In today’s Gospel, we see the obstinance of the scribes and Pharisees to who Jesus claims to be. Leading up to the events in today’s Gospel, Christ healed a man with a withered hand and the Pharisees questioned him, saying: “Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath?” (Matthew 12:9-14). He then cured a “demoniac who was blind and mute” so the “mute person. . . could speak and see” and the Pharisee accused Jesus of driving our demons “only by the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons” (12:22-32). So blatant were they in committing the sins of calumny and rash judgment against Christ, that Jesus called them “brood of vipers”! (12:34).
And, now, after all the signs and wonders that Jesus performed in their presence, they demand yet another “sign” from him. Sounds familiar? Pharaoh, who - so “obstinate had the LORD made Pharaoh” and the Egyptians - responded to the many signs and wonders that God performed through Moses and Aaron with obstinacy. When the Lord God appeared to Moses in the burning bush, he said to Moses: "I know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go unless he is forced. I will stretch out my hand, therefore, and smite Egypt by doing all kinds of wondrous deeds there. After that he will send you away" (Exodus 3:13-20).
And so, even after the Lord God unleashed the ten (10) plagues throughout Egypt - (1) water turned into blood; (2) the frogs; (3) the gnats; (4) the flies; (5) the pestilence; (6) the boils; (7) the hail; (8) the locusts; (9) the darkness; and, finally, (10) the death of the firstborn (Exodus 7:14-11:10) - we hear that “[although] Moses and Aaron performed various wonders in Pharaoh's presence, the LORD made Pharaoh obstinate, and he would not let the children of Israel leave his land” (Exodus 11:10-12:14). And so, the Lord God said to Moses: “I will make the Egyptians so obstinate that they will go in after [the children of Israel]. . . The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I receive glory through Pharaoh and his chariots and charioteers."
My sisters and brothers in Christ, how have we, like Pharaoh and the Egyptians and the scribes and Pharisees, been obstinance when God reveals Himself to us and we did not respond to Him with faith, hope, and love? Saint Ambrose, bishop, once said: "Let your door stand open to receive him, unlock your soul to him, offer him a welcome in your mind, and then you will see the riches of simplicity, the treasures of peace, the joy of grace. Throw wide the gate of your heart, stand before the sun of the everlasting light that shines on every man. This true light shines on all, but if anyone closes his window he will deprive himself of eternal light. If you shut the door of your mind, you shut out Christ. . . [and here is the hinge] Though he can enter, he does not want to force his way in rudely, or compel us to admit him against our will."
God will do everything He can to get our attention; however, He will always give us the freewill to respond to him in faith, hope, and love. It is then up to us to receive our Lord and our God into our hearts or, to the detriment of our soul for all eternity, “dig in” and remain obstinate to God’s will and power happening in our lives.
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