Monday, MATTHEW 21:23-27

Jesus' authority was challenged by the chief priests and religious elders in today's Gospel reading. But no one can ever challenge Christ's authority and win. Take a look at the historical setting in which the story in today's first reading took place. It happened near the end of the lsraelites' 40-year journey through the desert. Balaam
had been hired by Balak, the king of the Moabites, to defeat the Israelites by sorcery since Balak knew he could not defeat them by arms. So Balaam set out to put a curse on them, but each time he tried, God convinced him to pronounce a blessing instead. Balaam then warned Balak that no matter what he tried, the Israelites would defeat
them anyway because of a great king Jesus who would come in the distant future.
The vision is especially enchanting as it describes a fundamental reality of faith, that I see Him but not now, and I behold Him though not near.

Jesus’ opponents’ contempt for him is obvious in every encounter; but their fear is also obvious. He was evidently afraid of nothing, but “they were afraid of the crowd,” the text says. They were afraid of the crowd because they were afraid for their own positions. And their “darkened wills” were afraid of the light. It seems we are always caught in the end by what we are afraid to look straight at.
Fear was the underlying factor that paralyzed their spiritual growth. If we listen to fear when seeking an answer from Jesus, he says to us: "I cannot answer your questions. You wouldn't understand me or believe me." The question that Jesus asked about John the Baptist was a test of their willingness to trust the truth. What if Jesus had answered the question posed by the chief priests and elders and defended it so convincingly that could not disagree? They would soon be compromising the truth for the sake of saving their reputation or advancing their own agenda. Giving them an answer would have done them more harm than good.
We need humility to learn. We should be continually educating ourselves about the truths that are taught in scripture. Let’s ask the Lord for the gift of humility to accept truth as it is and be freed from fear to witness to it.