11th Week, Ordinary Time, Tuesday, 19-06-12 Kings 21:17-29 / Matthew 5:43-48
Whenever we say that someone "can get away with murder", we usually mean to say that someone can escape being caught or being punished.
We don't mean it literally, because we know that no one can get away with murder, especially when the crime is committed in public.
Even if the murderer can escape being caught or being punished by the law, he will eventually have to answer for it before God.
Yet we heard in the 1st reading that king Ahab apparently got away with murder by just being repentant and doing some acts of penance.
But we must also read the whole story to get the whole picture. In the end, king Ahab also died from a stray arrow in battle, and dogs came to lick his blood.
His reputation, as recorded in the 1st reading, was that of a king who behaved in the most abominable way.
So king Ahab did not have a good end to his life, nor a good name to go down with in history. In short he was a tragedy.
Similarly, if we as disciples of Jesus are not doing anything exceptional, then it might be a tragedy.
It is certainly not an ordinary matter if we were to follow what Jesus teaches us - love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
Indeed, we are called to be like the God we believe in. As disciples of Jesus, we can't get away from that.
As disciples of Jesus, to be like Jesus is certainly not doing or being something exceptional.