WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD JESUS SAY THAT??!!!
“But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better
than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the
Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!"
(Luke 11:37-54)
I can imagine the moment when Jesus uttered these shocking words. Silence, then gasps as those who heard them tried to regain their composure. I promise, no one was laughing; a few probably were distancing themselves from the Master waiting for the stones to be hurled, since whatever the Pharisees declared was sin, was indeed sin. The Mosaic Law had become so corrupted by the Pharisees that, by this time it favored no one, except the Pharisees (and the scribes, they had to be taken care of, because they were writing everything down, can't have them at odds!). It had become a hard taskmaster for God's people--I guess they really did feel like they might as well go back to Egypt!
The Pharisees turned hand washing before eating into a legal matter. It became a religious ritual, rather than a hygienic act. The Law as given by God already contained over 600 points, now add to it the many variations and twists and turns of the Pharisees that the people of God had to keep, or else (they believed) they failed ALL of the Law. Jesus purposely went to dinner, and sat down to eat at the Pharisee's house and "forgot" to wash His hands! Can you imagine??!!! The Word tells us that His host "marvelled" to see this. It was the perfect opportunity for Jesus to show the Pharisees how they appeared in the eyes of God--and not themselves. Jesus began to explain that their error was in focusing on the outside--what men see, and not giving attention to what only God can see--the heart.
Jesus wasn't exactly politically correct in His choice of words, either. His words were indicting--and, meant to be so. Sometimes, the Word has to cut and divide asunder in order for correction to occur. Not only were the Pharisees hurting the people with their version of the Law, but they were damning themselves, as well. It isn't as if they weren't taught that the purpose of the Law was to protect, not simply to give rules for the sake of rules. God's Law was given for the safe-keeping of His people--ALL of His people, not just the Pharisee, the scribe, the Levite, the priest, or the King--but, all the way down to even the stranger in the camp received protection from the Mosaic Law. However, when man gets done with God's Law, somehow (alot like the system of Capitalism, or even Communism) a few receive the benefits and the masses bear the burden. We allow human nature to take over, rather than adhering to God's commands, as He gave them--human nature is the reason Communism and Socialism don't work, either--they become Capitalistic, too, secretly. Human nature=Carnality=Self. All the same; and dangerous.
This wasn't new, either. Jesus didn't come up with this, when He became flesh. Samuel was reminded of this, by God as He went to seek a king for Israel among the sons of Jesse. It is always about the heart with God. We can't see the heart so we get caught up with the things that we see--what people are wearing, their education (or lack of it), what family they come from, what they drive, where they live, how much they're worth, who they know and network with, and more. But, all God looks at is our heart. He is not concerned about what we wear--He knows that if men would allow the Spirit to teach us "all things" in time, we will learn the difference between appropriate and inappropriate. There's another side. The Holy Spirit knows the issues that we have when we are getting dressed and choosing what to wear--gaining/losing weight, not having money to buy what is required, and a whole host of body issues. There are things that (in particular) women don't feel comfortable explaining to a male pastor (or all of the busybodies, either), for instance. The best thing is to stay out of people's closets--at least, be understanding that their choices of apparel may have a valid reason. That was extra!:)
It is so easy to focus on what we see, simply because we see it, but we have to begin to challenge ourselves to stop assuming that what we see on the outside is an accurate indicator of what is on the inside. Many times, the most "saintly" appearing people are the most condemning, judgmental, harsh people--like the Pharisees, Jesus rebuked. Sometimes, the most godly people are the ones you would least expect, too. Prayer warriors don't usually advertise, neither do true worshippers. God is looking for people who get the order of things. Love is first. Nothing precedes love. Nothing works right without love. If you try to do anything, before love is in place and intact, things go haywire. We make a huge mistake teaching faith, before love. The first thing people need to learn when they come into the Church is how to love--if we fix that one thing, revival is certain.
Only love will remain throughout eternity--only love always was.
Love unlocks everything we need--not faith. Love unlocks faith--"For [if we are] in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith activated and energized and expressed and working through love." (Galatians 5:6, TAB) We act as if faith is first, and faith is the key that unlocks everything, "...But if I don’t have love, I am a loud gong or a clashing cymbal." (1 Corinthians 1:1, GWT)
Start at the HEART, that's why Jesus said that!
Grace,
Lisa
(Luke 11:37-54)
I can imagine the moment when Jesus uttered these shocking words. Silence, then gasps as those who heard them tried to regain their composure. I promise, no one was laughing; a few probably were distancing themselves from the Master waiting for the stones to be hurled, since whatever the Pharisees declared was sin, was indeed sin. The Mosaic Law had become so corrupted by the Pharisees that, by this time it favored no one, except the Pharisees (and the scribes, they had to be taken care of, because they were writing everything down, can't have them at odds!). It had become a hard taskmaster for God's people--I guess they really did feel like they might as well go back to Egypt!
The Pharisees turned hand washing before eating into a legal matter. It became a religious ritual, rather than a hygienic act. The Law as given by God already contained over 600 points, now add to it the many variations and twists and turns of the Pharisees that the people of God had to keep, or else (they believed) they failed ALL of the Law. Jesus purposely went to dinner, and sat down to eat at the Pharisee's house and "forgot" to wash His hands! Can you imagine??!!! The Word tells us that His host "marvelled" to see this. It was the perfect opportunity for Jesus to show the Pharisees how they appeared in the eyes of God--and not themselves. Jesus began to explain that their error was in focusing on the outside--what men see, and not giving attention to what only God can see--the heart.
Jesus wasn't exactly politically correct in His choice of words, either. His words were indicting--and, meant to be so. Sometimes, the Word has to cut and divide asunder in order for correction to occur. Not only were the Pharisees hurting the people with their version of the Law, but they were damning themselves, as well. It isn't as if they weren't taught that the purpose of the Law was to protect, not simply to give rules for the sake of rules. God's Law was given for the safe-keeping of His people--ALL of His people, not just the Pharisee, the scribe, the Levite, the priest, or the King--but, all the way down to even the stranger in the camp received protection from the Mosaic Law. However, when man gets done with God's Law, somehow (alot like the system of Capitalism, or even Communism) a few receive the benefits and the masses bear the burden. We allow human nature to take over, rather than adhering to God's commands, as He gave them--human nature is the reason Communism and Socialism don't work, either--they become Capitalistic, too, secretly. Human nature=Carnality=Self. All the same; and dangerous.
This wasn't new, either. Jesus didn't come up with this, when He became flesh. Samuel was reminded of this, by God as He went to seek a king for Israel among the sons of Jesse. It is always about the heart with God. We can't see the heart so we get caught up with the things that we see--what people are wearing, their education (or lack of it), what family they come from, what they drive, where they live, how much they're worth, who they know and network with, and more. But, all God looks at is our heart. He is not concerned about what we wear--He knows that if men would allow the Spirit to teach us "all things" in time, we will learn the difference between appropriate and inappropriate. There's another side. The Holy Spirit knows the issues that we have when we are getting dressed and choosing what to wear--gaining/losing weight, not having money to buy what is required, and a whole host of body issues. There are things that (in particular) women don't feel comfortable explaining to a male pastor (or all of the busybodies, either), for instance. The best thing is to stay out of people's closets--at least, be understanding that their choices of apparel may have a valid reason. That was extra!:)
It is so easy to focus on what we see, simply because we see it, but we have to begin to challenge ourselves to stop assuming that what we see on the outside is an accurate indicator of what is on the inside. Many times, the most "saintly" appearing people are the most condemning, judgmental, harsh people--like the Pharisees, Jesus rebuked. Sometimes, the most godly people are the ones you would least expect, too. Prayer warriors don't usually advertise, neither do true worshippers. God is looking for people who get the order of things. Love is first. Nothing precedes love. Nothing works right without love. If you try to do anything, before love is in place and intact, things go haywire. We make a huge mistake teaching faith, before love. The first thing people need to learn when they come into the Church is how to love--if we fix that one thing, revival is certain.
Only love will remain throughout eternity--only love always was.
Love unlocks everything we need--not faith. Love unlocks faith--"For [if we are] in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith activated and energized and expressed and working through love." (Galatians 5:6, TAB) We act as if faith is first, and faith is the key that unlocks everything, "...But if I don’t have love, I am a loud gong or a clashing cymbal." (1 Corinthians 1:1, GWT)
Start at the HEART, that's why Jesus said that!
Grace,
Lisa
Comments
Post a Comment