Saturday 26th of August
“They do not practise what they preach.”
Matthew 23:1-12
Where do we strive to know more with the idea that it will give us something more than the knowledge itself? Do we believe that it is good to be better than others? Knowledge and status are still considered very important in society today and people with a lot of knowledge or the appearance of it are usually rewarded and esteemed (and liked and followed
People pay a lot of money and go to great lengths to gain knowledge and status. The Pharisees and teachers of the law had a lot of both these things, but as Jesus points out, it was not really serving them well. Despite their knowledge, they acted in selfish, unkind and lazy ways and lacked compassion. They were self- focused and tried to gain respect and honour by showing off all they knew and acting in a superior way. It seems, actually, that even they were not satisfied, as they yearned for external recognition and respect and tried to prove their worthiness by their deliberate actions to be seen in a certain way by others.
Does our focus and energy go on how we are seen, or what we know- or how we actually live and treat God and others?