The Rules Guys

I tell you, unless you show yourselves far better than

the scribes and the Pharisees,

you can never enter the kingdom of Heaven.

Matthew 5:20 [REB]

I like rules.  Now notice – I did not say I love rules, I said that I like them.  Reasonable rules are there for our protection.  Unreasonable rules are irritating, demeaning, and a great cause of stress.  I like simple, well-conceived rules such as red light, yellow light, green light: Go, Get Ready to Stop, Stop.  I won’t kill anyone, and hopefully no one will kill me.  Simple and concise.

Just exactly who are the men listed in today’s Scripture?  Ah, these are the rules boys.  The scribes were a special group among the Jewish religious leaders.  Their primary duties were to study the Law of Moses [Torah], teach it to the people, and help settle disputes involving questions about the law and its adherence.  The Pharisees were one of three major religious groups [with the Sadducees and Essenes] within Judaism, and certainly the most vocal.  They also functioned as a political party and a social movement. 

The Pharisees were devoted to the Torah (often called the Law), with all of its various rules, regulations and commandments.  Actually, what they were really devoted to is making sure that the common people kept the Law as they should.  In this regard, they created rules that would safeguard the original rules.  For instance, in Biblical times, a person’s wrist was considered a part of their hands.  God commanded that the hands be washed before touching holy things.  The Pharisees mandated that the washing be done all the way up to the elbows.   One could take no more than 3000 steps, carry no more weight than half of a dried fig, and not spit onto the soft soil lest the spittle plow the ground. Dragging a stick on the ground was forbidden on the Sabbath as a form of plowing. Rubbing grain in one's hands was considered to be threshing and blowing the chaff was winnowing, breaking the “thou shalt not do any work” portion of the Sabbath commandment.

While these men were running around making sure everyone else complied with the “law,” they did not cultivate the garden of their own hearts.  Through outward brow-beating and inward pride, they became so hardened and self-assured that they could not accept a Messiah who was not just like them.  Jesus said, “Whew – you have to do better than that!  Life is not about knit-picking the law.”  The kingdom of Heaven is about loving God with all your heart, mind and strength, and your neighbor as yourself.  Two simple rules – but they say it all.