Hi Friends,
Wow, this week’s study was so good and I had the hardest time pinning down one idea…
We read in Matthew 21-24; JST Matt; Mark 11-13; Luke 19-21; John 13-18.
What stuck out to me though was the contrast between the attitudes of the
Pharisees in Matthew 23:25-28 and Zacchaeus in Luke 19:1-10.
The Pharisees were people who have had access to the prophecies of Jesus Christ’s coming from the prophets of the Old Testament and are supposed to be the leaders and teachers of Jerusalem but they are blind to the gospel. We learned in previous chapters that the Pharisees would “tempt” or try to trick Jesus into going against the scriptures by asking tricky questions and they were never successful but still refused to accept him. Jesus was to them a challenge of the status quo. They didn’t want to make the effort to change, they didn’t want to let go of their authority and power.
Contrast them with Zacchaeus, a publican, the Jews thought publicans had forfeited their claim as Abraham’s chosen offspring, and Zacchaeus was the chief publican.
In Matthew 23:25-28 Christ uses the comparison of a cup and platter that are clean on the outside but dirty within and a ‘whited sepulcher’(a tomb painted white to look clean while a dead body decayed inside) to the hypocrisy of the Pharisees.
Why these comparisons?
I think of the idea that people need to eat and drink for nourishment, that is how we grow and keep our bodies and minds healthy and progressing but if our cups and plates are dirty within then what we eat and drink is not pure and therefore not good for us. Just like spiritually if what we take in or have in us is not pure then our spirits aren't pure and progressing. And the whited sepulcher is how they tried to look good or play the part on the outside but their thoughts or beliefs had decayed or become corrupted. They were like the barren fig tree Jesus taught about in Matthew 21:17-22, they were supposed to bear fruit but they didn’t and as the second son in the parable of the two sons in Matthew 21:28-32 he willingly accepted the charge but didn’t fulfill his agreement.
In Luke 19:1-10 We learn of Zacchaeus who was the chief publican and rich. He was a good man and even gave half of his goods to the poor and made “fourfold” restitution, basically, Zacchaeus went above and beyond even the law of Moses. The day we learn of him he is trying to see Jesus, he was a small man so it was hard in the crowd to get to Jesus so he had to climb a tree! When Jesus saw Zacchaeus in the tree, he told him to come down so they could go to Zacchaeus’ house in verse 6 it says “And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully.” He was like the first son in the parable of the two sons, he was humble, repentant, and ready to serve.
Notice the difference?
The Pharisees were prideful of their position and heritage, fake, insincere, and impure. Zacchaeus who was thought by the Pharisees to be the lowest of the low, thought to be impure, excommunicated from his religion was actually pure, humble, and ready to learn from Jesus. Despite being hated by his peers he rose to the challenge Christ gave him to “Come Follow Me.”
I imagine it would have been very hard for both the Pharisees and Zacchaeus to follow Christ, it would have taken a lot of effort. The Pharisees never gave themselves the chance to see what Christ had to offer them but Zacchaeus did as we see in verse 9 “And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.”
We learn from a talk by Scott D. Whiting, “In order to see real progress, you will need to put in sustained effort. Much like climbing a mountain requires preparation before and endurance and perseverance during ascent, so too will this journey require real effort and sacrifice. True Christianity, in which we strive to become like our Master, has always required our best efforts.”
I echo Elder Whiting that if we humbly make efforts we truly can follow Jesus Christ and learn and progress.
In the name of Jesus Christ Amen
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