Pharisee Woe #2

Luke 11:42, "Woe to your Pharisees! For you love the front seats in the synagogues and respectful greetings in the market places." Why does Jesus care about where people sit in church (or in stadiums or on planes, et) and how they are greeted in Walmart? This one on the surface seems to hit all of us. I am leaving for Haiti on Thursday and I went online to pick my seats for the flights I will be taking. The best seats were taken, and they cost more too. I have never bought first class seats, but is not because I would not like to, but because I am too cheap. I got bumped up once, and it was nice to see the others glare at me with some envious stares. I also have to admit that when I am out in public and someone comes up to me, especially someone who is important, and says hello, it gives me a little rush of feeling a little more important. In Haiti, I know I will be ushered into the assembly after nearly everyone else is seated, and I will be given the best seat in the house. But, do I really love it? Do I really need it to be OK? Do I want others to recognize how important I am, and how those lesser souls should accept their lot in life and sit in the back of the bus? (I think I remember some civil rights showdowns over where people have to sit and who can talk to them in public.)

So is it wrong for the president at the State of the Union speech in the presence of Congress, Supreme Court judges, joint chiefs of staff, and cabinet members to be ushered into the room amid cheers with outstretched hands waiting to touch his hand and then given the best seat in the house? Does he love it? Or, is he humbled by it? Does he think "he" deserves it or the "office" deserves it? Does he seek it and insist on it or does he accept the honor given by others? Does he believe that all this acclaim is really how everyone feels about him or is it just a formality? Jesus valued servanthood and giving up seats and giving greetings to those society considers unimportant. "If you greet only those who greet you what do you do any differently than the pagans?" "If you take the best seat and someone more important comes in and you have to move over won't you be humbled? So take the worst seat and if you are upgraded then you will be honored." Jesus was not anti-best seat and anti-greetings. He was anti-loving it and seeking it for one's self.

The problem with all this is that these Pharisees wanted true respect but they were getting fake respect. Sure, people were bending and bowing, but they didn't really respect them. It was a hypocritical dance, a game everyone learned to play. It was outward not inward. The Pharisees were looking for advantage and prestige and honor. Jesus was about emptying self, taking up the towel and washing feet. Jesus was about touching lepers and defending prostitutes. Jesus was about getting His hands dirty and taking a manger when all the beds were full. Jesus was about often having no where to lay His head, and walking around the Promised Land instead of riding in style. He was about stopping even when busy and listening to a blind man or a woman hanging on the hem of his garment. Jesus was not humbled; He was humble. He loved people and God, not good seats and "Hello Rabbi" greetings. The false and fake are subjects for woes in His book.

Pharisee Woe #1

Luke 11:42. "But woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithe of mint and rue and every kind of garden herb, and yet disregard justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others." This is the first in a series of three woes pronounced against the Pharisees, with another three woes given against the lawyers. These six woes contain some serious errors which are indictments handed down against these leaders by God's chief prosecutor, the very Son of God. No Grand Jury is needed. No convening the Sanhedrin. Jesus has been given authority by the Holy and Righteous God to judge these matters.

This first indictment has to do with priorities. You can tell a lot of about a person as to what they think is most important, or at least more important than something else. What is in a person's central line of vision? There are always matters of interest in our peripheral vision. These have some importance if kept in perspective. The problem is that we can become so focused on these smaller matters that we miss the more important matters right before our eyes. We are like Balaam whose donkey had better eyesight than he did. In Jesus' rebuke, these small garden herbs, mint and rue, received more attention than did justice and the love of God. We are all familiar with mint, but rue is more obscure. Rue can be dangerous to the digestive system if not used correctly. With a bitter taste it is used for cooking in the Middle East. It is capable of producing abortions and is the national herb of Lithuania (and is associated with girls as a sign of virginity). The Pharisees would either carefully measure each herb and separate a tenth to contribute, or estimate a tenth of the value of a herb and contribute the money. Either way, such calculations would require some detailed attention.

The woe was about neglect or disregard, a word meaning to pass by or to render void. It is used to describe passing by a village or when Jesus asked for the cup to pass from Him. The older brother in Luke 15 is said to have never neglected a command of God. In our case what is being passed by is justice and love, some pretty large and important virtues. Justice is about decision, the act of judging or deciding a case in court. In some ways the Pharisees were pretty good at judgment on a human level, but pretty rusty when it came to godly judgment. Jesus uses the highest form of love, agape, to describe their disregard. Both justice and love are followed by "of God." Both pertained to God. The real issue is that these Pharisees did not see themselves under the justice of God and had never really experienced the love of God. Only those who know the verdict is that they are sinners and must give account and that God's great love offers them a way out can have their priorities straight.

Casual Christians often have some strict adherence to some form or ritual that makes them feel ok about their relationship with God. They may read a daily devotional, or go all out at Christmas to let folks know that it is Jesus' birthday, or display their Bible in a prominent place in their home. But, on closer inspection their lives are not about the weightier matters of the law like justice and love. They are very protective of their time and treasures. They are calloused to the hurts and needs of others. For these reasons they deserve a "woe."

Depends on What You Are Looking For

In Luke 11:37-54 we have a rich insight into Jesus' mind. Too often people are casual in their faith because of what they are looking for. What do you see? When someone walks in the room, what do you see? When someone walks by your house, what do you see? Remember how much discussion in the Trayvon Martin case centered around how George saw Trayvon. When Jesus came to lunch at this Pharisees house the host laser-eyed Jesus' unwashed hands. This Pharisee saw "it." What? That Jesus had not ceremonially washed His hands before He came to the table. To come to the defense of the Pharisee, remember Jesus saw dirty feet in the upper room (John 13). But for Jesus dirty feet in another person's face was practical, and an opportunity to teach an important lesson. For the Pharisee Jesus' unbaptized hands were an opportunity to discredit Him as worthy of being followed. The inconsistency was glaring in the eyes of Jesus. Outward washing was important to the Jewish leaders. They majored in this minor observance. They had meticulous rules to govern the practice. This Pharisee saw a violation and like a good ref threw the yellow flag.

Jesus used this as an opportunity to teach about things much more important. In Luke 11:39-41 Jesus points out some unseen offenses which often go unacknowledged by the Pharisees and are often endured by the populace. The outside of the platter and cup is cleaned while the inside is left dirty. Jesus uses two words here to describe this, robbery and wickedness. In Matt.23:25 Jesus uses the duo of robbery and self-indulgence. This trio of inside contamination constitutes a serious allegation. He likens the Pharisees to an invading army who pillages a village. Or, He likens them to one like a Mafia Don who would extort money from people. Or, it was like one who would find some "legal" means to confiscate one's property (See Heb.10:34). Self-indulgence is like the incontinence of one who's bowels cannot be controlled, or one who has an unruly appetite or lust. Satan preys on those who have no self-control (I Cor.7:5). The word wickedness is the same word used in Luke 11:34 for the eye which is bad and causes the entire body to be filled with darkness.

Those who glory in their outside cleanliness while neglecting the filth within are fools according to Jesus. These are unenlightened and ignorant. According to Luke 12:20, the light in them in darkness. They believe it is ok to maintain an double-minded existence, a hypocrisy. Jesus' counter to this kind of lifestyle is found in Luke 11:41, "But give that which is within as charity and then all things are clean for you." This is a curious teaching. The word is compassionateness and is used in Lk.12:33 to teach that selling our possessions and giving to "charity" counteracts greed. The antidote for robbery, self-indulgence and wickedness is compassion, empathy, and caring. Self-centeredness is the opposite of investing in others. This Pharisee did not care about Jesus personally. He had no compassion or empathy. He simply cared about his rules and making sure that everything appeared clean.  True cleanliness was not important to him. Jesus is going to use this myopic view to launch six woes. (More to come)

Illumination

Luke 11:33-36 again. Jesus says, "watch out." If your eye is good then you will be able to aim at things. Scopeo is used to describe aiming for the unseen (2 Cor.4:18), aiming at keeping one's self from being tempted (Gal.6:1), aiming for the interest of others (Phil.2:4), aiming at keeping an eye on those who cause division (Rom.16:17), and aiming for those who walk according the to the gospel pattern (Phil.3:17). But Jesus says to watch out "that the light in you does not become darkness." How could that be? There is a strange phenomenon in Christianity. The religion of light can become the religion of darkness. It is a real danger. Saul understood this regarding the Jewish faith. The light afforded by the commandments became darkness to him until he was illuminated by a light from above. The Jesus who enlightens every man (John 1:9) caused His light to shine on Saul, plunging him into darkness for three days until a gospel preacher showed up. If we were to Anglicize this word photizo as we did baptizo we might add another finger to our five finger exercise calling it photism (in addition to baptism). If a person is going to be saved they have to be photized. The Hebrew writer refers to this spiritual process twice, once in Heb.6:4 and once in Heb.10:32. Every person who comes to Christ must be illuminated or enlightened. Jesus is the true prototype of the Enlightenment.

For all our sophistication the world still dwells in darkness. For a world who survived the Dark Ages and saw the Enlightenment ushered in by such men as Locke and Newton and the advancements that followed their Reason, for many, leaving the Father and the Son out of the picture, their light became darkness. True illumination does not come by human reasoning and worldly wisdom. It can only come by Jesus. He is the light who enlightens every man (John 1:9). Paul taught us that our heart has eyes (Eph.1:18) which can help us see clearly our inheritance for which we hope and our great power which allows us to overcome death as Jesus did. It was Jesus who brought life and immortality to life through the gospel (2 Tim.1:10). And, one day the Lord will bring to light the things that are now hidden in the darkness and expose the motives of men's hearts (1 Cor.4:5). Jesus walked among many whose light was darkness. Of course, they did not know that at the time. Some understood at the brightness of the resurrection at sunrise on a Sunday morning. Others like Paul understood it later when the resurrected Jesus caused His light to shine in their hearts as they heard the glorious gospel. And some never really saw the light. So it is today. If you would be illuminated you must turn to the Lord, look square into His wonderful face, allowing the things of this earth to become strangely dim, going forth with faces aglow in the radiance of His being with the veil lifted (2 Cor.3). Praise God for rescuing us from the dominion of darkness and bringing us into the kingdom of the Son He loves.

The Eye-Light

It is profound. Jesus' words in Luke 11:33-36 should be pondered. Eyes are fascinating. For most of us blindness is a scary prospect. We fear darkness. Stumbling is associated with it. There is a loss of control and defense. We like to see things coming. We want the understanding that sight gives us. Then, there is beauty. Our eyes search for it. Our brain marvels when we behold it. The light in a child's eyes tell us they are smart, alive, and curious. Our eyes talk. A blink, a wink, eye-contact, diverting, closed, dilated, sleepy, wide awake, and propped up are just some of the ways we see eyes.

The eye according to Jesus is the lamp to the body. We desire to have light within. We cherish insight and foresight. We crave seeing the point as a means of getting it. When everyone else is in the light we do not want to be in the dark. An evil eye lets the darkness in. The way we see things determines the way we live. It is sad when we think we see but do not. Often the person who is blind is the last to know it. Then, there is the one who intentionally buries head in the sand and will not see. These prefer to be kept in the dark. Ignorance is bliss because I cannot be responsible for what I do not know. Sufficient light illuminates all the dark places, removes the shadows, and reveals what we need to see. We clean lenses on spiritual glasses wiping away ignorance, prejudice, false presuppositions, and misconceptions. Our cognitive distortions have to be straightened out. Our houses are bleak places without light. Did you see all of this in Jesus' words? He came to fight darkness. He came to reveal truth and to expose what lurks in dark places. He came to be the light that shines in our eyes so we can see the glory of God. Take care of your eyes and they will take care of you. Think about it.

A Generation On Trial

Based on Luke 11:30-32, raw notes from my journal. The picture is dynamic. I imagine a courtroom filled with folks from generations at least past and present. Various generations in certain localities are put into the "dock," the judgment place. They are on the spot and being watched and assessed, So here are the people of Jesus' generation on trial and the judge is looking for testimony. The first witness is the Queen of the South who has traveled across Africa to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Her thirst for knowledge, wisdom, truth and God her to endure incredible hardships of such a journey involving, no doubt, dozens of people and servants. She made a great effort to learn and understand. Her integrity and desire was great and was proven by her actions. She crossed, no doubt, deserts, rivers, mountain and jungle to sit before Solomon. Now one far greater than Solomon is here and His name is Jesus, He has the words of eternal life. He is the true way and no one including Solomon has 1 % of the wisdom and knowledge He possesses, and yet so many of His generation were much too busy and self-absorbed to walk across the street to really listen. When they did many would either be offended by Him and walk back across the street, or would attack Him as if they were of greater stature than He. Candice's testimony surely included all of what Solomon knew of Israel's history and God's purposes being worked out through that people. Solomon was fulfilling God's purpose to be a light to the nations. Surely this knowledge was shared by Candice with others as she traveled back to her home and to the wise men of the land. We may never know the effect of this journey on other generations.

The next witness was the men of Nineveh. The wickedness of Nineveh came up before God, and God dispatched Jonah to cry out against it. This exceedingly great city (a 3 days walk perhaps around it or through it) was given forty days to repent. These people believed in God, called a fast, put on sackcloth, including the king of Nineveh who issued a proclamation to call on God earnestly, cease their wicked ways, and turn from violence. God saw and turned from His plan to destroy the city. God had compassion on the 120,000 people of Nineveh who did not know their right hand from their left. So did the king of Nineveh stand with the Queen of the South (both Gentiles) and bring damning testimony? Surely Jesus was greater than disobedient and reluctant Jonah who had to be disciplined to do what God had told him to do. Every matter is established by 2-3 witnesses-we have three-Jesus, Candice, and the king of Nineveh.

Let me add. Jesus is still here and we must not be like the generation of His day lest these two ancient leaders one day stand up in court against our generation and give the same damning testimony.

Lord of the Flies

Beelzebul is accused of supplying power to Jesus to heal a man of a dumb demon. (Luke 11) Jesus associates Beelzebul with Satan. I wonder how Satan felt being accused (especially since he is the accuser) of supporting the mission of Jesus? Didn't Satan do all he could to destroy the work of Jesus, and even Jesus Himself? Satan is all about tempting folks to fall (Gen.3), moving them to do things that deny the protective power of God (1 Chron.21:1), inflicting pain to get people to curse God (Job), sifting men like wheat (Luke 22:31), blinding the minds of unbelievers, taking people captive (2 Tim.2:26), killing, stealing, and destroying (John 10), and weakening the nations (Isa.14:12). So for him to give Jesus the power to cast out one of his demons is absurd. Perhaps to suggest such a thing was offensive to both Jesus and Satan.

Beelzebul means lord of the flies. It is speculation as to how he got that name. There must be a story behind it. He was a god of Ekron in Philistia. I grew up with flies. I mean they lived in my house. Our late afternoon entertainment was to sit on the front porch each armed with our own fly swatter and see who could kill the most. It was an exercise in futility as there were always as many the next day as the day before. It was especially fun to see if you could catch them in your hand. I wonder if they thought flies were demons and if you swallowed one you were possessed. I made that up. It was one of the Egyptian plagues. In some art work demons are depicted as flies whispering in the ears of men to tempt them to do evil. The flies on a dung heap also seems a fitting connection for Satan.

But it seems to me one of the best stories to help us understand Beelzebul is found in 2 Kings 1. King Ahaziah fell through a lattice and injured himself and thought he might die. So he decided to send messengers to Ekron to enquire of Beelzebul as to whether he was going to die. An angel told Elijah about this and told him to intercept them. Elijah asks, "Is there no God in Israel that you are going to enquire of Baalzebub (another spelling), the god of Ekron?" They reported back to the king who was none too happy with Elijah. Ahaziah sent three separate companies of 50 soldiers to bring Elijah in. The first two were burned to a crisp. The third captain pled for his life, and was allowed  to escort Elijah to the king and delivered the message personally that he would not recover from his fall. Interesting! God does not take kindly to competing with an idol. God does not want His power attributed to another who is nothing at all. When man gives credit to another what God alone can do he is blaspheming God. The next time you see a fly, remember this story.