Tag Archives: Pharisees

THE GOSPEL OF MARK – LIKE A PLAGUE OF RATS!

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LIKE A PLAGUE OF RATS!

11 The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus. To test him, they asked him for a sign from heaven. 12 He sighed deeply and said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to it.” 13 Then he left them, got back into the boat and crossed to the other side. Mark 8:11-13

The Pharisees were everywhere, it seems. Like a plague of rats, they appeared wherever Jesus went, badgering Him over every issue they could think of. This time it was about signs. They were demanding a miraculous sign to confirm His claims.

Jesus was angry with them. If they chose to believe, He had given them more than enough proof of His identity. If only they had eyes to see and ears to hear, they would have seen a perfect replica of the Messianic fingerprint all over the Old Testament. They were not convinced and they would never be convinced because it all boiled down to what they wanted. Their attention was on the politics of their nation rather than on the real kingdom of God, the one inside them to which Jesus called them to give their allegiance.

Since the Jews believed that their hearts were intrinsically good and that TESHUVAH and TEPHILAH meant coming back to what He originally created them to be, then it is understandable that Jesus would remind them that the kingdom of God was within them…

Jesus also knew that no matter how many miraculous signs He did, nothing would convince them of His true identity because they had no desire to change and submit themselves to His lordship. They enjoyed their position of authority and admiration in the nation and they were not prepared to forfeit that for a position of humble servant-hood. They were far too fond of the praise of men to forfeit it to follow Jesus.

Every message, every miracle was a sign, if only they had a heart to see and hear. As we read the gospels, we can see more and more that Jesus’ miracles were not stunts but signs of His identity and His intention. Whatever He said and did reflected on the Father. He was the perfect replica of the Father and His purpose was to reconcile His people to the Father so that they, in turn, would reflect the Father to the world.

With their hearts so full of rot, is it any wonder that they would rather kill Jesus than hear the truth. Jesus” diagnosis of the human heart was spot one. “People love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil.” How tragic that the solution is so simple, and yet people run from Him instead of to Him. He has mercy for everyone who repents, but only judgment for those who reject His offer of mercy.

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – WHAT’S BEHIND THE APPEARANCE?

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WHAT’S BEHIND THE APPEARANCE?

“When the Pharisees, a money-obsessed bunch, heard Him say these things, they rolled their eyes, dismissing Him as hopelessly out of touch. So Jesus spoke to them, ‘You are masters at making yourselves look good in front of others but God knows what’s behind the appearance.'” Luke 16:14, 15.

What a powerful hold deception has over people’s minds! It is Satan’s potent and elusive weapon, blinding us to the most simple and obvious truths. If we would just stop and think logically for a moment, we would recognise how easily we have been duped.

In this case, the Pharisees, who loved money and power and paid any price to get it, made two serious errors; they thought that by outwardly acting holy, they could cover up their greedy hearts, and secondly, they thought that they could fool God. Had they only stopped to think, they would have realised how wrong they were.

Jesus’ words should have brought them back to reality with a bump, but it only drove them deeper into their hardened attitude. That’s the other part of Satan’s arsenal that is so difficult to overcome. He trades on human pride to keep his deception in place. Once a person has made his erroneous beliefs public by acting on them, he will not easily back down and admit that he is wrong.

This stubborn attitude disqualifies a person from access to the kingdom of God. Truth and humility are the two requirements for understanding and entering into the realm of God’s rule. They are like the guiding lights that must be lined up to give a ship safe entry into the harbour. Truth displaces the lies that cause us to veer off course, and humility softens our hearts to believe and receive the truth.

Jesus gave us clear directions for getting free from the lies that ensnare us and drive us into misery, pain and loss, “To the Jews who believed Him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.'” John 8:32 (NIV). The truth in and of itself cannot set us free. It must first be believed and internalised to become effective in breaking the bondage of deception.

There is a process in moving from deception to truth. Sometimes it happens is a blinding flash of understanding and at other times it follows a period of careful investigation and growing conviction.

For the disciples, barring Judas Iscariot, it was a combination of the two. They followed, watched and listened to Jesus for three years and then came His death and resurrection. His appearance to them was the last piece of the puzzle. From that moment, nothing could budge them from the truth that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Until then, they still wobbled and tottered in their faith, but the presence of the risen Jesus cancelled all their doubts and misunderstandings.

This is the moment of revelation and transformation. It happened to the Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus; it has happened to millions of people across two thousand years but it never happened to the Pharisees because they refused to examine the evidence. They chose lies over truth and became part of the tragedy of those who never fulfil their God-given potential.

If you examine the evidence with a humble desire to know the truth, there will come for you the dazzling moment of conviction and the life-changing experience of faith, giving you entry and access into the realm of God’s passionate love and unfailing goodness. All His resources will be yours; you will find the meaning and purpose of your existence, and your eternal future will be secure, based on the infallible truth of God’s word.

But is all comes back to the same thing. You choose….

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – GREATER THAN JOHN

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GREATER THAN JOHN

“‘Let me lay it out for you as plainly as I can: No one in history surpasses John the Baptiser, but in the kingdom he prepared for you, the lowliest person is ahead of him. The ordinary and disreputable people who heard John, by being baptised by him into the kingdom, are the clearest evidence; the Pharisees and religious officials have nothing to do with such baptism, wouldn’t think of giving up their place in line to their inferiors.” Luke 7:28-30.

What on earth was Jesus talking about? John the Baptist the greatest and yet the least? It doesn’t make sense, does it?

According to Jesus, John was the greatest of the Old Testament prophets, not because of the length of his ministry but because of its importance. All the other prophets, so said Peter, “…Who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when He predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow.” 1 Peter 1:10b, 11 (NIV), spoke of events that were still far off in the future.

It was John who was privileged to announce and introduce the Messiah to his people, and yet he himself did not witness His ministry or hear His preaching. As soon as Jesus appeared on the scene, he was removed by Herod into a dungeon from which he was never released. He had stood on the brink of the era of the New Covenant but never experienced it for himself.

It must have been very frustrating for John to have been so near and yet so far. Perhaps he had longed to be a part of what Jesus was doing, to be more than his forerunner, even a prominent member of His band of disciples. But it was not to be. John’s work was done, short though it had been, and Jesus graciously acknowledged the value and importance of what he had done.

But, at the same time, He did not overplay John’s role. He was the greatest of the Old Testament prophets but the least in the kingdom Jesus had come to inaugurate. Why?  Because, through Jesus, people could enter and experience what he could only announce.

When the Holy Spirit came in His fullness to continue the work of Jesus, He would take up residence within every believer, making everyone who embraced Jesus as the Son of God and His teaching as His yoke, His dwelling place. It was no longer the privileged few who experienced the presence of the Holy Spirit with them; but all who believed would have Him in them, even the lowliest in man’s eyes.

The high-and-mighty religious ones who thought they were in, were actually out, while the ones they regarded as of no consequence, occupied a more privileged position than they. That’s how it is in God’s kingdom — the world’s value system is reversed. The places of highest honour are reserved for the ones who least expect it. If you think you are important, you are not!

John’s baptism was received by those who welcomed his message and identified with the one he was introducing. Of course, the religious leaders, who thought they knew better, refused to be a part of it. They would not participate in anything that attracted the riff-raff. How tragic that their proud, know-it-all attitude excluded them from the greatest moment in their history and their own personal lives!

What about us? How much have we missed of the grace of Jesus because we think we know better, or because we refuse to humble ourselves and change the way we think. Jesus’ way is open to all, but there are many who miss it because it demands our shedding all our preconceived notions about how it should be.

He said, ‘Follow me.’ That’s all! Are you following? If you are, you will be part of the many who are greater than John the Baptist.

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – BOOMERANG BLESSING!

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BOOMERANG BLESSING!

“One day as He was teaching, Pharisees and religion teachers were sitting around. They had come from nearly every village in Galilee and Judea, even as far away as Jerusalem, to be there. Some men arrived carrying a paraplegic on a stretcher. They were looking for a way to get into the house and set him before Jesus. When they couldn’t find a way in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof, removed some tiles, and let him down in the middle of everyone, right in front of Jesus. Impressed by their bold belief, He said, ‘Friend, I forgive your sins.'” Luke 5:17-20.

Talk about initiative! These men were certainly determined to get their friend to Jesus.

How big was the house? A normal family home could not have been big enough to host fifty or a hundred people even if they squashed into every room. And it was full of scribes and Pharisees. What an elite congregation Jesus had that day from all over Israel, so Luke tells us! This rabbi must have caused quite a stir in the land – without Twitter or Facebook!

The men with the sick friend weren’t concerned about who was in the congregation. They had a mission — to get their friend to Jesus. He needed a miracle and there was no one better than Jesus to do it. There was no way they could get him through the door and past all the people, but a flat-roofed house and the roof conveniently accessible by an outside staircase was all they needed to carry out their plan.

Imagine the surprise and consternation when pieces of the roof began falling on the crowd inside. Then some faces appeared and next a man suspended on a mat. The hole in the roof must have been quite big to allow them to manoeuvre a paralysed man on a sleeping mat through.

Of course the people made way for him then. They didn’t want him coming down on their heads! Talk about determination! If the crowd would not make space for him from below, they certainly would from above. Nothing was too big an obstacle for them even to ripping up the roof. That could always be repaired but Jesus might move on and their opportunity might have been lost.

What went through Jesus’ mind as the man was slowly lowered to the ground in front of Him? Was He amused? He certainly was impressed, according to Luke. Jesus, impressed? God, impressed? Is there anything that humans can do to impress God? It seems that the answer is ‘Yes”.

There was one thing that impressed Jesus, many times over – faith. He even categorised faith; no faith; little faith; great faith and such great faith. Why was faith such a big deal to Him? What else is there that links people to an unseen God and gets such a lavish response from Him?

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6 (NIV).

It’s quite understandable really. If you don’t trust me, why should I do anything for you?

But what is more surprising is that Jesus responded to the faith of the friends. Can one person believe for another? Of course! Don’t we do that all the time when we pray for others; otherwise what’s the point?

There’s something beautiful about believing for others. It’s part of the way God works. Every time we reach out to someone else, be it through prayer or helping in some way, we create a current that comes back to us. It’s one of those laws that God has built into the very fabric of human life.

Jesus put it like this: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 6:38 (NIV).

It’s what I call “boomerang blessing.”

THE BOOK OF ACTS – WILY AS A SNAKE

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WILY AS A SNAKE

“The aides were scandalised. ’How dare you talk to God’s Chief Priest like that!’

“Paul acted surprised. ’How was I to know he was Chief Priest? He doesn’t act like a Chief Priest. You’re right, the Scripture does say, “Don’t speak abusively to a ruler of the people.” Sorry.’

“Paul, knowing that some of the council was made up of Sadducees and others of Pharisees and how they hated each other, decided to exploit their antagonism: ‘Friends, I am a stalwart Pharisee from a long line of Pharisees. It’s because of my Pharisee convictions — the hope and resurrection from the dead — that I’ve been hauled into this court.'” Acts 23:4-6 (The Message).

Paul was in a critical situation — knowing that his life was on the line and that whatever he said would be taken up the wrong way and used against him. It was up to him now to get as much mileage out of the situation as he could, and to use it to his own advantage. He was a shrewd and quick thinker.

The bullying action of the High Priest was a good opportunity to show him up for what he was and Paul was quick to respond, pretending that he was unaware of the high priest’s position because of his behaviour and making him look like the bully he was in front of his peers.

Jesus counselled His followers to be as wise as serpents and as gentle as doves, especially when they were dragged before the High Council. Paul also knew of the deep divide between Pharisees and Sadducees down both religious and political lines. Pharisees were fully convinced of the supernatural and of the resurrection while Sadducees rejected both ideas. They were the more secular and political wing of the Sanhedrin.

All Paul had to do was to use his rhetorical skill to turn them against each other, and the heat would be off him, and that is exactly what he did. He used his background and training as a Pharisee to identify with the Pharisee section of the Sanhedrin, and they knew it because Paul had been a prominent Pharisee before his conversion, contending for the law to the extent of persecuting the church.

“The moment he said this, the council split right down the middle, Pharisees and Sadducees going at each other in heated argument. Sadducees had nothing to do with a resurrection or angels or even a spirit. If they can’t see it, they don’t believe it. Pharisees believe it all. And so a huge and noisy quarrel broke out. Then some of the religion scholars on the Pharisee side shouted down the others: ‘We don’t find anything wrong with this man! And what if a spirit has spoken to him! Or maybe an angel? What if it turns out we’re fighting against God?'” Acts 23:7-9 (The Message).

Paul got exactly what he wanted and the Roman captain got his answer as well. Now he could see that the whole furore over Paul was nothing more than an internal religious squabble and nothing to do with lawlessness or criminal activity. Paul’s shrew move had blown the whole thing open and forced a “not guilty” verdict from the mouths of at least half of the Sanhedrin.

“That was fuel on the fire. The quarrel flamed up and became so violent that the captain was afraid they would tear Paul apart, limb from limb. He ordered the soldiers to get him out of there and escort him back to the safety of the barracks.” Acts 23:10 (The Message).

Paul was in custody, not because he was guilty, but because he was in danger. It was up to the captain to decide what to do with him. If he released him, the Jews would attack him and start the whole process all over again. God was still in charge, slowly moving in Paul’s life to get him to Rome, where He wanted him to be.