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Commentary on the Gospel for Tuesday, January 21, 2025
If I had to give today’s Gospel text a title, it would be something like “The Eternal Pointing Finger.” There are the Pharisees, seemingly with nothing better to do than scrutinize the actions of Jesus and His disciples to find the flaws, the failures, the violations, the imperfections, and point them out.
Some people seem to think that this is what the Christian life is about. I remember one of my seminary instructors who often used this analogy: in a piece of fabric, it’s normal for everything to be well-made. The focus, then, should be on pointing out the flaws—the threads that were out of place. As for the rest, the parts that were well-done, there was nothing to say because it was normal for them to be good. He applied this same idea to the spiritual life. If we made a mistake or did something imperfect, it needed to be pointed out so it could be corrected. Everything else we did throughout the day—the work, the prayer, the study—wasn’t worth mentioning because it was expected to be good. There was no reason to praise what was done well, but plenty of reason to criticize, censor, and correct what was done poorly, no matter how small the error.
What a way to understand following Jesus! It was like transforming the Kingdom of mercy into a kingdom of intolerance, condemnation, and guilt. After all, who is completely perfect? And of course, nothing should be praised in others lest they grow proud and fall into greater sin.
The Pharisees could have spent their time better by focusing on all the good things Jesus said and did. But, clinging to the law, they preferred to point out what they believed to be faults—though, as today’s Gospel text shows, they weren’t faults at all. They were merely signs of freedom. Because we are not and cannot be slaves to the law; we are followers of Jesus. As such, we live in the Kingdom of mercy, understanding, patience, forgiveness, and reconciliation.
Suggestion for today: How about, instead of looking for the faults in our brothers and sisters, we spend time praising God for the good things they do—and, without fear, praising them too for those good things.