SAVIOUR AND THE SIMPLE THINGS
May 17, 2024CHURCH BETWEEN THE SERMON AND A STATEMENT
May 19, 2024Many times we take hold of some petty and insignificant things, and let go of things of far greater significance. This is precisely what the LORD Jesus was addressing when He was speaking at length with the Pharisees and the Scribes in Matthew 23. We see Jesus “thrashing” these so called guardians of the faith, so thoroughly when He said…
– “23 “Woe to you, [self-righteous] scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you give a tenth (tithe) of your mint and dill and cumin [focusing on minor matters], and have neglected the weightier [more important moral and spiritual] provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the [primary] things you ought to have done without neglecting the others.” – Matthew 23:23.
In fact, the whole of Matthew chapter 23 is a very interesting and insightful read, to know the heart of God, and what He is expecting from His “Chosen People.”
What Jesus said above is, in complete agreement with what God had been saying all through the Old Testament…
– “21 “You shall neither mistreat a stranger nor oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. 22 “You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child.”
– “3 This is what the LORD says: Administer justice and righteousness. Rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow. Do not shed innocent blood in this place.”
– “8 “What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” – Exodus 22:21-22, Jeremiah 22:3, Micah 6:8, (see also Hosea 12:6; Zechariah 7:9, 10).
The Pulpit Commentary, has these pointed and precise observations for our clarity…
– “Worthless are all outward observances when the moral precepts are neglected.”
– “Judgment” [or JUSTICE] (τὴν κρίσιν) means acting equitably to one’s neighbour, hurting nobody by word or deed; as in Jeremiah 5:1 a man is sought “that exerciseth justice.'” Such impartiality is specially enjoined in the Law (Deuteronomy 16:19, etc.).”
– “Mercy,” loving kindness in conduct, often taught in the Pentateuch, as in the case of the widow, the stranger, and the debtor, and very different from the feeling of those who “devour widows’ houses.”
– “Faith” [or FAITHFULNESS] may mean fidelity to promises: “He that sweareth unto his neighbour and disappointeth him not, though it were to his own hindrance” (Psalm 15:4); but it is more probably taken as that belief in God without which it is not possible to please him, and which should underlie and influence all moral action (Hebrews 11:6).”
It is shame on us as Church and the “Chosen Ones” – 1 Peter 2:9-10 – how we have conducted ourselves throughout the history of the Church…especially since Rome captured the Church. We stood, most of the times, just like the Pharisees and the Sadducees, on the wrong side, in utter disregard for God’s righteousness, JUSTICE, MERCY and FAITHFULNESS. In some cases, actively supporting the criminals and the evil, by backing such enterprise with the ‘Bible.” May the LORD wake us up. May He open our eyes to the reality of our state.
