JESUS Criticizes HIS Own Generation

"Then some teachers of the Law and some Pharisees spoke up, 'Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.'  JESUS answered them, 'An evil and unfaithful people want a sign, but no sign will be given them except the sign of the prophet Jonah.  In the same way that Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the monster fish, so will the Son of Man spend three days and three nights in the depths of the earth.

At the judgment, the people of Nineveh will rise with this generation and condemn it, because they reformed their lives at the preaching of Jonah, and here there is greater than Jonah.  At the judgment, the Queen of the South will stand up and condemn you.  She came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and here there is greater than Solomon'." - Matthew 12:38-42  

(JESUS did not perform any miracle that day, because the experts in religion were demanding an account of HIM, instead of listening to HIM.

An evil and unfaithful people.  Gospel says in fact: "evil and adulterous".  This expression in the Bible means the unfaithful believer who, without denying GOD in words, keeps other gods to himself.

The Ninivites: see Jonah 3:5.

The Queen of the South: see 1 Kings 10.

The sign of Jonah is the resurrection of JESUS.  The similarity seen in the three days that Jonah was in the belly of the fish and the time JESUS spent in the tomb is somewhat forced.) 

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The Parable Of The Weeds

"JESUS told the people another parable, 'The kingdom of heaven can be compared to a man, who sowed good seed in his field.  While everyone was asleep, his enemy came, and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.'

When the plants sprouted and produced grain, the weeds also appeared.  Then, the servants of the owner came, and said to him, 'Sir, was it not good seed that you sowed in your field?  Where did the weeds come from?'

He answered them, 'This is the work of an enemy.'  They asked him, 'Do you want us to go and pull up the weeds?'  He told them, 'No, when you pull up the weeds, you might uproot the wheat with them.  Let them grow together, until harvest; and, at harvest time, I will say to the workers: Pull up the weeds first, tie them in bundles and burn them; then gather the wheat into my barn.'" - Matthew 13:24-30  

(With the parable of the weeds, JESUS answers those who are scandalized at seeing evil everywhere.  Good and bad will be mixed till the end of the world.  Good and evil will always be found together in persons and institutions.

GOD respects people.  HE knows that temptation is often stronger than their good intentions and they need time to find and to choose steadily what is good.

GOD is patient.  The reconciliation of so many contradictory groups, forces and cultural currents active in the world will be attained only at the end of time.  In the meantime, we are not to label any of them as "the" good ones and "the" bad ones.) 

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JESUS Denounces The Exploiters, Those Who Always Have Legal Means To Despoil Little People.

"Woe to those who plot wickedness and plan evil even on their beds!  When morning comes, they do it, as soon as it is within their reach.

If they covet fields, they seize them.  Do they like houses?  They take them.  They seize the owner and his household, both the man and his property.

This is why YAHWEH speaks, 'I AM plotting evil against this whole brood, from which your necks cannot escape.  No more shall you walk with head held high for it will be an evil time.'

On that day they will sing a taunting song against you and a bitter lamentation will be heard, 'We have been stripped of our property in our homeland.  Who will free us from the wicked who allots our fields.'  Truly, no one will be found in the assembly of YAHWEH to keep a field for you." - Micah 2:1-5   

(He denounces the exploiters, those who always have legal means to despoil little people.  We must not forget that the Bible had a code of laws - far ahead of any other nation - to defend the rights and the lives of the poor, the widows, etc.  See Deuteronomy 23:16.

Everyone, naturally, is furious with the prophet who disturbs the established injustice.)

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JESUS, LORD Of The Sabbath

"It happened that JESUS was walking through the wheat fields on a Sabbath.  HIS disciples were hungry; and they began to pick some heads of wheat, to crush and to eat the grain.  When the Pharisees noticed this, they said to JESUS, 'Look at YOUR disciples!  They are doing what is prohibited on the Sabbath!'

JESUS answered, 'Have you not read what David did, when he and his men were hungry?  He went into the House of GOD, and they ate the bread offered to GOD, though neither he nor his men had the right to eat it, but only the priests.  And have you not read in the law, how, on the Sabbath, the priests in the temple desecrate the Sabbath, yet they are not guilty?

I tell you, there is greater than the temple here.  If you really knew the meaning of the words: It is mercy I want, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the innocent.

Besides, the Son of Man is LORD of the Sabbath.'" - Matthew 12:1-8   

(This chapter records the conflicts of JESUS with the Pharisees regarding the Sabbath.  Why does the Gospel make so much of these conflicts?  Perhaps because at the time of JESUS the heavy load of religious obligations was a formidable obstacle for those searching for GOD.  It may have been also because the Christians lost no time making new laws to which they gave an exaggerated importance.  If JESUS deliberately violated the most sacred of the laws given by GOD to Moses, what about our ecclesiastical laws not guaranteed by the word of GOD?  In the name of man-made laws, adapted to a context that is not ours, Christian communities have at times been paralyzed and we let millions of people look for churches where they have the communities and pastors they have been deprived of.)

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"Come To ME, All You Who Are Weary And Burdened, And I Will Give You Rest."

"Come to ME, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take MY yoke upon you and learn from ME, for I AM gentle and humble of heart; and you will find rest.  For MY yoke is easy; and MY burden is light." - Matthew 11:28-30  

(I will not relieve you of your load but by placing MY yoke on you, I give you the means of carrying the load.

JESUS plays with the two words yoke and load, for the Jews used to call "load" the divine teachings imparted to pupils, and "yoke" the balancing of the teacher's sentences, which should be learned by heart.

JESUS, the patient and humble teacher, enables us to see the mercy of GOD in our lives and in our own cross.  HE shows us the love of GOD even in the requirements of the law.  Only GOD is good; and good is the authority of CHRIST.)

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"Everything Has Been Entrusted To ME By MY FATHER."

"On that occasion JESUS said, 'FATHER, LORD of heaven and earth, I praise YOU, because YOU have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to simple people.  Yes, FATHER, this is what pleased YOU.

Everything has been entrusted to ME by MY FATHER.  No one knows the SON except the FATHER, and no one knows the FATHER except the SON and those to whom the SON chooses to reveal HIM'." - Matthew 11:25-27  

(JESUS prayer impressed the disciples.  In this text it is a short prayer, prompted by the most recent events; events and daily life are also a source of prayer.

YOU have hidden these things.  Intelligent people are not excluded from the faith, of course, but it is the glory of GOD that faith should not seem to be the privilege of the wise and the intelligent; human wisdom never gives what is essential and often hides it.  There were in Palestine at the time some wise people and many others who pretended to be so, but they were rarely seen among the disciples of JESUS.

Everything has been entrusted to ME.  GOD does what is needed for people to have always and in all places thousands of ways of knowing HIM.  In this life it is only through JESUS that we have the revelation of the FATHER.)

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Chorazin And Bethsaida

"Then JESUS began to denounce the cities in which HE had performed most of HIS miracles, because the people there did not change their ways.  'Alas for you Chorazin and Bethsaida!  If the miracles worked in you had taken place in Tyre and Sidon, the people there would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.  But I assure you, for Tyre and Sidon it will be more bearable on the day of judgment than for you.  And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to heaven?  You will be thrown down to the place of the dead!  For if the miracles which were performed in you had taken place in Sodom, it would still be there today!  But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.'" - Matthew 11:20-24  

(Chorazin and Bethsaida: these two cities were the seats of higher schools of religion but had not received the Gospel.  Tyre and Sidon: two pagan cities, cursed by the prophets.)

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"I Have Not Come To Bring Peace, But A Sword."

"Do not think that I have come to establish peace on earth.  I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.  For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.  Each one will have as enemies, those of one's own family.

Whoever loves father or mother more than ME, is not worthy of ME.  And whoever loves son or daughter more than ME, is not worthy of ME.  And whoever does not take up his cross and follow ME, is not worthy of ME.  Whoever finds his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life, for MY sake, will find it.

Whoever welcomes you, welcomes ME; and whoever welcomes ME, welcomes HIM who sent ME.  The one who welcomes a prophet, as a prophet, will receive the reward of a prophet; the one who welcomes a just man, because he is a just man, will receive the reward of a just man.  And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones, because HE is MY disciple, I assure you, he will not go unrewarded.

When JESUS had finished giving HIS twelve disciples these instructions, HE went on from there, to teach and to proclaim HIS message in their towns." - Matthew 10:34-11:1  

(Do not think that I have come to establish peace.  The peace of the believer comes from the certainty of being loved by GOD: the angels of Bethlehem said so: Luke 2:14.

JESUS gives no peace to the world, because the rest of the world is made up of confusion, half-truths, people who live midway between greed and fear of risking.  The peace of the world, whether in a family or in society, veils unjust conditions imposed by the strongest, or a shared mediocrity.  The Gospel awakens everywhere a critical spirit; so that the presence of only one Christian living by the truth is enough to worry many persons: John 3:20; 15:18.

The Gospel moves us to make decisions with greater freedom, disregarding the criticism of those close to us whenever we are convinced that they cannot understand the Gospel values which motivate us.

Moreover, the devil stirs up persecutions against those who convert to scare them and make them turn away.

He is not worthy...JESUS addresses this to others besides missionaries or persons with an exceptional mission.  Each one must break away from forms of dependency within the family, which do not nurture the human and spiritual growth of the members.  One who loves CHRIST finds a thousand one opportunities to free himself from activities, entertainments and worries about his own family, which keep both him and the family at a mediocre level.)

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A Parable About Our Hearts

"As a great crowd gathered and people came to HIM from every town, JESUS began teaching them through stories, or parables, 'The Sower went out to sow the seed.  And as he sowed, some of the grain fell along the way, was trodden on and the birds of the sky ate it up.  Some fell on rocky ground, and no sooner had it come up than it withered, because it had no water.  Some fell among thorns; the thorns grew up with the seed and choked it.  But some fell on good soil and grew, producing fruit - a hundred times as much.'  And JESUS cried out, 'Listen then, if you have ears to hear!' 

The disciples asked HIM, 'What does this story mean?'  And JESUS answered, 'You have been granted to know the mystery of the kingdom of GOD.  But to others it is given in the form of stories, or parables, so that seeing they may not perceive and hearing they may not understand.'

Now, this is the point of the parable:  The seed is the word of GOD.  Those along the wayside are people who hear it, but immediately the devil comes and takes the word from their minds, for he doesn't want them to believe and be saved.  Those on the rocky ground are people who receive the word with joy, but they have no root; they believe for a while and give way in time of trial.  Among the thorns are people who hear the word but as they go their way, are choked by worries, riches, and the pleasures of life; they bring no fruit to maturity.  The good soil, instead, are people who receive the word and keep it in a gentle and generous mind, and persevering patiently, they bear fruit." - Luke 8:4-15 

(The comparison [or parable] of the Sower helps us to understand what is happening around JESUS.  Many people became very enthusiastic at the beginning, then, after a while they left.  Only a few persevered and the apostles wondered:  How will the kingdom of GOD come if no one is interested?

 

The Gospel records JESUS' explanation about the fields on which the seed fell.  There was a lot more to explain.  First, HIS comparing the kingdom of GOD with something that is sown must have surprised the listeners.  Throughout Sacred History, there had been abundant sowing, and JESUS' contemporaries were expecting a harvest [see Revelation 14:15].

We, like JESUS contemporaries, want to reap, that is to enjoy the fruits of the kingdom of GOD, namely, social peace, justice and happiness.  Many wonder how it is possible that people continue to be so evil two thousand years after CHRIST.

 

If the kingdom of GOD has come and it is already in our midst, that does not mean we are going to enjoy its fruits.  The kingdom of GOD is where GOD rules, and GOD rules where people accept HIM for what HE is, where HE can be FATHER and where HIS sons and daughters can accept HIS plan for them.

 

From that moment on, people grow in a thousand ways, and social consciousness also develops.  People become aware of their dignity and their common destiny, in spite of the fact that it seems more impossible every day to reach the goal.)

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"There Is Nothing Covered That Will Not Be Uncovered."

"A student is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master.  A student should be content to become like his teacher, and the slave like his master.  If the head of the household has been called Beelzebul, how much more, those of his household!  So, do not be afraid of them!

There is nothing covered that will not be uncovered.  There is nothing hidden that will not be made known.  What I AM telling you in the dark, you must speak in the light.  What you hear in private, proclaim from the housetops.

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but have no power to kill the soul.  Rather, be afraid of HIM who can destroy both body and soul in hell.  For a few cents you can buy two sparrows.  Yet not one sparrow falls to the ground without your FATHER knowing.  As for you, every hair of your head has been counted.  Do not be afraid: you are worth more than many sparrows!

Whoever acknowledges ME before others, I will acknowledge before MY FATHER in heaven.  Whoever rejects ME before others, I will reject before MY FATHER in heaven." - Matthew 10:24-33 

(We are cowards and JESUS is aware of this.  HE has already said, "Do not fear'" when HE invited us not to look for security in money.  Now, dealing with the fear of repression, HE adds, "If you cannot free yourselves from cowardice, consider where the greater threat comes from, from GOD or people?"

This is the only time JESUS refers to "fear of GOD."  When the Old Testament mentioned fear of GOD, it generally meant giving due respect to GOD.  Respect is far from fear.  Respect is an attitude proper to a free person.  GOD does not threaten to throw us into hell; rather HE reminds us that to lose HIM is to lose ourselves also, and this is hell.

Whoever acknowledges ME.  After stressing the sovereign power of HIS FATHER, JESUS puts HIMSELF on the same level: HE will decide our eternal fate.  JESUS refers not only to recognizing HIM in the ultimate sense, that is, by not denying our Christian faith before others; HIS words also convey a day-by-day demand.  We must not be ashamed to act or talk as people of faith, to go public about our Christian convictions when necessary.)

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