There are times when we feel absolutely helpless to prevent terrible injustices, abusive language and behavior, and unnecessary disasters. Our helplessness may be fed by fears of reprisals and revenge. Societal polarization can create such seemingly impossible situations, and our only hope is to fall back on our faith and to strive to live justly and charitably.
Jeremiah felt abuse and reprisals from the people of Judah after they heard his fire-and-brimstone sermon on how their own abject failure to keep God’s covenant had caused the pervasive violence they were then experiencing. All Jeremiah could do was to endure their abuse and to trust in God, for he knew that God is the ultimate source of justice: “Vengeance is mine; and recompense” (Deut 32:35). Yet, even Jeremiah was tempted to ask God to allow him to witness God’s vengeance upon his persecutors.
After calling for justice, Nicodemus received the same ignorant abuse meted out to Jesus by those in authority, whose arrogance prevented them from remembering prophets from Galilee: Jonah, Hosea, Nahum. All Nicodemus could do was to fade away. Later, he provided assistance with the burial of Jesus.
Wishing revenge is a debilitating and complicated vice. We know individuals consumed by it for the signs of their suffering are evident: anger, envy, pride. All we can do is to witness the remedies of patience, charity, and humility, as the Pharisee Nicodemus chose to do. St. Paul, trained by Pharisees, advised, “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God . . . overcome evil with good” (Rom 12:19, 21).
