9.26.11

by Derek Magill

Two weeks ago, our country remembered the anniversary of one the most heinous attacks in the history of America when Islamic terrorists brought down the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York, damaged the Pentagon, killed thousands of people, and injured thousands more.  These terrorists were motivated by a sincere belief that they were following the will of God and obeying his commands. 

Similarly, in the first century A.D., Jesus encountered a religious group that was just as zealous and sincere in its desire to obey God's law.  Members of this group, known as Pharisees, prided themselves in obeying “the Law”, but they completely missed the true meaning and purpose of the Law, did not recognize their Messiah, and were just as spiritually dead as the Islamic terrorists.  Like the terrorists, the Pharisees used divine law as an excuse to commit acts of evil.

In Luke chapter six, we read of two encounters that Jesus and His disciples had with the Pharisees.  In the second encounter, the Pharisees were watching to see if Jesus would heal a man on the Sabbath who had a withered hand, which they thought would be a violation of God's law.  However, Jesus rebukes them, asking, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or destroy it?” (Luke 6:9 ESV).  Here Jesus gets to the heart of the Law and demonstrates true obedience to God by healing the man with the withered hand.  One of the main purposes of the Law is to teach us how to love one another, but rather than loving the man with the withered hand, celebrating with him because of the miracle that Jesus performed to heal him, or praising God for this act of loving-kindness, the Pharisees were “filled with fury” (Luke 6:11).  Instead of learning from the Law how to love others, the Pharisees used the Law for their own self-righteousness in a vain attempt to earn the favor of God.

Later in Luke chapter six, we see Jesus again explaining the true meaning of the Law.  In verse 29, He says, “from the one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either.”  Does God's law not command, “You shall not steal”?  Does God's law not prescribe restitution to the victims of theft?  Yes, by following the letter of the Law, if someone steals my coat, I have every right to press charges.  However, if I am to live by the spirit of the Law, what is the loving response in this situation: to seek justice or to show mercy by giving my shirt to the one in need who has stolen my coat?  By the Old Testament law, I could require the man in need to return my coat and pay an additional one-fifth of its value (see Leviticus 6:1-7).  How evil would it be for someone who can spare a coat and a shirt to force someone who is poor to pay a fine?  Instead of using the letter of the Law for evil, one should practice the spirit of the Law and seek redemption in others.

Near the end of the chapter, Jesus uses the analogy of trees and fruit to describe the difference between those who truly obey God and those who do not.  “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit.  …The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil” (Luke 6:43-45).  The spiritually-dead hearts of the Islamic terrorists produced the evil fruits of death and destruction, and the spiritually-dead hearts of the Pharisees produced the evil fruits of pride, self-righteousness, and ultimately the crucifixion of Jesus, the Son of God.  Thus, we see that true obedience to God is not through legalistically adhering to a set of rules, especially when we use those rules to cause harm to our fellow man.  No, true obedience is fundamentally a condition of the heart, for all the Law can be summed up in loving God and loving your neighbor.

So what is the condition of your heart?  Have you been like the Pharisees, using the Law as an excuse for selfish behavior?  Have you been striving to follow a set of rigid rules to earn God's favor or become righteous through your own works?  Brothers and sisters, this is impossible, but thanks be to God that what is impossible with man is possible with God!  As we strive to become obedient to God's will, remember the good news is that we have a savior who was perfectly obedient to God's law on our behalf and has clothed us with His righteousness.  God can change the very condition of our heart and transform a tree that bears bad fruit into one that produces good fruit, and if we repent of these sins, then forgiveness, mercy, and grace are made available through the death of Christ.