Healing Eucharist, Tuesday, Proper 9

Matthew 23:1-15,23-26

There is no "Lesser Feast" of a saint any day this week, so let's look at the Daily Office reading for today; when we see Jesus go ballistic. "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!" Jesus shouts at them again and again. And yet, before he begins his list of woes, he tells the crowd that has been watching him debate the Pharisees: "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees have inherited Moses' authority; so heed what they say, but not what they do." Doesn't it seem strange for Jesus to give them any credit?

Of course, it is in Matthew's Gospel that we hear Jesus say, "Don't even think that I have come to nullify the Law of Moses. I have not come to nullify the Law, but to complete it" (Matt 5:17). Jesus honored the Law that God had given to Moses. Of course, with over 600 separate rules in the Law, experts were needed to interpret the Law. And Jesus doesn't question their expertise.

The Pharisees and legal experts knew the Law inside and out. They got every question on the test right. Their problem was they seemed to think that getting the right answers was all it took to enjoy life with the living God. But the life of faith is not just about right teaching. It is also a matter of right action: "You have cancelled the most important parts of the Law – justice, mercy and trustworthiness," Jesus says to them (Matt 23:23).

But even more than that, life with God is a journey and a relationship. God walks with us in that journey. Sometimes, we take the wrong path and get lost. When we realize that, do we assume that God left us alone on that dark path? Absolutely not: that is when the Holy Spirit, which comes from the Father and the Son, is closest to us, holding our hand. God never stops looking at us, no matter what we do. And God will always be ready to help us get back on the right path, one step at a time.

Sometimes, the path of healing can seem too long for us to even start. But only God really knows how long our healing will take. All God asks of us is that we put one foot in front of the other, and he will take care of the rest. And don't worry about failing the test. After all, the Pharisees passed the test. For we have never had a more patient teacher than Jesus Christ.