"A Pharisee's Heart" August 24 Readings: Matthew 23:1-36, Mark 12:38-40, Luke 20:45-47

Today's Reading - Matthew 23:1-36, Mark 12:38-40, Luke 20:45-47 

Background

I wish I had a nickel for every time someone has used Matthew 23 to justify their angry words toward someone else. "Look what Jesus said to the Pharisees in Matthew 23." It's true, of course, he says some pretty harsh about his religious antagonists here. But it is well to remember a few things. Jesus was perfect and so was his judgment. Our judgment is often colored by our own pride, anger, and selfish perspective - Jesus was seeking only the glory and purposes of God. Unless I am absolutely sure that my judgment is as just as Christ's I would do well to guard my words.

What we see in this passage is a confrontation of the Pharisees for all they were and all they did wrong. Jesus held nothing back. The devotional will deal with the high points in this, but the key point here is that the tendency toward pharisaical attitudes and actions is in each of us. We tend to pin the label on others, but what we need to do is watch our own hearts and minds for the 

Devotional - The Heart of a Pharisee

You're a Pharisee!
No I am not. You are!

Godwin's Law of Online Discussions states: "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1." In a political or social debate, someone is going to make that accusation sooner or later. In theological discussions, it's the Pharisees who come to the forefront. That's "Miller's Corollary to Godwin's Law."  "As a religious discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Pharisees approaches 1." There is no theological bomb with more megatons of destructive power than "Pharisee" bomb.

The Pharisees were the enemies of Jesus Christ, resisting him at every step. Because of this, we have developed a negative and unrealistic view of who the Pharisees were. They were not cartoon villains or gangster thugs. They were passionate and religious - the best of the best in Judaism. The problem with the Pharisees was that they pursued a righteousness based on the Law and on their own efforts. They were not evil villains, but people who were trying to find their own way to God through human effort - a path that is always destined to fail.

It is generally not helpful to accuse others of being Pharisees, and often those accusations are petty and inaccurate. But there are some tendencies of Pharisees in Matthew 23:1-7 that we might want to examine, not to use as accusations against others, but to use to guard our own souls. There are Pharisaical tendencies each of us needs to examine our hearts to identify. Jesus leveled three specific charges against the Pharisees and we ought to be sure that these qualities are never in evidence in our lives.

First, Jesus warned his disciples:

But don’t do what they do, because they don’t practice what they teach. 

Pharisees talk about that which they do not do. Every one of us has a gap between what we know and what we do. But we must fight the pharisaic tendency to allow that gap to become too large. By the Spirit's power, we must seek to not only hear the Word but do what it says. 

There was a second characteristic of the Pharisees Jesus identified. 

They do everything to be observed by others. 

For the Pharisee, it was not about honoring God, but about impressing others. The Christian lives for the pleasure of God not according to the opinions of people. When I fear people more than I fear God, when I live to please people instead of pleasing God, I am living as the Pharisees would. 

Jesus pointed out a third problem with the Pharisees behavior. 

They love the place of honor at banquets, the front seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by people.

 It is Pharisaical to seek my own glory, to pursue my own ambitions, instead of seeking the glory of God. 

Of course, the Pharisees were a complex group and they cannot be easily defined. But we ought to be bothered when we see any of these Pharisaical tendencies in our own lives. 

Father, by your Spirit's power drive every Pharisaical characteristic from my life. May I be concerned with obeying you, not just talking about obeying you. May I live to honor and seek your glory alone. 

Think and Pray

Think of the characteristics of the Pharisees and examine your own life.
Are there pharisaical tendencies in your life that need to be addressed?