Religious leaders were looked upon in all the societies. They cherished unique positions and privileges because of their social status. Common people respect them as men of God and pay attention to their advices. The common flock place a great trust in their words and deeds because they believe that their life is authentic and credible one. In fact, it demands a greater commitment and sincerity from the part of religious leaders. Sometimes, these religious leaders may not lead a life expected of them due to the hypocratic elements crept in their life. The situation of religious leaders at the time of Jesus was too similar. called to become shepherds of people of Israel. Anyhow, there was severe moral decadence in their lives. There was a wide disparity between their words and deeds. Jesus tried to make them aware of their hypocrisy and exhorted them to come out of this mediocre life.
In today’s gospel we see Jesus tells the people of Israel to listen and obey their teachings but don’t imitate their life styles. They performed all the practices of piety as mere external show off. They wore long garments to show that they were zealous for the Lord but in reality, their hearts were cold and lukewarm. They wanted themselves to be projected as guests of honour everywhere. Therefore, they demanded and expected special places of honour at the wedding feast and other occasions. They wanted to be respected in the public places and addressed as Rabbis.
This self-centeredness and self-seeking comforts were condemned by the Lord. They were called to shepherd the people of Israel and lead them to green pastures. In the book of prophet Malachi, we read: “And now, O priests, this command is for you. If you will not listen, if you will not lay it to heart to give glory to my name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send the curse on you, and I will curse your blessings; indeed, I have already cursed them[a] because you do not lay it to heart.” (Mal.2:1-2) Jesus tried to make them aware of the seriousness of their roles in the society.
As a solution to this scenario of corrupted leaders, Jesus prepares a new band of leaders, his own apostles. Jesus tells them not to be wished or addressed as rabbis because there is only one rabbi, who is Jesus himself. Jesus wanted to teach them that there is only one rabbi Jesus himself. Jesus also teaches them that don’t call anyone as Abba because there is only Abba Father who knows all of us before we were born, who knitted our being. Finally, Jesus tells them to be shepherds after his own heart. To possess a shepherding heart like that of Christ one has to embrace a life style marked by humility. When everyone tries to become greater, a disciple of Christ should remain as a humble servant of the Lord.
Our discipleship journey is a process. All of us are not perfect. The pharisaic tendencies of external show off may be present in our spiritual journey too. Let us beware of it and relying on God’s grace let us make sincere efforts to grow as authentic, committed and sincere followers of Christ. A world scenario marked by completions and excellence, we never compromise on quality of our performance. In order to come out of this mentality of being self-centred we need a total conversion. In this regard Pope Francis says: “Jesus’ began his preaching with a call to repent and believe in the Gospel, and insisted on an ‘interior dimension of conversion’ in which the whole person, ‘heart and mind,’ became ‘a new creature, a new person.’” Let our humility reflect the person of Christ to the world. Instead of trying to become the greatest, let us compete with ourselves and become the best version of our life and a saint in making.