KNOW YOUR FAITH, LIVE YOUR FAITH,TEACH YOUR FAITH!

Events of Tuesday

Today is typically seen as the day the Lord is assigned the title of ‘the Great Teacher’, the Instructor, if you will. Today is the last time He enters the temple and preaches to the people publicly. Today, we see the Lord who sits among His people and who educates them. When He educates them, there are some of His teachings that are directed towards those that are hypocritical. Some of His teachings prepare the way for the Kingdom of God. He speaks of the kingdom in a way that makes it accessible to so many people who have been told by others above them that they have no chance of entering. He makes it accessible to those who believe that in their sinful state, they are unrighteous and incapable of approaching God. So the Lord comes in with His teachings and He almost flips the tables around in some sorts. He tells those who are self-righteous, who think that they have a birthright towards the kingdom, and they cannot be reproached because they fulfill all of the laws. They think they have first standings when it comes to entering the kingdom of God. And yet He comes and tells them that they are the ones who are hypocritical. They are the ones who have lorded their authorities over the people. They are truly unrighteous as they mask themselves with the law, when in reality, they bear no fruits of mercy. But He tells the regular people who sit in the crowd, who have been told for years that they are sinful, that they have access to the kingdom.

In today’s readings, we also see how the Lord mourns over Jerusalem, how He looks at Jerusalem and says, “Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem! How often have I desired to visit you, how often have I desired to gather you together to make you one, to make you whole. How often have I desired to be able to restore you to your former state.” The same cry is heard today by my very soul. The Creator of my soul turns to me and says, “How often have I desired to pursue you! How often have I desired to make you whole! How often have I desired to heal you, to restore you, to raise you back to a level of dignity! But you have refused.” He tells Jerusalem you have killed the prophets and I, myself, have done the same in my own sinfulness. I have neglected the words of the Holy Spirit in Scripture. I have turned a blind eye to the commandments of God. I have turned down the volume of His voice in favor of the voice of my own desires, so as not to be troubled with the voice of conviction within me that the Holy Spirit tries to speak.

Today, we hear in addition the Lord teaching and instructing the people by telling them that He is the Light of the world. Whoever follows Him shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. He tells them that He is the One who has come to get rid of the darkness. The shining of His light would allow all to be able to come to Him. Those who walk in the light will not stumble. But the light has two separate effects, my beloved. When a light is shined in a very dark room, someone sitting in that room can have two very different reactions. There are those who will see the light and be bothered by it, and say, “Turn that off, that’s bothering me. Leave me in the comfort of my darkness.” But there are others who, when they see a light in a very dark room, are intrigued by it. They haven’t seen a light in a very long time and so they turn toward that light. They question where it’s from and they want to approach it with curiosity. They follow the light hoping that it leads outside of that darkness. The closer they get to that light, the more the darkness evades them. The more they approach the source of light, the more there is no

darkness surrounding them. They are filled with the warmth of the light that embraces them. They pursue it, and in the process, they begin to see themselves in a way that they have not seen before. Their true appearance becomes more evident before them. They become more and more aware of the source of light, and they become more aware of who they are and of the stains that have clung to them.

Today, the Lord presents himself as ‘the Great Instructor, the Teacher, the Priest of some sorts, the One who has loved and cherished His people, the Shepherd who has run after the sheep, the One who wants to bring back the lost of Israel, to make sure that we forget the things of the past and focus on the hope of the future, the One who calls out our hypocrisy and gives us a dose of tough love that we need and deserve.

My beloved, today, we see Him instructing, we see Him mourning over us through His Holy and zealous anger manifested towards the evil that has overtaken us in the form of hypocrisy. As we behold Him today, the Church’s prayer is that each one of us would turn to Him and respond, “Lord, as You instructed and as You taught back then, I ask you to come now again, O Lord, and in Your Holy Spirit, convict me and teach me. Let me hear the voice of your teaching. Let me turn back to You. Bring me back and cover me. Let me sit in the shadow of Your wings. Build me up. Raise me up. Shine your light in me. Show me who I am, that I may also in the process see all that You are.

To God be all glory now and forever and unto the ages of all ages, Amen.