Jesus Condemns Duality

𝐎𝐂𝐓. 𝟏𝟔, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘 𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟏: 𝐑𝐨𝐦 𝟑:𝟐𝟏-𝟑𝟎

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟑𝟎: 𝟏-𝟔 “𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐋𝐊 𝟏𝟏:𝟒𝟕-𝟓𝟒

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “…𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒆𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒅𝒈𝒆.” (𝒗.52) 

        One of the most common questions that are often asked during and or after a spiritual talk or lecture is this: If God is a God of love and peace, why then does He allow evil to exist in the world.

       Indeed, evil lurks everywhere, even among religious scholars and this is the scenario that we find in 𝐋𝐤 𝟏𝟏:𝟒𝟕-𝟓𝟒 where Jesus had directly accused the Scribes and their fathers of murdering the prophets. Jesus had in fact went as far as to cite the attitude of the Scribes who honor the dead prophets with tombs and memorials but dishonoring the living prophets with persecution and death.

       Because Jesus had exposed the scandalous duality in the way the Scribes and the Pharisees lived and practice their religion, these religious leaders also went after Jesus as to trap him and charge him as an irreligious heretic.

       This setting is not new even if this happened thousands of years ago. Today, there are those who demand from others a set of standards that they themselves ignore or refuse to abide with and such is prevalent not only in the public sector where corruption appears to have become the standard rather than as an exception but even in the private sector as well.

        In our generation today we stand witness to unspeakable acts of cruelty against the poor. The campaign to stamp out drug trafficking has been pursued with innocent civilians caught in the crossfire.

        We speak of transparency, accountability and honesty in public service, yet our environment is filled with endless reports of the insatiable appetite of government officials to accumulate wealth by whatever means. All these only give credence to the existence of evil in the world.

        In today’s gospel passage, Jesus called out the lawyers who kept hidden the meaning and substance of the laws of God. Laws are important and their primary aim is to help the people but not to enslave them. But how many times have we seen the laws transgressed by the same people who are tasked to carry them out as we see it today.

        The same is true with how the laws of God or the Scripture is interpreted and dispensed with. Most often we read, reflect but follow that which satisfies our desires and what is convenient for us.

        At times, we ignore the words spoken by those who speak the wisdom of God. In the past. God's Wisdom was personified in the voice of the prophets, a voice that always brought rejection and martyrdom because they spoke as God’s messengers. Today, God at times uses people around us to convey His message – Priests, Deacons, Family Members, Friends and even strangers whom we meet on the streets.

        Jesus chastised the religious leaders of his day for being double-minded and for demanding from others the standards which they refused to satisfy. They professed admiration for the prophets by building their tombs while at the same time they opposed their message and closed their ears to the word of God.

        This is what Jesus meant when he said: “they have taken away the key of knowledge.” The lawyers and scribes held the "office of the keys" since they were the official interpreters of the scriptures. But their interpretation of the scriptures was so distorted and difficult to understand that others were "shut off" or barred from understanding the scriptures. 

        In effect, they not only shut themselves from entering the Kingdom of God, but worst they also hindered others from understanding God's word. Through pride and envy, they rejected not only the prophets of old, but God's final prophet, Jesus. 

       Let us not forget that Jesus is the "𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝" (𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐈𝐬𝐚 𝟐𝟐:𝟐𝟐; 𝐑𝐞𝐯. 𝟑:𝟕) who opens heaven to those who accept him as Lord and Savior. He is the "𝐖𝐢𝐬𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝" and the ultimate source of everlasting life. Only the humble of heart — those who submit to God and acknowledge their dependence on him -- can receive this Godly wisdom. God is ever ready to speak his word to us and to give us wisdom and understanding. The question is do we hunger for the wisdom which comes from above?

        Many times, we make use of the Scriptures for our own advantage yet sometimes we use it to justify our actions even if such go against the Christian standards. Today the standards we live in are hemmed by what may be politically correct but not necessarily true regarding our Christian faith and beliefs. What Jesus is reminding us of is to fill our hearts and minds with His words for it is only through Him that we can live a life of abundance.

        It has been said that what we are now is God’s gift to us and what we become is our gift to God. True, we can all become a gift to God if we will just abide by the laws that He has laid down in the Scriptures which is for us to make use of the gifts of the Holy Spirit that we may bear fruit so we can go and make disciples of others.

        This is our calling as Christian disciples, and our calling is irrevocable and there is no escaping from it. It’s either we are with Jesus or against him. The choice is as clear as day - eternal salvation or eternal damnation. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘖𝘤𝘵. 16, 2025)