Jesus leaves Galilee, where he spent much of his ministry, and in the Gospel of Matthew, he does not return until after the resurrection. His time on earth is coming to an end, but he still has important teachings for us. This week offers parable after parable, as Jesus takes on difficult subjects, including divorce and wealth. Not everyone then (or now) had ears to hear.
Not surprisingly, we’re back with the religious leaders, who again offer loaded questions to Jesus with hopes to trip him up. This time on the docket: the subject of divorce. The religious leaders approach the topic from the breakdown of marriage; Jesus, of course, focuses on scripture and the heart of the relationship.
We move from some very difficult words to an easy passage: As the song says, Jesus loves the little children. Several years ago, an usher at a church kept hushing our young daughter and then snidely harrumphed, “This is no place for children.” With hackles raised, I replied, “This is exactly the place for children.” Jesus says so.
He also has some words that are hard to hear, especially for many of us in the United States: “It will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven.” Yikes. I don’t think of myself as rich, certainly not the so-called “1 percent,” but compared to most of the world, I am, along with most Americans, extraordinarily wealthy. Even in these times, most of us reading this reflection have food and shelter and wifi—maybe even a puzzle or two. So Jesus’ admonition hits us where it hurts, and we might even respond like the disciples: “Then who can be saved?” Jesus offers a profound answer: “For mortals, it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”
Chapter 20 presents more teachings that don’t always sit well with us. For instance, Jesus tells of the workers in the vineyard: All receive the same wages, though some worked a full day while others only worked a few hours. This story is an affront to our sense of fairness (unless we’re the last laborers hired, and then we’re okay with getting a full day’s pay). But the kingdom of God is not fair—thank goodness. If it was fair, none of us would taste the heavenly banquet. This parable illustrates the heart of grace—the free and unearned love of God distributed to all, regardless of work or human-determined worth.
A few verses later, we encounter another very human response in the mother of Zebedee. Like most mothers, she wants the best for her children. And Jesus is the best, so why not ask for her sons to have a place of honor at his side? But the poor mother does not know what she is truly asking. To drink from the same cup as Jesus means to face suffering and, for James, death by stoning. Jesus presents the model leader as a humble servant, not one ruling from a throne—or sitting to the right and left of one.
As we move into chapters 21 and 22, we begin the story of Jesus’ last week. Chapter 21 opens with the triumphant entry into Jerusalem, with Jesus riding on a colt. Jesus knows the week will end with his death on across, but he rides into Jerusalem as the Prince of Peace, just as the scriptures foretold. Loud hosannas and rejoicing gives way to Jesus’ anger when he sees how the temple is being desecrated. While the Gospel of John places this incident near the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, Matthew recounts it here, in Jesus’ final days. This event surely riles the religious leaders, adding fuel to their fire for the days to come. Then Jesus shows by example the type of actions that should be occurring in temples. He offers love and grace, healing the blind and the lame.
These religious leaders simply will not let things go, and they demand of Jesus: “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” Surely he further angers these leaders with answers that seem like riddles. As he is wont to do, Jesus uses stories to get his point across. He talks of vineyards and cornerstones and wedding banquets, all parables to draw distinctions between the ways of man and the ways of God, the kings of earth and the kingdom of God.
As we wend our way through the verbal jousting, we arrive at a critical teaching. A religious leader (a lawyer) asks Jesus: “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” His response is what we call “The Great Commandment.” Jesus says, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’”
Indeed, if we were forced to choose a handful of verses that articulate the call for Christians, this would make the cut. If we are truly followers of God, we make that love manifest in how we treat and care for one another. It is a great commandment, often put to test, daring us to be more, to do more, for God’s sake.
