Matthew 23:1-12

Matthew 23:1-12

Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying,

“The scribes and the Pharisees

have taken their seat on the chair of Moses.

Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you,

but do not follow their example.

For they preach but they do not practice.

They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry

and lay them on people's shoulders,

but they will not lift a finger to move them.

All their works are performed to be seen.

They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels.

They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues,

greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation ‘Rabbi.’

As for you, do not be called ‘Rabbi.’

You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers.

Call no one on earth your father;

you have but one Father in heaven.

Do not be called ‘Master’;

you have but one master, the Christ.

The greatest among you must be your servant.

Whoever exalts himself will be humbled;

but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, bring me more deeply into the mystery of your divine humility. You are God and Lord over all, and yet are so humble. You care for me and know me by name. You know when I sit and when I stand and what my eternal destiny is. Guide me always toward your loving, eternal embrace.

Encountering the Word of God

1. The Scribes and Pharisees: Jesus’ exhortation today is found at the beginning of his final major discourse in the Gospel of Matthew. The discourse concerns the coming destruction of Jerusalem and its temple in A.D. 70, the advent of the Kingdom of heaven, and the end of the world. In Chapter Twenty-Three, Jesus condemns the scribes and Pharisees, delivers seven woes against them, and issues a lament over the city of Jerusalem. Jesus has just silenced the scribes and Pharisees and now turns to the crowds to draw out the contrast between the false way of the scribes and Pharisees and the true way of the new community, the Church, he is establishing. “The scribes and Pharisees, according to Jesus, are marked by pride and striving for rank and honor, whereas his way is the way of unity in fraternity through humility” (Huizenga, Behold the Christ, 372).

2. From Humility to Exaltation: The lesson in today’s Gospel is that pride will lead to destruction and humility will lead to exaltation. The way of Pharisaic hypocrisy is a false way. They think they are holy and righteous, but are not. They put on a good show, but internally and spiritually are far from God. Pharisees lay heavy burdens on others and refuse to help with them. By contrast, the way of Jesus is light because he, the Savior of the world, sustains us with his grace, power, and Spirit, as we journey toward the gates of heaven. “The way of Jesus is different: he teaches the crowds and his disciples that they are all on one fraternal plane under God and his Christ, their teacher, who are on a higher level (Matt 23:8-10). In Jesus’s description of the situation with the scribes and Pharisees, God and his Christ are absent, and so all that is left is for men to seek rank over each other. In his Church, God and his Christ reign, and his followers are all brothers (and sisters) equal in dignity, if not office. And so true greatness requires humble service (23:11); those like the scribes and Pharisees who exalt themselves will receive an eschatological humbling … while the humble will find themselves exalted at the eschaton [the End]” (Huizenga, Behold the Christ, 373-374).

3. The Queen Mother: The royal way of humility finds its fullest expression in Mary. In ancient Israel, the queen was not the king’s wife, but rather his mother. From First and Second Kings, we know the names of the queen-mothers of almost every king of Judah. Bathsheba, for example, was the mother of Solomon, and she had royal authority and acted as an advocate in the Davidic royal court. The Bible presents the queen mother as a highly revered noblewoman who came to wield significant authority in the government of Israel. Queen mothers wore a crown (Jeremiah 13:18), were arrayed in gold (Psalm 45:9), and sat enthroned at the king’s right hand (1 Kings 2:19). In Proverbs 31:1-9, we hear a queen mother advise her son to administer justice to the poor and avoid the pitfalls of women and wine (see Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, 506). Mary fulfills and surpasses this royal office. She is the Queen of Heaven and Earth because she is the Mother of our Lord and because she cooperated in Christ’s redemptive work of salvation. Yet Mary became Queen by first becoming the humble handmaid of the Lord. Her exaltation did not come through seeking rank, honor, or privilege, but through surrendering herself completely to God: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord” (Luke 1:38). Assumed into heaven, Mary now shares in the glory of her Son and sits at his right hand as Queen Mother. As our Queen, she directs us, protects us, and intercedes for us. She is a most excellent queen because of her Immaculate Conception, through which she possessed a fullness of innocence and holiness. She is also a most efficacious queen because she shares in Christ’s influence over humanity, distributing graces through her motherly intercession. In heaven, Mary does not cease her saving service, which expresses her maternal mediation “until the eternal fulfillment of all the elect” (John Paul II, Redemptoris Mater, 41). In Mary, we see that the royal way of humility is not the way to diminished greatness, but the very path by which God exalts his servants.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I thank you for redeeming me from sin and death. You sacrificed everything for me and considered me a pearl of great price. Help me to respond to your generosity and love and share in your redemptive work.

Living the Word of God: Am I convinced that “humility is truth”? Do I strive in my prayer and examinations of conscience to see myself as God truly sees me? How can I be more objective when I meditate on my virtues, strengths, progress, vices, weaknesses, and failures?