Being a Man of no pretense, I sometimes wonder how Jesus navigated the broken, hypocritical, and corrupt systems around Him. God had given the children of Israel the perfect rules of society, and no doubt much was implemented that brought good. But the hearts of men can sabotage the intentions of heaven.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe truth will set you free,\u201d but the truth can also get you into trouble. When Jesus pointed out to the citizens of His hometown Nazareth the reality of their lacking faith, some tried to throw Him off a cliff. (see Luke 4) How does truth create such animosity?<\/p>\n
The religious leaders despised Jesus the most. In one conversation, He stated seven times: “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites\u2026\u201d (see Matthew 23) The most powerful and respected Jews of the nation began to connive: \u201cThen the chief priests and elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and they plotted to arrest Jesus in some sly way and kill Him.\u201d (Matthew 26:3-4)<\/p>\n
Sometimes Jesus revealed the truth through parables. He once told about tenants of a vineyard who kept persecuting the servants sent to collect the fruit. Finally, the owner decided to send his son. \u201c\u2019They will respect my son,\u2019 he said. But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, \u2018This is the heir. Come, let\u2019s kill him and take his inheritance.\u2019\u201d Jesus asked His listeners: \u201c\u2019When the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?\u2019 \u2018He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,\u2019 they replied\u2026 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus\u2019 parables, they knew He was talking about them. They looked for a way to arrest Him\u2026\u201d (Matthew 21:33-46)<\/p>\n
But Jesus did not always confront; sometimes He knew it was best to not \u2018rock the boat.\u2019 \u201c\u2019What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes \u2014 from their own sons or from others?\u2019 \u2018From others,\u2019 Peter answered. \u2018Then the sons are exempt,\u2019 Jesus said to him. \u2018But so that we may not offend them, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for My tax and yours.\u2019\u201d(Matthew 17:25-27)<\/p>\n
Not only were many of the prominent religious leaders \u2018pretenders,\u2019 but politicians were also corrupt. When told that Herod wanted to kill Him, Jesus said: \u201cGo tell that fox, \u2018I will drive out demons and heal people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach My goal.\u2019\u201d (Luke 13:32) But Jesus knew He did not come to just fight worldly systems; He proclaimed a greater realm. \u201cMy kingdom is not of this world\u2026 My kingdom is from another place.\u201d (John 18:36)<\/p>\n
Jesus did not want His followers to be corrupted\u2026 so He cautioned: \u201cBe careful,\u201d Jesus warned them. \u201cWatch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.\u201d (Mark 8:15) Our Lord might give us similar words today: \u2018You live in a dangerous world. Some who look good on the outside are not what they seem. Don\u2019t fall into their religious or political traps. Avoid their poison and don\u2019t be like them. Trust the Holy Spirit to show you the truth and to speak and live with integrity and wisdom. Seek first the Father\u2019s kingdom and His righteousness. And remember: I am with you!’<\/p>\n
\u201cWoe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men\u2019s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside, you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.\u201d Matthew 23:27-28<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.\u201d Matthew 28:20<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Being a Man of no pretense, I sometimes wonder how Jesus navigated the broken, hypocritical, and corrupt systems around Him. God had given the children of Israel the perfect rules of society, and no doubt much was implemented that brought good. But the hearts of men can sabotage the intentions of heaven. \u201cThe truth will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-persecution"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3563"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3563\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3566,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3563\/revisions\/3566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}