Many of us even though we say we believe in eternal life, still behave as if we didn't. We behave as if we believed that if we are good people, and we are unjustly attacked, God will necessarily rescue us in this life.
In today's first reading we have Jeremiah,
Terror on every side! Denounce! let us denounce him!” All those who were my friends are on the watch for any misstep of mine. Perhaps he will be trapped; then we can prevail, and take our vengeance on him. But the LORD is with me, like a mighty champion: my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph.
We can forget that in the end Jerusalem is sacked and Jeremiah ends up in Egypt, and probably died there,although there is not clear record of his death.
In the gospel, we have the people wanting to stone Jesus and of course we know that that will lead to his crucifixion and death.
For both Jeremiah and Jesus, is there vendication? Yes, but not until they have passed, as we say in the south.
If this life were all there is, and God were just, he would come to our rescue always in this life. But God understands that my life and your life are not limited to our all too brief passage through history.
Does God sometimes grant us vindication in this life? Yes. But it is not something we have a right to expect. We can hope for it. We can pray for it. But on this last Friday of Lent we are reminded that in the end, real faith boils down to four words, thy will be done.
Will there always be justice? Without a doubt. But we may not see it in this life.
