Wednesday – Twenty-eighth Week – OT1
Reading 1: You, O man, are without excuse, every one of you who passes judgment.
For by the standard by which you judge another you condemn yourself,
since you, the judge, do the very same things.
We know that the judgment of God on those who do such things is true.
Do you suppose, then, you who judge those who engage in such things
and yet do them yourself,
that you will escape the judgment of God?
Or do you hold his priceless kindness, forbearance, and patience in low esteem, unaware that the kindness of God would lead you to repentance?
By your stubbornness and impenitent heart,
you are storing up wrath for yourself
for the day of wrath and revelation
of the just judgment of God,
who will repay everyone according to his works,
eternal life to those who seek glory, honor, and immortality through perseverance in good works,
but wrath and fury to those who selfishly disobey the truth and obey wickedness.
Yes, affliction and distress will come upon everyone
who does evil, Jew first and then Greek.
But there will be glory, honor, and peace for everyone
who does good, Jew first and then Greek.
There is no partiality with God.
Gospel: The Lord said:
“Woe to you Pharisees!
You pay tithes of mint and of rue and of every garden herb, but you pay no attention to judgment and to love for God.
These you should have done, without overlooking the others.
Woe to you Pharisees!
You love the seat of honor in synagogues
and greetings in marketplaces.
Woe to you!
You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk.”
Then one of the scholars of the law said to him in reply,
“Teacher, by saying this you are insulting us too.”
And he said, “Woe also to you scholars of the law!
You impose on people burdens hard to carry,
but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them.”
I. THEME: Judge yourself before judging others.
Many people have a habit of judging others but seldom judge themselves. To avoid this habit, the Church advices Christians to frequently examine their conscience and to make confessions. When people frequently examine themselves, beside to receive God’s forgiveness, but also to have compassion with others’ weakness and shortcoming. They realize that all human beings are weak and prone to sins; if they have courage to ask God for His forgiveness, they also have to forgive those who sinned against them. If people don’t often examine themselves, they think they are perfect and easily to debase and to condemn others.
Today readings help us to be very careful in judging others. In the first reading, St.Paul warned the Jews that they should examine themselves and were careful in passing their judgment on the Gentiles because God has no partiality for a nation or a class. He will judge according to the truth those who do wrong things, Jews or Gentiles. In the Gospel, Jesus warned the Pharisees when they paid so much attention to tithes of mint and of rue and of every garden herb, and no attention to justice and to love for God. When the scribes said to Jesus that he was insulting them too, he scolded them also for using the Law for their own benefits. The scribes behaved unjustly to people in their interpreting of the Law. They imposed on people burdens hard to carry,
but they themselves didn’t lift one finger to touch them.
II. ANALYSIS:
1/ Reading I: “You, O man, are without excuse, every one of you who passes judgment.”
1.1/ Do you think you will escape God’s judgment? Today periscope continues Jewish condemnation of the Gentiles. St. Paul wanted the Jews to carefully examine their sins; not just to condemn the Gentile’s sins. He wanted them to pay attention to three things.
(1) Examining of themselves: St. Paul said to the Jews: “You, O man, are without excuse, every one of you who passes judgment. For by the standard by which you judge another you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the very same things.” When one judges other, he put himself in the place of a judge to condemn other. If he does that he knows that is a sin and should never commit such sin. But if he still commits that sin, he cannot make any excuse because he already gives a sentence for himself. For example, a Jew condemned a Gentile who did not believe and worship God to die; he must also be dead if he did not worship God and keep His commandments.
(2) God justly judges all: Many Jews think God have two standards to judge people, one for them and one for the Gentiles. St. Paul absolutely rejected this thinking and defended God’s justice. He said: “We know that the judgment of God on those who do such things is true. Do you suppose, then, you who judge those who engage in such things and yet do them yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God?” Human can judge according to two standards; but God never does such thing. When one enjoyed a privilege as a Jew or a Christian, he should live a better life than an unbeliever.
(3) Don’t misuse God’s love: Possessed God’s immense love, one can have one of two following attitudes: either he feels ashame and repents or he takes advantage of God’s love to continually be in sins, with a hope that God will forgive him all. This latter attitude is one of the two sins against the Holy Spirit and will not be forgiven. St. Paul put a question to the Jews: “Or do you hold his priceless kindness, forbearance, and patience in low esteem, unaware that the kindness of God would lead you to repentance? By your stubbornness and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself for the day of wrath and revelation.”
1.2/ God will judge people according to their deeds: There are many who wrongly explained what Paul said: “one becomes righteous only by his faith in God” (sola fide) (Rom 3:21-22). Before Paul said such thing, he declared the necessary of always doing good deeds in today passage: “God, who will repay everyone according to his works, eternal life to those who seek glory, honor, and immortality through perseverance in good works, but wrath and fury to those who selfishly disobey the truth and obey wickedness. Yes, affliction and distress will come upon everyone who does evil, Jew first and then Greek. But there will be glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does good, Jew first and then Greek. There is no partiality with God.”
2/ Gospel: Judge yourself before judging others.
2.1/ You pay no attention to justice and to love for God: Be spiritual leaders the Pharisees supposed to know the way and to set good examples for people to follow; but they did not do that. Jesus invited them to examine three things:
(1) To distinguish between necessary and suplementary thing: “”Woe to you Pharisees!
You pay tithes of mint and of rue and of every garden herb, but you pay no attention to judgment and to love for God. These you should have done, without overlooking the others.”
(2) To avoid vainglory: “Woe to you Pharisees! You love the seat of honor in synagogues
and greetings in marketplaces.”
(3) To avoid hypocrisy: “Woe to you! You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk.”
2.2/ You imposed on people burdens hard to carry: One of the scholars of the law said to him in reply, “Teacher, by saying this you are insulting us too.” And he said, “Woe also to you scholars of the law! You impose on people burdens hard to carry, but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them.”
The scribes are those who knows the Law. They should find opportunities to teach people to understand and to keep the Law; instead, they use the Law for their material gains. They are also ones who make laws for others to keep; but they themselves belong to exception laws and don’t have to keep common laws.
III. APPLICATION IN LIFE:
– We should not judge those who are not belong to our right. Even when we have to judge those belong to ours, we should have necessary proofs and judge them with justice tempered with mercy; because by the measure we judge people, God will judge us the same measure.
– If we demand others to do good deeds, we should also do the same. We should never have two standards, one for ourselves and one for others.