Jesus said to
the Pharisee that had invited him for dinner: “But it will be bad for you
Pharisees! You give God a tenth of the food you get, even your mint, your rue,
and every other little plant in your garden. But you forget to be fair to
others and to love God. These are the things you should do. And you should also
continue to do those other things.
“It will be
bad for you Pharisees because you love to have the most important seats in the
synagogues. And you love for people to show respect to you in the marketplaces.
It will be bad for you, because you are like hidden graves. People walk on them
without knowing it.”
One of the
experts in the law said to Jesus, “Teacher, when you say these things about the
Pharisees, you are criticizing our group too.”
Jesus
answered, “It will be bad for you, you experts in the law! You make strict
rules that are very hard for people to obey. You try to force others to obey
your rules. But you yourselves don’t even try to follow any of those rules.
Food for thought!
When Jesus talks
to some people, he talks to all peoples. When Jesus tells one he tells all;
when he talks to Pharisees he talks to us as well. This is what happens in
today's Gospel Reading. Yesterday, Jesus had been invited for dinner by one
Pharisee. When he got at table, Jesus did not follow the
usual Jewish rituals before meals; he went straight to eating,
something that displeased the host, who was shocked and somewhat offended when
he saw that Jesus didn’t wash up before the meal.
Then Jesus began
to reprimand Pharisees and Pharisaism. As he did this, one of the experts
in the law said to Jesus, “Teacher, when you say these things about the
Pharisees, you are criticizing our group too.” This man, for sure, felt himself
implicated in what Jesus was saying. And that is the point. As the Bible
says, "No one can hide so that I can't see him," declares the
LORD in Jeremiah 23:24. Another text says, "And no creature is hidden
from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we
must give account."
This is what
makes the Word of God ever relevant; what the Lord said yesterday, he is saying
it today. What he told the people of yesterday, he says to us today; what he
tells men, he tells it to the women; what he condemns in Pharisees, he condemns
in us too. For that same reason, we always do well to listen to all that Jesus
says, regardless of the matter and the time and the people in question. Never
say that what Jesus said does not apply to you. It does.
“Teacher, when
you say these things about the Pharisees, you are criticizing our group too.”
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