Last time, we looked at verses 37-44 at the profile of a hypocrite given by Jesus in response to a criticism from a Pharisee. After Jesus finished addressing the Pharisee, the scribes pointed out He had also insulted them. Jesus basically responded by saying, “If the shoe fits wear it!”
Jesus said they were as guilty as the Pharisees, for while the Pharisees were the practitioners of hypocrisy, the experts in the law help promote hypocrisy through their emphasis on legalism. (READ TEXT)
The scribes interpreted the law of Moses by coming up with rules to define how the law was to be obeyed. The Pharisees were dedicated to living by these rules. This is why they’re often mentioned together.
The Law said no work was to be done on the Sabbath Day. So the scribes categorized things to determine what was work or not. For instance, to carry a burden was to work. But a burden had to be defined. So the scribes said a burden was “food equal in weight to a dried fig, enough wine for mixing in a goblet, milk enough for one swallow, honey enough to put upon a wound, oil enough to anoint a small member, water enough to moisten an eye-salve, paper enough to write a customs house notice upon, ink enough to write two letters of the alphabet, reed enough to make a pen” - and so on endlessly.
They spent endless hours on whether a man could lift a lamp from one place to another on the Sabbath, whether a tailor sinned if he went out with a needle in his robe, whether a woman might wear a brooch, even if a man might go out on the Sabbath with artificial teeth, or if a man might lift his child on the Sabbath Day. Their
religion was a legalism of petty rules and regulations.
This legalistic approach to life change was condemned by Jesus then, even as the Bible condemns it today.
“ ‘Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!’? These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.” - Colossians 2:21-23 (NIV)
Jesus readily criticized the legalistic approach and in so doing, gives us a profile of a legalist. A legalist . . .
1. Places standards on others he won’t accept for himself - v. 46
William Barclay gives an example of how the scribes did this. “The limit of a Sabbath day’s journey was 2,000 cubits (1,000 yards) from a man’s residence.” But if on the Friday evening before, he left at any given point enough food for two meals, that point technically became his residence and he could go 1,000 yards beyond that!
Carrying a burden was forbidden, but the law of the scribes said, “he who carries anything, whether in his right hand, or in his left hand, or in his bosom, or on his shoulder is guilty; but he who carries anything on the back of his hand, with his foot, or with his mouth, or with his elbow, or with his ear, or with his hair, or with his money bag turned upside down, or between his money bag and his shirt, or in the fold of his shirt or in his shoe, or in his sandal is guiltless, because he does not carry it in the usual way of carrying it out.”
It’s incredible that men ever thought God could have laid down laws like that, and that working out of such details was a religious service and keeping of them a matter of life and death. But that was scribal religion. Little wonder that Jesus turned on the scribes, and that the scribes regarded him as an irreligious heretic.
Too often this type of attitude is reflected by believers who think they have it all figured out and are, therefore, intolerant toward those who disagree with them. I’m not speaking about essentials of the faith, but rather, the inconsequential concerns of so many, like length of hair; the appropriateness of facial hair; ladies wearing pants rather than dresses; ladies wearing make up; piercings; tattoos; where and when and who can wear hats; men wearing a suit and tie; and on and on and on.
Instead of trying to impose our attitudes and opinions as the Word of God; we need to let the Word of God shape our attitudes and opinions! As the 17th century German Lutheran theologian, Rupertus Meldenius expressed it: “In essentials, let there be Unity; in non-essentials, let there be liberty; and in all things, let there be charity.”
2. Loves the trappings of religion but despises truth - vs. 47-51
The attitude of the scribes toward the prophets was paradoxical. They professed a deep admiration for the prophets; but the only prophets they admired were dead. When they met a living prophet, they tried to kill him. They honored the dead prophets with tombs and memorials, but they dishonored the living ones with persecution and death.
“He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” - Micah 6:8 (NKJV)
Such was the essence of the prophetic message. It spoke of a faith that is first an internal reality that is demonstrated by external commitment. This was the opposite of scribal teaching. The scribes emphasized first the external details of religion and had no real concern about a faith that is an inward reality. If we aren’t careful, we can fall into the trap of living the Christian life the same way - concentrating more on the external trappings than on the internal reality.
Many like to respond to good points in a sermon by saying “amen.” That seems to be a verbal way of saying “I agree.” But most don’t realize when they say “amen” they are speaking Hebrew. The word literally means “So be it,” or “Let it be so!” Of course, the true “amen” isn’t voiced during the sermon as much as it’s worked into in our lives after the preaching. It’s easy to say “amen,” but we need to “let it be so” in our lives from day to day.
3. Stumbles at the truth and is a stumbling block to others - v. 52
The scribes had shut people off from Scripture. In their hands, the Scripture became a book of riddles. They refused to see its plain meaning themselves and would not let anyone else see it either. The Scripture had become something to be understood only by the expert and a dark mystery to the common person.
Many today have so added their opinions; traditions; ideas; rituals and preferences to the Word of God that many are kept from understanding truth because they have to work through so much “color commentary.”
“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel - which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a
gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!” - Galatians 1:6-9 (NIV)
Adding our “rules” to the truth of the gospel is a serious offense!
You are writing a Gospel, a chapter each day;
By deeds that you do and by words that you say;
Men read what you write whether faithless or true;
Say, what is the Gospel, according to you?
Conclusion: Rather than approaching the Christian life by the way of legalism, we should approach it by embracing the way of love. This is, what Jesus taught and what He sought to get the legalists to understand.
“And one of them, an expert in the law, asked a question to test him: ‘Teacher, which command in the law is the greatest?’ He said to him, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.” - Matthew 22:35-40 (CSB)
Peter illustrates the legalistic approach to life-change (Matthew 26:31-35).
“Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.” - v. 33
“Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” - v. 35
Peter depended on himself, and he ended up denying Jesus.
John, by contrasts, illustrates the love approach to life-change. Six times in his Gospel, John refers to himself, not as the disciple who loved Jesus, but as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” By contrast with Peter, John followed Jesus all the way to the cross.
Now, later on, when the Lord forgave Peter for his denial (John 21), Peter learned that the secret is not to focus on yourself and what you must do; but to focus on Jesus and what He has done.
What has He done? He has demonstrated His love for us.
“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.” - 1 John 3:16 (NIV)
“We love because he first loved us.” - 1 John 4:19 (NIV)
We can love the Lord as we should and others as we should as we are fixated each day on how much God loves us as demonstrated by the cross. The love of God is what transforms our loves! Which way are you living the Christian life? The way of legalism? Or the way of love?
