When you examine what Jesus said in the New Testment, it’s easy to get bogged down in different interpretations. And scholars have broken down different sayings and classified them in different categories. Some might argue that Jesus didn’t intend to start a new religion, but only to reform his own which he thought had become corrupt. Others might argue that he was offering a path to eternal life that had been hitherto unavailable. I don’t want to debate that. It’s Christmas time and I just want to talk about some fairly unambiguous stuff that Jesus said. In light of the corruption and hypocrisy we’ve seen from ostensibly Christian politicians in recent years, I want to quote Matthew 23 at some length.
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2‘The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; 3therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. 4They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear,* and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them. 5They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long. 6They love to have the place of honour at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, 7and to be greeted with respect in the market-places, and to have people call them rabbi. 8But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students.* 9And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father—the one in heaven. 10Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah.* 11The greatest among you will be your servant. 12All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.
13 ‘But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. For you do not go in yourselves, and when others are going in, you stop them.* 15Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cross sea and land to make a single convert, and you make the new convert twice as much a child of hell* as yourselves.
16 ‘Woe to you, blind guides, who say, “Whoever swears by the sanctuary is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gold of the sanctuary is bound by the oath.” 17You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the sanctuary that has made the gold sacred? 18And you say, “Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gift that is on the altar is bound by the oath.” 19How blind you are! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20So whoever swears by the altar, swears by it and by everything on it; 21and whoever swears by the sanctuary, swears by it and by the one who dwells in it; 22and whoever swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by the one who is seated upon it.
23 ‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practised without neglecting the others. 24You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!
25 ‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup,* so that the outside also may become clean.
27 ‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of filth. 28So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29 ‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous, 30and 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.” 31Thus you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32Fill up, then, the measure of your ancestors. 33You snakes, you brood of vipers! How can you escape being sentenced to hell?*
Reading this, it doesn’t matter whether Jesus is the Son of God, or whether he intended to establish a new religion, or whether he really offered the path to eternal life. His meaning is clear in any context. While the religious leaders might have ‘put themselves in the chair of Moses’ and therefore ‘all that they tell you’ you should ‘do and observe’, they are hypocrites that will not escape hell.
I particularly like the part where Jesus accuses the scribes and Pharisees of disingenuousness when they assert, “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.” We can look at this as an allegory in our own times. Who among us hasn’t asked ourselves the question of whether we would have stood up to the Nazis or quietly gone along? Those that currently express support for wrongdoing, surely would have expressed support for wrongdoing in 1930’s Germany. Those that currently remain silent about the lies and abuses of our government, surely would have remained silent then, when dissent could cost your life.
The ethical teaching of Jesus, as opposed to the eschatological teaching of Jesus, is a challenge to each and every human being. At Christmas time, his teaching presents some difficulties for the believer. Here I excerpt from Luke 12:
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.’ 14But he said to him, ‘Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?’ 15And he said to them, ‘Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.’ 16…
…22 He said to his disciples, ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. 23For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing…
…32 ‘Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33Sell your possessions, and give alms…
From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded.
None of this, obviously, has the slightest bit to do with public displays of religion, or the pursuit of market capitalism, or the materialistic trappings of Christmas. You may choose to reject the ethical teachings of Jesus, but he had a special place for those that talked the talk and did not walk the walk. In any ‘War on Christmas’ I am pretty sure which side this ancient teacher would have been on. From Mark 11:
15 Then they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold doves; 16and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17He was teaching and saying, ‘Is it not written, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations”? But you have made it a den of robbers.’
18And when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching. 19
Merry Christmas, Bill O’Reilly.
