Todays reading begins with one of the teachers of the religious law asking Jesus which of the commandments is the greatest. The Levitical Law had over 600 laws that applied to Israel. The laws were divided into three types of laws: 1. Moral, 2. Civil, and 3. Religious. Since Jesus was the Messiah He fulfilled the Religious part of the law. The religious laws were set in place, to worship the Lord, and point to the coming of the Messiah. The civil laws, applied to the nation of Israel, just as any nation has laws. At this point when the Pharisee is asking Jesus which law was the greatest, Rome was the ruling power in Israel, therefore Israel was under Roman law. Today, most nations still recognize the Moral Laws (The Ten Commandments). Gods laws are not burdensome. They can be reduced to two simple principles; Love God and love others. According to Jesus, these two commandments summarize all Gods laws. If you do not break the two laws Jesus gives as His answer, you will automatically be following the other eight..... Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.” Mark 12:29-31 The teacher answers by saying this.... The teacher of religious law replied, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth by saying that there is only one God and no other. And I know it is important to love him with all my heart and all my understanding and all my strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. This is more important than to offer all of the burnt offerings and sacrifices required in the law.” Realizing how much the man understood, Jesus said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” Mark 12:32-34 This Pharisee had grasped the intent of Gods law--that true obedience comes from the heart. He had most likely known this from the Scriptures.... I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings. Hosea 6:6 What makes you think I want all your sacrifices? says the LORD. I am sick of your burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fattened cattle. I get no pleasure from the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. Isaiah 1:11 No, O people, the LORD has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8 Because all the Old Testament commands lead to Christ, the Pharasees next step was faith in Jesus Himself. That is why Jesus told him he wasnt far from the Kingdom of God. Unfortunately this is the part that most people cannot seem to grasp. They may be able to intellectually understand the connection that Jesus is the Messiah, but to truly believe in Him in their heart is what is needed to enter the Kingdom. The next account dovetails perfectly on the whole idea of genuinely believing in your heart, as opposed to following the Law. The religious leaders were convinced that their faith could be measured by how obedient they were to the Law. What they forgot however, was the love that was behind the law. Therefore, they looked for every caveat and loophole to circumvent the Law. Jesus knew that they were corrupt and self serving. This is what happens when we follow Religion instead of Jesus. Mans sinful nature is filled with pride, therefore, the religion he chooses is very near and dear to his heart. Religion becomes more a matter of self pride than actually knowing God. This is why it is so hard for people to be challenged to get to know Jesus better. Because the religious leaders were filled with their own pride, they were blinded to the truth of who Jesus was. Everyone in the First Century was waiting for the Messiah. They knew the prophecies, and had calculated that His arrival was imminent. Jesus fulfilled hundreds of Messianic prophecies. We have discussed the statistics and probability of these prophecies being filled in prior posts, but for more information on this see the video included in todays post. People today also struggle with the difference between religion and getting to know the Lord in a more personal way. In his book The Pursuit of God, A.W Tozer says... To most people God is an inference, not a reality. He is a deduction from evidence which they consider adequate, but He remains personally unknown to the individual. He must be, they say therefore we believe He is. Others do not go even so far as this; they know of Him only by hearsay. They have never bothered to think the matter over for themselves, but have heard about Him from others, and have put belief in Him into the back of their minds along with various odds and ends that make up their total creed. Jesus had harsh words for the religious teachers of His day. Not only were they off track when it came to honoring God, but they were leading others down the same path. This still occurs today, with vulnerable people being deceived every day. This is why I always say, go back to the Word of God, the Bible, to verify if what your pastor, priest or religion is saying is correct. With the findings of the Dead Sea Scrolls (200 B.C.) we can see that the Bible we hold in our hands today is just as accurate today as it was then. When they compared the Dead Sea Scrolls to several different modern translations that are used today, they found very little difference. The differences they did find, did not change any doctrine that mainstream Christianity holds true today. I am including the entire Chapter of Matthew 23 in todays post for the sake of some readers who may not be reading from a daily bible, so please excuse the lengthiness of this post. I have always felt strongly about this chapter because I feel that it is one of the main reasons people walk away from God today. Just remember, if that has been you, those leaders do not represent God. Listen to what Jesus has to say about them.... Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach. They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden. “Everything they do is for show. On their arms they wear extra wide prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and they wear robes with extra long tassels. And they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the seats of honor in the synagogues. They love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi. “Don’t let anyone call you ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one teacher, and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters. And don’t address anyone here on earth as ‘Father,’ for only God in heaven is your spiritual Father. And don’t let anyone call you ‘Teacher,’ for you have only one teacher, the Messiah. The greatest among you must be a servant. But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either. “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you cross land and sea to make one convert, and then you turn that person into twice the child of hell you yourselves are! “Blind guides! What sorrow awaits you! For you say that it means nothing to swear ‘by God’s Temple,’ but that it is binding to swear ‘by the gold in the Temple.’ Blind fools! Which is more important—the gold or the Temple that makes the gold sacred? And you say that to swear ‘by the altar’ is not binding, but to swear ‘by the gifts on the altar’ is binding. How blind! For which is more important—the gift on the altar or the altar that makes the gift sacred? When you swear ‘by the altar,’ you are swearing by it and by everything on it. And when you swear ‘by the Temple,’ you are swearing by it and by God, who lives in it. And when you swear ‘by heaven,’ you are swearing by the throne of God and by God, who sits on the throne. “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things. Blind guides! You strain your water so you won’t accidentally swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel! “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence! You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too. “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness. “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you build tombs for the prophets your ancestors killed, and you decorate the monuments of the godly people your ancestors destroyed. Then you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would never have joined them in killing the prophets.’ “But in saying that, you testify against yourselves that you are indeed the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Go ahead and finish what your ancestors started. Snakes! Sons of vipers! How will you escape the judgment of hell? “Therefore, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers of religious law. But you will kill some by crucifixion, and you will flog others with whips in your synagogues, chasing them from city to city. As a result, you will be held responsible for the murder of all godly people of all time—from the murder of righteous Abel to the murder of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you killed in the Temple between the sanctuary and the altar. I tell you the truth, this judgment will fall on this very generation. Matthew 23:1-36 youtube/watch?v=1oE5Z4uKEd4
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 03:21:12 +0000
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