So Close and Yet So Far

The Pharisees were experts in interpreting and in keeping the Jewish laws. But although they were good at keeping rules and regulations, their hearts were far from God.

It is possible to be outwardly religious while your heart is self-centred and hardened to the things that matter to God. History bore witness to their hard-heartedness. They killed or persecuted the prophets who brought God’s message. And now that God’s own Son had come, they prevented people from receiving his truth, and they themselves refused to listen to the truth.

Jesus criticized the Pharisees for three reasons:

– they were hypocrites, concerned about outward appearance while ignoring the important matters of the heart, like justice, caring for the poor, and love for God and people

– they loaded people down with burdens they couldn’t carry, then wouldn’t help them bear the burden

– they avoided their privilege and responsibility as gatekeepers to knowing God. Verse 52 in today’s reading puts it this way: “Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.”

The Pharisees were experts in interpreting and in keeping the Jewish laws. But although they were good at keeping rules and regulations, their hearts were far from God.

When the prophet Samuel was told by God to visit a man named Jesse and to choose one of his sons to be the next king of Israel, Samuel was drawn to Jesse’s son Eliab. “But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’” (I Samuel 16:7)

Respond in Prayer

All-knowing God, you see my innermost being. Reveal to me the things that displease you, so that I may learn to walk in your ways. When my heart is in step with yours, I will learn to love others as you love me. In Jesus’ name, I ask this. Amen.

Bill Bonikowsky

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version® (NIV®).