Matthew 23:1-36: The Law Is Not About Winning

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 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.

“Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.

“But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. 

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.

“Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’ You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.’ You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!

“You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation. - Matthew 23:1-36

"You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to." (Matt. 23:13b) For some of Jesus' contemporaries, the Law had nothing to do with a relationship with God. The Law was a way to exercise control by changing the game. 

What does that mean? It is like the geek in high school who finds that he cannot compete with the quarterback of the football team for physical prowess or popularity. So the geek changes the game so that it is about computers or sci-fi or the academic decathlon. If you can't win the game that they are winning, then change to a new game and heap ridicule on those who play the old game.

That's what the Pharisees were doing. They couldn't beat the Romans or their cronies, the Herodians, for power. They couldn't beat the Sadducees or the temple priests for religious legitimacy. They couldn't beat the Essenes for strictness or the Zealots for passion. But the Pharisees had the Law. They were masters of its intricacies . They delighted in tripping up the purest or holiest of people and finding clever loopholes with the rules, racking up points over the other teams, even if no one else was keeping score.

But they forgot God. The Law was never useful for showing our righteous victory over others or rising in the rankings of the saints. Twisting it like that makes God into a score-keeping goalie, intent on limiting the success to only the worthy. Instead, the Law showed a God who longed for a people whose heart beat faster for the things in which he delighted. Only God wins. We have to lose. Jesus said, "Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it." (Matt. 10:39)

Matthew 10:1-10: Signs of Heaven Are Around If You're Willing to Look

Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.

These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.

“Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts—no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep. - Matthew 10:1-10

Jesus gave his disciples a clear message: 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.' He also gave a series of ways to show those who listened to his disciples that it was really true: 'Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons.' He also gave his disciples a clear attitude: 'Freely you have received; freely give.' 

I'm not sure if driving out demons is the way that people today would recognize that the kingdom had come near. God chooses his own signs, but God's signs always involve God doing what only God can do.  But signs are only visible to those who are looking. If I am not looking, then no sign will convince me of the presence of God. The road sign, 'Rest Area' is meant to give me advanced notice that there is a good place to stop and go to the restroom and stretch my legs. But if I am not looking for the sign of a 'Rest Area' I will never exit the highway soon enough. And why should I be looking if I am not feeling tired? Why should I be looking if I don't know the possibility of 'rest'? That is what the disciples proclaimed: heaven is around you if you are willing and interested to look. 

Matthew 10:24-42: The Consequences of Wanting to be Like Jesus

“The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!

“So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.

“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn “‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’

“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.

“Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.” - Matthew 10:24-42

This is a warning that it is dangerous to want to be like Jesus. To be like Jesus, we should expect that people will have the same respect or lack of respect towards us that they have towards Jesus. To be like Jesus is to take on the same burdens that Jesus is taking on. To be like Jesus is to put God first, even before your own family. So choose carefully.

But interspersed with these warnings are reassurances. That God values us very much, the way he values Jesus. That God supports us by supporting those who support us during tough times,.

So I should welcome people. The person I am welcoming might be Jesus. So I should refresh people. The person I refresh might be Jesus. 

So I should focus on knowing what God wants me to be doing, regardless of how other people will think about it.  And doing what God wants me to be doing, regardless of what it costs. I shouldn't worry about whether it is "significant" or not. I should only worry that it is what God is asking me.

Matthew 10:16-23: Tough Choices

“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. - Matthew 10:16-23

This passage is hard to read, not because of the difficulty of the scenarios that Jesus' disciples might find themselves in, but because it is hard to image the scenarios happening to any family.  How many dramas are built on the backs of a family at odds with each other, whether for the favoritism from one, the inheritance from one, the perceived slight from one, the failures and disappointment. The list goes on and on. I don't like to think of these scenarios because the thoughts in my head required to imagine such circumstances are painful and my brain shies away from them. None of Jesus' disciples were strangers to how this could play out in ordinary life in 1st century Israel. 

Now the disciples were followers of a man-a rabbi-Jesus, who they are alternately mystified by or enthralled by. And he seemed to know them so well that he could speak directly to their souls. Sure, he said some pretty abrasive stuff. Sure, he was pretty good a put downs for those who had an overinflated sense of self. Sure, he was really zealous when God's reputation was in question. But to imagine a course of events that would lead people against Jesus and against his followers to such a degree that their own families would turn against them. That's harsh.

I think this is the difference between spiritual childhood and spiritual adulthood. Spiritual adulthood comes when you own what you believe as your own, not as the pattern of spiritual rituals inherited from your parents or learned from the culture around you. Spiritual adulthood is when God is actually your God and not someone you just heard about. In many ways, God can end up being like your unpopular friend. You like him and everything, but who-through no fault of his own-everyone else doesn't like and ridicules. With your friend, you have a choice-you can continue to sit with him at lunchtime or you can pretend that you didn't bring your lunch for a few days so you don't have to sit with him like you used to. I know its weird to put God in that sort of role. Now increase the heat: not only is he unpopular at school, but now your siblings pick on him and your parents don't want you to hang around with him. What to do then? How to navigate "love your father and mother" vs. "love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength"?

Jesus says those tests will come. Maybe not one of the ones listed in these verses. But God will subtly or obviously bring us to a test over and over again and ask us who is more important. He isn't pining away for us, wishing we would choose him. No, instead he is bringing out truths about ourselves and our loyalties that we may not be aware of ourselves. Just like Peter, who thought he was loyal to Jesus, up until the time the rooster crowed. Jesus knew Peter's weakness and told him about it, so he wasn't surprised. The choice became a point of self-knowledge: do I want to be closer to God or not.

I've always asked God to change me slowly, because I am really a coward when it comes to the big failures in my life in terms of choices. I really don't want those super testimonies about failures and God's amazing redemption. I would rather a 1,000 small failures and a 1,000 small redemptions to help me see my need for Jesus and his unmitigated love for me, his son. So I must be willing to be a failure that many times and not grow weary of my missteps because they are all course-corrections in my coming closer to Jesus.

Matthew 10:1-20: On the Road with Sheep, Snakes and Doves

Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.

These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.

“Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts—no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep. Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave. As you enter the home, give it your greeting. If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet. Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.

“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. - Matthew 10:1-20

On average, I doubt if there were 6 good public speakers among the disciples. We know that Peter, James and John were public speakers later, enough so that the chief leaders took notice of their speaking (see Acts 4:13, 5:21, 28) but the other 9 were probably not. But Jesus sent them out and he gave them a very simple message: "the kingdom of heaven has come near." and some miracles. I think that since we don't see the miracles very often today, we feel like we have to make up for it with a lot more words. 

They were supposed to be dependent on the hospitality of people along the road, looking for "some worthy person" who would welcome them and in whose house they would stay. Some would be receptive to the simple message of hope and some would not. Some would be keen on having miracles performed in their neighborhood and some would be suspicious of charlatans. 

I think the lesson for us is in the offer of the peace, the words and the miracles. While we may prefer unambiguous situations where everything is clear and the good guys are good and the bad guys are bad, that is not the situation that we live in. Many times, in order to give other people the chance and not pre-judge them, we place ourselves in situations where we are "sheep" among "wolves", where we could be taken advantage of. The disciples would give their peace upon every house they entered-a chance for their host to act welcoming and listening. If they didn't, they would take their peace back. But they didn't proactively shake the dust off their sandals. They gave the people they dealt with the chance to do the right thing. It did require discernment (like snakes) and a care to avoid compromising situations (innocent like doves)

The disciples were going to be outside their comfort zone, in towns they didn't know, with people who they didn't know and populations who might respond suspiciously. That can be dangerous, because some react to strangers in ways that range from fear to intimidation. Not always honorable. For the disciples, they could be in trouble with local powerful people, who might hand them over to the local councils or be flogged in the synagogues either for what they did, who they represented or just general suspicion of outsiders. For us, people can try to shun us, or scam us or call the police. But even in these situations, Jesus promises his disciples that they didn't have to worry about it because the Spirit would speak on their behalf, even if they were novice public speakers. Like Moses who wasn't confident about his public speaking, God provides the words to represent him well in any situation where we are trusting him.

 For me, rather than avoiding strangers and conversations, which can be my tendency, especially if they are not part of my crowd or church, I will plunge in like "sheep among wolves" with discernment and care and try to be hopeful and edifying (Eph. 4:29)

Proverbs 2:11-15: A Little Bit Shady

Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you. Wisdom will save you from [those] whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways. - Prov. 2:11-12a, 15

When I was attending a recent seminar put on by Control System Cyber Security Association International (CS2AI), the presenter, Rahner James, described the type of professional who would excel in the IT security industry as having to be "a little bit shady." This was an updated take on the adage "it takes a thief to catch a thief", presuming that there was a different approach to securing your IT infrastructure if you understood how a hacker might look at it. Your web services don't need to defend against people who use it the way it was intended. Rather, once a system is defined, the hacker finds the cracks in the interfaces and the weaknesses in the safeguards, skirting around the boundaries to gain access. Fair people tend to think others will treat them fairly, while deceitful people assume everyone is trying to cheat them.

One of the attendees of the seminar objected to this requirement. He didn't want to think his moral compass had to be compromised in order to do his job well. I sympathized with him, because I have seen security blindness and I could also see how a glimpse into the dark side might give us insight into the means and motives of attack.

Then James gave an analogy that helped me understand. Hackers, he claimed, divided the world into two categories: sheep and wolves. They are the wolves and IT is the fence protecting the sheep. By challenging the IT security, they are proving themselves--seeing how good and talented they really are. If they win, they are rewarded with financial gain or notoriety. If they lose, they try again, or they get caught. No risk, no reward.

But IT security people see the world in three categories: sheep, wolves and sheep dogs. Sheep dogs have similar genetic makeup and similar instincts and similar tools with wolves, but they win when the sheep are safe and the lose when the sheep go down.

Jesus expressed his own role in slightly different terms:

I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. - John 10:7b-10

Maybe, being "a little bit shady" means remembering the way we are all inclined to be without God. Jesus warned his disciples "I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves" (Matt. 10:16) We look for the angle. We try to get around rules. We look for loopholes. We take advantage of the goodwill of helpful people. People in security have to have a determination to protect that is as strong as the ambition to penetrate.

What is it like to understand the full extent of evil (Genesis 2), but not be evil yourself? I don't know, but I want to move forward with the right heart motivations.

What is it like to be a good God, see the full extent of deception in the hearts of men and women, and still love those who are a little bit (or a lot) shady? I don't know, but I am sure glad he does.