What a curious insight into the hearts of the religious leaders. When they heard one of Jesus’ own followers was willing to betray Him, “they were glad and promised him money.” Had these men never read the Psalms which are full of imprecations against those who betray friends and those who lie in wait for innocent men? Had they never read the Law which prohibited such underhanded dealings?
Of course they had! These men made it their life purpose to study and guard the precepts of the Torah. Why then did they readily rejoice in evil without giving a second thought to how God’s Word condemned such actions? Because for all of their reading and knowledge of God’s ways, their hearts were closed to the heart of the Father revealed in Scripture. They knew much but the much they knew did not penetrate any deeper than their human intellect.
Makes me wonder about us. How guilty are we of such “understanding” of God? Can we sit in church, attend Bible studies, read the Word, and yet unthinkingly live lives so far from the boundaries of God’s Word, so far from the heart of the Father revealed in the very pages we pore over? Such is hardly the attitude of a Son-seeker.
And they probably thought they were doing what's right! That's one thing I was thinking about, that people can have all these different ideas and 'believe' in them, and 'be glad' in them, but that doesn't mean it's Truth revealed by God. I was having a discussion with J and C from church about swearing on God's name. and I was like oh, I KNOW this answer. but then I thought How do I know this?? Is it because it's what I feel is true? So I had to go bible hunting just to make sure something I KNEW was true, was actually Truth instead of me just re-interpreting the verse unconsciously to fit what I wanted to hear.
ReplyDeleteScary thought, I know! They probably thought they were doing the people of God a favor by removing this Man who was obviously a heretic and leading the people astray.
DeleteBut isn't it amazing at the same time that by hearing truth over and over again and by feeding on it and meditating on it, truth becomes a part of our subconscious. We have gut feelings about things and then find that the Bible confirms these because we've been so soaked in the Word of God that our gut reactions are becoming more conformed to God's will. I think that's exciting. That's what happens to those who are consistently seeking God's heart in the word and not just using Scripture to advance themselves.
However, it's true we constantly have to be checking ourselves to see if we're really in line with what the word says or if we're merely reacting because it crosses some cultural/familial rule we've been brought up with.
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