A Microcosm Wrapped in a Macrocosm
A scientist sits in wonder at creation in order that he might discover the truths that nature holds concealed. A little boy learns to speak after he has conquered that special word “Daddy”. Every one of us learns one step at a time until we discover that everything is intertwined with everything else. As a surfing buff I had to learn to repair the damages that often come with surfing near beach rocks. I learned that resin will not harden without some catalyst. From that small bit of knowledge I learned that it is the same in concrete work, plastering and even cooking. If we learn the microcosm then the macrocosm becomes manageable.
Our Lord exposes a microcosm in the parable of the workers who are waiting to be hired. Some are hired at the very beginning of the day and told that they will receive a denarius for their work. At the third hour the owner finds others in the market place and he sends them into his vineyard. Then again at the sixth hour, again at the ninth hour, and finally at the eleventh hour. In total there were five hours. These hours represent the five ages of life that each soul passes through and the five ages of the world which God established.
Let us consider first of all the five ages of human history and what they mean to us.
The ages of man in his relationship to God are divided as follows:
1. The age from Adam to Noah
2. The age from Noah to Abraham
3. The age from Abraham to Moses
4. The age from Moses to our Lord
5. The age from Jesus in our world to the return of Jesus as our judge
From Adam to Noah, the human experience was new and experimentation and corruption went hand in hand like a newborn growing little by little and wanting everything. As the baby puts everything into its mouth so the first communities of mankind wanted it all and sought to satisfy their sensual life without any concern about life beyond this world. Hence God decided to clean the world and begin again after the great flood with Noah and his family.
From Noah to Abraham, God begins a new covenant with man in which a certain nation is being formed. Much like the adolescent child, who reaches the age of reason and begins to learn how to form friendships. This is the age in which the family begins to realize the potential that God has placed within each soul. Abraham, promised to be the Father of many nations, takes his son of promise, Isaac, up to Mt. Mariah in order to offer this boy to the God of all creation. Isaac prefigures the Lamb of God who will ultimately lay down his life for every soul created.
From Abraham to Moses, we watch as God forms a mighty nation from the child of promise, Isaac. The child of Isaac who will form the Israelite nation was designated and named Jacob. Out of Jacob issues the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph will be betrayed by his brothers and sold into slavery in order that the family might not starve during the famine but bow down before their brother, Joseph. In parallel the soul’s life enters into early manhood with all its powers and its visions. It is the period of the development of the dream. The dream will lead to the one who was “drawn from the water”, Moses. Through Moses the nation would receive the Ten Commandments. Their law would be their glory and no other nation would have such a gift as this.
From Moses to Jesus, the Jewish community would live by the law and the prophets would call them back to this relationship over and over again. But they were a stiff-necked people who constantly challenged God’s love for them. This is the fourth age of man and relates to each soul’s maturation into adulthood. There is a struggle to let go of the selfish and proud attitude in order to accept the wisdom of the law which is discovered as we age. So the Jews aged and the promise of a King kept them focused upon the worldly affairs while neglecting the prophetic witness.
Finally, the Fifth age which covers the time from the Incarnation to the Second Coming of Christ. This is the age of the Gentile who comes to Christ at the 11th hour. Their joy knew no bounds when they came to realize the truth of God’s love which came through the Jewish history and now that Abrahamic blessing to all nations was touching their lives. In the life of the individual man we have reached the senior citizen moment which begins to see the world as a passing place in which the divine test of love challenges the soul to hold onto the truth of God’s love and to let go of everything else but that love.
Through the first three ages the work of the Jew carried on the hope of salvation (the denarius). When the Jew rejected the Lamb of God and could not accept a crucified king then the door was opened for the blessing to reach out to the Gentile nations. These were those who remained idle throughout the day because no one hired them. Now the Jew had to watch as these enthusiastic 11th hour workers received salvation in the same measure as the Jew. There should be no jealousy because it was the Jewish role to bring the salvation to all. Again the effect of original sin makes one envious, and only humility can cure this disease.
Here is the truth contained in the parable: Salvation is the coin of reward. This coin has the image of the king and our king chose not to exalt Himself but to humble Himself and become our slave. We slaughtered Him and that blood that was shed became the coin of our redemption. We can come to this realization through the grace of God which can be given after Baptism, or at some point in our physical development. We may come to our Lord in the 11th hour of our life but we must come humbly then our happiness in His kingdom is assured. One day it will happen that the Jew will discover that there is no other King than Jesus and they will flock to his Cross and fall upon their knees and humbly beg forgiveness for their stubbornness. Through the humble Jewish Virgin, Mary, they will become one with the Gentiles for all will call her “Mother”. One day heaven will open and swallow up all the cares and concerns that plague us today. Let us pray for that day with many rosaries.
In the hearts of Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
Fr. Voigt, S.D.B.
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