Walk the Talk - A Reflection on Matthew 23:1-12

 


Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them. They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long. They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have people call them rabbi. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students. And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father—the one in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.

One day, the Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, dropped to his knees before sinful man and washed his feet. I find this display of humility simply incredible. And after he had washed his apostles feet he asked them: “Do you understand what I have done for you? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you” (John 13:12-15).

Unlike the Pharisees that he berated in today’s passage for not practicing what they preached, Jesus never told anybody to do anything that he hadn’t demonstrated himself. If we want to fulfill our commission to make disciples of nations, then we need to model ourselves around Jesus. We have already seen his great sense of humility. What other things did he do that we need to do? Well, we need to pray. Jesus prayed constantly, and when his fame with the ensuing crowds prevented him from praying at will, he would wake up early to spend time with his Father. See Mark 1:35 for just one such example.

Jesus also fasted. Immediately after he was baptized by John the Baptist, “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And he fasted forty days and forty nights” (Matthew 4:1-2). Nobody suddenly takes off into the desert and fasts for forty days unless one has made a habit of it so it stands to reason that Jesus had been fasting regularly before he did this long fast. On more than one occasion he has suggested that his followers fast too. See Mark 9:29, Matthew 9:15, Matthew 6:16. Not only does it make for good spiritual discipline, fasting also increases our dependance on God.

And during this occasion of the temptation, Jesus demonstrated that he knew the Scriptures. When tempted in the desert, the devil tried to entice him several times, but each time Jesus responded with words from the Bible (see Matthew 4:1-11). “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God,” he said the first time quoting Deuteronomy 8:3. “Do not put the Lord your God to the test,” he said the second time quoting Deuteronomy 6:16. And the third time he quoted Deuteronomy 6:13 when he said, “Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only”.

Then, he taught us to serve rather than be served. One day Jesus called his apostles who were fighting among themselves about who would sit at his right and left in heaven. He said to them (I paraphrase), “You know that in the world people who want to be great lord it over each other. But it should not be like this among you. Whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:42-45).

Finally, although I am sure there are many more lessons to be learned from how he lived, Jesus led a life of subservience to the will of God. It isn’t easy being subservient to the will of God, because not only is it difficult at times, it can also be very painful. Jesus understood this all too well and in the Garden of Gethsemane he sweated blood as he begged that the cup that awaited him be taken away from him. “Yet not my will, but yours be done,” he said (Luke 22:42).

Let us all live in imitation of Christ, and if we are chosen to be shepherds to his flocks, let us never tell them to do anything that we ourselves don’t do. In short, let us walk the talk.

Watch a video of this reflection by Aneel Aranha here:  https://youtu.be/V_a_iKG5jLs

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