After the great success of the Lord who was with Gideon to help him defend the Israelites, the people wanted to make him a king. Gideon’s reply? “Neither I nor my son will rule over you. The LORD will rule over you!” (Judges 8:23) Sadly, as continued to happen in the book of Judges, the people quickly turned from the Lord after the death of the judge (Gideon), and they went against these words of the one whom the Lord had so powerfully accompanied. To assure himself of the throne, Abimelech killed his seventy brothers. He thought that his own flesh and blood were nothing but a threat to the earthly kingship given to him by the crowds. Similarly, in the parable told by Christ, the early laborers see the late-comers as nothing but a threat to justice, seeing the goodness of the one who hired them as only a reason for sorrow and complaint.
It is the psalm that helps us to see the right perspective that we should have. “O LORD, in your strength the king is glad; in your victory how greatly he rejoices!” (Psalm 21:2) The king’s eyes are not on humans. He is not looking at his neighbors and relatives as opponents and threats. The true king’s gaze is upon the Lord, the Lord’s strength, the Lord’s victory. The true king can thus enjoy true gladness and joy. We may ask ourselves: “Which one of my brothers and sisters have I been eyeing as mere competition lately? Have I thought of them simply as a threat to my esteem in the eyes of others? Have I looked at how good the Lord has been to them, and rather than rejoicing as the Lord does, instead given in to jealousy or resentment?” May the Lord give us the kingly eyes of Christ which should be ours in virtue of our baptism: eyes that look to the Lord, that see the goodness of His love to us and others. May that vision bring true joy to our hearts and homes.