Advent Devotion for December 13, 2019 from Apostles By-the-Sea - Episode 13

Friday, December 13, 2019:

 

Matthew 23:27-39

²⁷ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of filth. ²⁸ So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. ²⁹ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous, ³⁰ and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ ³¹ Thus you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. ³² Fill up, then, the measure of your ancestors. ³³ You snakes, you brood of vipers! How can you escape being sentenced to hell? ³⁴ Therefore I send you prophets, sages, and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town, ³⁵ so that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. ³⁶ Truly I tell you, all this will come upon this generation.

³⁷ “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! ³⁸ See, your house is left to you, desolate. ³⁹ For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

 

Reflection:

As a child, my parents would sometimes say to me, “Do as I say, not as I do.” It was clearly meant and understood to be a corrective command, yet it was generally said with a touch of humor as my parents recognized the inherent hypocrisy of that command. Unfortunately, “Do as I say, not as I do” was emblematic of the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees mentioned in today’s reading, and unlike my parents, their hypocrisy had no hint of humor. Too often, we display the same hypocrisy when our actions fail to reflect our words; but the good news is that Christ’s love offers us the most wonderful remedy for our hypocrisy: forgiveness, which is ours when we genuinely confess our sins and turn from them.

Jesus’ message to the scribes and Pharisees could be summed up by another common phrase: “Practice what you preach.” In this season of Advent, let’s try to be guided by that same phrase and take time to show others the grace, forgiveness, and love God offers us each day.