Woe to you - Matthew 23:13-36

Like our last study, personal questions will be a significant portion of our exploration of today's passage, but we'll also look at some elements of Jewish culture to deepen our understanding.  Also note that today we reach the end of the long interchange between Jesus and the Jewish religious leaders.

Today we cover the passage known as the "Eight Woes," filled with the phrase, "Woe to you..."  So before we dive into Scripture, let's define that phrase really quickly.

• The word "woe" itself means distress, lamentation, grief, anguish, etc.
• So, "woe to you" isn't exactly an act of cursing the "you."
• Rather, in this context, the recipients (hypocritical religious elite) will experience that woe because of the implied curse because of their evil acts that Jesus lists out.

13 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.

Under the Old Covenant, the Mosaic Law and sacrifices and festivals and all that were the way to serve God, but salvation (because Christ's death reaches both backward and forward in time) was still based on faith, a heart genuinely striving after God (see Romans 4).  Since these religious leaders were only interested in bringing glory to themselves, they had no true relationship with God.  But the situation was far worse in that these religious leaders were teaching common Jews legalistic principles instead of God's true intent in His Law, preventing them from coming to truly know the Lord for themselves and understand what it meant to really follow Him.  False teachers are extremely influential -which is why the Church is instructed to be constantly on watch for them, so no one is sucked in (see 2 Peter 2:1-3 and Romans 16:17-18,for example).

Are you diligent to keep false teachers' words out of your ears and eyes, checking all teachings against the Bible?  Do you also try to protect weaker Christians around you from false teaching's influence?

14 ["Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation.]

We've talked about how to handle bracketed verses before (verses found in some early manuscripts but not others), but if you are new here or need a refresher, click this post and scroll down to the blue sub-header that reads, "What about That Verse in Brackets?"  Based on my opinion on the bracketing issue, this verse qualifies as genuine Scripture.

Here, the religious elite were taking advantage of the people they were supposed to be taking care of, and engaging in religious activity just for the sake of appearing holy to others.  (For more on the issue of public prayer, look at Matthew 6:1-6.)

But what's the deal with the "greater condemnation"?  As I talked about in this post on Matthew 11 (under the sub-heading, "Speaking of the Judgment"), it's not a matter of different circles of hell like in Dante's Inferno; it seems more along the lines of those people having far more shame since they, as God's very own Israel, had far more opportunities to truly know Him than people of other nations had.

15 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves."

FYI, a proselyte was Gentile convert to Judaism.  So basically, these religious elite were going on "mission trips."  Obviously, the few Jews who really did love Gentiles enough to go tell them about the One True God were amazing people, but the religious elite referenced here were doing it for all the wrong reasons - for their own glory.  That may seem like an odd manifestation of glory-seeking, but a missionary I know has told me that some missionaries have actually gotten saved for real on mission trips (perhaps they went because it's seen as simply a noble thing to do, or a related motivation) - so this still goes on today.

But since most of these scribes and Pharisees never came into genuine relationship with God, they taught the converts the same false teachings they themselves lived by.  Think of it kind of like Mormons going on mission trips today.

16 "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.'
17 "You fools and blind men!  Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold?
18 "And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the offering on it, he is obligated.'
19 "You blind men, which is more important, the offering, or the altar that sanctifies the offering?
20 "Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and by everything on it.
21 "And whoever swears by the temple, swears both by the temple and by Him who dwells within it.
22 "And whoever swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.

There are a lot of little details here that may seem confusing, but the basic principle is actually quite simple:

• In Jewish culture, people often swore to do certain things in the service of God - like abstain from something for a set time, or give Him a certain percentage of their income.
• In the Old Testament, keeping your vows is treated as extremely serious (Deuteronomy 23:21-23, for example).
• But the religious elite decided to make up all sorts of little "word game" rules to let people get out of their vows.
• Obviously, this was an affront to God.

Have there been times when you've known that God wanted you to do something, but you tried to justify your way out of it?

23 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.
24 "You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

The religious leaders were also big on counting tiny seeds and flecks of herbs to tithe the set percentage - because such time-consuming acts were seen as very religious.  But they totally ignored the big-picture commands like loving others, which cannot be quantified and are not as noticed - and are actually much harder to do, when you really think about it.

Modern examples include spending (say) 2 hours in prayer and Bible study each day - but that clutters your schedule so much that you don't have time to show God's love to your elderly neighbor by helping her with yard-work.  Or having rigid rules of exactly how many inches below your collarbone or above your knee the clothes you buy can go - but not dealing with your pride or judgmentalism.

Does this principle "click" with your life in any way?

25 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence.
26 "You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.
27 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like white-washed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.
28 "So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Jesus Himself interprets His symbols and sums it all up in verse 28, so I won't spend much time here, except to prompt:

Are there things you do to look religious when other people are watching, but that are the exact opposite of what you truly are like on the inside?  (For example, putting lots of money in the offering plate, but refusing to lend a family member money so they can make their rent.)

29 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous,
30 and say, 'If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.'
31 "So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.
32 "Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers.
33 "You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?
34 "Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in synagogues, and persecute from city to city,
35 so that upon you may fall the guilt of all righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
36 "Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation."

Wow, there's a lot of information in this passage!  I think I'll focus on two main points:

First:  While there are many, many ways God uses the persecution of His saints for His glory (you can check out the "Persecution" tab under "Studies by Topic" on the left, if you're interested in studying this out deeper), in this passage, the focus seems to be to give the persecutors even more chances to repent through the testimony of the martyrs, and to heap more shame on them when they reject it (as we discussed above).  God doesn't waste the suffering and death of His martyrs - He offers mercy to the persecutors, but if they refuse to accept it, His justice will prevail for the martyrs (see Revelation 6:9-11).

Second:  We as humans always talk big, claiming we would have acted nobly during some time period where radical social change led to conflict.  But a major point I see in this passage is that, while we may think times have changed and we're not faced with that same decision today, we really are facing the same choices - so if we say we would have acted a certain way, why aren't we???

• "If I were alive during the Holocaust, I would have done whatever I could to help save the Jews!"  Unborn babies created by God are being slaughtered everyday - are you standing up to help save them?
• "If I lived around the time of the Civil War, I would have helped free the slaves!"  Slavery still exists in the world today - what are you doing to put a stop to that?
• "If I lived during the Protestant Reformation, I would have been willing to die for my faith!"  (Not picking on Catholics here; I've just heard this line a lot.)  Well, today, right here and now, are you willing to bear shame and be socially ostracized, and risk your job and your grades and your family for your faith?
• "If I lived in Jesus's day, I would not have been ashamed to minister to the outcasts and sinners right alongside Him!"  Today, are you showing God's love to homosexuals, and the homeless, and people who annoy you, and people seen as "weird" - not worrying what people will think of you for spending time with them?

I say these just as much as a challenge to myself as to you guys.  We need to take it seriously.  We need to actually do what Jesus would do, instead of throwing around the cliché acronym without putting any thought into how to put it into practice.

Image credit: "The Sermon of the Beatitudes" by James Tissot.  Wikipedia.  Public domain in the United States. 

Jesus's Parables Against the Pharisees - Matthew 21:33-46

Very Brief Recap

 

Remember, we're going through the part of Matthew's Gospel where Jesus spends a long time confronting the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and other religious elite.

 

Missed our previous posts on this war of words?  Here are Part 1 and Part 2.

 

Today, we'll look at Jesus's 2nd parable against the religious elite, both dissecting its meaning and looking for how to apply it to our own lives instead of just storing up head knowledge. :-)

This is a very link-happy post where I direct you to Scripture verses and passages, so if you're new around here, links appear hot pink if you're reading on the blog itself and blue if you're reading via e-mail subscription.  Be sure to check them out. :-)

 

The Scripture

 

33 "Listen to another parable.  There was a landowner who PLANTED A VINEYARD AND PUT A WALL AROUND IT AND DUG A WINE PRESS IN IT, AND BUILT A TOWER, and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey.

 

34 "When the harvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his produce.

 

35 "The vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third.

 

36 "Again he sent another group of slaves larger than the first; and they did the same thing to them.

 

37 "But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.'

 

38 "But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, 'This is the heir; come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.'

 

40 "Therefore when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?"

 

41 They said to Him, "He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons."

 

42 Jesus said to them, "Did you never read in the Scriptures, 'THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE CHEIF CORNER STONE; THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE LORD, AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES'?

 

43 "Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it.

 

44 "And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust."

 

45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them.

 

46 When they sought to seize Him, they feared the people, because the considered Him to be a prophet.

 

The Symbols

 



Here's my take on them, anyway... :-)

 

The landowner is God.  God's always the easy one to figure out in parables like this - He's the guy in charge. :-)

 

The vine-growers are, in this case, both all of God's people, and specifically the religious leaders - the people who were given the commission to help God's people grow, but weren't doing their job.  In Matthew 15:14, Jesus called them "blind guides," and in Matthew 23:4, He says that they "tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men's shoulders."  However, for applying this today (and looking in Isaiah 5, the origin of this parable), we should keep in mind that we all have a commission as "God's farmers," that is, to share His Gospel with the world, so we should view this in that light.  We all must produce fruit, we all have a responsibility.

 

The slaves here are the prophets (all the Old Testament ones, plus John the Baptist).  In our culture, the word "slave" is a very negative thing (as it should be), but in the Bible, it doesn't mean the same thing.  In the New Testament, we are referred to as bond-servants 24 times (a bond-servant was a voluntary slave who chose to serve a master they loved), and by my count, only as slaves 5 times (excepting the parables, which are symbolic so they don't count) - three times in Romans 6:16-19, and once each in 1 Corinthians 9:19 and Ephesians 6:6 ... and in all these cases, it is still presented as a matter of voluntary choice.  What's more, Galatians 4:7 is one of multiple verses that explicitly state that God views us as sons and daughters, not slaves.  So, then, being a "slave" is from our perspective - our willing choice to obey God, no matter what.  In the prophets' specific case, they were willing to say "yes" to God even to the point of dying brutal deaths.

 

The vineyard is a bit trickier to pin down.  It could be seen as the world (what we would call the missions field), or as God's people (for us, the Church).  For the Pharisees against whom this was spoken, their primary responsibility was to God's people (again, that's what is portrayed in Isaiah 5), but in modern times, God's followers' "vineyard" is both the Church and the world.  The landowner gave the vine-growers everything they needed to produce fruit in this vineyard (see verse 34), then went on a journey and left it in their hands - just like God gives us every possible way to come to Him, grow in Him, and follow His calling for our lives, but He ultimately leaves the choice of what to do with those gifts up to us.

 

What is this harvest time?  Elsewhere in the New Testament, it can refer to a final judgment scenario or bringing lost souls to Christ.  I don't think it's either of those here, but definitely related.  It seems to me that this is God calling His people to step out in faith in something, perform a good work He has planned for them, come back to Him after a time of rebellion - any of that.  Simply, God expecting fruit.  It makes sense, then, that the prophets would come to "demand" this when spiritual fruit wasn't being given to God.  Good motivation for us - let's serve God all the time so He doesn't have to send another of His followers to point out to us that we're not serving Him! ;-)

 

And finally, the last symbol is the landowner's son - Jesus.  That one's pretty obvious, but what I find interesting is the vine-growers' motivation: They wanted power they knew they weren't entitled to have.  The religious leaders could have seen that Jesus was Messiah far easier than anyone else since they were so familiar with the Scriptures, but I believe they refused to see that for this very reason - because the Messiah wanted to strip them of their wrongful power.

 

The Response

 

The response of the religious elite is disturbing.  They would have been familiar highly familiar with Isaiah 5, which Jesus was boldly alluding to and even directly quoting, and they knew in their hearts what justice would be for the vine-growers (see verse 41).

 

And yet, they were so blinded to their own wickedness that they couldn't see how it applied to them, so they proclaimed the judgment on themselves!

 

We need to constantly be aware of what's going on in our hearts, and ask God to reveal our sin to us, so we are not likewise this blind.

 

Corner Stone

 

For ancient buildings with stone foundations, the corner stone was the first stone laid in the ground, on which the entire house's measurements and alignments would depend - so it had to be flawless.  Jesus is here Himself the cornerstone (see Acts 4:10-12), but in this case, it also applies to the point He's been hammering into their heads and will continue to hammer: that the religious fakers who weren't really serving God did not truly possess the kingdom of God, because it belongs to we wretched sinners who repent and serve the Lord.  In God's eyes, it doesn't matter how badly we've screwed up, or what horrible people the world thinks we are because of those mistakes - when we ask His forgiveness and make Him our Lord, we become perfect stones in His sight, far more righteous than the religious elite who fast and maintain legalism - all because of Christ.

 

Let's look at verse 44 again:

 

And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.

 

Not as cryptic as it seems. :-)  Let's break it down very simply:

• Everyone will come into contact with the stone (that is, Christ) - but not in the same way.  Some (the saved) will choose to make their contact with Him here on Earth, but others (the unsaved) will refuse a relationship with Him, only to meet Him at the final judgment.
• The people the stone falls on are the unsaved (and in this specific case, the unsaved religious elite).  Christ will crush them in final judgment.
• We who fall on the stone are the ones who choose to bow to the True God.  We will be broken, too, not in judgment, but (1) as we willingly allow God to work in our hearts, removing our sin as we offer Him our "broken spirit" [see Psalm 66:10, Isaiah 48:10, Daniel 12:10, Zechariah 13:9, and Malachi 3:3]; and (2) as we suffer for our God at the hands of unsaved persecutors.

This is a tangent, but relevant:

 

If the devil were wise enough and would stand by in silence and let the gospel be preached, he would suffer less harm.  For when there is no battle for the gospel it rusts and it finds no cause and no occasion to show its vigor and power.  Therefore, nothing better can befall the gospel than that the world should fight it with force and cunning.

- Martin Luther

 

Powerless

 

Finally, at the very end of the chapter, the religious elite realized that they had been duped into condemning themselves, and have been publically ridiculed and denounced.  But Jesus was not done with them yet, and it was not quite the time when He chose to give His life - so we'll go further into this subject next study, as we start Matthew 22.  See you then. :-)

 

Questions for You

 

Is there anything you'd like to add to our discussion?  Maybe you saw something in the parable that I missed, or something really spoke to you that you'd like to expand on.  Or maybe you have a question.  Leave a comment to share. :-)

 

Image Credit

 

Image 1: "A Vineyard" photo taken by Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii.  Wikipedia.  Public domain in the United States.

Jesus Versus the Religious Elite - Matthew 21: 23-32

What's Going on, Again?

Let's review the context of where we are in Matthew.  In our last study, we saw Jesus enter Jerusalem in a spectacle demonstration of His identity as Messiah, literally chase the hypocritical religious establishment out of the Temple, and use a fig tree as a way to teach His followers that the religious elite weren't truly in God's favor.  Obviously, all this behavior really angered the Jewish religious leaders, which ultimately led to their decision to murder Him.  Today, we see the confrontation continue...

You see, as we progress to this point in Matthew's Gospel, Jesus is becoming quite blatant in exposing the religious hypocrites for what they really are.  He will humiliate them, tell three parables defaming them, debate with them publicly, and then denounce and curse them.  We will look at the humiliation and first parable today.

But before we dive in, I'd like to remind you of one very important question: How do we apply these passages to our own lives today?  Clearly it's important, since such a large portion of Matthew's Gospel is devoted to it.  My viewpoint is that:

• These passages give us a clear picture of what hypocrites and wolves look like.  We can keep that picture in mind to prevent ourselves, our loved ones, and our church family from being hurt spiritually be such people.
• For some of us, these passages may bring to mind persecutors of sorts - the religious elite in our lives who may oppress, defame, or try to guilt trip us for not living the legalistic lifestyles they do.  We can find comfort in the fact that we are not alone.
• And, we should pay attention to what the religious elite are doing wrong in these passages, so we can be sure not to adopt such behavior ourselves!  We must be on constant guard against legalism and self-righteousness in our own lives.

The Wrong Question

 

23 When He entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him while He was teaching, and said, "By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?"

 

24 Jesus said to them, "I will go ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things.

 

25 "The baptism of John was from what source, from heaven or from men?"  And they began reasoning among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say to us, 'Then why did you not believe him?'

 

26 "But if we say, 'From men,' we fear the people; for they all regard John as a prophet."

 

27 And answering Jesus, they said, "We do not know."  He also said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."

 

The religious elite didn't really want to know where Jesus got His authority from; they just wanted to trap Him, because He would be in the same predicament - either answer would get Him in trouble.  If He said His authority came from men, His followers would stop following Him, since clearly He couldn't be Messiah or even a true prophet.  But if He said His authority came from God, they would have grounds to execute Him for blasphemy (except for the fact that it was true, of course).

 

Jesus was never afraid or unwilling to answer when people asked Him who He was because they genuinely wanted to know (see John 4 for one wonderful example of this).  But in this case, answering will bring no good.  So, He doesn't just evade the question; He challenges them to answer their own question, just applied to John the Baptist.  The mastery of this tactic is amazing - He isn't hiding His identity, and in fact, His move to hold His authority and superiority over them in this confrontation shoves His identity as Messiah in their faces!

 

We can also learn from this passage that although debate can be useful in some situations (like the Christian philosophers, historians, scientists, etc. who publicly debate atheists and other religions' leaders to bring audience members to Christ, or having a private "debate" with a loved one you're trying to bring to Christ) - but only if it can bring about good.  In situations like the one here (for example, if a cult member is trying to "prove" that you're wrong and you're too unfamiliar with their beliefs to have a chance at persuading them), refusing to engage is not the same as denying the Truth or chickening out - it's the wise thing to do!

 

There Are Two Types of People in the World...

 

28 "But what do you think?  A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, 'Son, go work today in the vineyard.'

 

29 "And he answered, 'I will not'; but afterward he regretted it and went.

 

30 "The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, 'I will, sir'; but he did not go.

 

31 "Which of the two did the will of his father?"  They said, "The first."  Jesus said to them, "Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of heaven before you.

 

32 "For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him."

 

Let's break down the symbolic components really quick:

• The man or the father is God the Father.
• The vineyard the world, the "mission field," our callings, the good works prepared before us - however you want to look at it.
• The two sons are two types of people who have interacted with God:
• The first son is a sinner who comes to repentance.
• The second son is a person who seems religious but isn't truly following God.

So, we see that God doesn't care how bad our pasts are - He only cares what we do with the present.  A man who murdered and raped but repents and comes to Christ is a blameless saint in Christ's kingdom, but a legalist who lives cracker-jack-clean and is heavily involved in the local church and charities but never comes to have a personal relationship with God, instead relying on self-righteousness, is not honored by God.

 

The original point for the religious elite themselves was that they were claiming to be something they weren't, so truly had no authority over God's followers.  I love how Jesus tells them this so blatantly in the second person (you), don't you? :-)

 

But for us, I see it as a call to rely on grace, not our own works or self-righteousness, and to keep growing in Him and to finish strong!

 

Is there anything else you saw in these passages that you'd like to add to our discussion?  What about questions - something I didn't make clear or spend enough time on? :-)  Leave a comment below!

 

Learn how to accept Christ's forgiveness here.

Abraham and Sons Company

I've been reading through Genesis lately, and a couple of passages involving business practices stuck out to me, since they are so directly applicable to our modern world.

The first is found in Genesis 23, when Abraham is purchasing a burial site for his wife Sarah.

In verses 6-9, we find that the landowners in that city hold Abraham in very high regard.  He emphasizes that he intends to pay the full price - apparently aware that they will offer him a low price because of their affection for him.  Indeed, a man does try to offer a field to him for free, even after Abraham has said this.  But Abraham once again insists on paying full price, and the deal is made.

Abraham's actions teach us some key lessons that we can apply to business, favors, and relationships in general:

• When people know that we profess to follow God (and even if they don't know it, for they may find out some day), our actions reflect on God - and the impression they get of God from us will impact whether or not they later come to faith in Christ.  So, we need to always keep in mind that representing God well is far more important than getting a bargain.
• One way to represent God well through our actions is to anticipate situations in which others may feel obligated to do us a favor they wouldn't do for someone else - perhaps because of our status (e.g. their pastor's daughter) or a relationship (e.g. friend of their son).  Then, we should address up front that we do not want special treatment.  This way, they won't feel taken advantage of or get the impression that we think of ourselves as better than them.
• Another way is, when we decide to insist on no special treatment, stick with it - don't cave (although some situations may certainly warrant exceptions, like the best friend of your recently deceased parent wanting to do you a favor).  This way, they don't think we were only pretending to say that (knowing they would insist in turn) to look nice while actually manipulating them.

The second passage is Genesis 30:25-43.

Abraham's grandson Jacob is working for his father-in-law Laban as a shepherd, and his pay is that he gets all the lambs whose coats are blemished for himself.  Jacob figures out a way to use environmental factors to influence the sheep's mating behavior so that the speckled offspring come from strong parents, so he gets a good flock.  God is clearly supporting Jacob in this situation (see Genesis 31:1-3).

Here's what we can learn from his story:

• First off, we must remember a bit of the backstory...  Jacob had already worked for Laban for 14 years to be allowed to marry Laban's daughter Rachel, and halfway through, Laban had tricked Jacob, going back on their bargain, and married him to his other daughter instead.  Laban had cheated Jacob, and Jacob certainly hadn't been "paid" fairly!  So, in many ways, this story is about Jacob getting what he is fairly owed.
• But at the same time, Jacob is not seeking revenge against Laban (after all, he's not poisoning the sheep or anything like that!).  The Bible has a lot to say about not seeking revenge, and the fact that God is supporting Jacob here reveals that's not what is on his mind.  Rather, again, it's about fairness.
• We also know from Scripture, however, that sometimes we are to give up our right to fairness to represent God well.  See 1 Corinthians 6:1-8, for example.  But I think it depends on the motive.  Are you seeking a fair result only for the fact of getting "your due"...or for some reason that actually matters?  In Jacob's case, verse 30 makes it evident that he wanted proper pay in order to provide for his (very large!) family.
• So, putting this all together, here is what I see:  It is perfectly acceptable to seek fair compensation/behavior/etc. toward ourselves, so long as our motive is right - not revenge or for the mere sake of fairness, but rather for something that matters in the real world.  And I'd like to add that we should always approach these situations with a great deal of prayer, and keeping in mind how to honor God through our response to the situation.

What lessons do you see in these passages?  What other passages have you run across that are applicable to modern business?  Leave a comment below. :-)

Spiritual Hygiene - Matthew 15:1-20

The Confrontation

 

1 Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said,

 

2 "Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders?  For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread."

 

3 And He answered and said to them, "Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?

 

4 "For God said, 'HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER,' and, 'HE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER IS TO BE PUT TO DEATH.'

 

5 "But you say, 'Whoever says to his father or mother, "Whatever I have that would help you has been given to God,"

 

6 he is not to hnor his father or his mother.'  And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of tradition.

 

7 "You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you:

 

8 'THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME.

 

9 'BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.'"

 



We find in this passage yet another instance where the Pharisees are continually trying to find fault in Jesus.  But in this case, there might be genuine conern mixed in.  You see, the Pharisees would have fully believed that not washing the hands before eating was genuine sin.  You might recall what we've discussed before, how the Jews have both the "Written Law" (Moses's Law, the first five books of the Old Testament), and also the "Oral Law," which is extra rules passed down through the generations and which they believe are just as much God-breahed scripture as the Written Law (note here - not all Jewish denominations believe the exact same things; I'm speaking in generalities).  The ceremonial process of washing hands before a meal was a practice mandated in the Oral Law.  But Jesus has something to say about that...

 

His rebuttal is not defensive - He doesn't arge that the disciples actually do and the Pharisees didn't see it, or that the disciples not washing their hands isn't His fault, as so many others' go-to response might be.  Rather, He jumps right to the heart of the issue by blatantly stating that the "Tradition of the Elders" (another name for the Oral Law) is not God's Law, and that it is actually spiritually damaging.  In this case, the issue is that, even though financially supporting your parents in their old age is the right thing to do, the Oral Law set up a system in which that money would be given to the Jewish leaders instead.  Not only did this make the very leaders who taught the practice quite rich, but grown children would be  motivated to opt for that "charity" instead of giving it to their parents because they would receive public recognition for their "righteousness."  Meanwhile, the elderly struggled to survive, and all this was under the guise of serving God.  This one specific case highlights what is wrong with the entire Oral Law: It emphasizes the wrong things and mixes up priorities, thereby hindering those who truly wish to follow God.  Jesus only needs to give one example of the Oral Law contradicting God's Written Law, because one poignant example is proof enough!

 

I'd like to take a slight tangent now and apply that specific problem with the Oral Law to our own lives.  While making daily time for "spiritual disciplines" (i.e. spending time with God through reading/studying the Bible, praying, sitting in His presence, etc.) is immensely important, we shouldn't grow legalistic about it to the point that we don't have time to serve God in the ways that He has planned.  James 1:27 tells us that "true and undefiled religion" is helping others and avoiding sin, not racking up spiritual knowledge.  Corrie Ten Boom once said something along the lines of, We shouldn't plan our day and ask His approval for what we have planned - we should seek to learn what His schedule for our day is, and then sign our names to it.

 

Broadening the Lesson

 

10 After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, "Hear and understand.

 

11 "It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, that defiles the man."

 

...

 

15 Peter said to Him, "Explain the parable to us."

 

16 Jesus said, "Are you still lacking in understanding also?

 

17 "Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated?

 

18 "But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man.

 

19 "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.

 

20 "These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hadns does not defile the man."

 

(I'm lumping together the parable and His explanation; we'll return to verses 12-14 in a moment.)

 

The whole point here is just that the Jews had become very legalistic, focusing on <the rules by which they followed God> instead of just <following God>.

 

Although Jesus is here referring to the Oral Law, there were plenty of things listed under the Written law (which is Scripture) that could make a person "unclean."  But it wasn't those things themselves that inherently made a person unclean; the act of disobeying God by partaking of those things was what made a person unclean!

 

Jesus isn't concerned with our outer selves; He's concerned with our inner selves.  We can have the appearance of utter righteousness (like the Pharisees did), but inside be corrupt, full of "evil thoughts" (verse 19).  Each of us must ask ourselves: Is our faith only an act?  Do we focus more on appearing godly than on actually, daily, surrendering our will to God and taking up His cross?  James 4:10 tells us, "Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you."  If we truly want to be righteous, we need to realize that we can't accomplish it on our own by "living righteously" - only God can bring about His righteousness within us.  And only if we are willing to humble ourselves and let Him in.

 

The Truth is Offensive

 

12 Then the disciples came and said to Him, "Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?"

 

13 But He answered and said, "Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted.

 

14 "Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind.  And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit."

 

There are two senses in which the disciples might have meant this.  We'll start with the shortest.  It could be that they're afraid of the Pharisees (for their power to criminally prosecute people), in which case Jesus is telling them, "Don't worry - the Father will take care of it (uprooted - v13)."  Or, it could be that they were concerned since the religious leaders were condeming them - i.e., they thought the Pharisees still had some degree of spiritual authority.  In that case, Jesus's point would be that the Pharisees weren't leaders put in place by the Father (v13), so they didn't have authority over the people at all.

 

That latter point, combined with His comment about the blind guides and the pit, warn us of a grave danger: We need to be very careful whose spiritual authority we put ourselves under.  False teachers abound, so if we put ourselves under one of those, of course we will get tripped up in wrong doctrine and heresy.  1 John 4:1 tells us to "test the spirits" (see if what someone says matches up with God's Word) because false spiritual leaders are so prevalent in the world - it's not paranoia, and it's not a rejection of authority - it's a Biblical command.

 

Questions for You

 

When has legalism or "churchy traditions" in your life kept you from genuinely following God?

 

Without naming names, how have you dealt with coming across false teaching?

 

Giving Credit Where It's Due

 

Image Number One: Ironstone Antique Pitcher Washbowl, by Sherry's Rose Cottage.  Wikipedia.  Used by permission.

 

Image Number Two:  Wolfsgrube, by Georg Wabmuth and Claus Ableiter.  Wikipedia.  Used by permission.  CC-BY-SA-3.0-DE.





Questionable Behavior - Matthew 9:9-17

Love Trumps Appearances

9 As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called Matthew, sitting in the tax collector's booth; and He said to him, "Follow Me!" And he got up and followed Him.

10 Then it happened that as Jesus was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were dining with Jesus and His disciples.

11 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, "Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?"

12 But when Jesus heard this, He said, "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick.

13 "But go and learn what this means: 'I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT SACRIFICE,' for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Let's look at Matthew first. He started out as a pretty bad guy - a tax collector. Now, I know we all hate the IRS, but this was a bigger deal back then: a tax collector betrayed his own people by working for their Roman oppressors and cheating them out of as much money as possible for personal profit. And yet, the *instant* Jesus calls him, he obeys. Furthermore, Matthew humbly omits this in his own gospel, but we learn from Luke 5:28-29 that Matthew was extremely rich and left everything behind to follow Jesus. Things are not always as they seem - the worst of sinners can become the most dedicated of Jesus's followers (see Luke 7:47).

This story loses its shock value once you've heard it a few times, but try to think of it in a modern context: What would you think if you saw your pastor at Olive Garden with half a dozen prostitutes? But that picture still doesn't render what it would have been like when Jesus did it, because in His day, dining with someone carried the cultural connotation of sharing with them, communing with them. Jews regularly refused to eat with certain groups of people, so Jesus doing this truly is revolutionary.

There's a critical lesson here. Let's look at 1 Corinthians 5:9-13:

I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler - not even to eat with such a one [there's the cultural aspect of sharing a meal, again]. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. REMOVE THE WICKED MAN FROM AMONG YOURSELVES.

Unfortunately, we as the American church tend to practice the opposite of what is taught here: We don't dare say a word when our fellow believers are willingly living in sin - having sex before marriage, using the Lord's name in vain in every other sentance - but we take public disapproval of sins such as homosexuality to the extreme of public hatred (for example - Chick-Fil-A taking a stand against homosexuality is honorable; but picketing the funerals of gay soldiers is deplorable).  We are supposed to be out among the world, showing God's love to everyone regardless of the sin they engage in. Jesus hang out at these tax collectors' wild parties, approving of them as people without approving of their behavior, and as a result, they came to know God.

[Side note - see this post on how to correct other believers.]

Now, let's look at the Pharisees really quickly. There are two times where people question Jesus's behavior - once above, and once in the verses below under the next heading; we'll contrast their motivations and approaches. The Pharisees are questioning as a way to condemn - they don't actually want to learn the answer; they're trying to trap Jesus and prove to the world that He's in the wrong. Here's another thing they do poorly: they question His disciples, not Jesus Himself. This opens up two possibilities: (1) They know Jesus will be able to refute them, as He does repeatedly (for example, Matthew 22:41-46), and/or (2) they're purposefully trying to plant doubts about their Teacher in the disciples' minds to draw them away from him.

Finally, what's Jesus talking about in verses 12-13 about the sick needing a doctor? Luke 5 gives a longer account of this event, and verse 32 tells us, "I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance."  Now, is anyone truly righteous, spiritually healthy? No - but many, like the Pharisees, think they are. Jesus's point is that, yes, everyone is spiritually sick, but He's come to minister to the people who admit that they are sick. In this, the tax collectors - who freely admit they're sinners - are more righteous than the Pharisees, who pretend they're not. Let us be humble in heart and admit our spiritual illness.

Lecture at the Party

14 Then the disciples of John came to Him, asking, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?"

15 And Jesus said to them, "The attendants of hte bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.

16 "But no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results.

17 "Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out and the wineskins are ruined; but htey put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved."

John the Baptist's disciples also question Jesus, but this scenario plays out much differently than the one with the Pharisees. Since their teacher praised Jesus so highly, it is reasonable to assume that they're questioning Him because they genuinely want to learn. Also notice that they came directly to Jesus to ask the man Himself - they're not talking about someone's allegedly faulty practice behind His back, but with Him.

And, as we can see, Jesus is happy to answer them directly. He explains that there simply would be no point to His disciples fasting while He's walking on this earth with them! People fast for different reasons, but the most common one is so that every pang of hunger will remind them to pray immediately, often for a specific issue. But Jesus's diciples at the time spent every moment of every day with Him, so they'd constantly be reminded of His presence.

Verses 16-17 can get a little convoluted, and there are many takes on what they mean. Here's what I think makes sense, particularly in context: No matter how many religious rituals (like fasting) you perform, it doesn't make any difference if you're not in a relationship with God. You can't just patch up or refresh your own life; you have to let God completely renew you for that to have any bearing - you have to be "born again."

If you haven't yet accepted Christ, click on the "How to Receive Salvation" tab near the top of the page. Nothing else is more important than this.

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

2 Corinthians 5:17

Questions for You

Was there a time in your life before you got saved when you tried to fix yourself? How do you think we can reach out to the world in a way that shows God's love but does not condone their behavior? Share your answers, or any other questions or comments, by leaving a comment below.

Giving Credit Where It's Due

Picture Number One: The Calling of Matthew by Vittore Carpaccio. Wikimedia Commons.  {{PD-1923}} Public Domain in the United States. {{PD-old-100}} Public domain in Italy.

Picture Number Two: The Exhortation to the Apostles by James Tissot. Wikimedia Commons. {{PD-1923}} Public Domain in the United States. {{PD-old-100}} Public Domain in the European Union.





Keeping Up Appearances and the Lord's Prayer - Matthew 6:1-18

Context

It's been a bit since our last study in Matthew, so let's reread the last few verses of that passage to reestablish context:

Matthew 5
46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?
47 If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
48 Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Jesus has just instructed his listeners that they are called to live a better life than others...but He is going to warn them that they must definitely not do this for the sake of appearances...

All for Appearance' Sake

[For organizational purposes, we're going to look at verses 1-8 and 16-18 together, and then return to verses 9-15.]

1 "Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.

2 So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men.  Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.

3 But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

4 so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

5 When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men.  Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.

6 But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray tot he Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

7 And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repitition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.

8 So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

...

16 Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appeareance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting.  Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.

17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face

18 so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you."

First, let's get a quick question out of the way: what is the "reward" that keeps getting mentioned?  It seems clear from the passage that the earthly reward is honor and respect.  While it is possible that the heavenly reward is some sort of crown in heaven (see this post for a study on crowns), I personally think it's likewise God's honor and respect.  Which leads us to the entire point of this passage: Who are you living for?  Are you living the Christian life because you truly want to please your Savior, or because you want others to see that you're "holy" now?  Whichever you actually want, that is what you will get.

Now, there's a common excuse that pops up here: I'm not doing it so others will see me; I'm doing it so others will see how God has changed me.  Now, there are exceptions: it is true that God calls a very select few Christians to a very public life (e.g. some evangelists, well-known Christian authors, famous Christian athletes), but these must be extremely humble, which we will get to soon.  Most of us are called to live the quiet holiness outlined above.  Why?  Here are a couple thoughts:  (1) Despite the excuse, people don't actually respond to in-your-face-"holiness."  They will be way more impressed - and way more likely to look to God - if they stumble across your act of holiness.  (2) Consider the poor person in Jesus's example - they would know that the look-at-me crowd didn't really care about them and was doing it for a reward, but if someone helped them without drawing attention, it would strike them differently.

Does this mean that we have to go to extreme lengths to hide our acts of righteousness?  No, not at all - if we did that, we'd likely mess up a few occurences where God intended someone to notice by stumbling across it.  We need to find a happy balance.  For example, there's a big difference between, when eating in a restaurant, folding your hands and bowing your head and saying a quiet prayer over your meal, and throwing your hands up in the air and loudly proclaiming your prayer.  The former will only be noticed by those who happen to glance at you, and will communicate devotion to God, whereas the latter will disgust everyone in the restaurant as they witness your obnoxious theatricality.

Also, as for the aforementioned exceptions, I mentioned great humility being necessary.  Consider verse 3: "...do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing."  We are not even supposed to keep track of our own righteousness so as to puff up our pride.

Now, let's look at each of Jesus's specific examples in terms of the modern world:

- Charity.  A few ways to follow this passage in your giving include: When giving money to a poor family you know, whether they're believers or not, have the church deliver it simply from "someone in our congregation"; when writing a check to a charity that advertises a list of its donors, ask that your name be withheld and somehow point to God.  Do these always need to be done in these circumstances?  No.  Are there other ways?  Of course!

- Prayers.  We already discussed one example above.  Another is, say, if you live in a house with unbelievers, excuse yourself to your room for your prayer and Bible study time - they will eventually ask what you're doing, and you'll get to communicate your faith without being showy.  (Again, these are not rules, and this is by no means a complete list; this is the case with fasting, as well.)

- Fasting.  There's a huge difference between pointing out to others that you're hungry, thus prompting them to ask why and thus make an opportunity to point out that you're fasting, and merely mentioning, "No, thanks, I'm on a fast right now" if they offer you food.  Likewise, try to time your fasts to draw as little attention to yourself as possible - e.g., if you know you'll go out to dinner with friends Friday night, don't plan a fast for that day.

In summary, "Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them."

The Lord's Prayer

7 "And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard by their many words.

...

9 Pray, then, in this way:
'Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.  [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glroy forever.  Amen.']

14 For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
15 But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions."

I have a note in my Bible next to this passage that simply reads, "Ironic."  Why?  Because Jesus's entire point here was that memorized, "magic-word" prayers that become meaningless to us are disgusting.  And what have we done with this prayer?  We've memorized it - in the King James version, no less - and repeat it mindlessly.

This prayer was designed to be an example of what kinds of things to include in our prayers.  Let's dig into each element.

Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
This is praise - acknowledging God's supremacy, holiness, etc.

Your kingdom come.  Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.
This is keeping everything in perspective - voicing that God's eternal kindgom and His will are what are really important in life.  It also serves to subject yourself to His will.

Give us this day our daily bread.
It's totally okay to ask God for things!  It's a relationship, after all.

And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
We are to confess our sins, and ask God to forgive us for them.
The subject of the second half pops up a lot in Scripture, and is expanded upon in verses 14 and 15.  Is forgiving others necessary to salvation?  NO!  That would be a works-based faith.  Rather, as we have discussed before, it is evidence that your heart is genuinely changed and that you are willing to follow Christ.  Check out our studies in James (follow the link titled "James" in sidebar) for much more on this subject.
So what's the point of specifically mentioning this in the prayer?  Because it reminds us to keep following God.

And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
We are to turn to God for our protection, both physical and spiritual.  Prayer is a critically important weapon in the realm of spiritual warfare.

For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen.
This is sort of a recap - both praising Him and stating that all your needs are under His power.

Now, does this mean that it's sin to pray the Lord's Prayer verbatim?  Not at all - if you mean it.  Personally, when I pray before bed, I use the Lord's Prayer as a framework.  Sometimes I use phrases from it verbatim because they mean a lot specifically to me, but I also insert and adapt freely.  It's supposed to be a conversation, not a recitation of magic words.

If you're interested in learning more about prayer as a part of life, and a much longer expounding of the Lord's Prayer than I provide, check out the book Soul Revolution by John Burke.

Let's Make It a Discussion!

What other ways can you think of to practice our righteousness before God instead of before men?  What other meaning do you see in the Lord's Prayer?  Anything else you'd like to comment on or ask?



Sneaky "Righteousness" - Matthew 5:20-37

20 "For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

A Stark Contrast

Right before today's passage, Jesus had just started talking to His disciples about how to be a light to the world by making your good works evident.  It is understandable, then, that the topic of what constitutes good works would come up.

It becomes a bit concerning, however, when He states that we must be more righteous than even the scribes and Pharisees - those who were (perceived as being) the most righteous men of Jesus's day - if we want a shot at heaven.  But then Jesus breaks down why the scribes and Pharisees are not truly as righteous as they seem: righteousness is a heart issue.

With this in mind, it becomes clear that it is actually quite easy to surpass their fake righteousness.  We'll examine each of Jesus' examples individually, then sum it all up.  Sound good? :-)

21 You have heard that the ancients were told, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER,' and 'Whoever commists murder shall be liable to the court.'

22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, 'You good for nothing,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.

Sins of the Heart

Jesus starts out with a seemingly obvious anti-righteousness, namely, the act of murder (pulled directly from the the Ten Commandments [Exodus 20:13] of all places!).  But then he flips it on its head.

He states that calling someone "good for nothing" (worthless) or "fool" (idiot) is just as bad - it's still sin.

Let's say there's a coworker who annoys you.  Now, unless you're a complete psychopath, you're not going to kill them.  But, you might wish they'd get fired...that's wishing ill will on another.  Perhaps they make you so mad, it even crosses your mind that you wish they'd die.  Aren't these both sin?  Yes!  You didn't kill anyone, but you still can't approach God with a blamelss heart.

The point here is that righteousness has far less to do with what we physically do than with what's in our hearts.  If we are focused on loving others, we won't be filled with hatred and (undeserved) anger.

23 Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you,

24 leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.

25 Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.

26 Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last cent."

There's no Extra Credit when it comes to Righteousness

Here's what I see this part of the passage as saying:

Let's say you know you have some sin in your life - in this case, you've deeply hurt the feelings of another believer, and you feel convicted by the Holy Spirit to go apologize to them.  But, you've always hated apologizing - it's embarrassing.  So, you figure you can ease you guilty conscience by doing "something else" for God (maybe volunteering to do something at your church or tithing some extra money this month).  But do you really think that when that hurt believer is crying out to God in prayer (verse 25), that your "something else"s will negate that?

There is no extra credit when it comes to righteousness!  It's not about total points, so it doesn't matter what "else" you do.  Rather, it is about doing what God tells us to, when He tells us to.  It's not some strategy game of figuring out how we can get our necessary level of righteousness with the least amount of work - it's about our relationship with God!

27 You have heard that it ws said, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY';

28 but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

29 If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

30 If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.

31 It was said, 'WHOEVER SENDS HIS WIFE AWAY, LET HIM GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE';

32 but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the cause of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Excuses and Ways Out

Adultery, like murder, serves as an example of a heart issue: if you don't have an affair with someone, but want to, it's still sin.  (We'll dive deeper into the topic of divorce sometime later.)

Then comes the hard-to-digest part about hacking off body parts.  I think it should be taken literally if you are actually convinced that not having whatever part part genuinely would stop whatever sin.  But I also think that, given that this is rarely the case, reading the passage figuratively in this case is actually more convicting.  For example, let's say your group of friends likes to hang out at the mall, but everytime you go there, you get greedy and obsessed with material possessions.  It will be very difficult to give up your trips there, since that also means giving up time with your friends, but going to the mall is your eye or hand.  So, the point is: stop making excuses, and act to prevent yourself from continually falling into the same sin.

There's one more point here with the mention of the certificate of divorce (pulled from Deuteronomy 24:1-3).  As Jesus explains in Matthew 19:3-9 , God only allowed the divorce system because He knew they'd do it anyway, and wanted to establish some semblance of order.  We should never confuse God allowing something to happen with God approving of something.  Again, true righteousness is about pleasing God, not getting away with stuff.

33 Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, 'YOU SHALL NOT MAKE FALSE VOWS, BUT SHALL FULFILL YOUR VOWS TO THE LORD.'

34 But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God,

35 or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is THE CITY OF THE GREAT KING.

36 Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.

37 But let your statement be, 'Yes, yes' or 'No, no'; anything beyond these is of evil.

Just DO It

There are two separate things I see going on here.  For the first one, we must consider that the Jews of Jesus's day were known for their sneaky vows - vowing according to things like the temple, which would suffer no consequences if they failed.  That way, they were perceived as righteous by others because they made these lofty vows, but thought that nothing bad would come of not following through.  Simply put, it doesn't matter one bit how righteous others think we are - only what God thinks of us.

The second thing I see is this: rather than making these lofty, fancy commitments to God, isn't it better to simply do what you feel Him prompting Him to do throughout your day?  True righteousness isn't about meeting your goals, like some sort of sales quota; it's all about that relationship.

In Summation

This has been quite a multi-faceted exploration of true righteousness.  Boiled down, it can be summarized by two key points: (1) it comes down to what's actually in your heart, and (2) it comes down to your relationship with God.

Fortunately, even when we fail (and we all do), God offers us His righteousness through His Son, Jesus Christ (see 2 Corinthians 5:21).

Let's Make it a Discussion

Do you have any more insights on these examples - something I missed?  Can you think of more examples of ways people fall into or avoid these false-righteousness traps?  Anything else you'd like to ask or comment on?