Meditationen am Gnadenstuhl - Wednesday of Laetare (Lent IV)

Wednesday of Laetare (Lent IV)

Daily Lectionary Readings: Genesis 44:1-18, 32-34; Mark 12:28-44; (Sirach 23)

Mark 12:38-40 And in his teaching [Jesus] said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

Dear Christian, beware the "scribes" of our day! In Jesus' time, the Sadducees were the liberal theologians of the day. They did not believe in the resurrection of the dead or the life of the world to come. Once you were dead, you were dead. They discounted all of the Hebrew Scriptures except for the Books of Moses. All they received from Scripture was a system of outward morality. Once again, we see the enemies of Jesus trying to lay a trap for Him, to make Him appear foolish before the people. It turns out they are the ones who look like fools. They spin a ridiculous scenario to show the idea of the resurrection of the dead as foolishness – how can seven men claim a woman as their bride in the resurrection? Answer: Marriage does not exist in heaven but was established for our life here on earth only. Plus, even though they only considered the Books of Moses to be Scripture, they should have known there truly is a resurrection of the dead from them. Why else, says Jesus, does God say to Moses hundreds of years after the deaths of the patriarchs that He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Because they live in eternity! God is the God of the living, not the dead.

Next, the Pharisees try to trap Jesus with a “trick” question: Which of the commandments of God is the greatest? They themselves were never able to come to an agreement on this. Neither will Jesus! But, Oho! Jesus does, quoting Deuteronomy 6:4-7 and Leviticus 19:18, which summarize both tablets of the Law: Commandments one through three deal with our relationship with God, and commandments four through ten deal with our relationships with each other. The Law is a cohesive whole. You can’t put one part above another.

Indeed, all of the Law distills down to "You shall have no other Gods" because all of our sins boil down to trying to usurp God's authority. We want to be our own god. Again, beware the scribes of our time! They are the ones who claim to believe in some vague "higher authority," but only obey the authority between their ears. They may lay claim to the commandants as a sound basis for a moral life but then ignore them when they see fit. Look at the genocide of the unborn, for example. Look at the disregard for the elderly and those near the end of life. When you believe this life is all there is, what need do you have for fear of judgment in the next? You don't. Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die. Oh, but keep up an outward veneer of morality, so you have the appearance of being a "good" person, and toss off a "you're in my prayers" for effect to show your spirituality when your only god is yourself.

Death holds no power over us because of the death of Christ on the cross and His victorious resurrection. But even we who believe do not simply sin with abandon as if there were no consequences to our actions. We call it what it is: sin. And we repent. The blood of Christ covers us in His righteousness.

Father, forgive us for the sake of Christ when we forget what You have done for us, and fail to live as You would have us live, to be a light on a hill for those who have no hope, so they may come to know You, too. In the name of Jesus. Amen.