Stop Slamming The Door!

Introduction

We live in a time when we want to make a important point we invoke the word ‘all’. By doing this we want to leave no room to doubt how serious we are about the matter. We use this syntax in statements like;

All Asians are smart. But the reality is some are, and some are not.

All men are dogs. The reality most men are hard workers, and some are not.

All preachers and evangelist are charlatans. A few are, most are not.

All women are gold diggers. Some are, but most are compassionate and caring.

All white people are racist. Some are, but the majority are for the humanity of the human race.

All black people are thugs and criminals. Some are, but he majority show lives of strength and integrity.

All cops are inherent perpetrators of injustice. A few are, most a peacemakers and enforcers of law.

Pharisees

When I think about Jewish Pharisees, I think about people who were not religious. In my early biblical studies I was told all Pharisees were really non religious people. What I later learned was Jesus would be considered a Pharisee. He was very serious about obeying the Jewish law and tradition.

A Pharisee was a Jewish person who vehemently followed the Jewish tradition. A Scribe was one who taught the letter of the law of the Jewish tradition.

Here Jesus is saying not all Pharisees are bad, but some are!

Matthew 23:2 NIV

“The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.

Matthew 23:2–3 NIV

“The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.

Matt 23.

The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel according to Matthew 2. Jesus’ Denunciation of the Pharisees, 23:1–39

His complaint is not that these men were false teachers; they were orthodox and they were rightly drawing people’s attention to the things that Moses had taught and that were of permanent importance for the people of God. “The entirety of the things they tell you” is more literally “all things whatsoever they say to you”; it amounts to a wholehearted endorsement of the teaching of the Pharisees over against their practice. They studied the law of Moses closely and expounded it in great detail. There was nothing wrong with this part of what they were doing, and Jesus commends it.

Matt 23.

The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel according to Matthew 2. Jesus’ Denunciation of the Pharisees, 23:1–39

But it was otherwise with the way they lived. Jesus’ followers are not to do10 according to their works. Their condemnation is summed up in the words “they say and do not do.” It has always been the temptation of the religious to put emphasis on their teaching and to take more lightly the obligations to live out the precepts they inculcate. It so easily becomes a habit to live in such a way as to sustain or acquire a reputation for piety, without giving heed to what we are deep down. So Jesus warns his hearers that they should not live in the way the Pharisees lived, though they should take careful note of what the Pharisees taught. When the Pharisees brought out the significance of the teaching of Moses, they were doing something of great importance for the people of God. What they were teaching was both meaningful and creditable: they should be heard. But when they acted hypocritically, that was another matter: they should not be imitated or followed.11

The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel according to Matthew 2. Jesus’ Denunciation of the Pharisees, 23:1–39

But it was otherwise with the way they lived. Jesus’ followers are not to do10 according to their works. Their condemnation is summed up in the words “they say and do not do.” It has always been the temptation of the religious to put emphasis on their teaching and to take more lightly the obligations to live out the precepts they inculcate.

The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel according to Matthew 2. Jesus’ Denunciation of the Pharisees, 23:1–39

When the Pharisees brought out the significance of the teaching of Moses, they were doing something of great importance for the people of God. What they were teaching was both meaningful and creditable: they should be heard. But when they acted hypocritically, that was another matter: they should not be imitated or followed.11

Jesus was very adamant, “don’t be like these few!”

Bishop Michael Curry

Black Episcopal Bishop preached the sermon at Prince Harry and Megan Markel’s wedding yesterday in Britain. He said, “There’s power in love to lift up and liberate when nothing else will. There’s power in love to show us the true way to live.”

We need more than churches that talk about love we must do love.

Some translations say we slam the door on people wanting to know God. Slamming the door is the final act of aggression. You are no longer welcomed. Civility is henceforth denied. “ Couples go crazy when the other slams the door in there face.