Today in Scripture

 The Gospel today is Matthew 23: 27-32

Jesus said,
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth. Even so, on the outside you appear righteous,
but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You build the tombs of the prophets
and adorn the memorials of the righteous,
and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors,
we would not have joined them in shedding the prophets’ blood.’
Thus you bear witness against yourselves
that you are the children of those who murdered the prophets;
now fill up what your ancestors measured out!”

The television network ABC currently has an 'ethical dilemma' show called "What Would You Do?" in which they set up various situations and film bystanders reactions (or lack of action) with a hidden camera. I'm guessing that many people watching the show claim the noble course of action for themselves: of course I'd give that person a few dollars for gas, no matter their gender or ethnicity or fashion sense; I'd certainly speak up if a man was verbally abusing his date, etc., etc.  But deep down, it's a gnawing question, what would you do?

‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have joined them in shedding the prophets’ blood.’ That leads to another gnawing question... if we had lived in the days of Jesus, would we have followed him, listened to him, believed in him, or dismissed him as too 'out there', as someone unfaithful to religious tradition, a dangerous influence in society? Fortunately, we don't have to think too hard about this because our ancestors in faith have passed on to us the priceless gift of belief, and along with it a set of standards for how to live like Jesus Christ.

Still. The struggle remains: we know what Jesus said and did and valued, but it can be difficult to internalize that knowledge to a consistent way of being. And we know how we feel when our reality conflicts with our good intentions. It's not a new struggle, remember Paul? "For I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want." (Romans 7: 19) 

I wonder what Jesus' tone was in this passage. We usually read it as a stern condemnation of hypocrisy, something to be rightfully criticized. But what if he was saying, 'how utterly sad for you, look at how this inconsistency is eating you up, is making you feel dead inside'. These feelings of disquiet that settle in when we know we've not lived up to our own, let alone God's standards can be helpful: they are invitations to take a breath, turn back to the right path and try again.