The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Matthew 15:12-14,
"Then the disciples came to him and asked, 'Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?' He replied, 'Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.'"
The "do-gooders" (we have all kinds of those today!) came to Jesus to complain to Jesus about his disciples not following their definition of a high and lofty lifestyle they peddled about as that which would please God. Why, yes! Of course they thought they had the market on superior religious practices. After all, were not these Pharisees and teachers of the law the "religious elites" of their day?
Jesus simply called them hypocrites to their face and quoted Isaiah 29:13 where the Lord says, "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules." What an appropriate message for so many today!
Next in Matthew are the verses quoted above. The Son of God had no use for them, only scorn. When his disciples pointed out to Jesus that he had offended them, he had no concern for their snowflake feelings.
Jesus offended! In pursuit of his own agenda, the hurt feelings of others held absolutely no sway with him.
Is this how Jesus is portrayed in many churches today? Far from the milquetoast pastel-colored fuzzball I have had offered to me on so many occasions, I find the Messiah in the Scriptures to be something else altogether. The lamb of God sacrificed on the cross turns out to be the "Lion of the tribe of Judah"! Revelation 5:5.
A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
"Then the disciples came to him and asked, 'Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?' He replied, 'Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.'"
The "do-gooders" (we have all kinds of those today!) came to Jesus to complain to Jesus about his disciples not following their definition of a high and lofty lifestyle they peddled about as that which would please God. Why, yes! Of course they thought they had the market on superior religious practices. After all, were not these Pharisees and teachers of the law the "religious elites" of their day?
Jesus simply called them hypocrites to their face and quoted Isaiah 29:13 where the Lord says, "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules." What an appropriate message for so many today!
Next in Matthew are the verses quoted above. The Son of God had no use for them, only scorn. When his disciples pointed out to Jesus that he had offended them, he had no concern for their snowflake feelings.
Jesus offended! In pursuit of his own agenda, the hurt feelings of others held absolutely no sway with him.
Is this how Jesus is portrayed in many churches today? Far from the milquetoast pastel-colored fuzzball I have had offered to me on so many occasions, I find the Messiah in the Scriptures to be something else altogether. The lamb of God sacrificed on the cross turns out to be the "Lion of the tribe of Judah"! Revelation 5:5.
A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
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