The Pharisees were the religious in-crowd of Jesus’ day. They were the authority figures in the synagogues. Their teachings had been handed down from the time of Moses, but the Pharisees had added knit-picky rules and adapted them to suit themselves over the centuries.
Jesus came with teachings that reflected the original intent of God’s laws. His teachings embarrassed the Pharisees by exposing their hypocrisy. The people flocked to hear Jesus teachings and to see the miracles he performed. Meanwhile the Pharisees became so jealous of Jesus that they began to look for ways to have him put to death.
If the Pharisees had truly been looking for the Messiah, they would have been willing to recognize Jesus for who he was. But in their proud hearts they enjoyed their positions of authority and rebelled against being challenged.
How seriously are we looking for the true Jesus? If someone were to point out an area in our lives where we choose to bend the rules for our own advantage, are we willing to repent and change? Or would we prefer to diminish the naysayer in some way to cause him to lose credibility in others’ eyes because he embarrassed us. How badly do we want to understand Jesus’ teachings? Do we read the Bible with a “yes, but…” attitude whenever we don’t want to take it at face value – are we willing to dig deeper to find the underlying truths?
Jesus is interested in the heart. A heart full of pride will find little room for Jesus.
Father God, help us see our hearts as you see them. Give us hearts that are willing to know you in a way that will enable us to replace our pride with loving obedience.
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