Tag Archives: Pharisees

Marriage Is God’s Idea

Bible Study, , ,

 MARRIAGE IS GOD’S IDEA

Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds of people came to Him and, as was His custom, He taught them.

Some Pharisees came and tested Him by asking, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?’ ‘What did Moses command you?’ He replied. They said, ‘Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.’ ‘It is because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,’ Jesus replied. ‘But at the beginning of creation God “made them male and female.”

“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.’ (Mark 10:1-9).

How sad that arrogant human beings think that we can improve on God’s idea of marriage. You see, God created man in His own image, and then He gave them the institution of marriage to reflect that image.

From the moment a Hebrew baby was born it would hear the Shema – the “creed” of the Hebrew people, repeated over and over again. Every time the baby’s mother would nurse him at her breast, she would whisper the Shema to him while he drank.

Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength (Deut. 6: 4-5).

The Lord is one. What does that mean? Our God is one – three persons in perfect unity. Not three Gods. One God, three persons united in essence and in purpose. Jesus could call the Holy Spirit “another Counsellor” because He was exactly like Jesus – the same divine being, the same nature, character, disposition, vision, but not the same function.

The Father is not the Son and the Son is not the Father. The Holy Spirit is not the Father or the Son and a yet He is perfectly one with the Father and the Son. I know we find this difficult to understand. That’s why God instituted marriage, to give us a visual aid of the unity in the Godhead which is expressed in the whole of creation. He intended creation to function as a perfect, interdependent unit to show forth His oneness.

But what have humans done to the beauty of this visual aid? We think we know better, so we threw out God’s pattern and created our own. We call it freedom, this casual liaison with any and everybody, fragmenting ourselves with every person with whom we have a sexual connection, not realising that we are, in the end, making it impossible to be united to one person because we have left a bit of ourselves with everyone to whom we have been joined.

Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” (1 Cor. 6: 16).

Is it any wonder than that marriage does not work today? How can two people establish a permanent union when they have had casual connections with so many? So what do they do? They throw marriage out instead of returning to God’s original purpose.

Did you notice that Jesus did not approve Moses’ solution for disunity – divorce? He took the Pharisees back to God’s original intention. There were two schools of thought regarding divorce in Jesus’ day. The House of Hillel, the followers of Hillel, who was a liberal rabbi, taught that a man could divorce his wife for any reason. The House of Shammai taught that the only reason for divorce was what Jesus called “marital unfaithfulness”. This referred to any infringement of the marriage contract – the ketubah, which regulated the terms of their marriage relationship – and not just adultery.

There was a reason for the Pharisees’ question. It was their practice to send a wife away for any flimsy reason because they had their eye on someone else. They wanted Jesus’ sanction for their practice, but Jesus would have none of it. He reminded them of God’s original intention for a permanent and monogamous union which reflected the unity of the Godhead. It was their sinful hearts that wanted approval for their behaviour, not the desire to obey the law of God.

How tragic that, in throwing out God’s law in favour of their own, people have doomed themselves never the experience the true joy of a permanent union that reflects and experiences the very heart of God.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or kindle version or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Check out my Blog site – www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com

 

 

 

Beware The Leaven

Bible Study, , ,

BEWARE THE LEAVEN

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

Good move, Jesus! Get as far away as possible from these people. They are nothing but a hindrance.

These Pharisees had no interest in believing in Him. They already had all the signs they needed if they would just open their eyes and their hearts. Everything Jesus said and did were signs of His origin, His identity, and His mission. John recorded only seven miracles which he called “signs” and which he especially chose so that his readers would come to faith in Jesus as many of those who received His miracles did.

The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. ‘Be careful,’ Jesus warned them. ‘Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.’ They discussed this with one another and said, ‘It is because we have no bread.’

Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them, ‘Why are you talking about having no bread? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketsful of pieces did you pick up?’ ‘Twelve,’ they replied. ‘And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketsful of pieces did you pick up?’ They answered, ‘Seven.’ He said to them, ‘Do you still not understand?’ (Mark 8: 14-21).

How clearly the disciples displayed their “footpath” hearts! Using the exact words of Isaiah which Jesus had quoted in His explanation of the parable of the sower, He exposed the hardness of their hearts. The “signs” of the feeding of multitudes with a few loaves of bread and fish should have alerted them to the identity of their rabbi. These signs pointed to the truth that He was the Messiah, the Son of God, and the Father’s authentic representative. If He had taken care of the physical needs of many thousands of people, surely He would take care of them as well.

What did He mean by His warning to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees? Leaven in Scripture was a symbol of the permeating power of evil. One whole feast was dedicated to this picture. After the Feast of Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread was celebrated for seven days. All leaven was removed from their homes and their bread was baked without yeast – symbolically speaking of an aspect of Messiah’s work – the removal of sin after the sacrifice for sin was made. Jesus was the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world.

What was the leaven of the Pharisees? Their pernicious unbelief. Just like leaven in a lump of dough, their sin of unbelief not only affected them but it also infected others. The danger of unbelief was that it spread among the people like an infectious disease. The most glaring example is the story of the Israelites after the twelve spies had returned from the Promised Land. O yes, it was a good land alright. Didn’t they have the fruits of the land to prove it? But the giants! Ten of the spies were convinced that the giants stood in their way and they were too big and frightening to overcome.

Only two of the spies did not see the giants as obstacles but as opportunities because they had the promises of God. What an opportunity to put God’s promises to the test! They had many months of His faithfulness behind them as a sign of His intention. He was there to take them into the land because He had promised it to Abraham centuries before.

Wherever the Pharisees went, they sowed seeds of doubt by their questioning and arguing. No doubt the people around them were infected by their unbelief. Where were His supporters when the religious leaders were baying for His blood? In the end He died alone. Not even one of those He had healed or rescued from demons stood by Him to plead His innocence.

How important that we stay away from the sceptics and the critics. Their influence is as pernicious as the Pharisees. To remain hot, we must stay in the fire. Coals removed from the fire will soon cool off and die.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or kindle version or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Check out my Blog site – www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com

 

   

 

The Folly Of Tradition

Bible Study, , , ,

THE FOLLY OF TRADITION

The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus, and saw some of His disciples eating with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as washing of cups, pitchers and kettles). So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, ‘Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?’ (Mark 7: 1-5).

A good plan – to wash hands before eating, especially after being at the market! And as for washing dishes – don’t we do that every day? So what was the issue? The religious types were not critical of Jesus’ disciples for not washing their hands before lunch. They had issues with them for eating with ceremonially “unclean” hands. Their problem was not hygiene but religion.

They were fastidious about keeping the detailed instructions handed down from their sages – the ancient rabbis who spent all their lives debating the meaning of the 613 laws of the Torah, and adding what they considered to be interpretations which were supposed to protect the people from inadvertently transgressing the commandments. The outcome was a top-heavy load of rules that made the ordinary people’s lives intolerably weighed down by so much “do-ing” that they had not time for “be-ing”.

That led to another problem. The emphasis of the rules was so much on the doing or not doing that they lost the implications of the Torah, to show mercy to their fellow beings, both Israelites and foreigners by being generous and kind, like the God they served. They were so self-absorbed in their efforts to be right that they became self-right-eous, and despised those who were not as “holy” as they. The nature of their God was distorted and the ones they were supposed to be influencing toward Him were driven away.

He replied, ‘Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’ You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.’ (Mark 7: 6-8).

Aha! So this was not new. It was already happening in Isaiah’s day, some six hundred or so years before. It was not new then and it certainly is not new today. Look at some of the additions to Jesus’ simple command to follow Him that have become integrated into the gospel and the Christian way of life. Those who are bent on being true disciples of Jesus might wonder where all that stuff came from.

I have a simple test when it comes to evaluating all the trappings of Christianity. I ask myself the question, “Is this why Jesus came?” Of what value are fancy embroidered robes and sashes, swinging of incense, bowing to altars, wearing of crucifixes, praying to saints and lighting of candles and . . . and . . . and, to people when Jesus only said, “Follow me”? Did He insist that all of that was part of His calling? Did Jesus set up a hierarchy of people so that some are “holier” than others because they have education or a title or wear embroidered robes? What about “That they may be one . . .”?

What about all the other stuff we have added? Some believers in some circles regard other believers in their circles as “second-class” because they don’t speak in tongues, or they haven’t been “baptised” in the Holy Spirit. Where do they find that in the teaching of Jesus? And if there is no being “slain in the Spirit” during ministry, then they say that the Holy Spirit had not “worked”. Really? Who said? Who is the judge?

And what about being called “born-again” believers as though there are two kinds of believers, those who have been born again and those who have not? Jesus told only one man that he had to be “born again” because Nicodemus was a Pharisee. He had such fancy notions about himself that he needed to go back to square one, symbolically, and begin all over again through the power of the Holy Spirit, like beginning life from scratch as a baby in his understanding of God’s way.

Jesus called everyone else to follow Him; to become like Him, to think like Him, to live like Him, to speak and act like He did – to “become” Him so that the world would see what the Father is really like.

Is it any wonder then, that the church in the main is irrelevant in the world? It is no better than any other religion – fragmented, ritualistic and unrealistic, making people slaves to do’s and don’ts just like any other man-made ism.

Jesus came to set people free from all that stuff to become true sons and daughters of God. Over the centuries, rules, rituals and traditions have been so piled on Jesus’ simple call that He has become an unrecognisable caricature of the true Son of God. In some quarters the Bible, God’s Word to His people, has even become a forbidden and hated book! Why? In simple terms, because people love their darkness rather than the light because of their wicked lives.

In some places the church has become nothing less than the temple of Baal – with altars and images all over the place and beads and saints and holy water and every other irrelevancy to draw people away from Jesus. Jesus came as the truth to do away with every picture and symbol so that we can focus completely on Him and Him alone.

And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit (2 Cor. 3: 18).

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or kindle version or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Check out my Blog site – www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com

 

Popularity

Christian Life, , , , ,

 

POPULARITY

Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.

Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed. When they heard about all He was doing, many people came to Him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea and the regions across the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon. (Mark 3: 6-8).

O-oh Jesus! So early in your ministry and you are already ruffling feathers!

Never had a rabbi caused such a stir in Israel. Look at the area His fame had already covered. People streamed to hear Him from as far afield as Tyre and Sidon – and that without Google or Facebook! Who needed the mass media when word of mouth worked just as well?

Why were the religious leaders already plotting murder? What had He done to them? They functioned on their man-made rules because it suited them. As long as they got their behaviour streamlined according to their human mentors, what went on in their hearts was of no consequence. Jesus challenged their heart and conscience.

They attacked Him for healing a man with a paralysed hand on the Sabbath. To them that was “work” and He had therefore violated the Sabbath. He responded by exposing their hearts. They had no compassion for the man and his suffering. They were only concerned about preserving the façade of their “righteousness”, whatever that meant. They had both misunderstood and misrepresented Torah, God’s instructions on the best way to live.

They believed that, as long as they performed according to the letter of the Law, and the many interpretation of the rabbis down the centuries, they had earned God’s favour, no matter how impure their hearts and motives were. The additions made by the sages, as far as they were concerned, carried as much weight as the Word of God itself. Not to obey them to the letter was culpable.

Jesus was not only a threat to their authority, He was also a threat to them because He pulled the covers off their evil hearts. Their concern was not so much for the honour of God as it was for their own honour in the eyes of the people. Every time Jesus showed them up, they lost the respect and obedience of the people. They were losing control and they didn’t like it. Control! That was the issue. They were the authority. They were the learned ones. The people were ignorant. They were the ones who knew and interpreted the Law and the people were to obey them. They could manipulate them through their religion.

Now Jesus comes along and undermines their authority by showing up their hearts. They were not interested in the truth or what was right. Only who was right mattered and they believed that they were right. The only solution for them was to eliminate the opposition. The seeds of murder were already in their hearts and Jesus watered them by His insistence on the truth.

What was Jesus’ take on the Law? He made it clear that His purpose for coming was not to do away with Torah but to show them how to live it out so that God’s heart of mercy would be revealed in the everyday application of the Law. In this instance, the issue was the Sabbath. When confronted with an opportunity to show mercy, what was one to do? The Torah said, “Don’t do any work.” What constituted work? The Pharisees insisted that healing a man on the Sabbath was “work”. Jesus countered their interpretation by overriding their laws with mercy. Showing mercy was not work.

Of course, the proof was in the action. Just as Jesus proved, on another occasion that He could forgive sins by healing a paralysed man, so now He proved that He was Lord of the Sabbath by healing this man on the Sabbath.

Imagine how frustrated these Pharisees and religious leaders must have been because they could not fight against His miracles! What proof did they have that they were right? None. They had only one alternative. Get rid of Him before they lost control altogether.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or kindle version or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Check out my Blog site – www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com

 

 

 

LARITY Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus. Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed. When they heard about all He was doing, many people came to Him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea and the regions across the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon. (Mark 3: 6-8). O-oh Jesus! So early in your ministry and you are already ruffling feathers! Never had a rabbi caused such a stir in Israel. Look at the area His fame had already covered. People streamed to hear Him from as far afield as Tyre and Sidon – and that without Google or Facebook! Who needed the mass media when word of mouth worked just as well? Why were the religious leaders already plotting murder? What had He done to them? They functioned on their man-made rules because it suited them. As long as they got their behaviour streamlined according to their human mentors, what went on in their hearts was of no consequence. Jesus challenged their heart and conscience. They attacked Him for healing a man with a paralysed hand on the Sabbath. To them that was “work” and He had therefore violated the Sabbath. He responded by exposing their hearts. They had no compassion for the man and his suffering. They were only concerned about preserving the façade of their “righteousness”, whatever that meant. They had both misunderstood and misrepresented Torah, God’s instructions on the best way to live. They believed that, as long as they performed according to the letter of the Law, and the many interpretation of the rabbis down the centuries, they had earned God’s favour, no matter how impure their hearts and motives were. The additions made by the sages, as far as they were concerned, carried as much weight as the Word of God itself. Not to obey them to the letter was culpable. Jesus was not only a threat to their authority, He was also a threat to them because He pulled the covers off their evil hearts. Their concern was not so much for the honour of God as it was for their own honour in the eyes of the people. Every time Jesus showed them up, they lost the respect and obedience of the people. They were losing control and they didn’t like it. Control! That was the issue. They were the authority. They were the learned ones. The people were ignorant. They were the ones who knew and interpreted the Law and the people were to obey them. They could manipulate them through their religion. Now Jesus comes along and undermines their authority by showing up their hearts. They were not interested in the truth or what was right. Only who was right mattered and they believed that they were right. The only solution for them was to eliminate the opposition. The seeds of murder were already in their hearts and Jesus watered them by His insistence on the truth. What was Jesus’ take on the Law? He made it clear that His purpose for coming was not to do away with Torah but to show them how to live it out so that God’s heart of mercy would be revealed in the everyday application of the Law. In this instance, the issue was the Sabbath. When confronted with an opportunity to show mercy, what was one to do? The Torah said, “Don’t do any work.” What constituted work? The Pharisees insisted that healing a man on the Sabbath was “work”. Jesus countered their interpretation by overriding their laws with mercy. Showing mercy was not work. Of course, the proof was in the action. Just as Jesus proved, on another occasion that He could forgive sins by healing a paralysed man, so now He proved that He was Lord of the Sabbath by healing this man on the Sabbath. Imagine how frustrated these Pharisees and religious leaders must have been because they could not fight against His miracles! What proof did they have that they were right? None. They had only one alternative. Get rid of Him before they lost control altogether. Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it! Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or kindle version or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com. Check out my Blog site – www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com

Doing Nothing Is Doing Evil

Bible Study, , , ,

DOING NOTHING IS DOING EVIL

Another time He went into the synagogue, and a man with a shrivelled hand was there. Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched Him closely to see if He would heal Him on the Sabbath. Jesus said to the man with the shrivelled hand, ‘Stand up in front of everyone.’ Then Jesus asked them, ‘Which is lawful, on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, so save life or to kill?’ But they remained silent. He looked around them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out and his had was completely healed (Mark 3: 1-5).

What if the religious leaders had understood the heart of Jesus and completely agreed with what He was doing? Would His life have made the impact that it did through conflict? Every time the Pharisees attacked Him for healing in the Sabbath or violating one of their rules, His way of mercy showed up their legalistic and callous hearts.

On this occasion He did not even touch the man. A word was enough to release the power of God in response to the man’s obedience. When he stretched out his hand at Jesus’ command, something happened in his body and in his heart. Regardless of what the Pharisees had to say, his faith connected with God and the miracle happened.

Jesus’ action had a twofold purpose. Firstly, it was an act of mercy. The man had suffered paralysis in his hand and heeded healing. Jesus did not miss an opportunity like this to step in with a miracle. Secondly, the people in the synagogue needed to know that the Sabbath was as good a day as any to do good to another. The religious leaders had made the Sabbath into a prison rather than a day of rest. Rest for them had become a straight jacked for rules, instead of a time of refreshment.

By declaring Himself to be Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus was redefining the seventh day according to God’s original purpose. As Creator, Jesus had rested on the seventh day, not because He was tired, but because His work of creation was done. He invited His people to share His rest by setting apart that day from the normal labour of the other six days. It was not so much about what they could not do. It was about what they could do – take a day off to do something different from the rest of the week.

Doing something different also included acts of mercy. They knew that, because it was legitimate to save the life of a stranded animal on the Sabbath. “So why not a suffering human being? insisted Jesus and He did something; He spoke a word!

His opponents were not interested in what was right. They were only concerned with who was right. Jesus was both angry and distressed; angry because of their stubbornness and distressed because of their example. What were the people seeing in them? Was this the kind of God they represented? One who was so rigid about His rules that He cared nothing for suffering people?

Did you notice how Jesus classified doing nothing as doing evil? Every time we miss an opportunity, either because we are insensitive or selfish, to make the life of someone else better by an act of kindness or generosity, it is as though we have done something evil. Not to do is to do.

We need to heed the lesson of this story. I need to heed the lesson of this story. God’s mercy takes precedence over all other considerations. Like David eating forbidden bread. Like hungry men picking grain on the Sabbath. Like whatever need arises when I have something else to do. Like being interrupted to help someone when I am irritated by their demand. Jesus was never interrupted because He was led by the Spirit.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or kindle version or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Check out my Blog site – www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com