The Pharisees—and What God Really Wants

By Jeremiah Z

November 1, 2020

“For I say to you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven”

(Matthew 5:20)

Am I a Pharisee? I recently found myself asking this question while reading in the book of Matthew. No, I haven't rejected Jesus Christ, Savior of the world, as the Pharisees did. And  I don't do good things so that other men will admire me. But, I noticed something in this passage that stood out to me – Jesus was warning the Pharisees that they were doing the little things, but yet they were omitting [not doing] the weightier matters of the law.

You see, it's easier for me to do what's right in some things – usually little things that I can do with a sense of satisfaction and self-fulfillment. It's the bigger things God requires that are often the things I'd rather pretend God doesn't require.

“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone” (Matthew 23:23).

It's relatively easy to pay a tithe. A real tithe is a full 10% of income, and writing a check is not all that hard to do unless one is a tightwad. I don't think I'm a tightwad, but even this little matter of giving back to the Lord is not always easy. But if I have trouble with the little things, how much harder are the weightier matters?

Judgment: Am I really fair in my dealings with others? Am I truly honest in word and deed? “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18). Not gossiping about others, especially about people we don't get along with particularly well, is perhaps the most difficult area in which we ought to be judging more fairly. There are always two sides to every story, yet how often do we actually find ourselves stopping a gossipy conversation by saying that we ought to first talk to our brother before talking to others? Even more than that, we ought to pray for each other and speak generously to the people we may otherwise be tempted to gossip about.

This word "judgment" isn't only about speaking fairly about others, but truly being fair in all details of life and interaction with others. What a big thing this one is! Yet, praise God, with Christ all things are possible.

Mercy: Am I truly merciful? “For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:46, 48). By sending His Son to die for us while we were yet sinners, God proved that He is merciful beyond what we deserve, and Scripture makes it clear that because that is what God did for us, we should be merciful towards others.

Oddly, I've found that it's actually easier to be merciful to strangers than to those who are close to me. It hurts most when the ones I love hurt me. It's easier to send money to feed the poor, or to forgive the stranger when he harms me. But when a family member or a church brother says something unkind about me, it hurts! Imagine how much it must hurt God when His own children rebel against Him, rejecting His son, or not truly being kind to their brothers and sisters in Christ.

Faith: “But without faith it is impossible to please him” (Hebrews 11:6a). Do I have real faith – faith in Jesus Christ for salvation and faith that withstands the storms of life? It's so easy to fall into a routine. A routine of getting up in the morning, spending a half hour reading the Bible and praying, and then working the rest of the day (often stopping only to eat). A routine that doesn't seem to require much faith.

Do I have enough faith to truly appreciate Christ's sacrifice for my sins?  “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation” (Hebrews 2:3).

Do I have enough faith to stop and pray when I encounter problems throughout the day? “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God” (Philippians 4:6).

Do I have enough faith to talk about Christ to others? “For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels” (Luke 9:26).

Do I have faith which allows me to obey the greatest commandment, the commandment which empowers me to overcome sin, which empowers me to love others as God loves me? “Jesus said unto him, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind’” (Matthew 22:37).

Lord, create in me a clean heart. Open my eyes if  I am only doing lip service to You instead of following You in word and deed. Please change me and make me willing to follow You, help me truly obey You in the weightier matters of the law, and to not leave judgement, mercy, and faith undone. Amen.

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