September 7 Law or Love?

Luke 5:17 One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick.
 
DOES the word “Pharisee” cause a negative response in you? It seems an appropriate response as we read in the gospels of the ways these Jewish leaders repeatedly tried to inhibit and even cancel Jesus’ ministry. Jesus warned his disciples against the Pharisees’ self-righteous and judgmental teachings. And the Pharisees conspired with the Sadducees against Jesus’ life. Yes, these religious leaders definitely deserve our negative feelings.
    But let’s stop for a minute and consider their position. Perhaps you and I have more in common with a Pharisee than we might think. In Jewish history, Pharisees were a class of leaders formed during the 400 years between the Old Testament and Jesus’ ministry. Judea (Israel) was continually under foreign rule. Some of those rulers were very evil men who desecrated God’s temple in Jerusalem. They enslaved the Jews both physical and morally with their evil political and religious practices.  The persecutions we see today in the Mideast are comparable to the reign of terror over Israel in those days.
    In response, the Jews sought ways to keep God’s law and his knowledge alive, separated from the evil. “Pharisee” means to separate oneself from anything that is not of God’s law. Thus, Pharisees wrapped themselves in God’s commands to protect themselves and the Jews from evil rulers.
    The Pharisees had godly intentions. They strived for holiness in God’s sight, desiring to preserve Judea as God’s nation. Their learning and lifestyle were founded on strict obedience to God’s law.
    But then as sinful man is prone to do, the Pharisees added their own laws to God’s laws. Religious restrictions grew to diminish God’s grace and love from the true law. Remember Jesus declared he had come “to proclaim freedom for the captive” (Luke 4:18) One way he did so was to preach restoration of the law’s true purpose to point to a holy, loving and gracious God. Recall, also, the greatest command is to “Love the Lord your God.” (Matthew 22:37) With love, God gave the law as a means of protecting, not imprisoning his people.
    Jesus condemned the Pharisees for the legalisms they had built around God’s grace. In turn, they condemned Jesus because they saw him as a law-breaker. The righteous battled the unrighteous. And for a time, it seemed the unrighteous Pharisees won. But we know Jesus unlocked the Jews’ religious chains through the power of his sacrificial love. Eventually, some Pharisees, most notably Nicodemus (see John 3), came to faith in Christ. They, too, became free of man’s laws through God’s grace. The Holy Spirit opened their eyes to the reality that Jesus, indeed, was the fulfillment of God’s law.
    As we look back and judge the Pharisees of Jesus’ day, we must consider two questions: First, ask yourself, “Do I separate myself from evil?” The Pharisees were formed with the same just cause that Scripture teaches us today in 1 Peter 1:14-15 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do.
    Second, we must ask ourselves, “Is there any way I put religious restrictions above God’s grace and love?” The answer to both questions requires a loving study of God’s gracious words to know his true answers.
 
Prayer: Teach me, Lord, of your great love. Help me to know the difference between man-made rules and your remarkable grace. In the Spirit’s power I pray. Amen.