Wednesday, May 30,
2012, 7:17 a.m. – The Lord woke me this morning with the song “The Lord’s Anointed” playing in my
mind. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Matthew 23 (quoting Vv. 1-12, 33-39 NIV 1984):
Then Jesus said to the
crowds and to his disciples: “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in
Moses’ seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not
do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy
loads and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to
lift a finger to move them.
“Everything they do is
done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their
garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important
seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to
have men call them ‘Rabbi.’
“But you are not to be
called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. And do
not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in
heaven. Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one Teacher, the
Christ. The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself
will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted… (For entire
passage): http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2023&version=NIV1984
“You snakes! You brood
of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? Therefore I am sending
you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify;
others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. And so
upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from
the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you
murdered between the temple and the altar. I tell you the truth, all this will
come upon this generation.
“O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I
have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under
her wings, but you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate.
For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who
comes in the name of the Lord.’”
My Understanding: Jesus
was addressing the crowds and his disciples at this point. His subject was the
Pharisees and the teachers of the law. He spoke this as a warning. He told the
people that since the Pharisees and teachers of the law had the authority of
Moses over the people (the Jewish people), the people must obey them, but
within Biblical limits and boundaries. In other words, they were not to do what
the Pharisees did, i.e. they were not to practice their faith in the same
manner as the Pharisees. The reason? – The Pharisees did not practice what they
preached, i.e. they were hypocrites of the worst kind. They were legalists who
forced mankind to follow a strict set of man-made rules and regulations that
had nothing to do with the heart, and they were not willing to lift any of
these restrictions to lighten the heavy burdens this placed on men and women of
faith. In contrast, Jesus said his yoke was easy and his burden is light,
because he is the one who carried (and carries) the weight for us as we fall
underneath his authority.
In continuing this rebuke of the Pharisees and his warning
to the crowds of people, and to his disciples, Jesus said that these religious
leaders did their “acts of righteousness” to be seen of men, i.e. for men’s
recognition and approval. They loved the place of honor at social gatherings,
and they wanted to be viewed as especially important, and to have people greet
them by their titles of honor out in public. They desired the honor and praise
of men to go to themselves instead of leading their followers by humility
toward giving all their praise and honor to God. Thus Jesus warned the crowds
and his disciples against seeking men’s approval and honor, and in particularly
against going after specific titles such as “Rabbi,” which means master,
“father,” and/or “teacher,” for the express purpose of fostering pride and for
self-exaltation. We know from reading the remainder of the New Testament, though,
that this was not intended literally as a complete indictment against all those
titles, because children were allowed to call their earthly fathers “father,”
and God gave to the church apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastors and
teachers “to prepare God’s people for works of service…” (See Eph. 4:11-16).
The main point, I believe, is not to ascribe to man what is rightfully God’s,
i.e. the honor, praise, characteristics, authority, and place in our hearts.
Jesus said: “The
greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be
humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
Then Jesus gave seven “woes” (judgments; condemnations;
rebukes) to the Pharisees and teachers of the law. They can be summarized as
such: Woe to you hypocrites because:
- · You claim to be teachers of God’s word and way, yet you refuse to recognize Jesus Christ as your Messiah and Savior; you thus refuse to come into the kingdom of heaven by faith in Christ, and you do all you can to dissuade others from believing. You thus fail to see who Jesus Christ really is.
- · You go all over the world to win a single convert to your Pharisaical approach to Judaism, and when you gain that follower of your ways, you make him “twice as much the son of hell as you are.” You suppress your followers so much with your strict adherence to man’s rules that it leaves no room for Christ and his kingdom.
- · You are blind guides to the people because you twist and distort the things of God to your own advantage, you mishandle the Scriptures, and you encourage falsehood instead of telling the truth; hypocrisy over genuineness.
- · You give your tithe (your 10%), but you neglect more important matters of the heart and of the law – justice, mercy and faithfulness. You focus so much time and attention on the minutest details of the externals of the law that you neglect to see that love is the fulfillment of the law, and that the spirit of the law should always rule over the letter of the law, thus you distort God’s revealed will in Scripture.
- · You are so worried about how things look outwardly, such as the cleanliness of one’s hands, that you fail to notice or deal appropriately with the uncleanness of your own hearts. First cleanse your hearts of all impurities such as pride, self-exaltation, greed, etc. and then you will also be clean on the outside.
- · You are like “whitewashed tombs,” which look clean on the outside but inside are full of dead men’s bones. The purpose of your “whitewash” is to give the outward appearance of righteousness, but inside you are full of wickedness and hypocrisy.
- · You pride yourselves that if you had lived during the time of your forefathers that you would not be guilty of shedding innocent blood, yet you follow the ways of your fathers while you self-righteously claim to be different from them. “Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers! You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?”
There are two main indictments here against the Pharisees
and teachers of the law: 1) They failed to recognize Jesus Christ for who he
was (is) – God the Son, the promised Messiah, and their Savior, and 2) They
were filled with pride, self-righteousness, self-exaltation, and all kinds of
wickedness, and were bound by strict adherence to every little detail of man’s
laws, yet they failed to follow the law of love and to cleanse their own hearts
of all evil. Jesus Christ told them (in other speeches) that they honored God
with their lips but their hearts were far from him; their teaching was but
rules of men. As well, he told them that they dishonored God and his law of
love by not caring for their family members for the sake of their tradition.
They were so bound by rules taught by men that they could not pull themselves
free to focus on what really matters to God – truth, love, righteousness,
purity, and correctly handling the word of truth, etc. They were so concerned
with how things appeared on the outside, and with their own reputations, that
they failed to clean up their own hearts. And, they twisted and distorted
scripture to their own advantage in order to lead others astray, to keep them
from following Christ, and to secure them for themselves.
We all must guard our hearts against such Pharisaical
leanings such as these. We must be more concerned with what it is in our hearts
than with how we appear to others on the outside. We must be more concerned
with pleasing God than with pleasing man; with obeying Christ Jesus and his
word, than with gaining the approval of man (or woman). We must be more concerned
with following the truths of God’s holy word than we are with following the
traditions and teachings of man (not exclusive to legalists, either). We must
be more concerned about offending God through disobedience than with whether or
not we offend humans, though certainly we should take no pleasure in offending
humans, any more than God (Father, Son & Holy Spirit) takes in bringing
judgment upon the disobedient. We should be more concerned about being humble
and having servant hearts than with making a name or a reputation for
ourselves. We must be more concerned with following the spirit of the law
(love), rather than the letter of the law. In all these things, we must honor,
love, respect, revere and obey God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – above all
else!
Jesus told the hypocritical religious leaders, and their
followers, too, I believe, that because of their stubbornness and
rebelliousness of heart and their refusal to listen to Jesus’s words of truth,
he was going to send them prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them they
would kill, others they would flog in their synagogues and pursue from town to
town. Then they would “fill up the measure” of their sin. God will only allow
so much sin before he brings judgment. When God determines the measure of man’s
sin is full, judgment will fall.
Jesus Christ is calling us to obey him and to follow him
instead of us following man. Sometimes we don’t even realize we are followers
of men because we are just doing what we have always been taught to do. Men may
distort the word of God for their own advantage, but we need to be discerning
and make sure we are following the word of God. This lesson about the Pharisees
is not exclusive to what we term “legalists.” Following man and man-made
religion, practices, traditions, and rules (society’s norms) is passed down
from generation to generation. Careful study of scripture and a willingness to
believe God and his word over men and man-made religion will help us break free
of following man over God; be free from following the traditions and
distortions of scripture passed down by man over the truths of scripture. Jesus
is just as displeased with leaders in today’s church who act like the Pharisees
in demanding unquestioning submission to their traditions, “rules” and man-made
religion. And, there are just as many hypocrites in today’s modern churches as
there were in the Jewish faith of Jesus’ day. It is something we must all guard
against.
O Church, Church, you
who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to
gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but
you were not willing.
The Lord’s Anointed
/ An Original Work / December 16, 2011
Based off Isaiah 61
The Spirit of the
Sov’reign Lord on me;
Anointed to preach the
Good News;
Sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted;
Proclaim freedom for
the captives.
He sent me to preach
release for pris’ners
Who are walking in
sin’s darkness;
Proclaim God’s grace
to all men who’ll listen;
And tell them about
God’s judgments;
Comfort all who mourn;
Give crowns of beauty;
Oil of gladness and
thanksgiving.
They will be called
oaks of God’s righteousness,
A planting of our
Savior, God,
For the display of our
Lord’s splendor, and
They will rebuild
God’s holy church.
God will renew them,
and will restore them,
And you’ll be called
priests of the Lord.
You will be ministers
of our God, and
You will rejoice in
salvation.
The Lord loves
justice;
He is faithful to
Reward those who are
seeking Him.
I delight greatly in
the Lord;
My soul rejoices in my
Savior, God.
He has clothed me with
His salvation,
And in a robe of His
righteousness.
He has given me
priestly garments to
Wear, as the bride of
Jesus Christ.
As the garden of our
Lord and Savior,
He causes us to grow
in Him.
He makes
righteousness,
Praise, and
thanksgiving
Spring up before all
the nations.
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