One of my favorite Christian hymns is Trust and Obey (Words by John H. Sammis, 1846-1919; and music by Daniel B. Towner, 1850-1919). The chorus repeats: “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.” The song is all about the happiness that comes from trusting and obeying the Lord as we really live in the light of God’s word. Yet people can be religious and not really trust and obey the revealed will of God. For example, in the time from before the Exile of the Jews up to the days of Jesus, many religious leaders professed to honor God with their lips, but their hearts were far from Him (Mark 7:1-13 and Matthew 15:1-20 quoting from Isaiah 29:13). When Jesus quoted the prophet Isaiah, he applied the prophecy to explain how the teachers of the Law in his time wrongly interpreted the Law due to their hypocrisy.
*
Did they not practice what they preached? Often that is how hypocrisy manifests itself (See Matthew 23). In this instance they practiced their traditions on ritual washings and offering vows, but they did not practice what the Law taught about inward cleansing and honoring parents. It is much like Jesus observed about their whole approach to keeping the Law: They neglect the most important teachings and strained at gnats while swallowing camels (Matthew 23:23-24). This was no single incident of hypocrisy, for in Matthew 15 and Mark 7 Jesus rebuked an entrenchment of hypocrisy that made those who embraced their human reasoning spiritually blind and incapable of discerning the will of God. The very time-honored traditions of their interpretive heritage supported lip service in preference to knowing and obeying God from their hearts. They inherited and supported a palpable social pressure and fear for keeping the traditions of their revered teachers and heritage. This made them blind to what the Law actually commanded (Cf. Isaiah 29:9-14). As we would say: Their priorities were wrong.
*
Why were their priorities wrong? This deserves a more thoughtful look, because surely they based their traditions on reasoning that would be supported by Scripture. So, from Mark 7 or Matthew 15 and from the teachings of the Law on purification and vowed offerings, you would learn that these were very important religious devotions for law abiding Jews (See Leviticus 12-15, 27 and Numbers 30). Understandably they would give thought to how these teachings of the Law applied to them, and they would reason and teach accordingly. Traditions based on human reasoning are a staple of every religious heritage. If the original intent and design of the traditions were to honor God, why did Jesus rebuke the Pharisees?
*
The obvious reason is because the Pharisees judged Jesus and his disciples for neglecting their traditions, when he knew that they neglected even more important matters of the Law, the clear commandments of God. The accusing Pharisees neglected the inward cleansing of sin from their hearts and they neglected to fulfill their responsibilities for taking care of their own parents. Washing hands before eating and keeping a pledge respecting an offering didn’t compare in importance. Nevertheless, the Pharisees practiced these traditions with more importance than the clear commands of God. Thus, there is a deeper reason for Jesus’ rebuke: They made the traditions of men the commandments of God. It took time for the traditions of their elders to become the system that dominated their religion and culture; but learn this lesson: It all started with more attention to lip service than to the heart. There are two ways to arrest and reverse this enormous error. One way is to correct the faulty reasoning and hermeneutic (method of interpretation) that results in the elevation of the traditions of humans over the word of God.
*
The other way is to correct the hypocrisy of the hearts of the devotees and to expose the traditions and rules that religiously support the hypocrisy. You cannot successfully change the first without challenging and changing the second. Nevertheless, you need not be an expert in history and culture, in literature and logic, or in the science of interpretation – hermeneutics, to challenge and succeed. You do need to sincerely desire that your heart be near to the heart of God in order to know Him, trust Him and obey Him. Only this kind of person, who walks in the light of the Word, can open the eyes of the blind.
*
Most of the disputes over the meaning of Scripture that Jesus had with the Pharisees, concerned his actions that were done in trust and obedience to the will of His Father. Additionally, there were disputes over the meaning of the Scriptures related primarily to the identity of the Messiah (Christ); or arose because either the Pharisees or the Sadducees were attempting to trap Jesus. There is much for our instruction in the examples and teachings of Jesus that demonstrate his positive approach to interpreting and walking in the light of Scripture as the obedient Son. We will grow in our competence to understand Scripture if we follow Jesus’ lead. Trust and obey for there is no other way.
Buttram, Bryan. Hermeneutics: Interpretation No Other Way. WordPress.com: 2007/10/15.
2 Comments
August 3, 2008 at Sunday, August 3, 2008
Brilliant!
August 13, 2008 at Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Thank you!