DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS
St. Luke 20:45-21:4
(2/23)
Gospel for Saturday in the Week of the Prodigal Son
Predatory Religion: St. Luke 20:45-21:4, especially vss. 46, 47: “Beware
of the scribes...who devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long
prayers. These will receive greater
condemnation.” How ironic that the scribes were condemned by the Lord
Jesus (vss. 46,47)! As devout scholars, they were renown for study and teaching of the Divine Scriptures. They swore never to receive payment from
their profession, but to live solely by their own labor, from subsidies
provided by the wealthy, or from hospitality. Because of these ideals, they were
highly honored. Their lives had a
quality much like our Lord’s own manner of living (Lk.
10:4-8).
However, over the years, these teachers of the
Law gained a monopoly in interpreting the Scriptures, and turned its plain
meaning into incomprehensible, esoteric teachings. By the first century most of these elite
scholars believed that they were highly favored by God. They became distant from the populace,
disdaining the majority who did “not know the Law” (Jn. 7:49).
Worse, they expected honors and a wide range of perks for themselves (Lk. 20:46).
Many of the well-to-do had their finances and
estates managed by the scribes, and, as history
records, the scribes prospered and abuses followed. Most likely, among those exploited by
the scribes were widows - as the Lord states (vs. 20:47).
What were God’s ancient commandments
that the scribes twisted and should have taught? “Ye shall hurt no widow or
orphan. And if ye should afflict
them by ill-treatment, and they should cry aloud to Me, I will surely hear
their voice, and I will be very angry, and will slay you with the
sword...” (Ex. 22:22-24). God
expects services to be administered impartially. The fatherless and widow are to be
protected against greed from any who would deprive them of food or clothing
(Deut. 10:18). In the market place,
the defenseless are to be assisted, not reduced to convenient sources of profit
(Lev. 25:35-37). At prayer and in
fellowship every effort is to be made to include and welcome as equals the
disadvantaged and poor (Deut. 16:11-12).
By contrast, the Lord and His disciples lived
in a way that was a tacit reproach to the scribes (Lk.
9:58). He was poor, without income,
and truly depended upon gifts and assistance from friends who maintained Him
and His disciples in their ministry (Mk. 15:40,41). Notice that in calling attention to a
widow who made an offering of “all the livelihood that she had” (Lk. 21:3,4), Christ holds up the
example of one of the poor who lived the ideals that the scribes
professed. Brethren, He Who commands us to protect the defenseless, in no way
changes His truth by having become Incarnate. Let us not fall under His denunciation
of the scribes, nor fail . to note that
the Lord’s warning concerning the scribes is for “His
disciples” (Lk. 20:45). It is for us He speaks and warns. Our Lord would not have us fall under
judgment reserved for those who abuse the defenseless (Deut. 27:19) or those
who say that evil is good (Mal. 2:17).
Predatory religion can stealthily overtake
one. The Apostle James illumines
the problem: “You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot
obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not
ask. You ask and do not receive,
because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures....Do you not
know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?” (Jas.
4:2-4). Hasten to agree with St.
John Chrysostom that the
I, the wretched one, have destroyed Thy
riches, O Lord, squandering them, and I have submitted myself to evil
devils. Wherefore O most
compassionate Savior, have compassion on me, purify me, the polluted one, and
restore to me the first robe of Thy Kingdom.
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