Jesus denounces the Pharisees and scribes
It is the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time and today's gospel comes from Matt.23: 1-12 about our Lord Jesus Christ denouncing the Pharisees and Scribes, it is also dubbed a "Warning against hypocrisy"…it is a short gospel but full of meaning.
"Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
"Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called 'Rabbi' by others.
"But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven.
"Nor are you to be called teacher, for you have one teacher, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted."
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Right away you can decipher what our Lord Jesus Christ is telling us about the Pharisees and scribes whom he recognizes have the authority to teach the Law of Moses because they do sit in the chair of Moses. Yet the Lord condemns them saying, "But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them."
Indeed, the Jewish faith has a lot of "thou shalt nots" that devout Jews have to strictly observe. When we were in Israel some years back, we witnessed how things are in Jerusalem during the Sabbath Day. For instance on Sabbath Day, if your hotel room is on the 10th floor, and you take the elevator to go to your room you will notice that even if you are alone in the elevator, it stops on every floor. Apparently if you press the button of an elevator, the Jews consider it work. So the solution is for the elevator to stop in every floor to prevent people from pressing the buttons.
I'm sure that these Jewish traditions must have changed throughout the centuries. For instance, there are no Pharisees or scribes anymore, but only rabbis. But in Jerusalem, the Day of the Sabbath means, shops, restaurants and other places are closed because the majority of the people do not work on Sabbath Day. It is unlike a Christian country where on Saturday you will see a bustling city with people shopping because there is no work.
But back in the days of Jesus, the Pharisees and scribes placed burdens on the Jews, but somehow, the people giving burdens to the Jews seem to be exempted from their laws. Sounds familiar with our politicians who make laws but believe that they are above the law.
Jesus also chastises the Pharisees' desire for prestige, getting places of honor, getting praises from the people. They wear prayer shawls to bring attention to themselves for their piety and demand to sit in places of honor. Only Jesus would dare take them to task for their hypocrisy. In doing so, Jesus made a lot of enemies from among the Pharisees and scribes who eventually had him crucified.
But in today's gospel, our Lord gives us one of his best teaching when he declared, "The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted." This is a divine teaching on the attitude of people who can enter heaven, they must be cloaked with humility. More often than not, people regard a humble man as a weak person. On the contrary, it is hard to be humble. In fact to gain humility, one must ask God and pray for that grace of humility.
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For email responses to this article, write to [email protected] or [email protected]. His columns can be accessed through www.philstar.com.
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