To Encourage You

Matthew 5:21-22 “You have heard that it was said to those of old . . . But I say to you . . .”

One of the ways we learn about things is to compare and contrast one against another.  There’s a field of study in science called taxonomy.  It’s a means to classify living things.  There are documents called “taxonomic keys” that have been developed to help with this.  Here’s an example from the plant world:

1a. Skin of fruit is thin, soft
or at least flexible, edible … 2

1b. Skin of fruit is thick,
leathery or hard, inedible … 4

2a. Seeds in several liquid-filled
chambers; fruit soft
throughout … Tomato

2b. Seeds in hard or papery
structure in center of fruit … 3

3a. Seed enclosed in hard,
stonelike pit; flesh soft … Peach

3b. Seeds enclosed in
 papery core; flesh crisp … Apple

4a. Fruit weighs more
than 1 pound (0.5 kg);
skin does not peel off … Watermelon

4b. Fruit weighs less
than 1 pound (0.5 kg);
skin can be peeled … 5

5a. Fruit long and narrow,
yellow; flesh not divided
into sections … Banana

5b. Fruit round, orange;
inner flesh divided into
several segments … Orange

Taxonomic keys have been developed for every living thing. They are a means to differentiate life forms from a high level (e.g., plants vs animal) to a very low level (e.g., the differences between the many species of sparrows – there are around 40 species in North America). 

So did you know that there are also taxonomies, if you will, throughout the Bible?  It’s the key to which we must go to differentiate the human from the divine.  One such place is in the words of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7.  Throughout this teaching Jesus uses the words above, i.e., “you have heard that it was said” and He then contrasts it with “but I say to you.” In this teaching He points over and over again to the teaching of the Jewish scribes and Pharisees who had developed a system of religious traditions over the centuries.  It had all started with something divine, i.e., the Law that God had given to Moses, but they had so polluted it with their own ideas that it was no longer divine in nature. 

One area at which Jesus took particular aim was their teaching about the Sabbath.  They had developed such a burdensome system of do’s and don’ts around the Sabbath that they had completely lost sight of its purpose.  They had become so blinded by their human traditions that when Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath (Matthew 12:8), came to earth, they constantly criticized Him for His supposed violations of it.  Jesus was grieved that this day of rest that God had gifted to man had been made into a burden that the religious leaders continually held over people’s heads. 

In Matthew 15 we have another example. Here we are told the following: “Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, ^‘Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.’ He answered them, ‘And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God commanded, “Honor your father and your mother,” and “Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.” But you say, “If anyone tells his father or his mother, ‘What you would have gained from me is given to God’he need not honor his father.” So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God. You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: ^“This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”’” 

It’s a danger we all face, i.e., a failure to differentiate the human from the divine.  And if we don’t go to God’s “key” we’ll follow man’s “wisdom” instead of God’s wisdom that is as high above man’s wisdom as the heavens are above the earth (Isaiah 55:9). 

So, who are you listening to today? Whose wisdom are you following? Do you know how to differentiate between the two kinds? Are you studying the “key” to telling the difference that God has provided to each of us in His Word?