RECAP – John 20:24-28. We saw last week how Thomas finally saw Jesus alive and uttered the most profound statement of faith – “My Lord and My God!”
(1) LET GO of our Agenda – don’t cling on to the demands we set.
(2) CHOOSE to have faith - faith is a choice we make; it is not a feeling.
(3) SEE Jesus as He truly is – study the Word and overcome fear, pride and doubt.
-------------------------------------------------
Thousands heard Jesus and saw him in real life. We know that because at least more than 5000 were fed on one occasion.
• Thousands may be there but few followed. Among the followers, few believed.
• Life change is possible but not all will experience it. Not because Jesus is powerless to affect a change, but the people were not prepared to believe Him.
Among them were the Pharisees. We want to take a look at them today, and understand what prevented them from trusting Jesus.
• Despite the fact that they were learned people, steep in the knowledge of the OT Scriptures.
• Most of them knew it by heart, but they failed to recognise their Messiah.
Why? I think the simple reason will be - they did not see the light. They were blinded to the truth. By what?
• What obstructed their view? Their own set of belief. Or to be more precise, their own interpretation of the truth – the Scriptures.
• The Pharisees knows that the OT Scriptures as the inspired Word of God and it points to Christ, their Messiah. But when the Messiah stood and spoke before them, they were unable to recognise Him.
• They had their own interpretation of the truth. Jesus exposes their errors in Matthew 23. We are going to read Matt 23:23-28.
The Pharisees had gotten a different picture of the Messiah and a different understanding of what salvation means.
• They did not experience a life change because LIFE CHANGE can only take place when you recognise Jesus as He truly is – the Son of God who takes away the sin of the world.
• Any other understanding apart from this will make it a RELIGION – just a set of rules and rituals for behaviour. Rules will not change you.
I want to share with you TWO major flaws in their understanding. No life change has taken place for them because…
THEY REPLACED THE RELATIONSHIP WITH A RELIGION
They have a RELIGION no doubt, but no RELATIONSHIP with Jesus and with God.
• The Pharisees were aiming at another target. Instead of following Jesus, they were following rules and rituals, and putting their faith in them to be righteous.
• Are we aiming at the wrong target?
Matt Emmons was world champion shooter in the early 2000s. He won a few world championships in shooting. In the 2004 Olympics, something odd happened.
He was competing in the 50m 3-position rifle event. For the last round, he didn’t even need a bull’s-eye to win. His final shot merely needed to be on target. Normally, the shot he made would have received a score of 8.1, more than enough for a gold medal.
But in what was described as “an extremely rare mistake in elite competition,” Emmons fired at the wrong target. He was on target, but the wrong target. Standing in lane two, he fired at the target in lane three.
It was a good short, but his score for that shot: 0. Instead of a gold medal, Emmons ended up in 8th place.
Do we know what we should be going after? Many are falling into this same trap today. They are hitting the wrong target.
• Christianity is seen as some kind of moralistic creed, a set of religious rules and rituals to follow, a list of do’s and don’ts.
• I’ve had people telling me they do not want to be Christians because they cannot come to church, or they are illiterate and will not be able to read the Bible. They see these as being Christian.
• I heard this, a granny telling her grandson: “Are you sure you want to be baptised? How much can you afford to give each month?” She sees the monthly giving of the tithe as membership fee the church collects. Someone even tells me we charge 10% of the salary as a fee is too high.
• I met one person who is baptised four times, in four different churches. She probably wanted to be a member of each so that she can join their programs.
It is sad to see the RELATIONSHIP with Jesus degenerating into a RELIGION.
• All these rules and rituals mean nothing to God. Religion cannot change you. It can only make life burdensome and dry. It makes us look religious.
• The Law can only tell you – you missed the mark! You had missed the mark, you are missing the mark now, and you will always miss the mark, apart from Jesus!
Don’t let religious acts take the place of your relationship with Christ.
• Doing Christian stuff, going through the motions, will not change a thing.
• Life change can only take place through a RELATIONSHIP with Jesus Christ. Put a premium on cultivating this relationship.
• His rules won’t change me but His love will. His work won’t change me but His grace will. When I focus on my relationship with Him, the rest settles itself.
What are we focusing on today? Keeping the score or loving Jesus?
--------------------------------------------------
Jesus highlighted another mistake the Pharisees made, that distanced them from the Lord’s power to change them.
THEY MADE THE OUTWARD MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE INWARD
Jesus mentioned a few times about the outside and the inside.
• On the outside, everything looks fine. The cup looks clean. The tombs look beautiful, Jesus said.
• The Pharisees looked pious – they don nice robes, talk spiritual, look religious, and act righteous. They are known for their strict observance of the Law.
They got high scores for their rule-keeping but that was not the score sheet that Jesus uses.
• His score sheet was like an x-ray vision of the heart. He was marking out what He sees on their INSIDE.
• God doesn’t judge a person on the outside, only man does. The world does that, but not God. He never does.
• 1 Sam 16:7 “The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
Jesus exposes their hypocrisy. He said the word ‘hypocrites’ 7 times in this chapter. The Pharisees camouflage what’s on the inside.
Jesus wasn’t trying to be hard on them. He has never been hard on sinners.
• In fact, most of the followers He had in the Gospel were imperfect ones – those previously sick, lame, blind, and demon-possessed; the tax-collectors and prostitutes, the sinners. Whole bunch of the marginalised ones!
• Jesus embraced them all not because they were good, but because they were REAL! They own up to their mistakes and moral failures. They come as they are, with all their disappointments and pains.
Jesus does not expect us to be perfect. In fact, He wants to make us perfect.
• It will be a mistake to think we need to put on a mask and act religious in order to gain God’s favour. Don’t repeat the Pharisees’ mistakes.
• Jesus wants us to come as we are. Come clean with Jesus. He looks for AUTHENTICITY. Show Him what’s there and He will clean you up.
Being authentic isn’t easy. We are trained by a worldly environment to make an impression. I had lunch with dad and uncle in a foodcourt on Mon when the person seated beside my uncle started a conversation. After some small talk, I encouraged him to go to the nearby church.
He started to tell me about what churches are doing; he is open and familiar with what churches are doing. But one line he said caught my attention: “You want to help the people, be genuine. Don’t give them mooncakes and then get them to sit down and listen to your talk for 20 min.” He talked about the gimmicks that he had seen, not in a condemning way, but a matter-of-factly. He read the ulterior motives. But not all, many churches are going very good work.
Being genuine, real, honest, authentic is not easy, but we must.
• Life change can only take place when we are HONEST with God. If we try to hide ‘IT’ from Him, we are just keeping ‘IT’ to ourselves.
For some, the problem is not even being honest with God, but being honest with ourselves. We are deceiving ourselves.
• The Pharisees faked their righteousness and they probably knew it.
• But why are they doing that then? So that they can FEEL good about themselves, so that they will LOOK good in public.
You can clean the outside, but only Jesus can clean the INSIDE.
• The Lord spoke to me when I was preparing this sermon. He said, the question to ask is not “How is your ministry? How is your work?”
• He said the more pertinent question is: “How is your soul? How is your heart today?” [I pondered. How true! For ministry and work, I have the help of the HS.]
How are you today? [I am not asking about your studies, or your work.]
• How is your soul today? You get that right, the rest will be right. You get that wrong, nothing you do will make it right.
--------------------------------------- like to address 3 different groups of people
(1) If you’re a seeker today, come to Jesus as you are and He will clean you up, forgive you of your sin, and give you a new life.
• Any other way will not do; only Jesus can change us from the inside.
(2) If you are wronged by Christians in the past, tell yourselves this – they are all work-in-progress, unfinished products.
• They are hypocrites, yes. But remember we are all clay in the hands of our Potter. God is still working on us. Pray that they will change.
(3) Are you wearing a mask today? We do that at some point in our lives; me too. But are you still wearing it today?
• Are you trying to pretend that you have it all together, when deep inside you’re struggling to keep up the act?
• The cure is not to change anything on the outside. It’s not trying to do more.
• True change has to take place on the INSIDE. And the one Person who can affect that kind of change is JESUS.
Come before Him and admit that we need help. Come as often as you can, and He will touch you and change you, from the inside-out.
