Jesus' greatest enemy was a purity movement
Jesus' greatest enemy was a purity movement.
The Pharisee's, a sect of Jewish leaders and teachers, main goal was to purify Israel of its sin so that God would deliver Israel from Rome. In the law they saw the fundamental promise: "if you obey you will be blessed and dwell in the land." And so they took it upon themselves to be obedient and to enforce obedience across their small country.
The problem was they thought they were the obedient ones.
They were meticulous in their following the law, but they missed actually the grand intent of the law. It was not only to be pure and blameless, it was to be loving and good. That is why Jesus would say that they "strained a gnat, but swallowed a camel." They neglected mercy and justice to their fellow countrymen.
But we ought not to just think that these men were more evil than any of us. They just had it in their mind that they were worthy of being blessed and they tried to root out any people that would withhold the blessing from the nation i.e. prostitutes, tax collectors, and "sinners."
And that is the problem with all purity movements, whether they be doctrinal, methodological, or moral. The leaders see themselves as part of the solution and are the referee's of their culture, sitting in judgment of those who, in their minds, are withholding blessing from their nation. And so they have to be merciless, they have to be judgmental, because their fundamental question is "what must we do to be blessed?" not "what must we do to love?"
posted by Dave Dorr @ 4:17 AM
3 Comments
3 Comments:
I'm sorry, but when I look at that picture you have there I can't help to think about Cheech and Chong, "Things are Tough All Over."
Oh, and yeah, love mercy. :)
Good stuff, Dave.
Philip Yancey, in "The Jesus I Never Knew":
"Pharisees, the popular party of the middle class, often found themselves on the fence, vacillating between separatism and collaboration. They held to high standards of purity ... Although they believed passionately in the Messiah, Pharisees hesitated to follow to quickly after any impostor or miracle worker who might bring disaster on the nation. The Pharisees picked their battles carefully, putting their lives on the line only when necessary..."
"As I consider each of these groups, I conclude that most likely I would have ended up in the party of Pharisees. I would have admired their pragmatic approach to the ruling government, balanced by their willingness to stand up for principle...."
"Would Jesus have won me over? Much as I wish, I cannot easily answer that question. At one time or another, Jesus managed to confound and alienate each of the major groups in Palestine. He held out a third way, neither separation nor collaboration, radically changing the emphasis from the kingdom of Herod or Caesar to the kingdom of God."
"The leaders see themselves as part of the solution and are the referee's of their culture, sitting in judgment of those who, in their minds, are withholding blessing from their nation."
Reminds me of the "Bring America to God" movement.
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