Tag Archives: Pharisees

A Cryptic Answer

Bible Study, , ,

A CRYPTIC ANSWER

Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, ‘How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting but yours are not?’ Jesus answered, ‘How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast. (Mark 2: 18-20).

Members of the audience asked Jesus a straightforward question and got an answer full of mystery. ‘Why do the disciples of these guys fast and yours do not?’ They said nothing about bridegrooms and weddings. But veiled in Jesus answer were many cryptic clues, both to His identity and His destiny.

Did those who questioned Him realise that He was referring to something that had happened in the history of His people centuries before? When the children of Israel came out of Egypt, God led them through the Red Sea straight to Mount Sinai in the land of Midian, where God had met with Moses and called him to deliver his people from slavery.

On their arrival, God went through all the stages in a young man’s courtship of a maiden culminating in a marriage proposal. He asked them to be His bride – and He was, therefore, from then on, betrothed to Israel, their bridegroom, awaiting the wedding day when He would fetch His bride and take her to His Father’s house where He had prepared the bridal chamber for the consummation of their marriage.

When Jesus, in a veiled way, referred to Himself as the “bridegroom”, was He saying that He was the one who had betrothed His people to Himself at Mount Sinai? Was He telling them that He had arrived in person to propose to His bride once again, since His betrothed had rejected Him in the past? Why should His presence among them be a time of fasting? It was a time of joyous celebration because He would remove all hostility between them and the Father once and for all.

Their sins had separated them from God. They had persistently rebelled against Him and disobeyed His instructions. They had betrayed Him and made alliances with them enemy. They were unfaithful to the marriage covenant He had given them at Mount Sinai. They had not honoured their promise to remain loyal to Him in spite of His faithfulness to them.

He had come Himself to deal with their misunderstanding of who His Father really was, so that they would anticipate their life in Father’s house with joy when the wedding day finally came. Both John the Baptist and the Pharisees, who had gathered followers around them, could make no such offer. All they could do was to invite people to become part of the religious ritual they followed. Even John, who was the forerunner of Messiah, could offer them nothing but “fasting”.

Then Jesus made another cryptic comment. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast. What was He talking about? He did not say that the bridegroom would go away. That was the normal procedure in the courtship process. Both He and His bride has preparations to make before the wedding. His was to prepare the bridal chamber back as His Father’s house. Hers was to separate herself from all other men and to prepare her wedding gown.

But taken away? What did He mean? Again this was a cryptic clue and a veiled message that He would be forcefully removed. Why? How? He did not give them details. There was a hostile element in this love relationship that wanted the bridegroom out of the way. They would get rid of Him and then the real reason for fasting would begin – not ritual fasting for religious reasons but grief because the bridegroom had been permanently removed – so they thought.

Jesus did not tell them the end of the story. He was under no obligation to inform people who had no attachment to Him about His future. That would come later when His own disciples were thoroughly convinced that He was who He said He was – the Son of God – and would bear witness through their changed lives, in the power of the Holy Spirit, that the kingdom of God had really come.

In the meantime it was perfectly okay for them to enjoy the presence of the bridegroom for a little while and not to get all religious about it.

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 or www.kalahari.com in paperback, e-book or kindle format, or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

 

Check out my blogsite at www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com

 

A Plan Comes Together

Bible Study, , , ,

A PLAN COMES TOGETHER 

“At first His disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about Him and that these things had been done to Him.

“Now the crowd that was with Him when He called Lazarus from the tomb and raised Him from the dead continued to spread the word. Many people, because they had heard that He had performed this sign, went out to meet Him. So the Pharisees said to one another, ‘See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after Him!'” John 12:16-19 NIV.

Although John was writing as though he were an objective observer, we must remember that he was one of the disciples and he knew the inside story. He was one of those who did not realize that Jesus was busy fulfilling prophecy in front of their eyes. Once again, like all the other events in Jesus’ life, none of this would make sense to them until it was all over, and they could put all the pieces of the puzzle together and see the bigger picture.

We cannot blame the disciples for their slowness to understand and believe. Everything that was happening was outside their experience and their frame of reference. Like the women who went to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus, (and found the tomb empty and a glowing figure sitting inside who told them an outlandish story about Jesus being risen which was enough to terrify the wits out of them), the disciples could not correctly process these events until they had time to make sense of them with hindsight.

It seems that the Lazarus incident set off a wave of popularity for Jesus that sent the Pharisees into a frenzy. Things were getting out of hand and it was time for them to take action rather than to keep meeting and planning.

In the meantime…

“There were some Greeks among them who went up to worship at the Feast. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘we would like to see Jesus.’ Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.” John 12:20-22 NIV.

Two stories are running parallel here. There were dark forces egging the religious leaders on to get rid of Jesus, stirring up the jealousy, hatred and anger that dragged them deeper and deeper into their ungodly intentions. At the same time there were men, Gentiles and foreigners, who were moved by the stories they were hearing about Jesus. Was it mere curiosity that prompted their request, or was there a genuine interest in what they were hearing about this man because there was answering response in their hearts?

John stated the reason for their presence in Jerusalem. They had come to worship at the Feast. That put them squarely in the camp of the “God-fearers” – Gentiles who had abandoned their idolatry and had become adherents of Judaism, not yet inducted into the covenant but participating in the ceremonies and festivals of the Jewish people. Somehow, in spite of the ritualistic rigmarole of Judaism, they had been attracted to their monotheistic religion that worshipped an unseen God who received and embraced them though they were not part of His covenant people.

As the events of this saga unfold, in the sovereignty of God He was slowly moving the two camps closer together — antagonists who wanted to kill Jesus and sympathisers who were interested in what He was saying and doing. The two stories converged at the cross; the killers accomplished, in the perfect plan of God, what the enquirers would need to complete their search after God!

Only a wise and sovereign God could devise and put into action a plan so complex and yet so precise that prophecy, human hatred and divine love could meet at one strategic moment in time and effect a deliverance so great that embraces all of time and eternity and shines the spotlight on the mercy and grace of the One who put it all into action.

He Had The Upper Hand!

Bible Study, , ,

HE HAD THE UPPER HAND!

“He replied, ‘Whether He is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!’ Then they asked him, ‘What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?’ He answered them, ‘I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become His disciples too?'” John 9:25-27 NIV.

Cheeky! The blind man had become bold.

He must have realised that the Pharisees found themselves in a very embarrassing situation and capitalised on it. That a miracle had happened (and one that would attract attention because the blind man had been a public figure — always begging in the street), was something they could not deny. They had no explanation for what had happened except Jesus…and they certainly did not want to acknowledge Him!

It was just too much for them when the man challenged them. (His words seem to imply that he had already become a follower of Jesus). They turned on him with insults and abuse — the only way they knew how to get out of a tricky situation.

“Then they hurled insults at him and said, ‘You are this fellow’s disciple. We are disciples of Moses. We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where He comes from,'” John 9:28 29 NIV.

It’s a pity they did not take the trouble to find out. They would have been surprised to learn that Jesus perfectly matched the prophetic fingerprint of Messiah written all over the Scriptures they claimed to revere and follow.

I cannot emphasise enough the importance of weighing up the evidence before dismissing Jesus as a fake. If there was ever a sure way to convince people of the truth of God’s Word, it was to write history before it happened so that, when it happened, no one could dispute the truth. And that is exactly what God did!

When Peter stood up on the day of Pentecost to explain the unusual events that were happening under the noses of the visitors in Jerusalem, he turned to the one thing no one could deny – prophecy. When the apostles took the gospel to the Jews scattered across the Roman Empire, their weapon of truth was — prophecy. That prophecy could be so accurately fulfilled in Jesus was beyond possibility unless it was of God.

The Pharisees were outraged that a mere nobody and a beggar at that, could throw out a challenge to them for which they had no answer. Their claim to be followers of Moses was just as hollow as their accusation that Jesus was a “sinner”. Where was the proof? Jesus Himself had exposed their hypocrisy over and over again.

“The man answered, ‘Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where He comes from, yet He opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does His will. Nobody had ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God He could do nothing.'” John 9:30-33 NIV.

This man had them and they knew it! As unlearned as he was, his logic was more plausible than theirs. For him it was simple. God hears a godly man. He heard Jesus and worked a miracle, therefore Jesus was a godly man. No contest.

Why could the Pharisees not get it? It had nothing to do with their intelligence or ability to reason. It have everything to do with their prejudice and their unwillingness to bow to Jesus as Lord and God. They had chosen to reject Him because it did not suit them to believe in Him. It was up to them to find a logical reason for rejecting Him and that was easier said than done. Their best weapon was abuse which did not solve their problem. It only showed them up for what they were.

Many human beings still follow the way of the Pharisees, It takes honesty and humility to acknowledge that Jesus is right and we are wrong and we need to bow to Him.

Have you done that?

We Know Everything!

Bible Study, , ,

WE KNOW EVERYTHING! 

“Then they turned again to the blind man, ‘What have you to say about Him? It was your eyes He opened.’ The man replied, ‘He is a prophet.’

“They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents. ‘Is this your son?’ they asked. ‘Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?’

“‘We know he is our son,’ the parents answered, ‘and we know he was born blind. But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age. He will speak for himself.'”

“His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. That is why his parents said, ‘He is of age; ask him.'” John 9:17-23 NIV.

Poor Pharisees! They had hard evidence in front of their eyes but, no matter how hard they tried they could not make the evidence or the witness go away!

First they questioned the blind man. “Who do you think He is? After all, it was your eyes He opened?’ Without hesitation the blind man put Jesus into the category of “prophet” which was unpalatable for the Pharisees because prophets were revered by the Jews even though their ancestors had failed to heed them and even killed them.

Then they called for his parents and questioned them, hoping that by some miracle they would say there had been some mistake and that he was not their son or that they didn’t really know whether he had been born blind or not! That didn’t work for them either. The man’s parents freely acknowledged that he was their son and that he had been born blind. They threw the ball back in his court. ‘He is old enough to speak for himself!’

Now the Pharisees were in a dilemma. All the evidence pointed to the fact that the man had been born blind and now he could see. Somehow Jesus was in the mix and they could not make any of the facts go away. They had already decided to penalise anyone who dared to confess that Jesus was the Messiah.

The man’s parents bowed to that one but the problem was that any explanation other than that Jesus was who He claimed to be would make nonsense of the evidence. They sidestepped the issue by putting the onus back on their son so as not to fall foul of the Pharisees. They also refused to acknowledge that Jesus was more than just a man.

“A second time they summoned the man who had been born blind. ‘Give the glory to God by telling the truth.’ they said. ‘We know this man is a sinner.'” John 9:24 NIV.

How do you make the evidence go away? By assassinating the character of the one who did the miracle! They still had another hurdle to get over but this one they ignored. ‘We know,’ they said, as thought that settled all the arguments. On what ground did they base their knowledge? Had they witnessed Jesus practising sin? Had anyone else witnessed His sinful behaviour?

They had no answer for His challenge, ‘Can any of you prove me guilty of sin?’ and yet they were now declaring, as though they were the final authority that He was a sinner and on those grounds they could dismiss the miracle He did as the work of a sinner! How did that work?

There are religious groups today that declare that the Word of God is not true because it has been corrupted. Does that make their claim true, simply because they said it? Try as anyone may, truth is indestructible. Since Jesus declared that the Word of the Lord will never pass away, and since no one has ever proved Him a liar, Jesus and His Word are still reliable and dependable.

Hallelujah!

And Now I See

Bible Study, , ,

AND NOW I SEE 

“How, then, were your eyes opened?’ they asked. He replied, ‘The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.’

“‘Where is the man?’ they asked him. ‘I don’t know,” he said.” John 9:10-12 NIV.

This sounds like a far-fetched story! “A man put mud on my eyes, told me to go and wash it off, and then I could see.” That is not only unbelievable; it’s also un-believable. Whoever heard of that! It could have been a fabricated story except for one thing — the blind man was no longer blind and there was no explanation for the miracle.

The poor guy was in for a grilling and he didn’t even know who the man was who had healed him except that His name was Jesus.

“They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath.  Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. ‘He put mud on my eyes,’ he replied, ‘and I washed, and now I see.’

“Some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man is not from God, for He does not keep the Sabbath.’

But others asked, ‘How can a sinner do such miraculous signs?’ So they were divided.” John 9:13-16 NIV.

At least there were some people who had the good sense to look at the evidence! The Pharisees were at it again — Jesus was an evil-doer because He did not adhere to their Sabbath rules. But they missed the spirit of the Sabbath — for them it was about not doing the wrong things. It was not about doing the right things.

This is exactly where Jesus and the religious Jews parted company. They were sticklers for keeping the rules. Jesus focussed on meeting people’s needs. They accused Him of being a rule-breaker because He “worked” on the Sabbath according to their definition of “work”. For Him is was the right thing to do to set a blind man free from his prison on the Sabbath.

How tragic that so much of the church’s understanding of “righteousness” has become like the Pharisees’ rule-keeping ritual! We have our evangelical Ten Commandments or the equivalent. We are righteous as long as we do certain things and avoid doing other things. Unfortunately we also tend to judge other believers according to our standards of right and wrong.

Interesting, isn’t it, that Jesus had much more to say to people who failed to meet the needs of others than He did to the “sinners” He hobnobbed with to the disgust of the religious ones.  He had no word of condemnation for the Samaritan woman at the well and the woman caught in adultery. Quite the opposite! He was gentle and merciful towards them, but He had a lot to say to the religious hypocrites who covered up their greedy and wicked hearts with religious performance.

“‘The multitude of your sacrifices — what are they to me?’ says the Lord. ‘I have had more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats…

“‘When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if your offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight!  Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.'” Isaiah 1:11; 15-17 NIV.

Perhaps the church would once again make an impact on the world as it did in the first century if it set aside its religious performances and went back to the simplicity of Jesus’ invitation, ‘Follow me.’