Gospel

Matthew 5:20-26

Jesus said to his disciples: 

“I tell you, 

unless your righteousness surpasses that

of the scribes and Pharisees,

you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.

“You have heard that it was said to your ancestors,

You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.

But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother

will be liable to judgment,

and whoever says to his brother, Raqa, 

will be answerable to the Sanhedrin,

and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna.

Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar,

and there recall that your brother

has anything against you,

leave your gift there at the altar,

go first and be reconciled with your brother,

and then come and offer your gift.

Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court.

Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge,

and the judge will hand you over to the guard,

and you will be thrown into prison.

Amen, I say to you,

you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.”

Reflection

Jesus had such a hard time with the judgment against him from the scribes and the Pharisees, and he’s warning his disciples that they should not ever fall into the trap of judgment against someone. It's like he's saying, you have to understand that the kingdom of God is about a flow of energy that goes between God in Jesus, to other people, and when that is not a loving, forgiving, nurturing presence, the kingdom cannot happen.

So whether you've offended someone or someone has offended you, whatever is causing division among you before you can truly be a worshiper of God, you need to make peace with everyone.

Closing Prayer

Father, one might say that forgiveness is one of the major teachings that we have coming from the lips of Jesus. It is the mark of whether or not we are in the kingdom of God. Bless us with awareness of that and motivate us, perhaps by the very selfish notion that we would want to be treated better. Why do we treat someone in a way that is less than we would want? It's one of the key teachings of the kingdom and we need to follow it. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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