March 12, 2019 - Suggested Reading Matthew 23 for Mar 17ths message on Matthew 12:1-14 in our worship service at 10:45 am

“They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.”

Matthew 23:4 (NIV) 

Matthew 23 should put the fear of God into all instructors of God’s people, whether they are pastors, or Sunday school teachers, or parents, or mentors, or older siblings. The behaviour of the Pharisees and teachers of the Law is systematically categorized and condemned by our Lord Jesus Christ, in this chapter from verse 13 thru verse 36, and I for one do not want to emulate in any way the behaviours that are listed here in detail.

Now in the first 12 verses our Lord identifies for all of us the general sinful tendencies of spiritual instructors of any kind. and I see traces of these in my life today.

Behaviour #1 – the instructor does not practice what they teach (do I watch TV shows I won’t let my kids watch?)

Behaviour #2 – the instructor is the opposite of helpful- they burden instead of help

Behaviour #3 – the instructor is most concerned with personal reputation, respect and honour

Behaviour #4 – the tendency of the instructor and the instructed to want the instructor to fulfill God’s role in a person’s life

Behaviour #5 – the instructor wants to be served instead of wanting to serve

These tendencies of instructors that kill true righteousness are universal throughout time and culture, and we should be searching our lives for them and rooting them out. We tend to think of the Pharisees as a group of people isolated in time, and we forget that their behaviours towards our Lord and His apostles are examples of the tendency of religious observance to become the enemy of true righteousness and true Christian ministry. In short - every Christian has a Pharisee inside us, that will govern our lives if we do not make a concerted effort to
“know what it means that God desires mercy not sacrifice.”

The best way (the Jesus way) to not let legalism, self righteousness and hypocrisy become the rulers of our hearts and lives, is for us to continually identify these general tendencies in our own lives and to continually approach the throne of grace for forgiveness. It is only as we continually experience God’s mercy in our lives, that the inner Pharisee who whispers rules, appearances and reputation are most important will be broken and placed in submission to the Person of Christ who lives in our hearts through His Spirit. It is only as we know (experience for ourselves our daily need for mercy) that God desires mercy rather than sacrifice, will we become the spiritual instructors God
wants us to be.