Word to the Wise
Saturday, August 22, 2020 - Saturday in the 20th Week in Ordinary Time
[Ezek 43:1-7ab and Matt 23:1-12]Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying, "The scribes and Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of MOses. Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example. For they preach but they do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry and lay them on people's shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them. All their works are performed to be seen."
AUGUST 22 THE QUEENSHIP OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
The "scribes and the Pharisees" get a lot of bad press in the gospels not because of their status but because of their misuse of that status. Chapter 23 of the Gospel According to Matthew is one long indictment of that misuse. Jesus, at the beginning of the chapter, recognizes their authority, based on their knowledge of the Mosaic Law (scribes) and their efforts to live that law down to the smallest detail (Pharisees). What Jesus attacks is the corruption that had grown up in that authority. Historians of the period known as Second Temple Judaism are showing that the Pharisees deserve better attention because they literally saved Judaism after the Roman destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 70 A.D., less than 40 years after Jesus' death and resurrection. The focus of Jewish worship moved from animal/vegetable sacrifice in the temple to synagogue worship with the Torah (the Law of Moses). The Pharisees played a big role in this transition. They were not temple priests but "laity" dedicated to an understanding of Judaism as fidelity to the Law of Moses.
Nevertheless, in Jesus' time, their position in society was being abused. Jesus accuses them of hypocrisy. We know from the gospels that there were Pharisees and scribes who were sympathetic to Jesus' teaching (Nicodemus, for example), so not all of them were bad. But we can learn from this a lesson that continually needs to be taught, namely that religious authority can be abused and when this happens, those who are guilty should be confronted. The worst example of this has been the sex abuse crisis and figures like Cardinal McCarrick. It is a hard lesson to learn, but the Gospel According to Matthew is unrelenting and so should we be in this matter. AMEN
[Note to the Beloved Congregation. On this date 17 years ago, I wrote and sent the first WORD TO THE WISE!]