Jesus Calls On Us To Serve

𝐉𝐔𝐋𝐘 𝟖, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄

𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐆𝐞𝐧 𝟑𝟐:𝟐𝟑-𝟑𝟑

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟕:𝟏-𝟑, 𝟔-𝟖, 𝟏𝟓 “𝐈𝐧 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞, 𝐈 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐎 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝.."

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐓 𝟗:𝟑𝟐-𝟑𝟖

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: "…𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒘." (𝒗.37) 

There may only be seven verses in this Gospel reading of today but there is no doubt that today’s passage will move us by its content for this certainly is a power-packed message that provides us with a view of the totality of the ministry of Jesus which is the same ministry that he is passing on to us.

         And towards the end of the Gospel reading, Jesus also indirectly laid down the role to be played by believers who will come after Him long after he has ascended to his heavenly Kingdom. We should not, for all intents and purpose, miss the importance of this role that he is entrusting to us especially during these critical times when the authority and even the moral foundation of the Church is being challenged.

         In other words, the continuance of the work of Jesus now rests on our shoulders and there is nothing to fear because God Himself will provide us the skills in proclaiming the Good News to the ends of the earth and he wants us to use these skills to the best of our ability.

         As we go over these seven verses in Matthew’s Gospel, we will see that there are certain realities that we need to take into account in order for us to fully understand the purpose for which Jesus was sent down from heaven by God.

         But before Matthew revealed the ministry of Jesus, he first presented to us the difference in the way Jesus was received while pursuing his mission that gives us a preview of the present-day reality in which the world is also divided in their appreciation of the Messiah.

         Here Matthew shows Jesus being accepted with amazement by the crowd after he healed a demon-possessed man. The crowds were simple people who saw in Jesus someone who could address what they need. But this was not the way the Pharisees saw it. To them, Jesus was a threat to their age-old tradition that was founded in the Law of Moses.

         These Pharisees knew Jesus spoke the truth but they were too ensconced with their set of religious laws that they didn’t find any need to change their ways and they were so steeped with their prejudice that they refused to see the truth that Jesus brought forth.

         Today, people who are in need will always look to Jesus with amazement but the man who is wallowing in pride and conceit cannot and will not submit to Jesus and will always reject His words even if they know these are true. We may ask how can this be possible among the most avid people who serve in the different ministries and apostolates in the church or community? As in the case of Jehu (𝟐 𝐊𝐠𝐬 𝟏𝟎:𝟑𝟎-𝟑𝟏) we too can also be very active in our work for God and still not give the wholehearted obedience that God desires and this is something that we need to watch out for.

         As with the mission of Jesus that begins to unravel in 𝐯.𝟑𝟓 we see Jesus was introduced as the messenger or the herald who is sent to proclaim the message of the Kingdom of God. He also came as a teacher whose style differs from that of the Pharisees. Jesus came not just to teach about God but he showed the people what God is like.

         In simpler terms, Jesus is also telling us who would like to follow after Him to bring others to God not by telling others about God but by showing others the kind of life we live. What Jesus did in his time and what He is also showing us is that we must live what we preached. In other words, our public life or what the people see in us must be the same as what our hidden life is or what the people don’t see. There shouldn’t be any bifidity in our private and public life.

         Jesus also translated his words into action, healing people of every sort of disease and illness. The healing miracles that Jesus performed was a sign that his teaching was true and if we leaf through the Gospel accounts, we will see that Jesus spent more time to heal the sick, feed the hungry, comfort the grieving than the time he spent preaching. What he did was he translated his teachings into actual work that is anchored on love and compassion for the poor.

         Similarly, what Jesus is telling us is that we cannot be a true disciple until the work of our hands will mirror that which come out of our lips. This is where you separate the chaff from the grain and we see this in the church where some members are fond of taking the center stage and speak of love for the marginalized but it starts and end there and you don’t see much of even their shadows when the actual work starts.

         Worst is when they draw attention to themselves instead of leading others to Christ such that they may not be aware they are already fomenting division such as what is happening to a community north of Manila where the leaders themselves are the ones fomenting division among the members of this community.

         Christian discipleship is first and foremost an inclusive endeavor which means that we should strive to keep everybody in the church rather than lead them out of the mainstream of believers much less teach them to disobey their leaders.

         With compassion for the people longing for a God of comfort and with the Pharisees not being able to give to the people the comfort they seek, Jesus tried to fill that gap by presenting Himself to the people as an image of God that they were seeking but the elders rejected him.

         Similarly, many of our leaders even on the national level have also become the source of confusion and bewilderment as with the people in Matthew’s Gospel by foisting on the people of our time a set or laws that are divisive and immoral such as the Law on Divorce and the proposed death bills.

         Finally, towards the end of the Gospel reading, Jesus provides us with a preview of what the Great Commission (𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝟐𝟖:𝟏𝟖-𝟐𝟎) is all about. In His time, there was a limit to the number of people that he can teach and, or even the areas that he can reach. The Gospel has to be preached and heralded and this is the reason why Jesus needs men to work in the mission fields. That’s why He needs you and me.

        Jesus and or the Church that He has established needs workers who know how to deal with the problems of the people. Jesus desires that the world hears the Good News but the world will never be able to even get a glimpse of what the Gospel is all about if there will be no reapers who will work to harvest the field. This is the reason why we are trained for 3 and a half years on the nuances of discipleship so that we will be ready when Jesus sends us out.

         We in the BLD are part of the workers that Jesus is hiring to work for his fields. And for the BLD community to be on fire, we need to get out of our comfort zones to work in the field that is ripe for harvest. We need to exercise our gifts of prophecy, healing, teaching, leadership and, shepherding because this is the only way we can bring others to God.

         To toil in the mission fields as did the Apostles before us is to establish our identity as a community of disciples inspired by the Holy Spirit to be living witnesses for transformation in Christ to bring about a world of justice, human development and true peace. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘑𝘶𝘭𝘺 8, 2025)