Daily Gospel Reflection for November 19, 2021

Join us as we reflect, ponder, and pray together inspired by today's Gospel.

Today's Gospel: Luke 19:45-48

Today’s Gospel, from Luke, includes the cleansing of the temple, which is recorded in all four of the Gospel accounts. Luke imbues the story with the least drama, not even mentioning Jesus overturning the tables. Once Jesus has tossed out the thieves, He teaches daily in the temple.

Of course, the chief priests and scribes are at it again, devising ways to destroy Him. They expend a lot of time and energy on their machinations, failing repeatedly until finally, Jesus’s appointed time comes.

What stops those conspirators in this passage? Luke tells us, “they did not find anything they could do, for all the people hung upon his words.” That’s all it took. The people “hung upon his words.”

Have you ever hung upon another’s words? I remember as a teen hanging upon the words of my favorite musicians and actors. I was a besotted girl, listening and internalizing their every utterance, as if that would draw me closer to the objects of my affection.

What if I listened to the words of Jesus in that way? What if we all did? That kind of devotion goes hand-in-hand with faith, a faith so small yet so powerful. Powerful enough for Jesus to slip through the fingers of those seeking to persecute Him.

If our devotion were stronger, our faith greater, would modern attempts to destroy Jesus – the Way, the Truth, and the Life – fail as well?

Ponder:

Do I regularly spend time listening for God's voice and pondering His words?

Pray:

God, help me to discern Your words and to take them to heart.

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Whose words, if anyone's, do I hang upon? #dailygospel

Copyright 2021 Carolyn Astfalk