Episode Transcript
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In the five verses preceding today’s Gospel,
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the chief priests and elders
question the authority of Jesus,
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so Jesus has fresh experience of
them getting ahead of themselves.
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We hear that the religious leaders are, by not
believing John, saying that they know better.
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And what’s worse is that they
publicly claim to serve God.
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In contrast, Jesus speaks of
tax collectors and prostitutes
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who are more assured of the kingdom
of God than the religious leaders.
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This is a particularly stinging
rebuke because, of course,
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tax collectors and prostitutes were among the
most despised categories of people in society.
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Faith means trusting in another’s authority.
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The religious leaders trusted only in themselves,
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so they closed their minds first to John’s
preaching, and then to that of Jesus.
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The Gospel tells us to avoid their mistake:
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we must follow in our own lives the “pattern
of true righteousness” of saints like John
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and submit, like Jesus did, to the will of
the Father, for He knows what’s best for us.
