Matthew 9:32-38

Genesis 32:23-33

Psalm 17:1b, 2-3, 6-7ab, 8b and 15

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.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, I am willing to be sent by you. I strive to hear your call every day and place all that I am at your service. I will shepherd those in my care and lead them to restful waters. I will work in your vineyard and harvest good fruit for the Kingdom.

Encountering the Word of God

1. The Tenth Mighty Work: The ten mighty works of Jesus recall the ten works of Moses in Egypt. The works of Moses and those of Jesus were met with hardness of heart. Pharaoh refused to believe in the Lord God, and here, the Pharisees refuse to believe in the Lord Jesus. While the crowds and Jesus’ disciples were amazed at Jesus’ displays of power and authority in healings, exorcisms, and the command over nature, the Pharisees had a much different reaction. Instead of glorifying God and giving thanks that the time of salvation and the New Exodus had come, they accused Jesus of working in league with the devil: “He drives out demons by the prince of demons” (Matthew 9:34).

2. The Need for New Shepherds and Laborers: How does Jesus respond to the accusation of the Pharisees in the Gospel of Matthew? By appointing the Twelve, granting them authority to do the works he was doing, and sending them out. The hardness of heart of the Pharisees revealed that Israel needed new leaders, God’s flock needed new shepherds, and the abundant harvest needed new laborers. The heart of Jesus was moved with pity for the people. They were being unnecessarily burdened by the Pharisees and their traditions. Just as Pharaoh had subjected the people of Israel to hard labor, the Pharisees were tying up heavy burdens for the people and not helping to carry them (Matthew 23:4). By contrast, the yoke and burden of Jesus will be light (Matthew 11:29-30). That is because we do not carry it alone, but carry it with Christ. Jesus’ apostles will be appointed to help the people they shepherd carry the yoke of Christ.

3. Wrestling with God: Recently, a clinical psychologist has written a book about the psychological dimension of the Genesis stories. Concerning the First Reading, in which Jacob wrestles throughout the night with the Lord God, Peterson writes: “Jacob, like Abram, began his adventure on the wrong foot. Both men both determined to set themselves straight, despite their substantial flaws, and make a covenant with God to do exactly that. That is a decision; a moral decision, and it is the decision to begin the journey up – to mount the spiral of Jacob’s Ladder toward the highest good. They then face a horizon of expanding opportunities, each of which demand, in sequence, a sacrifice of increasing magnitude – a maturation and transformation of character. In the case of both protagonists, this transformation proceeds to a point so revolutionary that the men who undergo it are in some sense reborn, and become new people. Hence their new names, Abraham, ‘father of nations,’ and Israel, ‘he who wrestles with God’ If that wrestling is done in the proper spirit, there is no difference whatsoever between those two newly bestowed, fully integrated, and properly sacrificial identities” (Peterson, We Who Wrestle with God, 293).

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, teach me to pray as I ought. Bring me to deep contemplation so that I may know you and see how to shepherd your sheep and how to labor in your vineyard. I will strive to imitate you, the Good Shepherd, in all that I do.

Living the Word of God: How is my prayer life transforming me? How can my prayer be more like that of Jacob, where I wrestle with God and strive to attain the highest good? What is God calling me to sacrifice? What test is God permitting in my life?