"If your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven." What did Jesus mean in these words to His disciples? He was talking about those Pharisees who appeared to live good lives, upholding the law and performing all the necessary religious duties. They could not be faulted on their outward behaviour but Jesus knew that their goodness was often superficial. There was a vast difference between their appearance, and their inner thoughts and attitudes.
Is your Christian faith a means of escape from the hard realities of life? Our critics often argue that people who cannot face unpleasant facts run away and hide in a make-believe world of pleasant fantasies. I suppose you can say that for some individuals this might be true.
Crowds were following Jesus and listening to His preaching but He seemed to be having no effect on them because they insisted on asking for some sign as proof of His identity. They had seen the miracles He had performed and heard His words of wisdom but still they were not convinced.
We shall all have to face the final judgement. On what will we be judged? Both today's readings make it clear that we must love our neighbour as we love ourselves, and at our trial we shall have to show evidence of having done this.
Moses stresses some of the things that we must not do to our neighbour. We must not steal from him, slander him, bear a grudge against him. We must not exploit employees or show contempt for the disabled. We would not like to be treated in this way ourselves, so why treat others like this?
St. Matthew tells us that “Jesus was led by the Spirit out into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights.” This raises a few questions. Why should Jesus be tempted? How did He spend those 40 days? Why did He tell this episode of His life to His Apostles?
"If your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven." What did Jesus mean in these words to His disciples? He was talking about those Pharisees who appeared to live good lives, upholding the law and performing all the necessary religious duties. They could not be faulted on their outward behaviour but Jesus knew that their goodness was often superficial. There was a vast difference between their appearance, and their inner thoughts and attitudes.
