Another milestone for my blog! This is my 500th post! It seems like yesterday that I started it, and I don’t feel like stopping anytime soon. In fact the more I write the more convinced I become that I am being led (driven?) by the Holy Spirit to bring the Good News to whomever comes across this humble attempt to do so. I had hoped to write a super-extravagant entry for this milestone and publish it on my daughter’s wedding day (two weeks away, now!), but I can’t wait that long. My intent was to write a lengthy post musing on the life of Christ in the years between the Finding in the Temple and the Wedding Feast in Cana (hence posting on Alicia’s wedding day). I may still do that, but the thoughts aren’t “gelling” into anything cohesive yet. Come, Holy Spirit! I could use a little help on this one! Oh, well, I guess we’ll just have to settle for a daily reflection for now.
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There is a difference between failing to understand something and failing to admit that we do understand it. If someone gave me a copy of Einstein's theory of relativity I'm sure that I would not be able to understand it. But an eminent physicist who spends his life teaching about such things would be able to understand it well. But what if he refused to admit that he understood it? People would probably think that he was deceitful and lose respect for him. The more public his refusal became, the more his reputation would suffer. It seems to me that the leaders of the Jewish people who confronted Jesus were like that. They were well schooled in the law and the prophets. They knew all the prophecies that foretold the coming of the messiah. And yet when they met Jesus, as they did on more than one occasion, they refused to recognize him as the messiah. Difficulties such as Jesus being a Galilean rather than coming from Bethlehem of Judea could have been easily resolved by asking Jesus or any of his relatives where he was born. We know that even in the time of Jesus other men would claim to be the messiah, but who obviously were not. The leaders of the people would naturally be on guard against such men and work to expose them as frauds. But in the case of Jesus they seem to have begun with the assumption that Jesus was a fraud. They did not try to verify his claims. But even worse, they didn't believe the miracles they saw with their own eyes. Rather they thought them a trick or some kind of evil magic.
In Saturday’s gospel reading it is the day after the cleansing of the Temple in Jerusalem. After spending the night outside the city, Jesus and his disciples return to the Temple. Shortly after their arrival the Chief Priests and other leaders of the people come up to Jesus. No doubt they had been told all about the actions of Jesus in cleansing the Temple. It seems clear that they regard the upkeep of the Temple as their prerogative, and they aren't willing to have an outsider like Jesus interfere with their authority.
This was not the first encounter Jesus had with the Chief Priests and leaders of the people. He had engaged them several times previously. And each time they refused to believe what Our Lord told them. They understand Jesus perfectly well, but in their pride and obstinacy they close their minds and their hearts to the words of Jesus.
So they asked Him: "On what authority are You doing these things?" (Mk 11:28) Jesus could have told the religious leaders about His divine authority. He could have also given them authority in His name over every disease and demon (see Mt 10:1). However, Jesus neither answered their question nor gave them a share in His authority because they refused to be honest with Him. When Jesus asked the religious leaders about the origin of John's baptism, they "played politics" rather than answer Him directly.
Not all the leaders of the people were as close-minded as Annas and Caiaphas and their cohorts. There were other influential men like Joseph of Arimathea and Zacchaeus who listened to the words of Jesus and believed in him. And of course many of the people of Jerusalem did too. The Christian Church at its very beginning included many Jewish people. I think the lesson of this gospel is that we today need to imitate the response of these people and avoid that of Annas and Caiaphas and their followers. We are called to listen to, to believe in, and to follow Jesus.
We will never understand or exercise true authority if we are playing games with God. Some of the games Christians play are: "politics," "hypocrite," "denial," "martyr," "savior," "victim," "innocent," etc. If we try to play games with God, we will never know His authority or our own. So let's quit dabbling in Christianity. Let's repent of being lukewarm (see Rv 3:16). Let's forget about how we look to other people. Let's live for God alone. When we do this, our Christian life will manifest an authority that we have never thought possible.
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