In todays Gospel from the Gospel of St Mathew Jesus gives a warning. It was just before starting the passion of Christ. This warning is directed towards the leaders, theologians and the so called defenders of the Jewish religion of that time. It was to show that their attitude and their way of doing would not let them to be members of the kingdom of God.
Jesus criticised the Pharisees, the scribes and the Sadducees severely. They were the official representatives of Judaism. Jesus presented them to his disciples and the other hearers of the Gospel as enemies of Judaism because their lifestyle, value consciousness and deeds were against the spirit of the Jewish law.
The Christian community of the evangelist Mathew was the converted Jews who considered Christianity as a Jewish group or a group which should be loyal to the Jewish tradition. But their interpretation of the Jewish law like that of Pharisees and scribes were not acceptable for a Christian world vision. Besides it was not the mind of the early church to become first Jews in order to become Christians although this dispute was serious and in the first council of Jerusalem under the leadership of St Peter it was decided that the Christians did not have to be Jews or to observe the Jewish law in oder to be Christians. Therefore it was legitimate for St Mathew to criticise the Pharisees and the scribes in oder to liberate the Jewish Christians from the bondage the pharisaic interpretation of the Jewish law.
But it was very courageous from the part of St Mathew or from a theological and literal point of view, from the part of Jesus, to criticise the controversial, serious and stricht observance of the Jewish law by Pharisees and the scribes and to suggest an alternative. The alternative was the example of Jesus in words and deeds.
In this text Mathew wanted to show that the hierarchy and the priority demanded by some or given to some have no place in a Christian community. All are brothers and sisters in a Christian community to serve each other.
The last two sentences of todays Gospel is what Jesus himself practiced and advised his disciples to practice: „The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.“ The greatest service Jesus gave was during the last supper in the breaking of the bread which he continued in every eucharistic celebration. We experience it in every participation of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. When Jesus speaks about the exhalation of the humble we are convinced of Jesus’ exaltation on the cross after a terrible suffering. But the resurrection proved the glory of humiliation and suffering. We are blessed to experience today in the eucharistic sacrifice this exaltation on the cross and glory in the resurrection too.
We are approaching the last weeks of the liturgical year. In three week’s time we celebrate the feast of Christ the king. Let the humbled and exalted Jesus be our model, our helper and our king. God bless you!
Fr. Joseph Pandiappallil MCBS