Matthew 23:1-12
This passage from Matthew’s Gospel is part of Jesus’ teaching in the Temple, where he directly challenges the religious status quo of the day. In the translation I use as my daily Scripture reader, The Message, this particular passage is titled “Religious Fashion Shows.” As usual, Jesus is getting right to the point as he continues to explain God’s kingdom to the people gathered to listen! These teachings challenge the worldly expectations of the crowd, in Jesus’ time and in our time, and they have much to say to us this Lent.
Jesus says, “You won’t go wrong in following their teachings on Moses. But be careful about following them. They talk a good line, but they don’t live it.” (v. 2-3) It can be tempting to point at religious leaders or those in positions of power with whom we disagree, and say, “Listen up! Jesus is calling you out!” Jesus is clear that all the beautiful vestments and poetic prayer language in the world cannot make up for the hardness of heart and legalistic gatekeeping demonstrated by the religious scholars and leaders of the time. But in all honesty, we—leaders or not—tend to really like it when things look nice and sound elegant and polished, and we have plenty to say when they don’t. That doesn’t mean those things are necessarily bad, but in this Lenten season of reflection, let’s find ourselves in this story. Are we “spit and polish veneer,” or taking God’s law into our hearts and living it out in our behavior (v. 3)? If the beautiful trappings were stripped away, as they will be by Good Friday, what are the contents of our hearts? How do we authentically respond to God, and to God’s people, in the bareness of this Lenten space?
This passage is a clear condemnation of hypocrisy. Jesus is emphatic that the “do as I say, not as I do” behavior of the Pharisees won’t cut it in God’s kingdom. As in Jesus’ time, we don’t have to look far to find leaders who fall into this pattern. In our modern world, there are plenty of people who put on a righteous mantle but fail to fulfill God’s teachings of loving service to all of God’s people. It’s actually pretty easy. But in Lent, we’re called to look inward, and to examine our own behavior and beliefs. And that’s a little more difficult. Where are we, as individuals, reducing our faith to a series of rules and expectations to follow? How are we, as individuals, condemning those who don’t meet our expectations? Are we burdening others with performative ideals, or are we living examples of God’s kingdom (as Jesus shows us, not as we recreate it in our own image)?
There are a lot of layers in this passage. On the surface, it is tempting to look around and find the hypocrites in our midst. But the reality of this cautionary tale is that we are called to take a good look in the Lenten mirror, and to try to weed out the hypocrisy in our own actions, towards ourselves, towards others, and towards God. It is ongoing, lifelong work! But Jesus never leaves us hanging. He reminds us that we have “a single Teacher, and [we] are all classmates” (v. 8). God has the authority over each of us—we are neither beholden to the imagined expectations of others nor given charge over other’s behavior. God’s Law is “food and drink by which [we] can banquet on God” (v. 4), not a burdensome package of rules. As we do the work this Lent—of reflection, of pruning, of recalibrating—remember the freedom of living under God’s true Law. “Do you want to stand out? Then step down. Be a servant. If you puff yourself up, you’ll get the wind knocked out of you. But if you’re content to simply be yourself, your life will count for plenty” (v. 11-12).
Meditation by Anne Delgado
Director of Formation, St. Peter’s Church, Freehold
Missioner for Lifelong Christian Formation
Diocese of New Jersey