Matthew 12:14-21
They took counsel against Jesus
The moment is fast approaching when Christ will be rejected by the people, the chief priests, the Pharisees and the elders and condemned to death. In today’s Gospel passage, we read how Christ, knowing their hearts and minds, withdrew from that particular place and continued his ministry of healing and cleansing.
They took counsel
I wonder if the Pharisees prayed? They took counsel among themselves, but did they pray? We know the Lord went up the mountain or sought a deserted place every morning to pray alone. We too must start our day in prayer. Without prayer, I run the risk of being my own emperor. Are we surprised to hear that the Pharisees took it upon themselves to be prosecutor, jury and judge? Where in all of this was their conscience? SS Reichsfuhrer Heinrich Himmler reportedly told his top men on various occasions, “Be grateful to people with a bad conscience. They are the only ones you can trust.” With a bad conscience, we end up worshiping ourselves. All wars and genocides begin with an evil little voice from within. Prayer truly destroys – kills – that evil voice from within and opens the soul to worshiping the only true God.
Withdrawing
Christ “withdrew from that place” and continued to cure all who came to him. Withdrawing does not mean surrender or termination but rather determination. Jesus continued to reach out to those who had not been poisoned by the sin of pride, acutely manifested by gossip and intolerance. “He warned them not to make him known.” Why? Behind the façade of upholding the Law and Tradition, the Pharisees were downright jealous of Jesus. If you notice, throughout the Gospels, the Lord’s gifts of healing, preaching and converting are never well received by the religious leaders. Think about it. How often do we hear people speaking of gifts or graces they have received and we end up thinking only less of them? The Lord may have withdrawn, but he continued as never before. Sometimes the good work that we do is much more important than the distraction of a good fight.
Warning
I cannot end the day with evil in my thoughts, hatred in my heart and sin in my soul. End the day right. Do not be afraid. Believe in Him! The struggles I have today are for God’s glory. “And in his name the Gentiles will hope.”
The prophecy has been fulfilled.
"The struggles I have today are for God’s glory."
ReplyDeleteThis is the nugget that I want to take from today's meditation because the daily struggles and even the huge ones too often seem to pass by without ever seeing the fruit which makes it so much harder to endure.