Gospel: Luke 11:47-54
A curse is on you, for you build monuments to the prophets your ancestors killed. So you approve and agree with what your ancestors did. Is it not so? They got rid of the prophets, and you build monuments to them!
For that reason the wisdom of God also said: I will send prophets and apostles and these people will kill and persecute some of them. But the present generation will have to answer for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the foundation of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was murdered between the altar and the Sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, the people of this time will have to answer for them all. A curse is on you, teachers of the law, for you have taken the key of knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you prevented others from entering.”
As Jesus left that place, the teachers of the law and the Pharisees began to harass him, asking him endless questions, setting traps to catch him in something he might say.

Reflections
“A curse is on you, for you build monuments to the prophets your ancestors killed.”
It is unnerving picturing Christ addressing the words, “A curse is on you…” to me. I felt that the words were humiliating rather than humbling. And so I also imagine how unsettling must have been for the teachers of the law and the Pharisees. They must have felt defamed and disgraced in public. The words appear so harsh and blatant. But surely these words bring to light how profoundly critical it is to mend our ways and what a great challenge it is to follow Christ.
We are not teachers of the law and Pharisees but we have a share in the blunder they have committed: they do the total opposite of what their life is sup- posed to exhibit. We are Christians and we live un-Christian lives. Time and again we remember that it is easy to become a Christian but difficult to live as one. It is therefore imperative for us to look at ourselves and examine our lives constantly. As Christians we must live the values and the options of Christ, we must be obedient to his Words, and we must always walk along his path.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2019