Tuesday 11 October

Galatians 5:1-6, Ps.119T, Luke 11:37-41

A good telling off

Sometimes Jesus’ language seems a bit harsh. It is good to remember that in Aramaic, strong statements were not about exaggeration or careless language. The degree of exaggeration represented the degree of importance. When Jesus said we should remove the plank from our own eye before noting the speck of dust in our neighbour’s vision, he was actually saying, this is very, very important. Today he targets people who set themselves up as virtuous - that old ego stuff again. Yes, this lesson too, is very, very important.