8th Sunday in Ordinary Time
February 27, 2022
Luke 6: 39-45

We continue to listen and reflect on Jesus’ teaching on the mount. Two Sundays ago, Jesus inaugurated His teaching with the Beatitudes, and last Sunday, Jesus taught us about loving our enemies. Today, Jesus is giving us four short parables to ponder. These are parables of the blind guide, the teacher and the disciple, a wooden beam and a splinter, and the good and bad trees. Now, we may ask: why does Jesus offer His disciples these parables, and what is the unifying theme?
The usage of a parable is not unique to Jesus. In the Old Testament, prophets often used the same technique to teach a lesson and challenge the sinners to repent. One of the famous parables in the Old Testament is the parable of the little ewe. Using this parable, prophet Nathan indirectly criticized David as the rich man who stole Uriah’s little ewe. Like His Old Testament’s predecessors, Jesus is using the parables with the same purposes. He invites His disciples to think more profoundly and warn them of dangers.
From the parable of the blind guide, Jesus reminds His disciples not to fall into spiritual blindness caused by the sin of pride. Following Jesus and being close to Jesus can make us feel that we know and act better than the rest of humanity. We begin to assume the role of guide and boss and tell other people what to do with their lives.
The third parable of Jesus, the parable of a wooden beam and splinter, is closely related to the first one, and indeed a hyperbolic way to criticize Jesus’ disciples who are blinded by pride and thus, unable to evaluate ourselves properly. Pride causes us to feel superior and easily see others as someone who always needs corrections. Yet, sometimes, pride moves us also in the opposite direction. Unable to correctly see ourselves, we possess low self-esteem and see ourselves as inferior to others. This is also dangerous for our personal and spiritual growth.
Does it mean that we cannot guide and correct other people? Not at all. Jesus allows us to correct others, and, in Mat 18, Jesus commands us to correct our brothers who are in errors. Yet, the primary pre-condition is that we must correct ourselves first or open our spiritual eyes before we guide others. Thus, the second parable plays a crucial role. To counter this pride, Jesus offers the parable of a disciple and his teacher. Jesus reminds His followers of the virtue of humility and strives to be a good disciple. Before telling other people what to do because we know everything, we should first be a good disciples, humble followers, and empathic listeners of Jesus and each other.
The fourth parable completes Jesus’ teaching through parables. Jesus comes to form the hearts, and thus, a genuine disciple of Jesus strives to fill his heart with good things. It would be useless if we appear ‘pious’ but, inside, we are dirty. It is hypocrisy. Unless we have a good heart, our acts and words are empty and signs of pride. Only from the goodness of our hearts we bring goodness also to others.

Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP