Live by your law, die by your law
Christ said, “For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:20).
During the time of Christ, there were several different religions competing against each other in their righteousness. One group of religious leaders, the Pharisees, intentionally lived in separate communities away from sinners in order to maintain their righteousness. The Pharisees believed that the law that God gave to Moses, the Torah, consisted of two parts: The Written Law, also known as the first five books of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy); and the Oral Law or the Pharisees’ interpretation of the Written Law. The Pharisees placed their emphasis on the Oral Law because they believed that the Jewish people needed these new laws to help them keep the commandments of God and therefore be righteous.
For example, the Written Law requires that no work be performed on the Sabbath. With their claim that the Oral Law also came from Moses, the Pharisees made into religious law 39 different categories of forbidden actions to prevent a believer from desecrating the Sabbath. Not 39 actions. Thirty-nine categories of actions with a list of forbidden actions under each category.
The Sadducees were another group of religious leaders who literally called themselves “the righteous ones” when they took upon themselves the Hebrew word Ṣ’daqah which means “righteous.” The Sadducees only preached from the Written Law of Moses. If a principle or teaching was not written in the Torah, then it was not of God. For example, unlike the Pharisees, the Sadducees did not believe in the immortality of the soul, bodily resurrection or life after death, or the existence of angelic spirits.
Even though the Pharisees, Sadducees, and other synagogue leaders fought amongst themselves about who was the most righteous, they did have one thing in common: They all wanted Jesus dead.
“On another Sabbath, [Jesus] went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to the man with the shriveled hand, ‘Get up and stand in front of everyone.’ So he got up and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, ‘I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?’ He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He did so, and his hand was completely restored. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.” (Luke 6:6-11).
None of these religious leaders needed to consult the Written Law or the Oral Law to know they were justified in their anger against Christ. It was simple. Jesus worked on the Sabbath. Jesus therefore broke the Law. Therefore, Jesus should die.
Leaders of churches all over the world stand up in front of their devoted congregations warning them to repent of their sins and prepare for the Second Coming of Christ. They make up “laws” about what people should do and should not do and who should and should not come to church. All to help their members to be more righteous, not more loving. I know of one pastor that will not allow a member back into his church because this member recently divorced for the third time. Yet, this same pastor does not know that another member of his church gets out of his car with a beer in his hand, drinking the last of it before he throws it away in the trashcan just outside the front entrance of the church.
Declaring righteousness by following rigid laws is hypocrisy because “whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” (James 2:10). Christ knew that no one is able to keep the law because if you broke just one small part of the law, you broke ALL of the law. Just like with the laws of our courts and justice system today. Paul said, “I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” (Galatians 2:21). In other words, if we could be made righteous or holy by strictly following all the religious laws, Christ’s sacrifice and death would never have been needed. Everyone makes mistakes. That is just a part of life! We need more love and compassion with truth. Not more religious laws!
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Matthew 7:1-2.) Modern-day interpretation: “Live by the sword, die by the sword. Live by the technicality of the law by harshly criticizing and hurting the people you call family and friends, and, you too, will die by your same technical law.”
Mother Owl
