In the Gospel today we are told that Jesus "taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes." That is a strong statement. The scribes had the legal authority of leadership over the people. Jesus is not like them. His authority is authentic because he is God the Son. He is wisdom itself. Where they scribes rule with fear and punishment, he rules with peace, love and justice. Because he is God, we have a duty of obedience to him. Even the demonic spirit recognizes that, and even names Jesus, "The Holy One of God!" At the Lord's command the spirit left the possessed man.
May we ask ourselves whom we take as our supreme authority. Is it man, or God who instills man with authority to lead? May we "receive the word of God, not as the word of men, but as it truly is, the word of God." (1 Thes. 2:13) May our hearts look to God the ruler of all and adhere to His laws as citizens of the Kingdom of God first, and then those of our own lands as is illustrated in today's Gospel. Amen.
Addendum: I was reminded this morning of the strong correlation between today's scribes and how their modern counterpart are today's managers and administrators. The business world can sometimes seem like a cold an cut-throat place where the person is often times ignored. In light of that today's Gospel may be a wake-up call, or a challenge to remember those people that we work with are people with thoughts and feelings too, not the automatons that we sometimes take them for.
No comments:
Post a Comment