A personal reflection on the Gospel of Matthew
I began my journey through Matthew’s gospel over 4 1/2 years ago. Those were amazing days. I had been away for 15-years and everything seemed so new. And I was in love, trying to understand how this could happen to me and more importantly how I was going to deal with the fact that everything about this love was “wrong.” So, when I decided to … Continue reading Mt26ff “He’ll Be Back”
Matt. 26:31-56 Disciples Scattered & Jesus Arrested Part of me was distressed that, once again, it seemed that the disciples at the moment of the savior’s great need were not able so much as just stay awake with him while he prayed. Who knows whether they had any appreciation for what had just happened, the Last Supper, or the events that were about to transpire. … Continue reading Mt26 31-56 – Disciples Scattered & Jesus Arrested
Matt. 26:17-25 Destiny & Responsibility What began with his baptism in the Jordan and what he began to confess to his close disciples during his teaching ministry was coming to fruition. Like a path set before Him, he stepped upon it and, in today’s parlance, “made the path his own.” And so the menial steps of where to prepare the feast were engaged, no doubt … Continue reading Mt26 17-25 – Destiny & Responsibility
Matt. 26:26-30 Ritual Part of me is surprised at the brevity of this passage. Here is this important moment in Jesus’ ministry that we remember every Sunday (or at least once a month, depending on your church’s tradition) and Matthew spends a mere four verses on it. It seems so deceptively simple and straight forward. Four verses and over a thousand years of conflict about … Continue reading Mt26 26-30 – Ritual
Matt. 26:1-16 – Intentions
Having finished teaching the disciples “all these things” Jesus reminds them of his intended destination, the cross. Interestingly Matthew doesn’t record the disciples reaction (at least not here). At the same time the religious rulers plot to bring Jesus down, but it is not their intention to do it when it might create a riot situation.
Along the way to the cross Jesus stopped in at the house of one Simon the Leper. In Luke’s version of the incident (Lk. 7:36-50) Simon was a Pharisee who had been seeking to have Jesus come to his house to eat, an act to share in Jesus’ glory. Interestingly Matthew gets into none of that and focuses more on the woman pouring the precious ointment on Jesus’ head and the disciples’ negative reaction.
Matt. 25:31-46 The Parable of the Final Judgment
This image of Jesus separating the good people from the bad people, like a shepherd separating sheep from goats, is something that I remember as a Catholic kid growing up. It expressed the kind of relationship that I thought we had with God, him being the judge and we the helpless animals awaiting judgment. There was so much fear about not being good enough, of going to that bad place because I hadn’t done or wasn’t doing the right things. It probably didn’t help that the words, “Can’t you do anything right?!” spoken by my father rang in my childish ears.
Continue reading “Mt 25 31-46 The Parable of the Final Judgment & Being “Good Enough””
