The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 264: Preaching Without Practice (2023)

Episode Date: September 21, 2023

Fr. Mike continues to explain the parables Christ recites in Jerusalem, specifically focusing on the dangers of preaching God's Word without practicing it in our lives. Jesus goes on to speak against the Scribes and Pharisees, reminding us that he's not only the Prince of Peace, but the Way and the Truth. Today's readings are Matthew 22-24 and Proverbs 19:17-20. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible Timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. It is day 264. You guys, do you realize we are 101 days away from our conclusion, but we are deep in it right now. We're reading Matthew chapter 22, 23, and 24. Also Proverbs

chapter 19 verses 17 through 20. I don't know. Hopefully you all enjoy. I just love the fact that we just get to listen and soak in one gospel at a time, kind of like we did for John and for Mark, just for Matthew. He's one of my favorite gospels. He's one of my top four favorite gospels. And it's just so good to be able to just see Jesus and hear Jesus speak and just watch him, how he lives. And so that's what we're doing. As always, the Bible translation I'm reading from is the Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition. I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in a Year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a year. You can also subscribe to this podcast by clicking on subscribe to receive daily episodes.

As I said, the day today is day 264. I'm so glad you're here. We're reading Matthew 22, 23, and 24 Proverbs chapter 19 verses 17 through 20. The gospel of Matthew chapter 22, the parable of the marriage feast. And again, Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a marriage feast for his son and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the marriage feast, but they would not come. Again, he sent other servants, saying, Tell those who are invited,, behold, I have made ready my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves are killed and everything is ready. Come to the marriage feast.

But they made light of it and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully and killed them. The king was angry and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the streets and invite to the marriage feast as many as you find. And those servants went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good, so the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to look at the

guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment, and he said to him, Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen. The question about paying taxes. Then the Pharisees went and took counsel how to entangle him in his talk, and they sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians, saying, Teacher, we know that you are true, and teach the way of God truthfully, and care for no man, for you do not regard the position of men.

Tell us then what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the money for the tax. And they brought him a coin. And Jesus said to them, Whose likeness and inscription is this?

They said, Caesar's. Then he said to them, Render therefore to inscription is this? They said, Caesar's. Then he said to them, Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. When they heard it, they marveled, and they left him and went away. The question about man's resurrection. The same day, Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question, saying, teacher, Moses said, if a man dies, having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died and having no children left his wife to his brother. So to the second and third down to the

seventh, after them all, the woman died. In the resurrection, therefore, to which of the seven will she be wife? For they all had her. But Jesus answered them, You are wrong, because you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God? I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.

And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching. The greatest commandment. But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they came together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?

And he said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets. A question about the Christ. Now, while the Pharisees were gathered together,

Jesus asked them a question saying, What do you think of the Christ? Whose son is he? They said to him, The son of David. He said to them, How is it then that David, inspired by the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand till I put your enemies under your feet. If David thus calls him Lord, how is he his son?

And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions. Chapter 23. Jesus denounces the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees. Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, so practice and observe whatever they tell you, but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice.

They bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves will not move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by men, for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and salutations in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by men. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brethren. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one father who is in heaven.

Neither be called masters, for you have one master, the Christ. He who is greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut the kingdom of heaven against men, for you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you traverse sea and land to make a single proselyte,

and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. Woe to you, blind guides, who say, If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath. You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? And you say, If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing.

But if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath. You blind men. For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? So he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it. And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it. And he

who swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you tithe mint and dill and cumin and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you cleanse the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of extortion and rapacity. You blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and of the plate, that the outside also may be clean. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.

So you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, saying, If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets. Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Verse 2. in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of the innocent Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Barakiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. Truly, I say to you, all this will come upon this generation. The Lament Over Jerusalem O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are

sent to you. How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not. Behold, your house is forsaken and desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Chapter 24. The Destruction of the Temple Foretold. Jesus left the temple and was going away when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. But he answered them, You see all these things, do you not? Truly I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down. Signs of Jesus' coming and of the close of the age

As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age? And Jesus answered them, Take heed that no one leads you astray. And Jesus answered them, For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All this is but the beginning of the sufferings. Persecutions foretold, Then they will deliver you up to tribulation, and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many will fall away, and betray one another, and hate one another, and many false prophets will arise and lead many astray

and because wickedness is multiplied most men's love will grow cold but he who endures to the end will be saved and this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations and then the end will come the desolating Sacrilege So when you see the desolating sacrilege spoken of by the prophet of Daniel standing in the holy place, let the reader understand. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, and let him who is in the field

not turn back to get a coat. And alas, for those who are with child and for those who are nursing in those days, pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath, for then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now. No, and never will be. And if those days had not been shortened, no human being would be saved.

But for the sake of the elect, those days will be shortened. Then if anyone says to you, behold, here is the Christ, or there he is, do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. Behold, I have told you beforehand. So if they say to you, behold, he is in the wilderness, do not go out. If they say, behold, he is in the inner rooms, do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together. The Coming of the Son of Man. Immediately after

the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other. The Lesson of the Fig Tree From the fig tree learn its lesson. As soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these leaves, you know that summer is near. So also,

when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away till all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. The Necessity for Watchfulness But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven nor the sun, The necessity for watchfulness. and they did not know until the flood came and swept them all away. So will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two men will be in the field, one is taken and one is left. Two women will be grinding at the mill, one is taken and one is left. Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the householder had known in what part of the night the thief was coming,

he would have watched and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore, you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. The Faithful and the Unfaithful Servant Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when them their food at the proper time. Blessed is that servant whom his master when he comes will find doing so. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over

all his possessions. But if that wicked servant says to himself, my master is delayed and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with the drunken, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him, and at an hour he does not know, and will punish him, and put him with the hypocrites. There men will weep and gnash their teeth. The book of Proverbs chapter 19 verses 17 through 20. He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed. Discipline your son while there is hope. Do not set your heart on his destruction.

A man of great wrath will pay the penalty, for if you deliver him, you will only have to do it again. Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom for the future. Father in heaven, we give you praise and glory. Thank you so much. You're helping us. You're walking with us. And Lord God, how blessed are we that you walk with us,

that you are leading us, that you are accompanying us with your grace and with your word, with your truth and with your love that you continue to just little by little reveal your heart more and more to us. Help us to accept you as you are revealing yourself because that's not always easy.

Help us to accept you as you reveal yourself, not our version of you, but you, yourself. Help us to know you and to love you just as we are known by you and loved by you. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen. So, gosh, you know, more parables, more questions. Jesus, now the context, of course, these last chapters is Jesus has already come into Jerusalem.

We heard that yesterday, that entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday where he's riding the donkey and from Hosanna to the Son of David. Big, big day. And so all this stuff happens in Jerusalem. where he's riding the donkey and from Hosanna to the son of David, big, big day. And so all this stuff happens in Jerusalem. And so he's being interrogated by scribes and Pharisees in Jerusalem, by the Sadducees in Jerusalem, the whole thing's happening in Jerusalem. And there's a number of parables Jesus tells. We heard them.

For example, the parable of the marriage feast. And here's the king sends out invitation for people to come to the marriage feast of his son. And everything's ready. And they don't want to come. In fact, they refuse to come. And this clearly are those people, like the Pharisees and scribes, who refused to listen to the preaching of John. They're refusing to listen to the preaching of Jesus, who's saying the kingdom is here. And then what do they do?

They bring in everybody, the good and the bad. the kingdom is here. And then what do they do? They bring in everybody, the good and the bad. But there's this really enigmatic, right? Good word. Enigmatic scene at the end of this parable where it says the king came out, came in to look at the guests and he saw there a man who had no wedding garment and said to him, friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment? He was speechless and he gets kicked out. He gets booted out. And you ask the question, well, yeah, you brought everyone in. You brought the good and the bad. You brought them in from the highways and byways and the offshoots of the roads. Why would you expect this person to have a wedding garment on? But the wedding garment is a symbol, right? It's symbolic

of, in the Great Adventure Bible, it says the wedding garment represents the dispositions necessary for admission to the kingdom. I've heard other church fathers indicate that the wedding garment is a symbol of baptism because baptism later on indicates that one's clothed in that garment, that the robes have been washed in the blood of the lamb through baptism. That sense, though, we can even broaden it. The wedding garment represents the dispositions necessary for admission to the kingdom. Just because I find myself in the church doesn't mean I'm a Christian, right? Just like I've heard this saying, it said, being in a church doesn't make you a Christian

anymore than being in a garage makes you a car. And I thought, okay, that's good. And here's the man without a wedding garment, without the disposition for the kingdom. He finds himself inside, but he has to ask the question, am I truly inside? If you know what I mean. So good. Jesus goes on and he's teaching again and again. You might not know about in chapter 22, the question about man's resurrection.

Um, the Sadducees, Sadducees were a branch of Judaism that they only accepted the first five books of Moses, right? The first five books of the Torah. And so they didn't believe in the resurrection. They also didn't believe in angels and some other things. Um, and they were distinctive in that way. And so here they come to Jesus and are questioning him about the resurrection. They also didn't believe in angels and some other things. And they were distinctive in that way. And so here they come to Jesus and are questioning him about the resurrection and to give this story of this man who marries a woman and then he dies and all seven of his,

six of his brothers, all seven men end up marrying this woman because we've read about the law of Moses that the brothers are to raise up children for their brother who had passed away. And so they ask the question, okay, if that's what's going down, whose wife is she in the resurrection? And Jesus answers in two ways. One is he indicates that in heaven, things are different. In heaven, there is no marriage. In heaven, there's no giving in marriage. That doesn't mean that you won't have a particular relationship with your spouse when you get to heaven. I imagine that you would, just like you'd have a particular relationship with people in heaven that you had with people on earth. But this is fascinating because Jesus also, he quotes from the book of Exodus,

which the Sadducees would accept when he says, Have you not read what was said to you by God? I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. He's not the God of the dead, but of the living. And it's so brilliant that Jesus quotes from one of those first five books when he answers the Sadducees. He quotes from them a book that they accept in order to teach them something that they refuse to accept, which is just really incredible. But the one thing I want to say before we close with today is chapter 23. When Jesus is saying, talking about the scribes and Pharisees, the first thing he says to

the crowds and to the disciples, he says, the scribes and Pharisees sit on Moses's seat. So practice and observe whatever they tell you, but not what they do for they preach, but do not practice. That's really important for us because, um, there there's reality, of course, that there are people who have been given authority. The people who have been given authority in the church, we have priests, we have bishops, we have, we have the Pope. Um, they've been given authority and they don't always live that way. And so Jesus is saying to hear the old Testament context, he's saying they sit on Moses' seat. Yeah, they have been given the authority to be teachers.

So listen to their teaching. But some of their behaviors are not honorable. Some of their behaviors are not to be imitated. And so don't live like them. And we can see that now, that in the New Covenant, Jesus established a church with a certain hierarchy, saying that here is the new seat of Moses. Here church with a certain hierarchy, saying that here is the new seat of Moses. Here's the way called the chair of Peter.

Yet we honor that, recognize that's a position of teaching, a position of authority, and we listen to their teaching. But if they're not living honorable, holy lives, then we do not live as they live or as I live. This is the thing. Here we are. But he also goes on, and this is so important. He also goes on to speak against those scribes and Pharisees, blind guides,

hypocrites. And this is very important to us that we really understand chapter 23. What I mean is a lot of times we have this image of Jesus as being kind of, the word for it is milquetoast. I don't know if it's an old timey word, milk toast, kind of like, um, he's just feeble and he's just, um, kind of more like a beatnik or like a hippie more than anyone else that he just, Hey guys, let's all get along kind of a thing. Um, and of course Jesus is the Prince of peace. Yes, of course Jesus is the throne of mercy. I mean, he is mercy himself. At the same time, Jesus has these really harsh words for the scribes and Pharisees. And I think we need to understand that, okay,

my image of Jesus, maybe my version of Jesus that wouldn't ever correct anyone for doing evil, that wouldn't ever really come bring the hammer down on anybody. We have to stop and think, wait, is that accurate? Because here is Jesus. He's saying that you're like tombs, saying the scribes and Pharisees, you're like inside you have dead men's bones. On the outside, you look fine, but inside you are corrupt. And, you know, it's so interesting because whenever a preacher, ever a priest or whatever, someone teaching Christianity, teaching Catholicism, teaching about Jesus, whenever someone gets to the place where they're willing to, you know, when they're teaching has some teeth to it, maybe people will say, hey, you know, you can't judge. You can't condemn someone for their actions.

And that's partly true. Jesus has already made it clear. Judge not, lest ye be judged. What he's saying there is, okay, condemn not, lest ye be condemned, meaning I can't judge a person's heart, but he commands us to judge by fruits. He says, by their fruits, you will know them. A good tree only produces good fruit and a rotten tree produces bad fruit. And by your fruits, you will know them. You have to judge the fruits. We have to actually look at people's actions, especially if they're telling us to do something and evaluate that. Is that something I should be doing? Are they living an evil life? Are they living a holy life? And we have to make a determination. Now, of course, we don't make condemnation, but we have to assess this and be able to look at people's actions as we look at

our own actions and say, okay, even if my heart is in the right place, my actions were evil. And even if your heart was in the right place, those actions were wrong. And we have to judge actions. And that's what Jesus is doing here. And it's really important. Again, I'm not in the right place. Those actions were wrong and we have to judge actions. And that's what Jesus is doing here. And it's really important. Again, I'm not in the position of Jesus and you're not in the position of Jesus. But one of the things we get to realize is that Jesus was not soppy or sappy. Jesus was not weak. He was meek, yes, and humble of heart, but meek is not weak. Meek in many ways is, I remember hearing the image of to meek a horse is to take a stallion, right?

To take a powerful horse that is wild and to make it rideable, to bring it under control. So you don't take any of the strength of the horse away when you make it meek. You just put that strength, all that power under control. So here's Jesus who is meek. That does not mean he is weak. It means he has all the power in heaven on earth, but it's under control, under control of truth and of love and of his own will. Does that make sense? I hope it does. And hopefully this point that I was trying to make makes sense. It's really important for us to not just focus on Jesus's mercy or to focus on his judgment. Both are real. We need to hear it all.

In fact, I said this before, I'll say it again. No one talks more about hell in the entire Bible than Jesus. No one. No one talks more about this could end up bringing you to a place where you are thrown outside with gnashing and grinding of teeth with wailing, then Jesus, he is the one who talks more about hell than anyone else. And so we need to realize hell is real. Heaven's real. Absolutely. Amen to that. But so is hell. Heaven is the promise of God and hell is a real possibility for every one of us. And so we just say, God, help me.

Like St. Paul, like St. Paul, just I drive myself and I train myself for fear that after having preached to others, I myself might be lost. And so we need grace every single day. We need grace no matter who we are because God loves us. He fights for us.

He has fought for us. And we can say, I don't care, move our own way. Or we can say, yes, Lord, thank you for fighting for me. I'm yours with my whole heart, mind, soul, and strength. I'm praying that that's what you say today. Please pray for me that that's what I say today. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow.

God bless.