Today’s Gospel is one of the times that Our Lord speaks very plainly and seriously to different groups of people, this instance being the Pharisees. Here in the Gospel of Luke as well as in the Gospel of Matthew (Matt. 23), Our Lord speaks very harshly to condemn hypocrisy, especially the kind found in the leaders of the people. Both Gospels have a list of ‘woes’ proclaimed by Christ as an imitation of Old Testament oracles of judgment.1 These woes are a sign of infidelity to the Covenant of God and stand in opposition to the blessings that God has desired to give.
In particular, I want to concentrate on one of the woes that is spoken by Christ to the Pharisees:
“Woe to you! You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk.” Luke 11:44
The meaning here will be important for all Christians, especially those who are ministering within the Church. Christ appeals to the idea of an unseen grave. For the Jewish people of the time, the grave is something unclean. St. Matthew also records the Pharisees being compared to “whitewashed tombs” in his list of woes.2 Both evangelists recall this metaphor used by Christ to emphasize the uncleanliness of the Pharisees and, most especially, the rottenness of their souls.
More than this though, the idea of people walking over the unseen grave gives the picture of an unsuspecting Jew walking through a field and accidently walking over an unmarked grave. This action would cause the person to become ritualistically unclean and keep them from being able to worship God. The Law reads:
“Whoever in the open field touches one who is slain with a sword, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.” Numbers 19:16.
Now, the purpose of calling the Pharisees an unseen grave is because they are acting as stumbling blocks for the people keeping them from the Kingdom of God. They are so obsessed with the letter of the law that they have completely overlooked the spirit of the law. They measure out their tithes to the 10th part, but they do not let the law be written in their hearts.
This is the lesson for us. Do we become stumbling blocks for those outside of the Catholic Church? Do we place a burden too hard to carry on the shoulders of those we speak to? The faith must be preached in truth and charity. Not compromising on orthodoxy but embracing the dignity of the other. Are we unseen graves for those whom we come in contact with? Or are we accompanying souls for the glory of His name?
Cf. Is. 5:8-23; Ez. 24:6; Hab. 2:6-20.
Cf. Matt. 23:27-28.
Much food for personal reflection!