He Guides The Humble To Justice; He Teaches The Humble His Way.

Reading 1                Numbers 24:2-7, 15-17a

When Balaam raised his eyes
and saw Israel encamped, tribe by tribe,
the spirit of God came upon him,
and he gave voice to his oracle:
The utterance of Balaam, son of Beor,
the utterance of a man whose eye is true,
The utterance of one who hears what God says,
and knows what the Most High knows,
Of one who sees what the Almighty sees,
enraptured, and with eyes unveiled:

How goodly are your tents, O Jacob;
your encampments, O Israel!
They are like gardens beside a stream,
like the cedars planted by the LORD.
His wells shall yield free-flowing waters,
he shall have the sea within reach;
His king shall rise higher,
and his royalty shall be exalted.

Then Balaam gave voice to his oracle:
The utterance of Balaam, son of Beor,
the utterance of the man whose eye is true,
The utterance of one who hears what God says,
and knows what the Most High knows,
Of one who sees what the Almighty sees,
enraptured, and with eyes unveiled.
I see him, though not now;
I behold him, though not near:
A star shall advance from Jacob,
and a staff shall rise from Israel.

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Responsorial        Psalm 25

R. Teach me your ways, O Lord.

Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior.

R. Teach me your ways, O Lord.

Remember that your compassion, O LORD,
and your kindness are from of old
In your kindness remember me,
because of your goodness, O LORD.

R. Teach me your ways, O Lord.

Good and upright is the LORD;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
he teaches the humble his way.

R. Teach me your ways, O Lord.

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Gospel                  Matthew 21:23-27

When Jesus had come into the temple area,
the chief priests and the elders of the people approached him
as he was teaching and said,
“By what authority are you doing these things?
And who gave you this authority?”

Jesus said to them in reply,
“I shall ask you one question, and if you answer it for me,
then I shall tell you by what authority I do these things.
Where was John’s baptism from?
Was it of heavenly or of human origin?”

They discussed this among themselves and said,
“If we say ‘Of heavenly origin,’ he will say to us,
‘Then why did you not believe him?
But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we fear the crowd,
for they all regard John as a prophet.”
So they said to Jesus in reply, “We do not know.”
He himself said to them,
“Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

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Today’s First Reading is from the Book of Numbers, one of the first five books of the Bible, which deal with the Exodus from Egypt, the giving of the Law to Moses, the 40-year long trek through the desert of Sinai, and the settlement of the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the Promised Land. In today’s reading, the Israelites are close to reaching their destination, but their arrival is not welcomed by those already settled in these lands.

The central character of this reading is Balaam, a diviner who had been asked by Balak, king of the Moabites, to put a curse on the invading Israelites. Much to the surprise of Balak, Balaam does not seem able to complete his mission. Instead, he becomes an instrument in God’s plan.

The author of Numbers includes four oracles of Balaam, the last two of which are included in today’s reading. As the reading begins, Balaam sees the Israelites encamped tribe by tribe, and the spirit of God moves him to speak. He describes himself as a man whose eye is true, who hears what God says, and knows what the Almighty knows. The words that flow from Balaam’s lips are not a curse on Israel, as ordered by the king of Moab, but an oracle of praise and blessing: “How goodly are your tents, O Jacob; your encampments, O Israel! The Lord’s wells shall yield free-flowing waters; the sea will be within reach.” Balaam’s prophecy echoes the image of the “land flowing with milk and honey” that Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, had promised long ago, when he directed Moses to lead His people out of Egypt to the Land of Promise. The lush landscape, with its gardens and its cedar trees mirrors the fertility and peace of Eden.

Then Balaam gives voice to another oracle: It is a prophecy that looks to the future, to a time when Israel will rule over the kingdoms of the east bank of the Jordan – Moab and Edom – a prophecy that will be fulfilled in the reign of King David. The last words of today’s reading, “A star shall advance from Jacob, and a staff shall rise from Israel”, refer clearly to David, but point beyond him to the promised Messianic ruler who will bring the ultimate victory over the enemies of God’s people. In this image, we clearly recognize Jesus, sent by Almighty God as the ruler not only of Israel but of the entire world. This is the star which the Magi followed until they found the Child in the arms of His mother.

The oracle of Balaam shows how God chooses to proclaim a wonderful future for his people with words issuing from the mouth of a man whose mission had been to bring a curse upon the people of Israel and their deity. In the Gospel, the chief priests and elders found it difficult to hear the voice of God in the words and deeds of the carpenter from Nazareth, and eventually conspired with the Roman authorities to have him executed. What they accomplished, however, was not his defeat, but his victory, the fulfillment of the mission for which he had been sent: to redeem his Father’s human children from the burden of our sinfulness by his death on the Cross, and by his rising from the dead, to open for us the gates of a paradise more wondrous than Israel or even than Eden – the gates of Heaven itself.

In our own lives, God often speaks through unexpected channels. We need to be ready to hear his word and heed his call, whoever might be the oracle.

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Today’s Gospel, like the first reading, deals with the issue of authority. It is clear that the Jewish religious leaders were disturbed by Jesus, a carpenter’s son, an itinerant preacher from – of all places! -- Nazareth in Galilee. [“Can anything good come from Nazareth?” was a question raised by Nathanael, also known as Bartholomew (but that’s another story).] The Pharisees and Scribes approach Jesus in the Temple and ask him, “By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority?” Jesus rarely answers directly such provocative questions, and in this instance, as is often the case, he answers their question with one of his own. “Where was John’s baptism from? Was it of heavenly or human origin?”

Now, it is the questioners who have the burden. If they say that it was heavenly, then, when they came to observe John baptizing at the Jordan, why not receive his baptism? The answer is clear: they would have placed themselves on the same level as the sinful and the unclean. But, if say it was human, they run the risk of offending the people who consider John to be a prophet. So they answer “We do not know”, and Jesus refuses to tell them the source of his authority.

At the end of the day, the leaders of the people and the teachers of the law are guilty of stubborn blindness. They are unwilling to see the hand of God either in the mission of John or that of Jesus. They will not see that the authority with which Jesus spoke resided in his person. He was not merely the bearer, but the source of the message.

A few words on the word “authority” may be relevant here. A person with “authority” is not just someone who wields coercive power over others. The purpose of genuine authority is not to control, to keep in line; to the contrary, it is to be an agent in releasing the potential that is within people, to empower them. Jesus did not wield coercive authority. He invited others to follow him. The rich young man walked away sad, but Jesus did not stop him from leaving. He came to bring life, life in its fullness. He came to lead people to be all that they could be, and were meant to be.

Jesus did this most dramatically when, before the Passover Supper, he got down on his knees and washed the feet of his disciples. This was an act of authority – the authority of outreaching love. Each of us must decide whether to follow the way of love, or to go one’s own way.

Perhaps, in reflecting on this gospel, each of us might examine how we exercise authority in our own lives – as priests, parents, teachers, employers – in any capacity where we have some responsibility toward others. Very few of us have no authority at all.