HEAVEN TOUCHING EARTH

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CHRISTIAN SCRIBES

The following verse appeared in today's gospel reading (Matthew 13:53):
"Then every scribe who has been instructed in the Kingdom of heaven
is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom
both the new and the old."

It seems that there were people in Matthew's community who were well versed in the Jewish Scriptures, and were called "scribes," like the scribes we hear of in the Jewish community. Their job would have been to interpret the new faith of Christianity in the light of the Jewish Scriptures. (Remember that Matthew was a Jew, as were the members of the Christian community for whom he was writing,)

So, this would be the background of Jesus' saying, "Then every scribe who has been instructed in the Kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old."

HEAVEN TOUCHING EARTH

One of the most important beliefs shared by Jews and Christians is that heaven can and does in fact touch earth. The Jews saw "heaven touching earth" in two ways: First in the Torah, the scriptures, in which God is present, and second in the Temple, which they referred to as "God's dwelling place."

When Jesus comes along, he gives and entirely new meaning to the image of "heaven touching earth." The Law has now been fulfilled, the temple has been superseded, and there is a new way that heaven touches earth: Jesus Christ himself! God became a man, "the Word became flesh and pitched his tent among us." It's easy to see how the Jews would be aghast at hearing Jesus saying that the temple has been replaced (by the body of Jesus and by the entire Christian church, the "body of Christ." But that's what Jesus was saying: You and I are dwelling places of God, we are now where heaven touches earth!

I need to ask myself every day, "Am I showing people by my words, actions and attitudes, that heaven is touching earth through me?" Is that what folks see and experience from me? Or am I intent instead on my own agenda, having my own way, making things happen the way I want, for my convenience.

Jesus, the ideal connection between heaven and earth, has given us the task of imitating him, and modeled the behavior necessary to reflect heaven touching earth: Self-sacrificing love, humility, meekness, unflinching confidence in the Father's goodness, and so on.

Let us ask our Savior, then, to help us to continue to be, with him, a place where everyone we encounter can witness the miracle of heaven touching earth.