“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.” (Matthew 23:4).
When Christ was on earth – during the final three years of His life, which we call His public ministry, He spoke with authority. He said things that were completely new and unorthodox to the Jewish people at that time, and He said them with authority.
“And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, and they said to him, ‘By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?’” (Mark 11:27-33).
Christ lead people – people followed Him – by the thousands – not because He had some huge Instagram following, or because He was endorsed by people in high places, they followed Him because He spoke with authority – He is a true leader… And a true leader is not someone who we are expected to follow, He is someone who we wish to follow, because what they have to say and how they chose to live resonates with us because they speak with authority because they are authentic. In other words, a true leader is someone who acts and speaks in a way that is true – they are not hiding things from us – they are completely honest with us.
And this was problematic for those other people around Christ, because those High Priests and Pharisees were supposed to be the people who everyone followed. They were supposed to be the people in high places, who directed the rest of them. And they had been directing others for a very very long time. And now – all of a sudden – you had this young Rabbi, who was a carpenter’s Son, a basic nobody, and He did not just speak and act well, He spoke and acted with authority because He was completely honest and authentic in a way that nobody has ever been before…
Those Pharisees were criticised by Christ because, “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.” (Matthew 23:4). In other words, they were clever with their words, but not true. For truly, not even they could follow their own directives well…
There is a story of the atheist who was converted to Catholicism by Saint John Vianey, the Cure of Ars…
That man had gone to listen to the Saint out of pure curiosity. He had visited Ars in the morning and converted to Catholicism by the afternoon. And his friends asked him what the Saint had said to him to convince him to convert. And the convert replied, “I did not speak to him... I just saw him!”
He had watched the example of the Saint – who through his closeness with the Holy Spirit- was able to speak and act with authority as Christ had done, and that was enough to convince him that there was merit in the Word of God.
And I have been reflecting on that today. Because it seems that I must pray for the Grace to be able to follow the teachings of One who spoke with Authority…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.