Pharisees

Matthew 12:1-2 NIV 

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath." 

The disciples were not stealing grain. What they were doing was both legally and culturally acceptable. What they were doing that was "unlawful" was picking grain on the Sabbath. Somehow in the minds of the religious elite slipping a little grain off the head of a barley plant to chew on had become the equivalent of harvesting on the Sabbath. After the "harvest" scandal, Jesus is questioned further. He is asked, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" Here is his response:

Matthew 12:7 NIV 

If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent. 

The Pharisees, in the name of holiness and purity, love their religion more than they love people. Of course they would say they love God, but that wasn't Jesus' assessment.

Matthew 12:34 NIV 

You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. 

It is easy for us to castigate the Pharisees. It is easy to see faults in others who seem to revel in being more "holy" than anyone else. Even in the name of love and mercy we cannot throw out every aspect of morality, but it makes me wonder. Are there times when I have been more interested in maintaining my religiosity than in truly loving people? Where is the line between mercy and compromise? Would I rather endure the disdain of the religious elite or the accusations of holding to a heartless religion?

These are not easy questions but I fear there is more Pharisee in me than I'd like to believe. Father let the world see Jesus in me no matter what the church thinks.

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