One of our great problems is appearances, how things look from the outside. The externals.
Whether it involves people, or possessions, it is easy for us to focus on those externals.
Sometimes, we focus on them because we assume that they might tell us something about what’s going on inside. More often, we focus on the externals, because we’ve mistaken the externals for the important part.
The point that Jesus is making in today’s Gospel is about seeing the externals for what they really are.
Sometimes they can point us in the right direction. Most of the time, though, they don’t. Most of the time, they’re not the important part. Most of the time, they’re just something extra.
The point that Jesus is making is that once we understand what the externals really are, we’ll let them go. We’ll put our time and attention where it needs to be. On the only thing that matters in the end, the only thing that lasts.
Don’t focus on the external. Focus on the Eternal.