18th Week in Ord. Time, Tuesday – 4th August 2020 — Gospel: Mt 15,1-2,10-14
Demands of leadership
This section ends with Jesus’ answer to the disciples’ question about his treatment of the Pharisees. The question of the disciples reveals that the Pharisees had taken offence at what Jesus had said about the ritual practices. The people held these teachers in high regard, and so the disciples were worried that Jesus was too hard on them. Jesus wanted them to be clear on the unreliability of the Pharisees’ teaching. He answers the disciples with vivid images and memorable proverbs: plant uprooting and blind guidance (15,13-14). In contrast to Jesus, who leads the blind to sight and faith, his opponents are blind guides. These words of Jesus are an invitation to his listeners to open their hearts to him. The religious opponents of Jesus are leading themselves and others towards disaster and ruin, because they were weak in spiritual understanding. They not only failed to understand the Scriptures and traditions, but to perceive who Jesus was and to follow Him – it’s a spiritual blindness. Leadership demands openness to others; it provides good guidance for others. Leaders do lead people with right discernment of the Scriptures. Jesus’ leadership pointed out the type of leadership that negated the reality. Jesus was straightforward and truthful in expressing his style of leadership and it went even to the extent of facing the offenders.
