Fix Your Gaze On Jesus

𝐉𝐔𝐍𝐄 𝟏𝟐, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄

𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝟐 𝐂𝐨𝐫 𝟑:𝟏𝟓-𝟒:𝟏, 𝟑-𝟔

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟖𝟓:𝟗-𝟏𝟒 “𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐓 𝟓:𝟐𝟎-𝟐𝟔

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓.” (𝒗.24) 

          To steal, kill, covet the property of the neighbor, indiscretion, lying, think and speak ill of others, resentment and bitterness, hatred, anger and other forms of emotional outbursts. All these constitute sinful acts. One need not go to the extent of killing another to commit sin. Just by being angry or insult someone is in itself a sin.

          Why? Because man was not created to be angry, bitter or resentful of others. Man who was created out of God’s love for the world is obliged to also share this same love with others especially our neighbor. As 𝘊.𝘚. 𝘓𝘦𝘸𝘪𝘴 said: “𝘕𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘣𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘴. 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵’𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴, 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘦.”        

         In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus makes a stand against emotional outbursts that impair the image of God in men and he reminds the Jews that “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. You have heard that it was said to the men of old, `𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍; 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒋𝒖𝒅𝒈𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕.” (𝒗𝒗.20-21)        

        To kill is a serious sin because no one can take the life of another as this is a privilege that can only be exercised by God alone who is the Creator of all things but Jesus raised the bar even higher by saying: “𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒓𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒋𝒖𝒅𝒈𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕; 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒍, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒂𝒚𝒔, `𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒍!' 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒆.” (𝒗.22)

         Perhaps it would be a good idea if we all spent some time and look at how we have lived our lives in retrospect. Was there ever a time when you were driven by anger? Because people who are angry are liable to give vent to their anger in order to exact revenge over what they perceive to be wrong done to them and such is not strange because feeling angry has a precedent.

         The first person to have gotten angry and whose anger turned to hate was Cain. And we come to know from the Scripture that God had warned Cain: ‘𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒓𝒚? 𝑺𝒊𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒐𝒓; 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒕 (𝑮𝒆𝒏 4:6-7). 

          Sin doesn’t just happen to sprout in our midst. Sin can be likened to a tiny seed that we ourselves planted in our heart. It may grow from just a thought and like a tree, sin in all likelihood will grow until it consumes our being especially if we nurture it by keeping it in our hearts.

         Until such time that sin which is fanned and fueled by anger and hate is uprooted by the power of God’s encompassing grace, sin will grow and turn into a weed that will choke the vine and prevent it from bearing.

        As Jesus addressed this issue by reminding his disciples to keep the commandments, but he also advised his followers not to subscribe to the belief of the Scribes and Pharisees who equated righteousness with a public display of obedience to the law.

        In this Gospel passage today, Jesus is clearly telling us that we need to remove all the evil and forbidden desires from our midst as it will only corrupt our hearts. Jesus is pointing out to us that harboring anger in our hearts will manifest in the words that will come out of our lips and evil thoughts as well what we say that come because of anger towards another are forbidden by God.

         Man has been imbued by God with an intelligence that is higher than other mammals although there are times when it’s difficult to tell the difference. And the evil that is sin should not be boxed only on the physical commission of such because even actions regardless of how harmless and inconsequential these may be could also constitute wrongdoing.

         This scenario is most often present among those who hold positions of leadership where bias and prejudice come into play. Decisions that favor one over the other keel towards who has dispensed the most favor especially in the determination of rules and regulations. Evidently this is due in large part to the lack of respect that a person has for another.

         Such anomalous behavior almost always is widespread in financial transactions even in a Christian setting where charity has become an abused word. I know that St. Paul said those who have benefitted from spiritual instructions should take care of their rabbis or teachers but that doesn’t mean someone who teaches in a church or community should make a living out of it. As I have always said in the teachings that I facilitate – “𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘵.”        

          In the same manner, it would be very difficult to present yourself as a witness when you cannot back this up with good witnessing. Many times, we talk of good witnessing yet many times our actions are in contradiction to what we say.

         Again, this is prevalent in business and financial transactions among members of church ministries and communities who do business with one another. It is so embarrassing when you are asked to comment about the personal and business affairs of a brother in the community because these should not be happening to Christian disciples in the first place. Difficult also when decisions of leaders are influenced by favors received.

         What then we may ask is the antidote to anger, rage and sinful behavior? Jesus also shows us that mercy, kindness, and forbearance are the fruits that will grow from a heart that is filled with love and forgiveness. God has forgiven us and he expects us to also extend forgiveness towards those who may have caused us grief and harm. 

         In Jesus who was crucified for our sins, we see the supreme example of what love and forgiveness are all about and the cross should always remind us of the power of love and mercy for overcoming evil. God’s love and Grace are what will set our hearts and minds free from the tyranny of wounded pride that leads us to exact revenge.

         It would do us good in this our spiritual journey to try and recall the times we may have harbored anger towards another person. Are we quick to reconcile when our relationship with our neighbor has been impaired by misunderstanding and disagreement?

         When we find ourselves in this kind of a situation, we should ask God to set us free from the impure thoughts borne out of anger and to instead fill our hearts and minds with his love and goodness. The words of St. Paul should serve as a fitting reminder for all of us that: “𝑮𝒐𝒅'𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒑𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑯𝒐𝒍𝒚 𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒖𝒔.” (𝑹𝒐𝒎 5:5).

         Through the Grace and help of the Holy Spirit we can overcome malice with good, hatred with kindness, and injury with pardon. Our goal in life is to be a friend to everyone as we who are sinners have been treated as friends by Our Lord Jesus Christ.

         Let me end with this prayer of St. Eusebius in the Third Century: “𝘔𝘢𝘺 𝘐 𝘣𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯’𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘐 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴. 𝘔𝘢𝘺 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘦: 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘥𝘰, 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘺. 𝘔𝘢𝘺 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥. 𝘔𝘢𝘺 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘯’𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘔𝘢𝘺 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘭𝘭-𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨, 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘣𝘶𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘣𝘶𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘐 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴.          

         𝘔𝘢𝘺 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘯 𝘯𝘰 𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘔𝘢𝘺 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘔𝘢𝘺 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘢 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘐 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘔𝘢𝘺 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧. 𝘔𝘢𝘺 𝘐 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘵𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘦. 𝘔𝘢𝘺 𝘐 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘔𝘢𝘺 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘴.” (𝑬𝒅 𝑴𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒚 – 𝑱𝒖𝒏𝒆 12, 2025)