The Word of Life

 

24th May 2025

 

Meditating the Words of Jesus from Holy Scriptures 

Lord, teach us how to love You unconditionally

 

For I tell you, if your uprightness does not surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of Heaven. (Matthew 5:20, NJB, https://ref.ly/Mt5.20;njb) For the sake of God's kingdom, we are expected to live moral lives. We cannot enter God's kingdom unless we surpass the integrity of the Scribes and Pharisees. We needed the integrity of St. Joseph, the Virgin Mary's husband, who guarded the holy family through all the difficult times.Have any of the authorities come to believe in him? Any of the Pharisees? (John 7:48, NJB, https://ref.ly/Jn7.48;njb) The Pharisees never believe Jesus is the Son of God or he came from God. Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs that look handsome on the outside, but inside are full of the bones of the dead and every kind of corruption. 28 In just the same way, from the outside you look upright, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. (Matthew 23:27–28, NJB, https://ref.ly/Mt23.27-28;njb). Jesus, who is the Messiah, was requested for a sign by the Pharisees and Scribes. Jonah the prophet is the only sign that Jesus wishes to show them. God saved him in the belly of a whale after he disobeyed Him and was cast into the deep sea; on the third day, he emerged from the fish's guts alive. Jesus will die and in the same way and on the third day, he will rise again, as the Son of Man will rise from the dead on the third day. He replied, ‘It is an evil and unfaithful generation that asks for a sign! The only sign it will be given is the sign of the prophet Jonah. (Matthew 12:39, NJB, https://ref.ly/Mt12.39;njb)