The Gospel according to Matthew (9:32-38)
A demoniac who could not speak was brought to Jesus,
and when the demon was driven out the mute man spoke.
The crowds were amazed and said,
“Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.”
But the Pharisees said,
“He drives out demons by the prince of demons.”
Jesus went around to all the towns and villages,
teaching in their synagogues,
proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom,
and curing every disease and illness.
At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them
because they were troubled and abandoned,
like sheep without a shepherd.
Then he said to his disciples,
“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest.”
Reflection:
It’s easy to wonder why the Pharisees reacted as they did, when Jesus performed the miracle of casting out the demons in today’s Gospel story. Wouldn’t they be happy that the man was delivered from the demons? On a human level, we would say yes, wouldn’t we? Why, then, would they claim that Jesus was casting out demons by the prince of demons? The answer: jealousy.
Jesus was amassing a large number of followers. He was a spell-binding teacher and speaker, and of course, the “signs and wonders” captivated all who witnessed them. We know from elsewhere in the Gospels that Jesus was not the only miracle-worker – others also cast out demons and healed others. We don’t know how they did that, but we do know it happened. The Gospels tell us that those “other” wonder-workers fell away, due to one of their own human failings, and their followers dispersed.
The Pharisees saw that Jesus was not like these others, in that He was a teacher, but not one who focused solely on the Law. That worried the Pharisees. I think they liked their position as the ones who taught and disciplined God’s people and they saw in the challenges Jesus was making to their authority that they would not continue to have it.
The lesson to us is clear. We are absolutely blessed by God and loved by Him. He wants to share even more of His blessings with us. It would be easy to think that we had somehow earned these blessings, but that would be leading us down a wrong path. We didn’t do anything to “deserve” these blessings, and the fact that we are blessed does not make us any better than anyone else. God loves all His children, even the ones who turn away from Him.
But, in our hearts, we may secretly be happy when evil befalls those who turn away from God, as we want them to feel the punishment that we think they deserve. And, when they turn back to God and are blessed like us, we may be angry at God for that. I think this is the aspect of following Jesus that is probably hardest for us to accept on a human level.
In God’s measure, *ALL* are within the family of God, to be blessed just on that basis. In human measure, we think that others should somehow *EARN* those blessings. Let us instead be thankful for God’s mercy toward those who had turned aside from Him before, as we ourselves will be in a position to need that mercy ourselves. And let us know that mercy will be available to us in our moment of need, and the answer will always be “Yes, my child, you are forgiven. Enter into your Master’s joy.”
Action for the Day:
If you feel yourself judging another, take a moment in silence today and ask God to give you an even more loving heart, a more humble heart, that you might rejoice for those who turn back to God, and that you may know that God waits for you, too, just when you need His mercy the most.
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