WEEKLY
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
An
international Sunday school lesson commentary
For
Sunday July 8, 2018
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JESUS
CRITICIZES UNJUST LEADERS
(Practicing
justice, mercy, and faithfulness)
(Matthew
23:1-4 and 23-26)
From the time the written
Word of GOD was first handed down to man through Moses until now, man, through
his own human ingenuity, has always tried to twist it to fit his own chosen
denominational lifestyle. Man has constantly sought a way that we can make a
god in our own “distorted spiritual image”, instead of humbling ourselves in
obedience, under the GOD, WHO made us in HIS.
And as we continue to offer up to GOD our
own various versions of what we think Christianity should be like in our minds,
GOD will continue to sit back and let us spank our own selves with mortal
doctrines that cannot possibly govern us into anything near righteousness, or
eternal life with HIM.
Throughout JESUS’ three-year ministry here
on earth, HE was constantly challenged by Church leaders who had incorporated
their own private doctrines ahead of the principles and concepts of “the GOD”
in Heaven, WHOM they say they desire to follow, worship, and adore. These
Church leaders lived in the most blessed generation of all time, because many
of them got to actually see and hear JESUS’ teachings, and see HIS lifestyle
examples, first hand, up-close, live, and in person.
JESUS already understood what most
religious leaders fail to understand, even in this day and age, and that is the
fact that no human being is capable of compiling a list of rules and
regulations that every human being can totally and perfectly benefit from by
observing. Man, because of his own mortalities and imperfections, will never be
able to spiritually rule over another man. In fact, it is because we are human
that it is impossible for us to concoct such a system of rules and laws that
will perfectly avoid all the pitfalls in a church, or, in a secular society.
In short, man, who is, in every sense,
created by GOD, and for GOD, needs the CREATOR in order to exist and survive in
continued peace, joy, and prosperity. GOD, in HIS advance wisdom, has already
made it impossible for man to unite in perfect harmony under himself. For we,
who were created by GOD, can only unite under HIM by being in perfect agreement
and obedience to HIS Word. GOD has never needed, nor been interested in
incorporating our “human ingenuity” in HIS plans, especially for “The Church”.
He only requires “our obedience”.
Taking up at verse 1 of Matthew chapter 23,
JESUS cautions both, HIS disciples, and the crowd who had gathered before HIM
that; “The teachers of religious law and
the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the Scriptures. So practice and
obey whatever they say to you, but don’t follow their example. For, they don’t
practice what they teach. They crush you with impossible religious demands and
never lift a finger to help ease the burden”.
The Scribes and the Pharisees were big on
“ceremonial law”, those denominational decrees which they manufactured
themselves, through their “human ingenuity” and cleaver thinking. They laid
upon Israel, literally hundreds of laws, called “customs of the elders”, that
weren’t even written down until hundreds of years after the crucifixion of
JESUS (circa A.D. 400).
These rules and regulations often had
nothing to do with the Word of GOD, but rather were only presented to people as
if they were “bible”. That is why JESUS HIMSELF did not observe, nor respect
them. These regulations were “humanly impossible to obey” anyway, because they
found their origins in satan, and satan always wants us to think that “it is
impossible to obey GOD”.
These religious leaders would simply take
one of GOD’s laws, and through their human ingenuity, they would exaggerate it
many times over, to make it sound completely impossible to achieve unless, of
course, you were “one of them” (a Pharisee or Scribe).
In
verse 23 of this chapter, JESUS shines the spotlight on another one of the
Pharisees many flaws in the way that they operate under GOD, disregarding
“justice”, “mercy”, and ”faith”. Here HE points out the distorted way in which
they regarded tithing and giving. Even though they were teachers of the law of
GOD, they did not completely comprehend the true reason as to why GOD
institutes and emphasizes the importance of “giving”.
Giving trains us how to address and
practice applying justice, mercy, and faith in our lifestyle. We are to be just
and merciful toward our fellowman, just as GOD is just and merciful to each of
us, and, by doing this, we show our faith in GOD to take care of all of our
needs, because we care for the needs of others.
When sin entered into the world, one of
GOD’s judgments on man was that HE “cursed the ground” (Genesis 3:17).
Everything that we see existing in the world originates from that “now cursed”
ground, and therefore, everything man makes or raises from the ground also contains
that curse.
However, GOD, through HIS boundless mercy
and grace, instituted “giving” (tithing, sharing, and reacting positively to the
human need all around us), as the only method by which we can overcome the
curse of the earth. Giving, which is the sharing of one’s possessions and one’s
self (unselfishness), is “the only way to counteract the curse on the produce
and products of the earth that was brought on by the “selfishness” of Adam and
Eve, which brought sin into humanity.
When we give at least 10% of our earnings, and
we are willing to share our time, talents, and prosperity with those who are in
need, we take the curse off of that which we give, and, off of all that which
we retain for ourselves and our family’s need. In addition, JESUS says in
effect that, “through our generosity here
on earth, we store up treasures for ourselves in Heaven!” (Luke 16:9). It
is a formula that, if used, would, quite literally, mean death to “greed”,
selfishness, and “poverty” in the world.
In verse 25-26, JESUS warns the religious
leaders of how terrible it will be for hypocrites who are so careful to “clean
the exterior of the body” or, maintain a good outward appearance for others to
see, but the inside is filthy and full of greed and self-indulgence. HE then
suggests that they clean the inside (the heart, soul, and mind) first, and
then, the outside will become clean also.
What JESUS is saying here to the religious
leaders is that, “what came first to us as human beings” is the inside, not the
outside, and that, the part of us that is the most important to our existence once
we are born into this world, is the inside, the “eternal parts”.
GOD actually constructed our “innermost being”
first, our core layers, which are, “our heart” (the center of our thoughts,
where GOD must be kept), “our soul” (the human spirit, where GOD placed HIS
“nature” and the “compassion” to regulate it with), and, “our mind”, (our self
conscience, which was made to be dictated to by our heart and soul). The mind is
the center for our self-conscience, pattern of thought, moral compass, and
decision making.
The final part of our being is the “human
flesh” (the only part that is not “eternal”), the outer part, the only part which
can be seen, or “sensed” (seen, heard, felt, smelled, or even tasted) by
others. What’s inside of us, the unseen spiritual part, actually determines
what we do in the physical. In other words, our innermost spiritual make-up is actually
manifested outwardly through our behavior, which can be seen and felt by others.
And so, since man always, 100% of the time,
does that which is in his heart, GOD uses our heart (the center of our
thoughts) as “the barometer” by which HE judges us. It is an absolute “fool
proof” system. That is also why JESUS teaches that we attack sin in “the
thinking stages” where it can be brought under control without consequences. That
is also why JESUS says here that, if we clean the inside first, placing our
thoughts on the things of GOD, our actions, the things that we do in the
physical with our bodies, will also be GODly.
A Sunday school lesson by,
Larry D. Alexander
LARRY D. ALEXANDER-
Official Website
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