THE WORD
Ez 43,1-7 / Mt 23,1-12
Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example. For they preach but they do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens (hard to carry) and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them. All there works are performed to be seen. They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues, greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation ‘Rabbi.’ As for you, do not be called ‘Rabbi.’ You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers. Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven. Do not be called ‘Master’; you have but one master, the Messiah. The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
IN OTHER WORDS.
The Scribes and Pharisees were faithful to Yahweh by following, to the letter, the Mosaic Law or Torah, their road to holiness. They wanted their fellow Jews to recognize and respect them as men of the law and of Yahweh. Those who did not belong to their exclusive club were second-class citizens.
Jesus announced love as the one commandment of God. We must love God above all and our neighbors as ourselves. St. Paul says, he who loves, keeps all the commandments. However, on many occasions, the human written law says one thing and the law of love says another. Which law will you follow? When Jesus healed somebody on a Sabbath, the Jews were scandalized because the Mosaic Law forbade work on the Sabbath. Jesus then told the crowd that a loving person, shall follow the spirit – not the letter – of the law. “The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath.” So Jesus told the crowd to do what the scribes and Pharisees said but reject what they practiced.
When we proclaim the Good News of Jesus, we should always remember the primacy of the law of love. Love for others is a condition and a prerequisite for the effectiveness of our witnessing to the Word. If we have no love for others, we are nothing. As an old song goes, “Without love, I am nothing, nothing at all.” And what is nothing cannot teach or preach! When our actions and relationship with others are without love, others will not hear the voice of what we are and do. But if we love, we can call God “our Father,” we shall soar with Jesus; His spirit will lead us on, by the Power of His Love.
- Fr. Ernie M. Lagura, SVD | USC, Cebu
The Word in other words 2016
An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.
