Where's the Love in That?

By the standard of today’s society, Jesus might be branded intolerant for the way He addressed the Pharisees of His day. For example:

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

—Matthew 23:27-28

That was just one of eight ‘woes’ that Jesus spoke on that occasion. And there were other occasions on which Jesus dealt rather harshly with the Pharisees and other religious leaders of the Jews.

One reason Jesus sounded harsh is because He called them hypocrites and then described them as lawless. In our day he might be labeled a name-caller and branded for being judgmental.

However, His seemingly harsh-sounding admonition is easily misunderstood. Do you know the meaning of the little word ‘woe’? The English word ‘woe’ and its Greek counterpart convey the idea of sorrow, grief or great distress. When Jesus called out, “Woe to you,” it was a way of sounding an alert for impending sorrow.

Do you like alerts?

Most would answer, “Yes” and “No.” We often set reminders (alerts) by scribbling a note or marking a calendar. Many folks set phone alerts for appointments, birthdays, anniversaries, and other important events. The alerts help us to remember. We like those alerts.

Warnings that are posted on our streets and highways are welcomed as well. Sometimes, however, the alerts may be considered annoying, such as speed limits.

• We prefer not to be pulled over by a state trooper and warned about speeding.
• We prefer not to get a warning from the bank that funds are low.
• Husbands prefer not to be corrected by their wives...and vice versa.
• Teens prefer not to be corrected by their parents, or teachers, or any adult or friend...or any other living thing.

However, common sense tells us that warnings are good; correction is good. Do we understand that discipline is good, even when it is not self-discipline?

What happens in a parenting situation when a child refuses simple instruction? In general, it is followed by verbal correction. Then, if verbal correction fails, a strong rebuke may follow. If a strong rebuke fails, then a variety of disciplinary measures may be used.

As parents, we understand the purpose of discipline. We do not prefer it; the child does not prefer it; but discipline is used to keep our children from moral ruin, from disastrous life choices and from behaving like wild animals. Discipline is a gesture of love on the part of parents.

The Pharisees had formed a hard shell of rejection around their minds toward Jesus. They had failed to listen to His divine instruction and had rejected Him as the Messiah, the Hope of Israel and the Savior of the world. Though the ‘woes’ sound harsh, Jesus was not pushing the Pharisees away. Rather, He was issuing a warning that was yet another attempt to offer hope by breaking through their harsh rejection of the truth. Say what you will about the ‘woes’; but in them we see ultimately the love of God.

We are to speak the truth in love;

but we are to speak the truth.

Mark Stinnett

January 8, 2023

Which of Jesus' Teachings Do You Follow?

“When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.”
—Matthew 7:28-29

This description followed what we call ‘The Sermon on the Mount.’ There were similar reactions to Jesus' teachings later on.

For example...
Just a couple of days before the crucifixion of Jesus His religious opponents attacked Him with everything they had. The Pharisees plotted together to trap Jesus in what he said by putting Him in a politically awkward position. After Jesus’ had wisely responded…

“And hearing this, they were amazed….” 
—Matthew 22:22

Then the Sadducees posed a question, more of a riddle. They intended to embarrass Jesus with an impossible theological conundrum. Again He answered wisely.

“When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.”
—Matthew 22:33

The Pharisees challenged Jesus again, and once again He answered them. Then, He asked them a question regarding their interpretation of Scripture.

“No one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him another question.” 
—Matthew 22:46

(Some have called Jesus the Master Teacher, and rightfully so.)

Then, in the very next verse, or more accurately, in the very next breath, Jesus began to warn His disciples AND the crowds about the scribes and Pharisees. He publicly humiliated them, labeling them as hypocrites!

That’s right. In Matthew 23 Jesus pointed out the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees (the teachers of the people) and warned folks not to follow their example. Jesus was not guilty of name-calling. Yet, many in our current society would ‘crucify’ a person for lashing out in judgment like that! (They misunderstand.)

People today love the teachings of Jesus when He says, “Love one another”; when He tells the Parable of the Good Samaritan; the Beatitudes; when He says, “I will give you rest.”

However, some people cannot tolerate the strong stance of Jesus against sin:

• Anger brings guilt just like murder.
• Lusting for a woman is sinful.
• Divorce is almost always wrong.
• Lying is wrong (all the time).
• Retaliation is not God’s way.
• If you refuse to forgive another person, God will not forgive you.
• Religious activity is meaningless without a sincere heart.

These are some of the moral and ethical teachings of Jesus also found in the Sermon on the Mount.

The Master Teacher who amazed the crowds and taught love ALSO preached repentance saying that without upright, moral living “you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus even warned that there would be many who would claim to be His followers, who would claim to have done good deeds in His name, yet who practiced unrighteousness. We must embrace all that Jesus did and all that He taught.

Enter through the narrow gate...for the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. 
—Matthew 7:13-14

Mark Stinnett

A False Truth???

Man and Truth

1. No amount of rationalization, human reasoning or logic makes truth. Truth exists independent of human thought.

2. Accusations do not establish truth; especially false accusations.

3. Truth is not subject to human courts of law or any other tribunal or gathering of thinking heads (reasonable or not).

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The scribes and Pharisees and Sadducees attempted to discredit Jesus. Their attempts failed because of the superior wisdom of Jesus. Even then, it was not the wisdom of Jesus that made truth true. Truth already existed independent of all the thinking and reasoning and testing and trapping; and even Jesus’ wisdom. It was with depth of wisdom that Jesus appealed to truth and confounded the ones testing him.

When the Sadducees tested Jesus (Matthew 22), they were actually mocking Jesus and those who believed in the resurrection. They had constructed a hypothetical situation based on the Law of Moses that would stump the ‘resurrectionists.’ How mockingly brilliant they thought they were. After all, they didn’t even believe in the resurrection.

Jesus used scripture to show the reality of the resurrection and it shamed the Sadducees for such a silly question. Such is human reasoning when pitted against the truth...Silly.

When Jesus was ultimately accused of blasphemy and sentenced to death, the charge against him was not true. In fact, the reason the accusers of Jesus believed he was guilty of blaspheming God was because they had already rejected the truth about Jesus, that He truly was the Son of God. So, they believed the very thing they 'assumed' to be true.

So, about the only thing the Sadducees accomplished was to show that a false assumption is sure to yield a false truth. (Think about that one.)

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The flaw with science when it dabbles in questions about the origin of the universe or the origin of man is that it starts with things that already exist in the natural world. Read any introductory science book that explains the scientific method: Science investigates things that are visible, audible, touchable; things that can be tasted or smelled; things that are measurable. Science is completely dependent upon human senses and human instrumentation for detecting and measuring and evaluating.

Science tests and measures. Past accomplishments have given man the ability to peer farther and farther into space; deeper and deeper into the ocean, and even into the earth’s core. Science has detected and measured infinitesimally minute particles as well as distant giants in the vastness of space. Yet, in all of this, science merely probes, tests, measures and observes existing matter.

It is no fault of science that it cannot probe beyond things that exist as matter. Science is ill equipped to explain truths involving intangibles: God, love, hope, conscience, morality, eternal life. It is the wrong tool.

It is the fault of man to try and use science for something it is not equipped to do. So, anyone who ‘assumes’ that science can reveal truth in the area of intangibles and reality beyond measurement is more like the Sadducees and Pharisees. Begin with a faulty assumption, and who knows what you’ll be able to come up with???