Saturday, July 16, 2016

Reflection: Matthew 12:14-21


Saturday of the 15th Week in Ordinary Time – Matthew 12:14-21

Today the Pharisees come together and begin to plot against Jesus.  They were so threatened by Jesus and his influence with the people that they decided that He needed to be put to death.  When Jesus realized that he was in danger, He withdrew to a secluded place.  However, a large number of people followed Him.  Despite His desire to be alone, He healed the all of the sick.  Jesus told the people not to make him known.  He realized that this would only intensify the Pharisees’ vendetta against him.   Jesus realized that His end was not far off.

Jesus did all of this to fulfill a prophecy of Isaiah (Isaiah 42:1-4).  The passage from Isaiah that Jesus quotes is a tender passage:  Isaiah speaks of God’s servant as the One who had been chosen.  This servant is the beloved one in whom God delights.  And God has placed the Spirit upon his servant.  The servant is to proclaim justice and liberty to all the Gentiles.

Today, we are the Gentiles to whom Jesus proclaims justice and liberty for all.  When we receive this message, we also are to go and proclaim justice and liberty for all.  As with Jesus, our proclamation must flow from our relationship with God and from our prayer.

We are the servants God has chosen.  We are God’s beloved!  We are God’s delight!  For what more could we ask?  Our world desperately needs to hear of Jesus’ love and his message.  The very least we can do is to proclaim Jesus’ message with our lives, our words, and our actions!  Will we do so today?

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