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Gospel Reading for December 16, 2024 – Matthew 21: 23-27
IN WORD AND IN DEED
When Jesus had come into the temple area, the chief priests and the elders of the people approached him as he was teaching and said, “By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority?” Jesus said to them in reply, “I shall ask you one question, and if you answer it for me, then I shall tell you by what authority I do these things. Where was John’s baptism from? Was it of heavenly or of human origin?” They discussed this among themselves and said, “If we say ‘Of heavenly origin,’ he will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we fear the crowd, for they all regard John as a prophet.” So they said to Jesus in reply, “We do not know.” He himself said to them, “Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
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The chief priests and elders of the people were clearly INTIMIDATED by Jesus’ fame, by the sheer number of crowds listening to him and by the miracles he was performing. Where Jesus’ authority was coming from was more important than listening to, and learning from, what he was teaching.
As baptized Christians, we are commissioned to preach the Gospel everywhere, IN WORD AND IN DEED. In Mark 16: 15, Jesus said: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”
Send us your Spirit, O Lord, that we may be true to your teachings IN WORD AND IN DEED!
