July 27, Matthew 15
Legalism binds tradition and opinion as if the words of humans were the word of God. Legalism also teaches law-keeping as a means of salvation. Since no one keeps the law perfectly, legalists make certain commands the “important ones,” making sure they keep a certain list of rules, while creating a loophole to excuse disobeying the other ones.
The Pharisees were legalists in all the above senses of the word. They repeatedly accused Jesus and his disciples of breaking the Sabbath rules. They were incensed that Jesus and his
followers did not embrace their rigid ceremonial traditions. The Pharisees also believed they were righteous because they were better at keeping the law than the people around them they deemed to be sinners. They specialized in picking commands to measure their righteousness and others’ sinfulness. They emphasized external, physical acts of obedience to meticulous rules.
Jesus was not subtle in his response to the Pharisees. He called them hypocrites. In multiple skirmishes with them, he exposed their inconsistency and their materialistic attitudes. He showed how far from God they were in their hateful exclusivism, and told them their external forms were empty, meaningless rituals. They might appear righteous to people around them, but on the inside where God saw them, Jesus
said they were unclean and far from God.
The Pharisees were big on ceremonial cleanness. They saw potential ceremonial defilement lurking in every meal and marketplace situation. Jesus debunked their theory of holiness, pointing out it was not what was going into the mouth that defiled a person, but what was coming out of the heart.
Jesus went on healing the sick and feeding the hungry. He showed the compassion of God for the people he taught and touched, in stark contrast to the Pharisees who judged and despised everyone in sight.
Do you know any sincere and devout religious people who are more like the Pharisees than they are like Jesus? Legalism is still alive in the church today. If you’ve been a victim of the legalists’ tactics, it’s easy to be skeptical of church people. Just remember such attitudes are not from Jesus or from people who are really following him. If we’ve been guilty of treating the Bible and people around us like the Pharisees did, we should repent. We must carefully compare what we do to Jesus and what he did. It’s easy to see the hypocrisy in others, but not so easy to see it in ourselves.
From The Abiding Companion: A Friendly Guide
for Your Journey Through the New Testament,
Copyright © 2010 by Michael B. McElroy. Used
by permission. All rights reserved.
Today in God's Word—July 2024
East Tallassee Church of Christ
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