Have we not all the one Father? Then why are you violating the covenant of our fathers? In the current arrangement of the books of the bible, the Book of the prophet Malachi concludes the Old Testament. As such, it somehow acts as a bridge between the two great dispensations. The Book makes reference to the impending day of the Lord (which we correctly identify with the birth of Jesus Christ), the day when the then injustices against the covenant shall be corrected. The greatest ‘injustice’ that the book points to was being perpetrated by the priests. The priests, who were raised by God to lead the people back to honoring the covenant, were dishonoring their positions by their manner of living. The priests, because they had turned their backs to the covenant, were teaching the people to do likewise yet it was their responsibility to lead the community to honor the covenant. It was a sin that would lead them to incur the wrath of God if they were to persist in it. However, it was not yet too late for them. All they had to do was to turn away from their wretched ways and return to the covenant the Lord had made with their ancestors. The repentance they had to do was to resume their leadership responsibility by instructing the people in the ways of the Lord.
In the Gospel reading, we see Jesus echoing these words of the Prophet Malachi as he indirectly addresses the Scribes and Pharisees, the religious leaders of the people. Labeled (wrongly) by some versions of the bible as Jesus’ “denunciation of the Scribes and Pharisees,” the passage follows a series of instances in which a section of the religious leaders asked Jesus some questions in order to “test him.” While Jesus did answer their questions perfectly, it appears he was not pleased with the fact that they were intent on “testing” him. He was aware that the religious leaders spent their time mastering the letter of the law without paying attention to its application. In the words of Jesus, they were preaching the law without practicing it themselves. Like the priests in the first reading whose manner of life was denounced by God, these religious leaders at the time of Jesus were falling short of faithfully discharging their responsibility. They too were violating the covenant of their fathers.
In his address to the crowds, Jesus knew better than to follow in the footsteps of the religious leaders. Instead of denouncing them, he reminded the people that the religious leaders derived their authority from Moses (and indirectly from God). As such, the instructions that issued from them were not their own but rather God’s. This is why it was of great importance that they observed their teachings. However, they were not to follow their example of separating the knowledge of the law from its practice. Because they failed to lead by example, they too were causing many to falter in their observance of the dictates of the law. As those who had been raised by God to lead the community back to honoring the covenant, the religious leaders needed to rise up to the challenge of being real shepherds to the people.
Jesus exhorted the people to be both hearers and doers of the word. The body of the law was not meant to be a burden to them but rather a guiding path towards the honor of the covenant. Each individual member had the responsibility of being a good example to others by their manner of life. He/she who would place himself in a position of reminding others of what the law said had to ensure that he/she was doing the same.