Wednesday, March 16, 2011 - Pointing Fingers and Raising Eyebrows

How did the Pharisees and religious leaders miss being impressed by Jesus or by the miracles they saw Him perform? Instead of bowing to His authority, they bristled and bucked Him at every turn. Their jealousy blinded them to His Truth. The promised Immanuel infuriated them because He got in "their" business and turned their own law against them. They wanted to focus on the letter of the Law and He insisted they read between the lines. They tried everything in the book to throw Jesus off track, to tie Him up in useless debates, to keep Him from being Who He claimed to be. The sad irony is they stood on religious principle instead of recognizing the Righteous Prince.  


When Jesus:
*cast out the demon and healed a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, they  called Him demonic (Matt. 9:34; 12:22-24) 
*ate with tax-collectors and "sinners," they questioned His Purity.
*forgave the paralytic man for his sins, they denied His Holiness, (Mark 2:3-7)
*allowed His disciples to pick enough grain from a field to eat, the Pharisees called the Law-Author unlawful. (Matt. 12:2)
*pointed out their blindness to God's work through the prophets and through Himself, they plotted to arrest the Truth. (Matt. 21:45-46)


When they (the Pharisees, Sadducees, men of law, and/or religious leaders):
*stood in front of the man with the withered hand in a synagogue on the sabbath and baited Jesus with their petty questions about the lawfulness of healing on the Sabbath, Jesus showed compassion and healed the man in front of their eyes and they left the synagogue to plot how to kill the Healer. (Matt. 12:9-14)
*tested Him with traps about paying taxes to the enemy, He amazed them with His Wisdom and didn't allow them to cheat on taxes or to cheat God.(Matt. 22:15-22)
*tested Him with questions about divorce, Jesus taught faithfulness.(Matt. 19:3-9)
*questioned Him about following religious form, He taught the superiority of honoring God to any religious form or man-made ritual.
*called His disciples unclean for not washing their hands in the ceremonially approved way, He called them unclean for not cleansing their hearts of evil.


"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad." 2 Corinthians 5:10


"But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin." 1 John 1:7


Father, Judge and Holy God, take the blinders from our hearts' eyes and keep us on Your side, by Your side. We need Your Power and Authority to keep our minds and hearts pure of jealousy, envy, and agendas. Slap our hands when we start pointing fingers at others. We need Your Spirit prompting us away from religious crutches. You're the Healer - please heal us of all that afflicted the religious leaders of Jesus' day. Replace jealousy with love, form with true worship, reputation with righteousness, divisiveness with unity, words with actions and attitudes that honor You. Fill us with compassion for each other and teach us to walk in the Light as You walk in the Light - leaving You to judge. May we never crush or dampen Your Spirit as You work in Your people, but keep us applauding all the "unorthodox" ways You introduce into our personal experiences. 
In the Name of Jesus, Righteous Prince, THE WAY, THE TRUTH, and THE LIFE AND LIGHT!

"I can do everything through Him who gives me strength." Philippians 4:13

"A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." Proverbs 17:22


Inspired by Jesus Calling and My Utmost For His Highest
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