘This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grain and other goods and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!” But God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’ Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God.”

Now Jesus manifests to the man who had asked him to be his mediator with his brother what the end of the things of this world is: making of them a ladder to climb up to heaven. How is this possible? By giving the poor what is superfluous. One hundred tons of wheat are produced. A ton is needed for our life, ninety-nine are given to the poor. The gift given to the poor multiplies God’s blessing for us on earth and in addition it gives us the eternal blessing. Instead, this rich man accumulates everything for himself. On the earth, he enjoys nothing of his goods. He enjoys nothing in eternity. He thought of himself. He behaved like a greedy person. Never might he enjoy in the eternal goods of God, because he did not make his poorest brothers rejoice in his goods. Joy for joy, almsgiving for alms and love for love. We love and God loves us. This is his eternal law.

Mother of God, Angels and Saints, make us great operators of mercy. It is the way of heaven.