Jesus at the House of the Pharisees – Tintoretto (1518–1594)
As I make notes about the opening verses of Matthew 12, I see an amazing picture being drawn. With a quick reading of Matthew 12:1-8 this is what jumps out at me:
- The Pharisees nitpicking Jesus actions
- The Pharisees holding their interpretations of the law more sacred than the law itself
- The Pharisees excusing David’s sinful actions but condemning Jesus’ perfectly legal actions
- Jesus demonstrating his superior knowledge of the law
- Jesus using logic to silence the Pharisees
The leadership of the Jews thought they had a pretty good excuse for resisting Jesus. I say they were in fear for their way of life. They had an opulent setup that had no future if Jesus really was the Messiah. It must be the nature of people to not want to change, because they sure haven’t changed yet.
The enemies of Christ are still around and they still fear for their way of life. They’re even using the same old tactics against him:
- People nitpick Christians’ beliefs at every turn
- People want to hold what they “feel” is right more sacred than God’s word
- People are tolerant of sin but intolerant of obedience to God’s word
It is up to us to stand firm against those that are trying to bring down Christ. We are in charge of using our superior knowledge and logic to counter those who want to silence God.
Would you have known how to argue against the Pharisees in the Matthew 12:1-8 event? What can you change today to get better at defending God’s word?
January 17, 2014
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