Gospel Commentary for thursday, October 16, 2025

Prophets are, by definition, uncomfortable people. They’re inconvenient. Prophets are the ones who say what we don’t want to hear, who expose our inconsistencies, the gap between what we say—our grand declarations of principle, our “I would never…”—and what we actually do. They remind us of the things we’d rather forget about our lives, the things we hope others will forget too.

That’s why we react against them. One common way we deal with prophets—when we can’t deny the truth of their words—is what we might call “killing the messenger.” Of course, the phrase is metaphorical. It doesn’t mean physically killing them, but rather discrediting them—trying to point out their flaws and contradictions. It’s what we do when we respond to a prophet with “Well, look who’s talking.” We tell them they have no right to correct us because their life isn’t perfect. Deep down, though, we know they’re right. But we don’t want to listen, because their words would unsettle us, break our routines, and disturb the comfortable life we’ve built—full of our own compromises and contradictions. Too often, we’ve made peace with the mediocrity we’ve chosen to live in.

Jesus was that kind of prophet—one who spoke with clarity to the scribes and Pharisees. He exposed their hypocrisy, showing that their lives didn’t match their words. They imposed laws and burdens on others that they themselves didn’t follow, twisting their wisdom to justify the unjustifiable. And the response was predictable: they refused to listen. They shut their ears. And they tried to kill the messenger. In the end, they actually did.

Today, we need to open our ears to the prophets who live among us. They may not lead the most exemplary lives, but what they say is true—and we should be willing to receive that truth. After all, God once spoke even through Balaam’s donkey (Numbers 22).