I am grateful I attended a Bible-teaching Christian church as a kid. But my experience shows even a church that systematically teaches through the Word of God has limitations: my understanding! I grew up with a lot of misunderstandings about God and the interpretation of scripture not due to bad exegesis but my own legalistic folly. I read the Sermon on the Mount and other teachings of Christ as a new law to be followed by the letter and somehow missed the whole "Love one another as I have loved you" which was only possible by being born again through faith in Jesus and walking in obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus exposed His disciples (and all people) as judgmental, sinful rascals: we tend to judge others before we judge ourselves. He questioned them in Matthew 7:3-5, "And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." Jesus illustrated the folly of judging others according to appearance instead of first judging ourselves righteously. He pointed out the intense scrutiny of others to locate a speck in a brother's eye whilst having a twig from a tree hanging out of your own! We can be very earnest about removing the speck from our brother's eye while being quite comfortable with the plank in our own eye. Jesus commanded His followers to actually remove the plank with repentance and turning from it (not just admit it could or does exist) and then with clear vision unobstructed with hypocrisy help restore a brother (Galatians 6:1-3).
I wonder if it is common for Christians to do what I did with this passage: I conveniently invented a third person in this story who had neither plank nor speck in their eye. Can you guess who this person was? It was me, of course! The reality is in every situation or conflict we are one of the two believers in the parable with either a speck or plank in our eye. In imagining myself as the third person I foolishly and dangerously placed myself on the level only Jesus Christ is worthy of, being the sinless Son of God and only Judge with perfectly clear vision. Man looks on the outward appearance but God looks upon the heart and sees the hypocrisy concealed within. How critical it is for our growth we would take the scripture personally by relating the most ugly and wretched conduct we see as a glimpse of the reality of who we are and remain apart from Jesus.
When confronted with his inability to meet the demands of Hebrews in the wilderness, Moses cried out to God in Numbers 11:15, "If You treat me like this, please kill me here and now--if I have found favour in Your sight--and do not let me see my wretchedness!" It was impossible for Moses to provide a BBQ meal in the desert for a million people, and dealing with our own hypocrisy and wretchedness is an impossible task by the effort of the flesh alone. We cannot love like Jesus asks us to, to love even our enemies like Jesus loves us! Moses touched on an important point: he despaired his condition and wished to die. Jesus provided us an example by dying on our behalf, revealed our total bankruptcy of love and inability to do as He commands, and here's the awesome part: when we are born again through faith in Jesus we can die to self and the life of Jesus begins to miraculously be lived out through us. It is not our love but the love of Jesus even for enemies which shines through when I admit I am the one with the twig in my eye, the hypocrite in desperate need for cleansing from sin and grace to humble myself before God and man.
Jesus is the only One worthy to be the third person in the illustration of the story, for there is none of us without sin. Isn't it amazing God would demonstrate such love, grace, and patience to selfish, proud, unloving hypocrites like me and you by sending His own Son? Praise be to God now and forever!
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus exposed His disciples (and all people) as judgmental, sinful rascals: we tend to judge others before we judge ourselves. He questioned them in Matthew 7:3-5, "And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." Jesus illustrated the folly of judging others according to appearance instead of first judging ourselves righteously. He pointed out the intense scrutiny of others to locate a speck in a brother's eye whilst having a twig from a tree hanging out of your own! We can be very earnest about removing the speck from our brother's eye while being quite comfortable with the plank in our own eye. Jesus commanded His followers to actually remove the plank with repentance and turning from it (not just admit it could or does exist) and then with clear vision unobstructed with hypocrisy help restore a brother (Galatians 6:1-3).
I wonder if it is common for Christians to do what I did with this passage: I conveniently invented a third person in this story who had neither plank nor speck in their eye. Can you guess who this person was? It was me, of course! The reality is in every situation or conflict we are one of the two believers in the parable with either a speck or plank in our eye. In imagining myself as the third person I foolishly and dangerously placed myself on the level only Jesus Christ is worthy of, being the sinless Son of God and only Judge with perfectly clear vision. Man looks on the outward appearance but God looks upon the heart and sees the hypocrisy concealed within. How critical it is for our growth we would take the scripture personally by relating the most ugly and wretched conduct we see as a glimpse of the reality of who we are and remain apart from Jesus.
When confronted with his inability to meet the demands of Hebrews in the wilderness, Moses cried out to God in Numbers 11:15, "If You treat me like this, please kill me here and now--if I have found favour in Your sight--and do not let me see my wretchedness!" It was impossible for Moses to provide a BBQ meal in the desert for a million people, and dealing with our own hypocrisy and wretchedness is an impossible task by the effort of the flesh alone. We cannot love like Jesus asks us to, to love even our enemies like Jesus loves us! Moses touched on an important point: he despaired his condition and wished to die. Jesus provided us an example by dying on our behalf, revealed our total bankruptcy of love and inability to do as He commands, and here's the awesome part: when we are born again through faith in Jesus we can die to self and the life of Jesus begins to miraculously be lived out through us. It is not our love but the love of Jesus even for enemies which shines through when I admit I am the one with the twig in my eye, the hypocrite in desperate need for cleansing from sin and grace to humble myself before God and man.
Jesus is the only One worthy to be the third person in the illustration of the story, for there is none of us without sin. Isn't it amazing God would demonstrate such love, grace, and patience to selfish, proud, unloving hypocrites like me and you by sending His own Son? Praise be to God now and forever!
No comments:
Post a Comment
To uphold the integrity of this site, no comments with links for advertising will be posted. No ads here! :)