Matthew 19:1-15
Let’s remember to pray for Jim and Marty.
“Notice what you notice.” Some time ago Carol shared what she had learned about the Pharisees “testing” Jesus just the same as they would test anyone who claimed to be the Messiah. In so doing, they were trying to weed out the false messiahs. So whenever I see Jesus being tested by the Pharisees (v. 3), those thoughts immediately come to mind and I tend to give the Pharisees some slack – they were only doing their job. Unfortunately, there were many occasions where this testing seems to have been meant to be confrontational – and the Pharisees always lost when they confronted Jesus in this way.
Today’s reading seems to be testing of a different sort. Both of my Study Bibles discuss the issue of divorce back in those days, hearkening to two different schools of thought, one more liberal than the other. So the Pharisees in this testing case were asking Jesus to take sides, to support one school over the other. They probably did not expect that He would come down so strongly in support of the conservative school, going back to Genesis even stronger than the conservative school would teach. So it didn’t matter whether these Pharisees who were testing Jesus were liberal or conservative – either school got more than they bargained for.
Which brings me to wonder, what kind of Messiah the Jews were expecting. We’ve long heard that they were expecting a strong king-like figure who would overthrow the Roman rule and establish His Kingship over all the world, based in Jerusalem. But I wonder what their thoughts were on this Messiah’s ethics, morals, and behavioral teaching. Would He revert to the Mosaic Law and throw out interpretations that the scribes, lawyers, and Pharisees had put forth? Or did they think about that at all? And it makes me wonder why they would even ask Jesus a question about lawful divorce (except to force him to take sides). Maybe they were truly wondering if Jesus might be the long-awaited Messiah and they wanted to know where He stood with respect to their teachings? So it seems to me that I am giving the Pharisees more slack in this “confrontation” than I have in any other. More confusion…!
Slava Bohu!
Ha, ha!!! Fred, you are so right in saying, “the Pharisees always lost when they confronted Jesus in this way.”
I also wonder whether the Pharisees would have accepted anyone as the Messiah; having spent so much time testing and discrediting false Messiahs, how were they to see Jesus actually passed all of the tests? They were so sure of their own interpretations of the law, when Jesus was teaching what seemed like heresy to them—breaking the Sabbath, for example—how could they get past it? They couldn’t.
So what’s the message for me? The same one David preached a few weeks ago: watch out for my assumptions about what is right based on religious traditions I’ve learned. And make sure I read God’s word with humility and an open heart!!!
I always appreciate your thoughts, Fred and Carol, too. I looked particularly at the end of Mt. 19:8 “but from the beginning it was not so.” Jesus was there at the beginning and is speaking authoritatively, the true meaning.
I actually focused more on the little children who were brought. I visualize under 5 or 6 years because the parents bring not send, or have the children wandering around. Older kids may come on their own. These little children are pretty much dependent on their parents and trust them, just as we need to depend on and trust God on everything. I am trying to grow more childlike the older I get.
We sorely missed your near-daily comments while you were gone, Debbie. Thanks for getting back up to speed! (And good insights also…!)