Let’s continue Jesus’
train of thought from the end of the Gospel.
He says: “But if you do
not believe [Moses’] writings, how will you believe my words?” … For when Moses wrote, he wasn’t just writing
– it was I who was speaking to you. I am the eternal Word of the Father. Moses’
writings and I are one.
When we talk about Jesus,
we recall here – at Incarnate Word parish of all places! – that Jesus is the Word made flesh. All of human history
was a preparation for the Incarnation. The Old Testament was integral to that
preparation. Before Jesus became flesh, He prepared the world by speaking to
her – through the prophets, through His kings, through miracles – and yes, in
the Sacred Scriptures themselves.
Interestingly, many people
downplay the value of the Old Testament. “Because it’s Old,” they say, or because
they think it is “replaced” by Jesus’ New Testament teachings. But that is the
ancient heresy of Marcionism (not Martianism—that’s from Mars… I think). Marcionism
dismisses the Old Testament and sees it as a stumbling block to the Real Jesus.
We can tend towards that,
I think. After all, how many good Catholics believe that there is a kind of “wedge”
between the Ten Commandments and Jesus? I mean, how many people, when they hear
the Commandments, hear them through the speakers of an angry father or an angry
neighbor: don’t do that, you pesky kids!
Stay off my lawn! … And don’t steal anything! The Ten Commandments easily
become something that we think inhibits our freedoms and happiness.
How many people have heard
the Ten Commandments through the voice of Jesus?
Listen to some of the
Commandments as though Jesus were saying them to you right now:
My dear friend, I am giving you so much
and I will continue to provide for you. Do not steal. Stealing only makes you
more enslaved and worried about things. … Do not have other idols. They will
only disappoint you and leave you orphaned. I am with you; I am listening to
you. And you are important to me … Do not gossip and bear false witness—and do
not envy your neighbor’s spouse and stuff. Such things divide your heart and
deepen the hurt and loneliness you feel. I am here for you; let me heal your
heart; let me give you life.
We can tend to be like the
Pharisees in the Gospel today who don’t see Jesus’ teachings and Moses’ writings
as coming from the same place: from the eternal word of the Father. Jesus says to us: “If you do not believe Moses’ writings, how will you believe my words?”
So many people relay to me that
they don’t hear Jesus when they pray. I tell you: when you read Sacred Scripture,
you are hearing the voice of Jesus.
It is HE who speaks to you. Soak in Scripture, my friends, and you will be soaking not only in Law and in Love, but in Jesus Himself -- the Word dwelling among us.
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