Daily Gospel Reflection for August 25, 2023

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

In today’s Gospel, we see a battle going on between honor and shame. The Sadducees had just lost this battle of honor (Jesus had silenced them in His interpretation of the faith), and the Pharisees are now seeking their round.

The honor battle is done in public as the judges are the general public, often noted in the Gospels as "the crowd." It starts with a challenge/riposte, which may be as simple as a question - a lawyer asked him a question to test him. Jesus’s authority and His honor are being challenged. As we see in other similar battles in the Gospels, Jesus (Who is God’s Wisdom (1Corinthians 1:22-24)) has in His preaching the essence of the understanding of God, and instead of His opponents shaming Him, they end up ascribing Him honor.

In response to the lawyer’s question, Jesus lays down the heart of God’s relationship with His people, as evidenced in the Law (Pentateuch) and the Prophets (prophetic writings). God revealed Himself to their ancestors so that He could dwell with them and be in an intimate relationship with them. This required (and still requires) that the people’s own hearts needed to be properly oriented toward God. In loving others (holiness), our hearts are shaped to receive God’s love and to be able to love Him back with His love (worship). Only in this way can we truly love God with our whole being. The Scriptures, under the guidance of the Spirit, lead us to deepen our connection with God and know these truths each time we encounter them.

Ponder:

Can I give worship to God today by recognizing Christ in a stranger? Or spend an extra two minutes praying about one thing in the Gospel that stood out to me?

Pray:

Lord God, Who founded all the commands of Your sacred law upon love of You and of our neighbor, grant that by keeping Your precepts, we may merit to attain eternal life.