The Evil Plot
JEREMIAH 18:18-20; PSALM 30; MATTHEW 20:17-28
“My enemies are digging a pit for me.” ‘Come on,’ they said, ‘let us concoct a plot against Jeremiah” (Jer. 18:18). The plot against Jeremiah prefigures the plot against Jesus. It also shows how the enemies plot evil against the children of God without offense.
What was the offense of Jeremiah? Psalm 35:7 says, “For without cause they laid their net for me; without reason they dug a pit for my soul.” Again, Psalm 57:6 says, “They spread a net for my feet; my soul was despondent. They dug a pit before me, but they themselves have fallen into it!”
Considering his situation, Jeremiah resorted to God for intervention. Most likely, he prayed using the words of today’s psalm, “Save me in your love, O Lord. Release me from the snares they have hidden, for you are my refuge, Lord.” God is our unfailing refuge. Ask for his intervention, and he will answer.
In the gospel, we are also presented with the plot of the mother of James and John lobbying for positions. Beloved, rather than contending and competing over positions, wealth, and privileges like the two sons of Zebedee, let us seek to be closer to Jesus through self-denial and body restraint.
Let us pray
Look kindly, Lord, we pray, on the devotion of your people, that those who, by their self-denial, are restrained in body may, by the fruit of good works, be renewed in mind. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Fr. Daniel Evbotokhai
