Jesus gave some very harsh criticism against the towns of Galilee, which saw numerous miracles and still just wanted the shows and not have anything to do with living a righteous life. Both Sodom and Nineveh, the two cities that in the Old Testament represented the darkest of sins, would have repented had they seen Jesus; they stand in judgment against those who refused to repent, having seen Jesus in action. But there is one group that had Jesus’ ire even more: the Pharisees and Sadducees, who made this system of false teaching, no hope for anyone out of their system, and intellectual/religious superiority over anyone else, even each other.
Several years ago, I wrote a series about the woes of Jesus against these people, and I’m not about to repeat that here. However, we need to look at ourselves as the Pharisees, not as the heroes. Where have we played church and piety, but in the practical, real world, we do nothing to help another? I don’t believe there is a single person who claims Christianity who hasn’t pulled a Pharisee at some point. I know I have. But I want to make clear that Jesus did not ever challenge the Pharisees regarding Scriptural accuracy other than their LACK of it. What He blasted the Pharisees over was their hypocrisy. They were all boastful and puffed up, but never produced anything.
One of the most misunderstood passages in the Gospels regarding Jesus was His analysis of a widow giving her two mites. Many others gave out of their riches, but the widow gave literally all she had. Many preachers will praise the widow for giving her last pennies in faith, but Jesus was not speaking in a positive tone about this situation. This was not a Pharisee vs tax-collector situation. Jesus was making a commentary about this whole system coming down. The context of this commentary was how the temple they were standing in would be totally leveled. John MacArthur brought that to my attention and pointed out that Jesus was speaking against the system that would encourage a widow to give her last two pennies to the church in the hope that God would finally bless her.
There is no teaching in Scripture that encourages compulsory giving. It has always been a free-will offering and in accordance with one’s ability. There is no teaching anywhere in Scripture that if you give your last pennies to the church that are needed for your survival, God will bless you. And you can be sure that the false teachers who are always asking for money are going to try to convince you that if you give your money to the Lord (in actuality, them), you will be blessed. They’ll cite Elijah, who requested the final cake from a widow before dying, only for the oil and flour to never run out, but that was a one-time thing. When a system calls for money at the expense of normal living, that’s called extortion. It doesn’t matter how much religious language you put on it and how well you decorate it; that’s called extortion. If a gang member said, “Pay this and we’ll give you protection,” we call it extortion. If a clergy says, “Tithe and you will get God’s blessing,” it’s the same thing.
Now, let me be clear. There absolutely is a place for giving, and God absolutely does bless a generous and cheerful giver. God will indeed make 90% go farther than 100% on self. The heart is what matters. Why are you giving? That is the question. I can testify to various situations where I had given willingly and cheerfully, and some time later, someone gave to me above and beyond what I was expecting. So even in financial giving, you reap what you sow, but it’s not a mathematical equation. And if your motive is to give so you can get, you will throw all your money away, and someone is going to live well off your dime. Jesus is not against giving; He is against extortion. He is not against supporting true ministers; He is against false ministers using His name to get wealth. Paul confronted them in His day, which is why he refused to charge a dime to any church, though he was entitled to it, because he was not going to give a window of a testimony for slander.
Now, let me be clear on this, too. Jesus is not against religion either. He is not against clergy. He built the priestly system. He raised church leaders. He is not against any of that. He is against hypocrisy, and so anyone who is involved in ministry as a deacon, elder, Bible study leader, evangelist, author, speaker, pastor, whatever, if you are going to claim the name of Christ and represent God, you are held to a higher standard. Jesus never once blasted the Pharisees over correct doctrine or even for holding to correct doctrine. It was hypocrisy with an emphasis on preventing people from “getting in.” Now, I have had this notion thrown at me numerous times by false teachers due to holding true doctrine and saying they can’t come in with false teachings. Anything can be abused. Remember my post about how Jesus gave an out to the outcasts? That is what Jesus blasted the Pharisees over; that they gave no out to the outcast.
What Jesus got so ticked at was the religious leaders was forcing everyone to look to them as though they were anyone worthy of attention and preventing anyone from worshiping God except by their way. The Pharisees thought they were God’s people and therefore were above everyone else, but that was not God’s purpose for them. God’s purpose for them was to be the messenger to the rest of the world on how to get to God. While God held standards about how to worship and gave a point and purpose that to come before God did require physical and moral perfection, those laws were to showcase our need for a Savior. When Jesus came, He completed that role, so now we can approach God’s throne as we are, so we can be changed to who He is. Jesus never opened a new door to God’s kingdom that wasn’t already there. He simply showcased that the point and purpose of it all was to reveal Him who would give us access to the throne. But all that access must be done God’s way.
Jesus blasted the Pharisees for blocking the way for the people from being able to worship God’s way and not even doing it themselves. He blasted them for putting people into their castes and not giving them an out. He despised their snuffing their noses at anyone they felt less than them, and how they sought their own praise for all their deeds. In the end, Jesus’ ultimate statement was, “This whole system is coming down.” And 40 years later, it did. Judgment starts at the house of God. We have the option to start cleaning ourselves or have it done for us. If we choose the latter, we’d better not complain about how it is done because God won’t hear it.
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