{"id":1645,"date":"2017-10-30T12:39:54","date_gmt":"2017-10-30T12:39:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/batkol.info\/?p=1645"},"modified":"2017-10-30T12:39:54","modified_gmt":"2017-10-30T12:39:54","slug":"the-thirty-first-sunday-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/2017\/10\/30\/the-thirty-first-sunday-of-the-year\/","title":{"rendered":"The Thirty First Sunday of the Year"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Thirty First Sunday of the Year (5th November 2017)<\/p>\n

Malachi 1:14b\u20132:2b, 8\u201310; Psalm 131; 1 Thessalonians 2:7b\u20139, 13; Matthew 23:1-12<\/p>\n

Family disputes<\/p>\n

Download<\/a><\/p>\n

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Some of the worst disputes take place within families or between branches of the same religious family.\u00a0 The Gospel text for use in today\u2019s liturgy is an example.\u00a0 It portrays Jesus in conflict with the Pharisees, a religious movement active in the land of Israel between 2nd century BCE and 1st century CE (Harrington, 56). \u00a0It is thought that the Pharisees were the precursors of rabbinic Judaism and the group Jesus had most in common with (Levine, 527).\u00a0 The seemingly hard words coming from the mouth of Jesus may reflect the ways rival groups debated with one another in the first century and competed with one another in the late first century after the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE.\u00a0 The second group spoken of in this Gospel passage, the Scribes were people trained in the knowledge and interpretation of the Law.<\/p>\n

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In this chapter of Matthew, the authority of the Scribes and Pharisees is recognized using the image of their occupying the \u2018\u2019chair of Moses\u201d, the person through whom God gave the Law to the people of Israel. The chair of Moses was also the name given to the special seat in ancient synagogues reserved for the most distinguished of the elders (Lachs, 366).\u00a0 Jesus tells his listeners to do and observe what the Scribes and Pharisees tell them but not to follow their example. \u00a0\u00a0His instruction is based on Deuteronomy 17:10, \u201cCarry out exactly the decision announced to you\u2026\u2026.diligently observing everything they instruct you\u201d, a verse which became the biblical basis for rabbinic authority replacing that of the priests (Lachs, 366). \u00a0It seems, however, that there were some Scribes and Pharisees who instructed people what to do but who failed to carry out the instructions themselves.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u00a0Matthew\u2019s Gospel also indicates that the behavior of some of these two groups of people was not consonant with the protocol of the day.\u00a0 Phylacteries (the straps which attached the boxes worn by Jewish men to the forearm and to the forehead) were to be of a prescribed length. The tzitzit (fringes on the tephillin worn at prayer) were also required to be of a certain length. (Lachs, 366, 367)\u00a0 There was protocol regarding seating at banquets and in the synagogue and regarding greetings.\u00a0 If any of these protocols were ignored or if they were fulfilled with ostentation subsequent criticism was justified. \u00a0Lachs points out that there are many statements in the Mishnah decrying self-aggrandizement (366).\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u00a0Finally, Matthew has Jesus tell his disciples that they must not be called \u201cRabbi\u201d.\u00a0 Lach discusses whether this teaching is anachronistic as the title \u201cRabbi\u201d was not used until after the destruction of the Temple (367)<\/p>\n

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Reflection questions:\u00a0 1.How would you counter those who assert that Matthew identified the Scribes and Pharisees as Jesus\u2019 enemies?\u00a0 2. Can you name any ways followers of Jesus are guilty of self-aggrandizement today?<\/p>\n

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Bibliography: Daniel Harrington, The Synoptic Gospels Set Free, (Paulist Press, 2009), Samuel Lachs, A Rabbinic Commentary on the New Testament, (Ktav, 1987), Amy Jill Levine (Ed), The Jewish Annotated New Testament, (Oxford, 2011)<\/p>\n

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This week\u2019s Sunday Gospel Commentary was prepared by<\/p>\n

Clare Jardine nds, BD, MA (Jewish Studies), Rome, Italy<\/p>\n

clare@notredamedesion.org<\/p>\n

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PLEASE NOTE: The weekly Gospel commentaries represent the research and creative thought of their authors, and are meant to stimulate deeper thinking about the meaning of the Sunday Scriptures. While they draw upon the study methods and sources employed by the Bat Kol Institute, the views and conclusions expressed in these commentaries are solely those of their authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of Bat Kol.\u00a0 Questions, comments and feedback are always welcome.<\/p>\n

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Bat Kol Institute for Jewish Studies, Jerusalem<\/p>\n

1983-2017<\/p>\n

\u201cChristians Studying the Bible within its Jewish milieu, using Jewish Sources.\u201d<\/p>\n

gill@batkol.info Website: www.batkol.info<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Thirty First Sunday of the Year (5th November 2017) Malachi 1:14b\u20132:2b, 8\u201310; Psalm 131; 1 Thessalonians 2:7b\u20139, 13; Matthew 23:1-12 Family disputes Download \u00a0 Some of the worst disputes take place within families or between branches of the same religious family.\u00a0 The Gospel text for use in today\u2019s liturgy is an example.\u00a0 It portrays…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":1641,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ghostkit_customizer_options":"","ghostkit_custom_css":"","ghostkit_custom_js_head":"","ghostkit_custom_js_foot":"","ghostkit_typography":"","_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1645"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1645\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}