A Pocket-Full of Blasphemies

Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him (Jesus) in what he said… ‘Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?’ Matthew 22:15,17

The Pharisees are a complicated bunch to get your head around. In many ways we should admire them. They were a religious movement of mostly lay people who were passionate about following the Law, about living close to God. In contrast to the elite Sadducees, who were mostly of the elite and the priestly caste. The Sadducees mostly collaborated with the Roman occupying forces, whilst the Pharisees were fiercely patriotic and opposed all attempts to assimilate themselves to Roman ways, particularly in religious matters.

The burning issue of the moment was a poll tax that the Romans were imposing upon the Jewish population. The Pharisees saw this as attacking the idea of the Kingdom of God. So for them, paying this tax was changing their allegiance from God to Caeser. So, it was not merely about the money, it was a religious question for them. But in this gospel event, this question about poll tax is merely being used as a ruse; the Pharisees are trying to undermine Jesus’ popularity with the people, and to get him into trouble with the Romans.

And here we see the negative side of the Pharisees, they were such weasels! They come to Jesus pretending to want his help in resolving this hot religious issue. They think they are so clever. They had no doubt spent hours trying to come up with a cunning and foolproof trap. Finally, after hours of deliberations they have it. A watertight plan of exceeding cleverness. No doubt they were very pleased with themselves. I’m sure they come to Jesus nudging each other and winking – ‘We’ve got him here!’

It’s such a brilliant plan. Simply ask Jesus whether Jews should pay the Roman poll tax or not? It is a trap with no escape. If Jesus says ‘Yes, pay the tax’, then he would be seen as a collaborator, someone who puts Rome above God – this will destroy his religious credibility and his popularity with the common people. But if Jesus says ‘No’, then the Roman army is going to see him as a dangerous rebel, a potential threat, and Jesus will quickly find himself in jail, or worse. Such a cunning, clever plan. They can’t wait for their superbly engineered trap to spring shut.

Of course, it doesn’t quite work out that way.

Jesus responds by asking to be shown the coin used to pay the tax – a denarius. Now, in Exodus 20:4 God commanded the Jews, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.”

So, if you look at a denarius of the time and you can see a problem for religious Jews. It has the image of Tiberius Caesar on it –  a graven image.

Even worse, on the coin was an inscription which Jesus makes the Pharisees read out. ‘Tiberius Caesar Divi Augusti Filius Augustus’ “Tiberius Caesar, son of the divine Augustus, (the second Augustus is a religious title meaning ‘majestic’).

On the reverse the coin has another imperial title ‘Pontifex Maximus’ – High Priest of the Roman pagan religion.

Can you see any problem for devout Jews in this? These supposedly hyper-religious Jews are carrying around coins with a prohibited graven image, and the image is of someone who proclaims himself to be a son of a god and the High Priest of the pagan Roman religion! It is a devastating takedown; it exposes the total hypocrisy of these Pharisees! These super-religious are carrying around a pocket-full of blasphemies!

But, having exposed them, Jesus goes further. He asks them, ‘Whose face is on this coin?’ ‘Caeser’s’, they reply. Jesus then says, ‘Well if it has Caesar’s face on it, it must belong to him and so you’d better give it him back!’

This is a brilliant escape from their trap. Jesus answers their question about the poll tax without approving or condemning the Roman occupation. Jesus simply acknowledges the political/economic reality of Palestine. He says, if you live under this political economic system, if you use its money, then you’d better follow its rules. You’d better pay the taxes demanded of you.

But if Jesus had stopped there, we would have a real problem. It would force Christians to obey all earthly powers and regimes, regardless of whether they are good or evil. Regardless of whether they command us to do things that are consistent with God’s will or not. So, Jesus balances his statement by adding one further duty. He says, ‘By all means give back to Caesar what is his, but make sure you also give to God that which belongs to him.’

As Christians we live under two authorities –  a secular power, the government, the law of the land; but we also live under the authority of God – an authority that claims our primary obedience.

So, Jesus is saying, ‘It is your duty to do whatever your political masters demand of you – but only in so far as that obedience doesn’t cut across your higher obedience to God.’

This quickly became a life and death issue for the Christian Church. State persecution of Christians started in 64 A.D. and continued sporadically for 250 years until 313 A.D. when Constantine published the Edict of Milan, which established full legal toleration of Christianity.

But Christian persecution has never gone away. I was recently sent a ‘Prayer Passport’ by the Christian charity Open Doors. They monitor Christian persecution across the world. Check out their website at www.opendoors.org and see what is happening to Christians right here, right now, across the world.

But this could never happen here, right? Surely Christians in Britain will never face persecution? Well in the UK we increasingly live under a governmental system that has very different values from those of our Christian faith. Leading lights within our society, people like Dr Richard DAWKINS, have characterised teaching children about the Christian faith as child abuse. The Humanist society with another media darling, Professor Alice ROBERTS, have the expressed aim of closing all faith schools in England, as they resent any teaching of religion to children.

It is not inconceivable that one day DAWKINS and ROBERTS will succeed in convincing the UK government to pass laws that will outlaw Christianity. You think that’s unlikely? How many top politicians do you know who are practising Christians? I can think of two.

In 2017, Tim FARRON was briefly leader of the Liberal party. When it became known he was a practising Christian he was hounded by the press and his colleagues and was forced to resign. In his resignation statement this is what he said, “To be a political leader – especially of a progressive, liberal party in 2017 – and to live as a committed Christian, to hold faithfully to the Bible’s teaching, has felt impossible for me.”

Another politician who is a practising Christian is Kate FORBES. Earlier this year she was a candidate for leadership of the SNP after Nicola STURGEON’s resignation. When it became known that she was a practising Christian she was hounded by the press. Reflecting on the experience FORBES stated, “…social and mainstream media were immediately “awash” with comments about why her religious convictions made her unfit to succeed Sturgeon.” In the ensuing leadership election, she was beaten by Humza YOUSAF, a practising Muslim.

Interestingly, YOUSAF’s first photocall was a picture of him and his sons saying their Muslim morning prayers in the First Minister’s official residence. Think about that. So, we can have an English Prime Minister who is a practising Hindu, a Scottish First Minister who is a practising Muslim, but no practising Christian is allowed to get near any of the top political jobs? You might consider that to be a form of persecution. Can’t happen here. Really?

The more important question to consider is, if persecution comes to Christians in the UK, what will you do? Will you stay silent, go along with it, do as you are told. Or will you remain faithful to God and accept whatever negative consequences that brings?

This might all make for a rather depressing Sunday morning, if it were not for the total genius of the scholars who put together the lectionary. For alongside this sobering teaching of Jesus about earthly authorities and the potential for conflict with Christian faith, we have the story of Cyrus.

God’s people have been conquered by the Babylonians and 20,000 people – the Jewish elite – have been taken off to captivity in Babylon. There, they have been forced to assimilate into Babylonian culture, they are not free to live out their Jewish faith.

But, 70 years later, in 539 B.C., Babylon falls to King Cyrus of Persia. Cyrus becomes the head of a massive empire stretching across most of the known world. His policies regarding subjugated peoples are very different from those of the previous Babylonian rulers. Instead of a policy of forced assimilation with Babylonian culture, Cyrus promoted multi-culturalism. He encouraged his subject people to retain their culture and traditions, including their religions. A cuneiform clay cylinder made the year of his conquest, records the event and sows Cyrus’ very different approach.

It has been called by the UN the first charter of human rights as it grants freedom of religion to all citizens.

In the book of Ezra we read of Cyrus allowing the Jewish exiles to return to Jerusalem and to rebuild their temple. He even returned the seized temple vessels to the exiles and provided financial backing for their return (Ezra 6:2-5).

But, although this reading from Isaiah is ostensibly about Cyrus, actually it it tells us most about God. What we see here is Cyrus – the most powerful man on the face of the planet – being shown to be simply a pawn in the hands of God. God moves him to do exactly what God wants. This reading makes the point that there is an ultimate power in the universe, and that power belongs to God.

So, what do we take away from our scripture readings today?

Firstly, we see how amazing Jesus is. How easily he escapes any trap the Pharisees try to catch him in.

Secondly, we also see Jesus issue a stark reminder that above any earthly loyalty that might be demanded of us, our first loyalty is to God.

Finally, we have the reminder, of God using the most powerful man on the planet as his servant to serve his purposes. I was reminded of Psalm 2:2-4,

“The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the LORD and against his anointed, saying, “Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.”

The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.”

The picture is of earthly kings and rulers – the greatest powers in the world – shaking their fists and railing against God. What is God’s response? He just laughs!

This is our God. This is who we worship. This is why he commands our first allegiance. He is our Heavenly Father. The Lord of Lords. The King of kings. The one who sits enthroned high above all other powers and dominions. He is the one who opens, and no man can shut. He is the one who shuts, and no man can open. He is high and lifted up. He is all glorious. He is all powerful. He is unchanging and unchangeable. This is our God. This is who we worship.

And because we worship a God like that, we fear nothing and no-one. In Colossians 3:3 St Paul reminds the believers of the reality of their new existence as Christians; “For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” Your old earthly existence is over. You now possess supernatural, eternal life.

So, is persecution coming? Maybe. But what can it do to you? The worst it can do is kill your body. But your body is just a dying shell anyway. Your life is now hidden with Christ in God. Your soul’s security is unassailable, untouchable, inviolable. Hallelujah! Amen.

Jesus and the White Tombs

‘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.’

matthew 23:27-32

This passage does not present a very attractive picture of Jesus.

I mean, it’s not ‘gentle Jesus, meek and mild’, is it? It’s more like ‘judgemental Jesus, angry and condemning’.

It’s not the Jesus who called for the little children to be brought to him and took them in his arms and blessed them.

It’s not the Jesus who responded to every request for help from the sick and the oppressed, even when he was exhausted.

So, who is the real Jesus? How do we make sense of these different pictures of his character?

For me this variety in the presentation of Jesus is actually proof of the genuineness of the gospels. They present a real human person, in all his complexity. Jesus is someone capable of acting with compassion and kindness. Yet he is also capable of judgement and anger when he encounters hypocrisy and deceit.

There are a few times in the gospels where it says something like ‘and his disciples dared not ask him what he meant’ (John 21:12, Luke 20:40).

Jesus could be intimidating.

When he cleared the Court of the Gentiles in the Temple – the space that was meant to be for the Gentiles to come and pray but had been turned into a money-making marketplace (Matthew 21, John 2). He took a rope made a whip and physically threw out the traders. Not so gentle or meek then.

This means that our mental image of Jesus needs to be multi-dimensional. It is not helpful to have a ‘Sunday School’ image of Jesus.

He was a real human, a real man, with complex emotions and capable of expressing the whole spectrum of human emotion, as need and circumstance dictated – including violence, when violence was the right thing to do.

This passage in Matthew 23:27-32 presents Jesus in all his emotional complexity. He is angry about the hypocrisy of the Pharisees; and he calls them out in no uncertain terms. But following this section passage Jesus goes on to say;

‘Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!’

matthew 23:37-39

Which is both a statement of judgement and condemnation, but also a statement of aching compassion and love. Jesus is complicated. He is a real person. Deal with it!

But to go back to the ‘whitewashed tombs’, what is that about?

In the Holy Land cemeteries were outside of cities; but any dead body found in the field was to be buried on the spot where it had been discovered. This was a problem, as Jewish ceremonial law meant that any contact with a grave brought with it ceremonial uncleanness.

[Now this was another Pharisaical over-extension. This prohibition was only ever meant to involve priests in their time of temple service (Numbers 19:11). But the Pharisees had extended it to everybody. But, the Pharisees had made it obligatory on everybody.]

So, having these random, unmarked tombs was a problem. Say you were a pilgrim on your way to celebrate the Passover in Jerusalem and you accidentally made contact with an unmarked grave, this would make you ceremonially unclean for 7 days and you would not be able to celebrate the feast.

It was therefore ordered that all tombs should be white-washed once a year, a month before Passover – on the 15th day of the month Adar — i.e., about the beginning of March.

This would mean that passers-by might be warned by them and avoid ceremonial defilement. The whitewashing wasn’t a decoration, or an ornamentation, but a warning “Stay Away, Corruption within!”

This annual whitewashing – which was probably going on when this incident took place – is used by Jesus as a teaching opportunity. With terrible irony, he uses it as a metaphor for the apparent ‘holiness’ of the Pharisees.

Jesus is saying it is merely a hypocritical deception. Their outward holiness should be seen like whitewash – a warning to keep away from them. To stay away from them for fear of the defilement inside them.

Also, in the place where this incident probably happened, there were four conspicuous monumental tombs. These had been recently renovated during the Herodian dynasty. It may well have been these tombs Jesus speaks about.

Currently, the tombs are known as the tombs of Zechariah, Absalom, Jehoshaphat, and St. James, but who they really contain is lost in the mists of time – but they would certainly have been prominent Jewish citizens.

They are significant monuments. Two of them are cut out of solid rock; the others are merely excavations, with ornamental portals. They are quite extensive, consisting of winding or semicircular galleries, passing under the mountain more than a hundred feet from east to west. They were placed specifically in an honoured spot, having a view of the Temple Mount, across the valley.

Note that of the four names, Zechariah is the only one that belonged to a prophet. And a few verses after our reading Jesus will refer to the death of Zechariah, murdered by his own people.

This specific reference makes it probable that it was his monument that the Pharisees were currently lavishing their wealth and their skill in honouring. How ironic that at the very moment when they are honouring a prophet killed by his own people, they are about to do exactly the same, when they kill Jesus.

Jesus’ point is that by busying themselves adorning the tombs of the prophets slain by their own ancestors, they revealed their true heritage and descent. They were true sons of their fathers, inheriting their murderous instincts, they were following in their footsteps. Like father, like son.

Jesus tells them to do their worst. To take their actions to its ultimate extent. ‘Fill up then the measure of your ancestors.’ Complete your evil work, finish that which your fathers began. This was a prediction of what they were about to do. The idea is of filling up a cup – the measure – until it overflows in God’s judgement.

This final drop that causes the overflow would be the death of Christ. By killing Jesus, they will ‘fill up’ what is lacking of the iniquity of their fathers until the measure is full. The account of |Jesus before Pilate in Matthew 27 we read;
Then the people as a whole answered, ‘His blood be on us and on our children!’

So, what do we take away from this reading?

Firstly, our understanding of who Jesus is needs to be complex and multi-dimensional. He is presented as a real person, capable of a range of human emotions.

Second, the image of the Pharisees as whitewashed tombs is a challenge not to judge a book by its cover. It is quite easy to look good on the outside but to be full of corruption inside. Which is a powerful safeguarding reminder. We have seen celebrities, bishops, priests who looked so good on the outside, yet full of depravity and wickedness inside. We need to be wise as serpents as well as harmless as doves.

Thirdly, Jesus saw right through the Pharisees. Which is a reminder that we might be able to fool the people around us, but we never fool God. God looks at the heart, not the outside. So, the only thing that is ever worth doing is to be honest with God. We see that exemplified in the psalms. The psalmist expresses his anger, disappointment, confusion, frustration with God openly and honestly. God doesn’t mind. These are the hymns of Israel, their corporate worship. How honest are our prayers and our hymns in comparison?

Finally, the Pharisees had an overly optimistic self-understanding. Had WE been present in the past, WE would never have behaved like our ancestors – the poor, benighted fools. We would never have killed God’s prophets – but they were just about to do that very same thing with Jesus.

There is often an ‘arrogance of the present generation’. We assume that we are cleverer, better, wiser than previous generations. But, in reality, we are just the same. We are just as capable of making the same mistakes they did. Any atrocity that humans have committed in the past, we are easily capable of committing again. We need to be humble about this.

Snakes Fleeing Fire

When John the Baptist proclaims that the time of Messianic judgement is about to commence. He urges people to put their lives right with God, to repent of their sin.
But interestingly, those who John comes down on most harshly are not the people we expect – people whose lives are obviously less than perfect. Instead, John comes down most harshly on the Pharisees and Sadducees – the religious elite.

The Pharisees were the devout Law-keepers. The Sadducees were the wealthier ruling class – the chief priests and the high priest were all Sadducees. The Pharisees were more representative of the common people and had the respect of the masses. The Sadducees’ centre of power was the temple in Jerusalem; whilst the Pharisees controlled the synagogues.

The Sadducees didn’t believe in the afterlife, for them the soul perished at death. The Sadducees also rejected the idea of an unseen, spiritual realm with angels and demons.

These groups were rivals for the religious leadership of the nation and the only time in the Bible that the Sadducees and the Pharisees put aside their differences to work together would be when they jointly worked to bring about the death of Jesus.

John condemns these two groups violently, calling them a “nest of vipers”. But why?

In the Bible vipers are an evil creature, deadly and cunning and associated with Satan. For John to call the Pharisees a “brood of vipers” implies that they were satanic. This same idea is expressed by Jesus in John 8:44, where He says they “belong to their father, the devil.”

The image of vipers fleeing was quite a common sight in Israel when farmers burned the stubble in the fields after the harvest. As the fire spread across the fields it would approach vipers’ nests and the snakes would then try to escape from the flames, but they didn’t all make it. So snakes fleeing from the fire was a common sight.

The Sadducees and Pharisees were meant to be the religious leaders turning people towards God – shepherds of the sheep. But in reality the Pharisees were more interested in public acclamation. They practiced their faith ostentatiously. Jesus had them in mind when he warned;

‘Beware of practising your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. ‘So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.’

Matthew 6:2ff

The problem with the Pharisees was that they did all the right things, but for all the wrong reasons. They lived devout lives – praying, worshipping, giving, fasting etc. But it was all twisted and perverted. It was all done to gain the respect and acclamation of others, none of it was genuine, done for God. It was a Satanic perversion of piety.

The other group, the Sadducees, they didn’t believe in the life to come, so their whole focus was on this life – getting what you can while you can. They were just interested in wealth and power. They were even willing to cooperate with the Roman invaders in order to maintain their position. For them, there was no judgement to fear, no eternal reward to work for. Just get what you can while you can and enjoy it while it lasts.

So what? This text is 2,000 years old, what relevance does it have for us today? Well, open any newspaper, turn on any TV news program and you will see that the Pharisees and Sadducees are alive and well.

Remember Sir Jimmy SAVILLE OBE – knighted by the Queen and the Pope. He raised millions of pounds for charity, and he was given honours and fame because of it. Yet we eventually find out that he was actually a monster of a man, who did untold harm. That’s a pure-blood Pharisee – doing all the right things for all the wrong reasons.

We also see people who spend their whole life just seeking after money and power. People who live with no thought of eternity and who will do anything and everything – lie, cheat, steal, side with the most awful individuals – just to get more and more. Donald TRUMP springs to mind. Is there anything that man wouldn’t say or do if he thought it would bring him money and power? A pure Sadducee.

But worryingly, it all comes a bit closer to home too. When people notice our good deeds, our charitable giving, our prayer life, our spiritual disciplines and they say how wonderful we are. Our inner Pharisee slithers up and says, “I expect that you are right. I really am better than most people aren’t I?” Next thing you know we are making sure that our good deeds are just that little bit visible, so no-one misses them. Our inner Pharisee hisses approval.

Or what about our balance between working for a better life in the here and now, and storing up treasure in heaven, by doing those things that please God? We know that this world is passing, it is merely the land of our pilgrimage, it is not our permanent dwelling. But it can be tempting to put all our focus on the here and now, to be a Sadducee, a Sssssadduceeee.

Does this make us feel uncomfortable? It should do. Advent is not meant to be a comfortable time; it is meant to be a transformative time. A time to put things right, to make the required changes. A time to reset our priorities and to make sure our life’s compass is correctly aligned.

A time to look inside of ourselves. See the snakes that reside within. Remind them that the fire is coming…