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.