One of the things I very much dislike (hate, but that’s a bit strong) is stupidity. We’ve all seen someone make a left turn from the right lane and think, “That was stupid.” I hate – no, “dislike” – that.
One of the things I “dislike” more than that is when I do something stupid. When I’m in the right lane and need to make a left turn, I’ll drive for block after block to keep from doing that stupid thing. When I can finally get into the left lane, I make adjustments. But what if I can’t make adjustments? STUPID! That’s me.
I think that’s where the Pharisees were. They were in the right lane, but needed to make a left turn. Jesus told them, “Dudes, there’s a left turn coming, so get in the left lane.” Instead of changing lanes, they just kept driving in the right lane. “We don’t need that left turn. We’re Pharisees. And all you plebes in the left lane, you need to get in the right lane.”
BTW, don’t take this “left vs right” as a political statement. There are plenty of righteous folks on the political left and right. Jesus would be dismayed by the hate in politics from both sides.
Back to my road analogy.
The Pharisees went a step further. There were some in the left lane, but couldn’t be convinced they needed to make that required turn. They thought the road they were on went to the proper destination. There’s nobody more determined than someone who is convinced everybody else is wrong.
So the Pharisees looked down on all those “sinners”. They thanked God they were better than the “sinners”, and were quite willing to tell everyone how to live so they could be righteous. They were proud of themselves. And that’s what made them wrong.
The thing is, the healthy won’t even consider they might become sick. Youth are invincible, invulnerable, and immortal. The Pharisees were like spiritual youth. They wouldn’t even consider the idea they might be wrong. The “sinners” they looked down on, though, had been told every day of their life by Pharisees how full of sin they were. So they believed it. Pharisees wouldn’t believe they were “sinners,” because, after all, they were righteous.
When Jesus tried to tell the Pharisees they were sick, they didn’t believe Him. So he told them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.” That’s why he ate with sinners.
But did you also notice He ate with some Pharisees, too? In Luke 14, for one. So He knew some were open to His message.
The thing is, I believe the Pharisees subconsciously knew they were sinners, too. That’s why they “disliked” those they deemed to be “sinners.”
They hated in others what they hated in themselves.
Pharisees, though, tend not to make the necessary adjustment to get in that turn lane.
There’s a turn ahead. Will you take the turn lane?
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