It has been
pointed out many times that some of Jesus’ harshest words were to religious
leaders, and many of those quotes are pulled from Matthew 23:1-39. “You blind
fools…brood of vipers…you hypocrites.” These are known as the seven woes in the
Gospels and is Jesus talking about how religious leaders, far from making
things better have actually made things worse. The crux of this though is found
in the first few voices. The religious leaders have made themselves and their
trappings into idols, trying to convince people to worship the position or the
temple instead of a living God. Jesus points this out in the beginning of the
passage of how the leaders liked to be noticed, be given places of honor, and taking
converts away from the one, true God.
Jesus in
pointing all of this out was trying to remove the idols of worship and religious
leaders who had gotten off track, the idol of self from the path of those
trying to truly seek God.
Reflection:
How many
times have we put ourselves in front of God?
How many
times have we looked for comfort or praise instead of God?
How often
have we forgiven ourselves for our sins, but not named them, repented from
them, or tried to change?
Prayer:
God, we
confess that we have put ourselves in front of you. Even as Jesus spoke harshly
with the religious leaders of his day, he could speak just as harshly with us.
Please remove the barriers that we create ourselves, remove the ways that we
get in our own way or the ways of others by making idols of self-worship, of comfort,
and of our own self-importance. Remove these barriers from our lives and open
us up to the light that we can find when we no longer walk in our own valley,
but have found the mountain top of God. Amen.
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