Daily Reflection | Gospel Reading | RVA

Gospel: Mark 12:28-34 -
A teacher of the law had been listening to this discussion and admired how Jesus answered them. So he came up and asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?”
Jesus answered, “The first is: Hear, Israel! The Lord, our God, is One Lord; and you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. And after this comes a second commandment: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these two.”

The teacher of the law said to him, “Well spoken, Master; you are right when you say that he is one, and there is no other besides him. To love him with all our heart, with all our understanding and with all our strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves is more important than any burnt offering or sacrifice.”
Jesus approved this answer and said, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.Jesus approved this answer and said, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Reflection:
“Which commandment is the first of all?”
The Gospels do not always feature teachers of the law in a positive light. But here is one who approaches Jesus with a sincere desire to learn his message. When he asks Jesus to say which commandment is first of all, he applauds Jesus’ answer: that the first commandment is to love God with one’s whole heart, soul, mind, and strength—and that this is joined by a second and equivalent commandment, that we love our neighbor as ourselves. This is a reminder that the message of Jesus was in fact the highest expression of Jewish teaching.
And yet, how often in Christian history have we strayed from the simple religious message of Jesus, instead battling with one another over matters of doctrine, creedal definitions, or the correct way of worshipping? Jesus was asked: What is the most important commandment of all? And he offered a plain answer: It is that we truly love God and we truly love our neighbor. If we get that much right, regardless of our other failings, we are not far from the kingdom of God.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2019

Gospel: Luke 11:14-23 -
One day, Jesus was driving out a demon, which was mute. When the demon had been driven out, the mute person could speak, and the people were amazed. Yet some of them said, “He drives out demons by the power of Beelzebul, the chief of the demons.” Others wanted to put him to the test, by asking him for a heavenly sign.

But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them, “Every nation divided by civil war is on the road to ruin, and will fall. If Satan also is divided, his empire is coming to an end. How can you say that I drive out demons by calling upon Beelzebul? If I drive them out by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons drive out demons? They will be your judges, then.
But if I drive out demons by the finger of God; would not this mean that the kingdom of God has come upon you? As long as a man, strong and well armed, guards his house, his goods are safe. But when a stronger man attacks and overcomes him, the challenger takes away all the weapons he relied on, and disposes of his spoils.
Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me, scatters.

Reflection:
“Whoever is not with me is against me.”
Jesus, presumably, had the power to perform any number of wonders: to make the sky turn dark, or make the earth tremble. And yet by and large he used his power to heal sick and afflicted people—not even important people, but just any miserable and outcast person he met along the way. This raised the question: “By what power does he do these things?”
Jesus knew what they were thinking: that he must be relying on demonic powers! How could he rely on the power of demons to drive out demons?
A tree may be judged by its fruits. What produces life, wholeness, and holiness, comes from God. What produces division, discord, and hatred, comes from demons. What confuses us is that demonic forces of- ten operate under the banner of God. People can wage war, amass unjust fortunes, dismiss the poor, or discriminate against their neighbors while loudly proclaiming God’s name. That is why it is so important to pay attention to the fruits. Do their deeds protect life, honor human dignity, promote peace and reconciliation? On that basis it is easy to discern the difference between God and demons.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2019

Gospel: Matthew 5:17-19 -
Do not think that I have come to annul the law and the prophets. I have not come to annul them, but to fulfill them. I tell you this: as long as heaven and earth last, not the smallest
letter or dot in the law will change, until all is fulfilled. So then, whoever breaks the least important of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be the least in the kingdom of heaven. On the other hand, whoever obeys them, and teaches others to do the same, will be great in the kingdom of heaven.

Reflections:
“Do not think that I have come to annul the law and the prophets.”
One can quote scripture to support many positions. In one passage Jesus is attacked for violating the Sabbath or consorting with unclean people or seeming to set his own authority above the Law. And here he is seeming to abhor any violation of even “the least important” of the commandments. He has not come to “annul” the commandments but to “fulfill them.” Not even “the smallest letter or dot in the law will change,” until all is fulfilled.
And yet Jesus constantly seems to set the spirit of the law—exemplified in love of God and love of one’s neighbor— against the letter. Certainly St. Paul and the early church came to believe that faith set one free from any captivity to the law. It is important to note that Jesus speaks of “the law and the prophets.” When the law is interpreted from the perspective of the prophets, it becomes clear that the highest form of righteousness is the practice of mercy, justice, service to the poor and the stranger, a contrite heart, and humility before the Lord. With the law interpreted in this context, it becomes clear what Jesus means when he says, “I have not come to annul them but to fulfill them.”

© Copyright Bible Diary 2019

Gospel: Matthew 18:21-35 -
Then Peter asked him, “Lord, how many times must I forgive the offenses of my brother or sister? Seven times?” Jesus answered, “No, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
This story throws light on the kingdom of Heaven: A king decided to settle accounts with his servants. Among the first of them was one who owed him ten thousand pieces of gold. As the man could not repay the debt, the king commanded that he be sold as a slave with his wife, his children and all his goods, as repayment.

The servant threw himself at the feet of the king and said, ‘Give me time, and I will pay you back everything.’ The king took pity on him, and not only set him free, but even cancelled his debt.
When this servant left the king’s presence, he met one of his fellow servants, who owed him a hundred pieces of silver. He grabbed him by the throat and almost choked him, shouting, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ His fellow servant threw himself at his feet and begged him, ‘Give me time, and I will pay everything.’ But the other did not agree, and sent him to prison until he had paid all his debt.
Now the servants of the king saw what had happened. They were extremely upset, and so they went and reported everything to their lord. Then the lord summoned his servant and said, ‘Wicked servant, I forgave you all that you owed me when you begged me to do so. Weren’t you bound to have pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’ The lord was now angry. He handed the wicked servant over to be punished, until he had paid the whole debt.”
Jesus added, “So will my heavenly Father do with you, unless you sincerely forgive your brothers and sisters.”

Reflection:
“Lord, how many times must I forgive the offenses of my brother or sister?”
There is a kind of cheap forgiveness that falls in the category of “please and thank you”—an exchange of courtesies: “I’m sorry”; “I forgive you.” It is easy to forgive someone who is late for dinner, or who inadvertently steps on your toes. But Jesus describes a kind of forgiveness without limit—seventy times the maximum that Peter could envision. And the real test of this forgiveness is that it applies to real injury. Think of what happened following the massacre of nine African Americans, who were shot while they were praying in a church in South Carolina. Soon after the arrest of the shooter—a young white racist—he was confronted by family members of the victims who expressed their forgiveness. They did not do this because the killer was “worthy” of their forgiveness, but to honor the faith of their loved ones, and to express their own faith in Christ, who uttered from the Cross: “Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do.” As Jesus would say, “This story throws light on the Kingdom of Heaven.”

© Copyright Bible Diary 2019