Rebuke to the hardened people.

 Whether God fulfilled his promises to the chosen people arose during the Babylonian captivity. The answer to this question is today’s first reading. The Old Testament prophet presents God as the Redeemer who will defeat the Babylonians. God speaks to his people with a statement already known from the books of the Law: I am the Lord, your God. In other words, the same God of the Fathers is at work here, and he has already proven himself several times in the history of the Old Testament people of God. He presents himself as one who teaches and guides the people. Then comes the reproach. They would have been saved if the people had obeyed God’s commands. So, God is not to blame for his promises not being fulfilled. The people themselves are to blame for their unfaithfulness.

As God taught the people in the Old Testament, so did Jesus in the New Testament. Jesus also reproaches his contemporaries for being moody and unstable. They are like children playing in the square at a wedding and a funeral simultaneously, spoiling each other’s play. Jesus’ rebuke to his contemporaries, Jesus applies their attitude to John the Baptist and himself. John the Baptist lived a life of repentance, and he did not suit them, so they accused him of being possessed by the devil. Jesus was with sinners, which seemed to them to be worldly; therefore, they did not accept him. Then Jesus makes a statement: Well, wisdom is justified by works. God’s wisdom manifested in John the Baptist’s acts of repentance. God’s wisdom was also manifested in Jesus and his dining with sinners. Both did works of God’s wisdom. You need to observe and evaluate the surrounding deeds in the spirit of faith. After all, God shapes each person differently according to their life circumstances. Therefore, we should not adopt superficial slander and name-calling of other people. Naturally, when someone is impure, he also judges others according to himself. Immersed in things, events, and people, he will keep us on the path Jesus leads us on. Whoever follows Jesus will have the light of life.