Fasting Day 36 of 40 | Sixth Tuesday of Lent
Once again, he spoke to him, “What if only forty are found there?” He said, “For the sake of forty, I will not do it.” Genesis 18:29
Abraham pleaded with God not to wipe out Sodom if forty righteous people were found there. Ultimately, not finding forty or even ten, God poured out vengeance on the city. This Scripture seems fitting as Jesus cursed the fig tree on Holy Week Tuesday when He found no fruit on it.
In Summa Theologica, Thomas Aquinas writes. “When the whole multitude sins, vengeance must be taken on them, either in respect of the whole multitude—thus the Egyptians were drowned in the Red Sea while they were pursuing the children of Israel, and the people of Sodom were entirely destroyed—or as regards part of the multitude, as may be seen in the punishment of those who worshipped the calf.”
Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) in Summa Theologica (Grand Rapids: CCEL), p. 3766.
All humanity deserves God’s vengeance because of our sin. After God wiped out humankind with the flood, He promised not to do it again.
As God is both gracious and generous, He dealt with our sin problem with the work of Christ, dying on the cross for our sins. But we must receive this gift and produce fruit in keeping with repentance, or we will end up like Sodom and the fig tree. Cursed!
On the first Holy Week Tuesday, Jesus inspected a tree for fruit. What would He see on your tree today?
Holy Spirit, produce fruit in me in keeping with my repentance. Amen.
Remember the Surrender Novena. “Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything.”
Pray that every day in life after Lent. Why? Only from a posture of surrender does the Holy Spirit produce fruit in us.