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August 13, 2017 |
| Justice, Mercy, and Faith | ||
There are three concepts that appear together in many places as a higher law, justice, mercy, and faith. Sometimes mercy and faith are said in different ways or sometimes they are combined into a single expression. Like so many things in the Bible the deeper concepts are not spelled out as such but left for the seeker to find and God to reveal.
In this lesson we'll look at some examples of these.
We begin with some verses where Jesus is criticizing the Pharisees who have become so involved with doing the things that were good that they had given up doing the things that were more important.
Woe to you Scribes and Pharisees, for you tithe mint and dill and cummin and you forsake the weighty things of the law: Justice, mercy and faith! It is necessary for you to do these things and you should not forsake them. 24 Blind guides who strain out gnats and swallow camels! 25 Woe to you Scribes and Pharisees, pretenders, who wash the outside of the cup and of the dish, but within are full of plunder and evil! 26 Blind Pharisees, wash first the inside of the cup and dish that their outside may also be clean. (Matthew 23:23-26)
The Scribes and Pharisees were careful to do everything the law required them to do. Jesus uses the example of tithing, where they tithed, even down to tithing from their spice drawers. This may have been figurative instead of literal.
In our time, if a bug gets in our favorite drink, we throw out the drink. They were not so wealthy and special items were not so easily available. Jesus says they would go to the trouble to strain out a gnat, the smallest of bugs, from a drink but they would eat a camel. Both the bugs and the camel were unclean foods (see inset).
Jesus wouldn't have meant this part literally. No Scribe or Pharisee would have eaten any Camel. As mentioned above they were very careful to obey the law. He is using a figurative expression to say that they are doing the little things and missing the big things. The reason will turn out to be that they have misunderstood which things are big and which are little.
In verse 23 it isn't clear which are the things that are necessary. Is it the tithing or is it the justice, mercy, and faith? Fortunately this same story is told in Luke and there it is clear.
But woe to you Pharisees, for you tithe mint and dill and every herb and you pass over justice and over the love of God, but these it was necessary for you to do and not that you should forsake the other!" (Luke 11:39-42)
So Jesus isn't saying that they were doing wrong in tithing as they were. He is saying they should be doing both and that their priorities are wrong. The thing they have stopped doing is more important.
Jesus will say the same thing about Martha in the chapter from Luke prior to this.
38 And it was that when they were traveling on a road, he entered a certain village and a woman whose name was Martha received him into her house. 39 And she had a sister, whose name was Maryam, and she came and sat herself at the feet of Our Lord, and she was listening to his words. 40 But Martha was busy with serving many things and she came and said to him, "My lord, does it not concern you that my sister has left me alone to serve? Tell her to help me." 41 But Yeshua answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you take pains and are troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is necessary; Maryam has chosen that good part for herself which will not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:38-42)
The distinction between this one necessary thing and all the other things is that the necessary thing is spiritual and the others are physical. The physical things should be done but the spiritual things must be done. For Martha and Mary it was growing in the spiritual things; for the Scribes and Pharisees it was living in the spiritual things.
This same distinction appears in the following words of Moses and Micah.
Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep the Lord's commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good? (Deuteronomy 10:12-13)
Moses says that God requires only a few things, but each one is actually very large. One of those is "keep[ing] the Lord's commandments and statutes." That is what the Scribes and Pharisees were doing. This was part of their covenant with God. Moses says they are to do this for their own good.
Now Micah says something similar, yet different.
With what shall I come to the Lord and bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, with yearling calves? 7 Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams, in ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:6-8)
Micah addresses God's message to man, where Moses addressed his to Israel. So Micah's message is for all believers in God, not just those in covenant with him.
Micah refers to sacrifices hyperbole, taking an idea to its extreme to make a point. He considers a person wanting to please God and be accepted by him. This person wonders if larger sacrifices are the answer and considers ever larger sacrifices right up to sacrificing his firstborn child.
Micah responds to this hypothetical man by referring back to what Moses said above, saying God has told you what is good. By that he means a person should do only what God has commanded, not more, not less. Then Micah changes from "what is good" to "what does the Lord require" and we see what Jesus said earlier, do justice, love kindness (mercy), walk humbly with your God (faith).
We can and do make the same mistake that the Scribes and Pharisees and Mary made. As beings, we are so deeply rooted in the physical that the physical things God has given us to do can seem like the important things. They are the things we understand the best and find easiest to do.
It's interesting to note that the Ten Commandments do not mention justice, mercy, or walking humbly with God. Even so they are a higher law in the same way that the love commandments are a higher law. In fact they are part of the love commandments
Treat everyone fairly, the same
Don't treat the rich better that the poor
Don't treat the poor better than the rich
Don't treat anyone better or poorer
Don't accuse God of being unjust
"Yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not right.' Hear now, O house of Israel! Is My way not right? Is it not your
ways that are not right?" (Ezekiel 18:25)
But justice is hard and very black and white. For example: Last week you asked your neighbor to lend you his circular saw and he said no. This week he comes asking to borrow your lawnmower. It would be just to say no. That's where love and mercy come in. Justice must be tempered with mercy.
The Israelites failed to understand the need for mercy when applying God's law. At the same time, they expected mercy from God when they broke God's law. We need to be careful to show kindness and mercy to others for the same reason.
Love being kind to others
So much that you would help your enemies and thereby pour coals on their heads
Better to give than receive
Don't try to use God to get what you want
Don't treat God like a vending machine - you do something good so he will give something good to you
Don't try to tell God what to do
Don't presume upon his grace
Don't think you are better than other people
What is the connection between faith and walking humbly with your God?