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Speak as the oracles of God

PROFESSIONS OF FAITH

Editor’s note: This is the fifth installment of a series by Lyndon Stimeling that will run each week.

In the last article we looked at the words, doctrine and teaching of Christ concerning legalism in His day. This time we want to focus on the life of Christ surrounded by legalism. Did He submit to the condemning words and attitude of the religious leaders of His time? By looking at His life, we can gain understanding of how we can deal with legalism in our modern day. Remember, we want to objectively ask the question, what did Jesus do? Never ask the question, “what would Jesus do?” Most of us don’t have a clue as to what He would do!

I think it is important to set the background for the encounter of Jesus and the religious leaders. It is quite possible that the Pharisees had roots back as far as Ezra and Nehemiah. The purpose of their beginning was to encourage the people of Israel to be serious about their relationship to God and obedience to His word. During the time of the Maccabees, they were often referred to as “chasidim” meaning “loved of God.”

It was also about this time (165 BC) that Rome began to get involved with the Jews through the effort of Judas (who was called Maccabeus, the hammerer) to obtain help and military protection for the Jewish people, reference Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary and the Apocrypha. This helps to give a little background to the birth of Christ; the religious leaders (scribes and Pharisees) had been around for quite some time, as well as Rome, who had originally got involved at the invitation of the Jewish political leaders.

Can you imagine Jesus coming on the scene at this time? The religious leaders were probably saying, “Well who does He think He is?” “We are the establishment; we were here long before He was even born.” The animosity began and spread like gangrene, but Jesus never gave into their legalistic demands and expectations!

In Matthew 12:1-8, the Pharisees attempt to condemn Jesus when they confront Him about the disciples eating grain that they had gathered on the Sabbath. Jesus turns the condemnation back on the religious leaders when He says, “But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

In Matthew 15:1-9, the scribes and Pharisees ask Jesus, “Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” But He answered and said to them, “why do you transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?” Here again, Jesus turns the condemnation back on the religious leaders.

John chapter 8 records the account of the woman caught in adultery, the religious leaders condemned her, but Jesus replies, “he who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first”. In Mark 11:27-33, the religious leaders come to Jesus asking, “And who gave You this authority to do these things?” Jesus replies by asking them a question, which they will not answer. “The baptism of John-was it from heaven or from men.” Again, Jesus turns the tables on them.

The life of Jesus was a life of being condemned and ridiculed, but Jesus never buckled under the pressure. He came back hard at the religious leaders in Matthew chapter 23 where He used this statement 7 times, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” What an example He has set for us, are we ready for the struggle? Or are we ready to compromise the freedom we have in Christ to please men?

Comments or questions, contact me at: thoughtsonword@gmail.com.

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Lyndon Stimeling, of Richfield, has been writing about faith and family for many years. He has self-published two books, “Common Thoughts on The Word” in 2016 and “Eye of a Needle” in 2017. He has also had articles published in The Coming Home Journal and local newspapers and has written a children’s book.

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