Luke 11:47-54
Sometimes I just don’t get it. I can read a verse over and over and not make any headway. This starts to make me wonder if I am really understanding, in the correct light, that which I think I understand. To follow Jesus and to keep up with His teachings and admonishments requires a tight grip and a lot of prayer.
A couple of days ago I read about Jesus using dishes as a way of teaching. When I finished reading I had a dim idea but was not satisfied. Not until I read and reread, prayed and prayed some more did His meaning start to sink in.
Today’s Gospel is very similar to that one.
Jesus points out that the prophets of long ago were killed by the “fathers” of this generation. Yet it is ironic that this generation builds monuments to those very prophets that the fathers murdered. Are they honoring the fathers or the prophets? Are they honoring the words of the prophets or the action of the fathers with their monuments?
Surely that generation would reply that they are honoring the prophets yet Jesus is accusing them of honoring the words of the prophets and the actions of the fathers. They have the hindsight to see that the prophets were of God but cannot see that they walk in their fathers footsteps. Like their fathers, the only prophet they will listen to is a dead one.
Jesus, the final “prophet” will be treated no differently. We see evidence of this in the very last line, “the scribes and Pharisees began to act with hostility toward him and to interrogate him about many things, for they were plotting to catch him at something he might say.”(Luke 11:53-54)
It is only after Our Lord’s death and Resurrection that many more people, scribes and Pharisees included, will begin to listen to Him. Lest we cast darting glances at the “fathers” of that generation, let us remember well that we do the same thing today. St. Joan of Arc, St. Padre Pio, St. Bernadette, and many others who we recognize as saints today were persecuted not only by the outside world but by our very own “fathers” within the Church.
Therefore, what monuments or memorials should we erect? St. Paul tells us – Do you not know that your body is a temple of the holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body. A holy and upright life should be our testament, memorial, and monument to this “prophet” who not only spoke of God but was God by His very nature. Let us honor His words by our lives.
James M. Hahn, Author 