Life of Christ 114
Note: This is the fifth of an eight part mini-series dealing with the errors of the Pharisees.
The fourth error with
which Christ reproached the Pharisees was defiling Israel. 'Woe unto you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye are as graves which appear not, and
the men that walk over them are not aware of them' (Luke 11.44).
The the Jew, contact
with a dead body was the single most defiling thing, even more so than contact
with a leprous person. Consequently, in Jesus' day there was a superstitious
idea that one should avoid even graves whenever possible. There were some
clearly marked cemeteries, but not all Jews used them. Thus it was that some
Jews were buried in the ground in obscure places, and an unwitting Jew might
defile himself by unwittingly stepping onto the grave. To avoid such an error
it was customary to whitewash the top of the grave so that anyone walking would
know to carefully step around, and thus avoid defiling themselves.
A Jewish cemetery in Jerusalem |
Jesus is saying here
that the Pharisees were the equivalent of a dead body in a tomb, and that they
had not whitewashed the top to warn people to step elsewhere. In a real sense,
this was an important part of Jesus' ministry. He was whitewashing or marking
the Pharisees so everybody would see that what was underneath was dead and
should be avoided.
It never ceases to amaze
me how God's people can be so taken in by those who claim to be ministering the
truth of the Gospel. For example, the megachurches of our day are packed, from
Africa to Asia to South America to North America, full of Christians (though
that, too, is arguable) listening to prosperity gospel preachers proclaim their
heresy. But because those men are in a church, refer to the Bible, and handle a
pulpit well, the mass of the great unwashed assume they are good, sound
preachers. Unwittingly, then, these Christians have defiled their entire
concept of Christianity by contact with and reception of the messages that come
from such ungodly and corrupt men.
The solution, in my
view, is two-fold. First, the pastors of our day simply must equip their
people, doctrinally, to be able to discern good and evil. We cannot simply name
the names, though I’m not against that, of all erroneous preachers for those
names come and go. We must teach them 'the faith', the entire body of doctrine
taught in the Word of God. It isn't popular, of course, for some say it is
boring and others say it is divisive. Still others say teaching doctrine isn't
practical. I would beg to differ with at least the last of those three, and a
good preacher can overcome the first. Doctrine is divisive, yes, and it was
meant to be. That is a good thing not a bad thing. Doctrine, though accused of
being impractical, is the exact opposite, and our illustration under discussion
is a perfect example of it. How else can God's people know which preachers to
trust and which not to trust initially but by the test of doctrine? It doesn't
get much more practical than that.
Secondly, the pastor
must include as part of his active ministry, an occasional whitewash to mark
the graves of the spiritually dead ministries with which his people may come in
contact. Yes, he will intermittently use a broad brush when a narrower one
would do, and he will sometimes make other mistakes. He also must guard against
the temptation to become his people's authority, and to determine for them who
they do and do not listen to. But a pulpit ministry that is bereft of warning
will inevitably beget a pew bereft of discernment. Sheep need protected and
led. It is one of the shepherd's most important jobs.
The Pharisees were
spiritually dead, and Israel was unknowingly greatly defiled by being so
receptive of them. A loving and kind and bold Jesus Christ stepped up with a
brush, and marked their doctrine and practice for the sepulcher that it was.
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