Beholding Jesus

Matthew 23- This passage is hard to meditate on. I imagine how Jesus’ words must have stung the religious-minded scribes and Pharisees, every word a hammer blow. They sought to justify themselves by becoming experts on the law, but they totally missed the point why God gave the law in the first place. The Pharisees were all about appearances, and being honored in the eyes of men. They were full of pride and hypocrisy. I think I naturally recoil a little bit from a teaching like this. I can feel the sting of these words. I don’t like the feeling of being judged, especially when there is truth in the judgment. I don’t like to humble myself and repent. I don’t like the feeling of being totally guilty, and at someone else’s mercy. It’s a vulnerable place, where the one making the judgment has every right to condemn you. I would rather repay. I would rather be able to earn something, to prove myself, I guess. At first I just feel stung by the sharpness of Jesus’ words in this passage, but I am asking, what is the heart of the Father here? If it’s true that God loves humility and mercy, then He is expressing His displeasure at the pride and unmercifulness of the Pharisees, who were supposed to represent Him to the rest of the people. As the religious class, it was their responsibility to lead the people into worship and to know God. But instead of doing that, they were misrepresenting Him, which really upsets God. He really cares about His name. It matters to Him that the nations receive a faithful witness of what He is like. It reminds me of when I was growing up at home and when I was about to leave the house, my dad would remind me to be thoughtful of how I carried myself and behaved, because I bore his name, and I represented him. The way I behaved in public reflected back on him. I think it’s the same with Jesus. I bear Him name, and the way that I conduct myself among other people reflects back on what He is like, what His character is like, what He approves of or disapproves of. Considering the eternal consequences, it really is a sober and awesome responsibility to bear His name. I really do want to represent Him well. When people look at me, I want them to see how kind and merciful Jesus is. I want them to experience the love of the Father, to see His heart made manifest in my life. That my life would be a faithful picture of what He is like. But I can’t give away what I haven’t received or live out what I don’t know by experience. In this season, I’m really wanting to have the courage to come out of self-defensiveness, pride and self-pity to experience the heart of God and really be able to rest in His presence, knowing I’m loved and accepted. In this passage, I hear Jesus’ frustration at the dead religious activities He is condemning in the Pharisees. They make up all sorts of hard to follow rules that they impose on everyone else, but the irony is that they can’t even keep them themselves. But following the rules make them feel righteous and justified. But they’re really just a way to keep God at a distance, so that they don’t have to come face to face with Him in a real relationship. And even worse, they not only refuse to enter the kingdom themselves, they are actually keeping other people from entering, making their disciples even more hard and prideful than themselves. How horrifying to have to answer for that someday! Religious laws without love and mercy lead to death. A person’s heart just shrivels up and starves to death from the lack of love or is crushed by the weight of the law. And Jesus said that He came so that people could have life abundantly. Knowing what happened in 70AD to Jerusalem was a direct consequence of not recognizing Jesus as their Messiah and the true nature of His kingdom is so sad and tragic. One million people died because they failed to recognize their time of visitation. He so longs for people to know Him truly… and His desire is that they would turn, not that He would have to condemn them or bring judgment. Jesus didn’t want Jerusalem to be destroyed. The thought of their death and destruction pained Him. He wanted to save them from it. Why is it that when I read a passage like this, my first reaction is to feel accused and become defensive or hide, rather than repent and seek forgiveness? At the end of the passage I hear Jesus’ frustration that comes from His desire for love and mercy. He had always just longed to gather Jerusalem into His arms to embrace them. But they had always resisted Him, accused Him, and misjudged His heart. Oh, why do we do that? Why do I do that? I don’t know why I would rather struggle in my own pride and anger, isolated and miserable than humble myself and ask for forgiveness and healing. It’s pride and self-pity, those twin false friends… They come in at a time of weakness or pain, comforting their victim right into offense and isolation. I also feel the Lord remind me that Jesus is the righteous Judge. He is perfectly just and merciful. He has perfect love and perfect wisdom by which to make His judgments. They are never too harsh or too lenient. And what does He desire? He desires that all would come to repentance. I remember all the descriptions of Him that encourage me to trust Him… He is gentle and lowly in heart. He goes after the one lost sheep and waits expectantly, longingly for the prodigal son. A bruised reed he will not break and a smouldering wick He will not snuff out. And the ultimate-He chose to put on human flesh and live as a man for 33 years in a normal human body, then forever in a glorified body. And He chose the cross; to die in my place, because I was worth that much to Him, that I would not be lost forever. In the end, this is Jesus who spoke these words, the one who bled on a cross for me-I know I can trust Him.