Lawful Good

Intro

In the game Dungeons and Dragons, there are a plethora of different characters types you can play as. One of these character types is essentially the white knight of goodness — this character is always looking out to exact the Law of the land. If he senses any kind of injustice or crime, he is going to leap into action and do whatever he can to make sure the law is upheld.

Now, why in the world would I bring up some silly nerd game? Well, in a way, Pharisees were very similar in the second Temple period. They were so zealous for the Law that over time they built a set of rules around the Law of Moses so that the Law would not come close to being encroached upon. This would be how we wind up seeing the disciples getting yelled at over picking grain on the Sabbath — an added on set of rules that God didn’t give them, ending in the twisting of God’s intention.

In the Scripture, we see them in conflict with Jesus over and over again, particularly as pertained to the Sabbath. Our text today is no different — and there is something that I’d like us to see from our text today.

John 7:20–24 ASV

20 The multitude answered, Thou hast a demon: who seeketh to kill thee? 21 Jesus answered and said unto them, I did one work, and ye all marvel because thereof. 22 Moses hath given you circumcision (not that it is of Moses, but of the fathers); and on the sabbath ye circumcise a man. 23 If a man receiveth circumcision on the sabbath, that the law of Moses may not be broken; are ye wroth with me, because I made a man every whit whole on the sabbath? 24 Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment.

The Pharisees’ Prejudice

Here, as we know we’ve seen in the Gospels before, the Pharisees are making judgment calls which are not in accordance with reality.

We ourselves are not innocent to this, I’m sure. Have we always made judgments according to truth? No...

Against what other metrics might we be tempted to judge?

Prejudice

Tradition

Habit

Comfort

Culture

Experience

So we see that by one of these metrics, or perhaps another, the Pharisees seek to kill Jesus. But this is not the only time He rebukes their hypocrisy.

Matthew 12:1–7 CSB

1 At that time Jesus passed through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick and eat some heads of grain. 2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “See, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” 3 He said to them, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and those who were with him were hungry: 4 how he entered the house of God, and they ate the bread of the Presence—which is not lawful for him or for those with him to eat, but only for the priests? 5 Or haven’t you read in the law that on Sabbath days the priests in the temple violate the Sabbath and are innocent? 6 I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. 7 If you had known what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the innocent.

Here is one other example of Jesus calling them out in the exact same manner — there are other noted examples of men “breaking the Sabbath” according to them, and they took no issue with these things! Just as they took no issue, as Jesus says, with Circumcision on the Sabbath — which we will revisit soon.

Now, Jesus mentions “one work” which He did at which the people marveled; what was this one work?

Healing the man at the pool of Bethesda. This took place on the Sabbath, and was during Jesus’ last visit to the city of Jerusalem!

About Circumcision

John 7:22–23 ASV

22 Moses hath given you circumcision (not that it is of Moses, but of the fathers); and on the sabbath ye circumcise a man. 23 If a man receiveth circumcision on the sabbath, that the law of Moses may not be broken; are ye wroth with me, because I made a man every whit whole on the sabbath?

Jesus says, “Moses gave you circumcision, accept it wasn’t really from him — it came from the fathers!”

Do you remember who first received this command?

Abraham

Why was this command given?

Genesis 17:9–14 CSB

9 God also said to Abraham, “As for you, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations are to keep my covenant. 10 This is my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you, which you are to keep: Every one of your males must be circumcised. 11 You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskin to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 Throughout your generations, every male among you is to be circumcised at eight days old—every male born in your household or purchased from any foreigner and not your offspring. 13 Whether born in your household or purchased, he must be circumcised. My covenant will be marked in your flesh as a permanent covenant. 14 If any male is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that man will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

You think the eighth day after a boy is born sometimes falls on the Sabbath? Of course it would!

Why would circumcision be more important to them than how they understood breaking the Sabbath?

It was a matter of bringing a person in to the covenant of God! It was absolutely necessary for the soul of that child and his relationship with God and His promises. It would be like if someone decides to be baptized into Christ: wouldn’t we all drop what we were doing that very moment when they were ready and do that?

Some things are just more important, right?

Our Prejudice

But sometimes, we just don’t treat those more important things the way they deserve, do we?

We may not judge righteously if someone uses the “wrong” Bible.

We may be harsh on someone in our minds if they sing the wrong hymns at there church.

We may not spend time with our kids because we are ministering to others.

We can’t help a homeless person because we have we have to get to our planned evangelistic Bible study.

We can’t spend the time to pray over someone, or talk to someone in need, because we have to get the church.

But some things are just more important! and therefore Jesus says: Jn. 7.24

John 7:24 ASV

24 Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment.

What do you think He means by “judging according to appearance”?

The Greek essentially translates to, “according to faces” — how something looks to you superficially.

To judge according to appearances is to raise it against the subjective standard of our prejudices, our culture, experiences, etc., instead of actually looking and digging into the thing to find the truth.

What the Pharisees did here was see Jesus heal a man on the Sabbath, and because it was not what they wanted to happen on the Sabbath, they judged it to be unlawful; yet, they did not look into the heart of the matter. Both of the action AND of the Law, they neglected to understand the heart.

Do you remember what Jesus quoted from the Prophet as He spent time with tax collectors?

“I desire mercy and not sacrifice.”

To be merciful and loving is more important than to be exactly on the letter of the Law! The Pharisees were so focused on their performance of the exact letter, that they left out of it any amount of love, charity, kindness, mercy, or grace. And our God is not a God of performance, but love, mercy, and grace! This is why He spoke that He wants mercy more! Because if you are obeying the letter of the Law yet without mercy on your neighbor, you are not honoring God, neither are you truly obeying Him, because love and mercy are at the heart of His commands to us.

When we behave how He wants, when we judge things according to the truth, mercy and love will be part of that equation and our personal subjective comfort zones won’t.

Inventory

So, how do we judge people and their actions?

Do we judge according to truth, having looked into the matter and understanding it for what it is?

Or, do we judge things according to what we like?

Often times these are not the same.

We mustn’t pretend as if we never make judgments, it’s an unavoidable and natural part of life.

What I want us to work on and really meditate/pray over, is how we judge.

When you judge, take a step back, and ensure where that judgment is coming from, either appearance or the truth.

May we glorify our God and Savior, and our judgments be led by Him to be according to truth!