Word to the Wise
Monday, August 25, 2008 - Monday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time
[2 Thessalonians 1:1-5, 11-12 and Matthew 23:13-22]Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You lock the Kingdom of heaven before men. You do not enter yourselves, nor do you allow entrance to those trying to enter.
The list of "woes" that Jesus utters against the Jewish religious leadership mirrors similar "woes" uttered by the great prophets of the Old Testament. However, we are warned by scripture scholars that there are a couple of things we need to understand. While, no doubt, there may have been some problems with the conduct of some of the religious elite of Jerusalem - problems that were widespread enough to be noticed by all - there is some "caricaturing" going on as well. The Gospel of Matthew was written at a time when the rabbis and other surviving Jewish leadership after the destruction of the temple by the Romans in 70AD were "regrouping" and were rejecting the teaching of the new "sect" of Judaism that was preaching about a messiah! The members of the new movement within Judaism were being ejected from the synagogues. This was a cause of great bitterness and resentment because, as the Gospel of Matthew makes clear, the new community clearly saw itself as still part of Judaism! The bitterness and resentment made their way into the traditions and stories that were put together in the Gospel of Matthew. In short, there is an "agenda" at work here. Even if the portraits were accurate, the very fact that these particular portraits were chosen says something about the intensity of feeling. It's a bit like political cartoons in an election year. However, the "agenda" has a further intention. The bad examples of the scribes and Pharisees are meant as a warning to the leadership and membership of the new Christian community. They should not make the same mistakes! And in the twenty-first century, the warning remains to all of us, whether leadership or membership. The old Latin expression, Corruptio optimi, pessimus (the corruption of the best is the worst), comes to mind. Bad example from religious leadership is terrible. But that bad example does not excuse the rest of us from sticking to the high standards that Jesus set. AMEN
config
view
logs
4096.0 KB
79 ms
4
