Message of Abbot Paul - Friday 14th October 2022

All four Gospels delight in describing the vast crowds that followed Jesus from place to place, hanging on his every word and longing to see him heal the countless sick and possessed who were brought to him. His opponents, the scribes and Pharisees, obviously didn’t attract such large crowds, nor were they capable of teaching as Jesus did or of performing miracles of healing. At the beginning of Chapter 12, Luke vividly describes the situation, (Lk 12: 1-7). “The people had gathered in their thousands so that they were treading on one another.” Unless the disciples were able to act successfully as stewards, the scene must have been chaotic indeed, even more so as Jesus begins by addressing his disciples rather than the vast crowds. “And Jesus began to speak, first of all to his disciples. ‘Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees – that is, their hypocrisy. Everything that is now covered will be uncovered, and everything now hidden will be made clear. For this reason, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in hidden places will be proclaimed on the housetops.’”

Once again Jesus returns to the subject of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, who failed to practise what they taught: there was no integrity in them. However, Jesus was aware that even the good fall at times and can fail to come up to the standard they have set themselves at God’s request.

 His disciples, just like Jesus, are destined to be persecuted by the civil and religious authorities of Israel and by the Roman State itself, so he encourages them not to be afraid, but to remember that only God has ultimate power over eternal life, their enemies can only attack and kill the body. “To you my friends I say: Do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. I will tell you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has the power to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. Can you not buy five sparrows for two pennies? And yet not one is forgotten in God’s sight. Why, every hair on your head has been counted. There is no need to be afraid: you are worth more than hundreds of sparrows.” Look how many times Jesus uses the verb ‘to fear’, only to tell us that we should not be afraid of God, for he loves and cherishes us, and takes care of us eternally. The biblical term ‘the fear of the Lord’ is more akin to love and respect, to be filled with awe at his presence. Not only is every hair on our head counted, but he knows us through and through: he knows us far better than we know ourselves, hence there can be nothing to fear. With God we are safe and will be kept safe into eternity.