The Pharisee in the Mirror
Humility is the portal to understanding God's grace and mercy. It is through humility and self-abandonment that we find the need for a Savior. As we appraise our conduct and pursuit to unveil the sins that are obscured in our hearts, we discover just how unworthy we are to be called a child of God-- how unsuitable we are for God's compassion on us.
Paul was an apostle of Jesus Christ who didn't always have his act together, so to speak. In his early life, he victimized anyone who claimed to follow the Lord. He was a Pharisee. This powerful religion demanded strict adherence to decree and tradition. The Jews believed that the Messiah would appear on earth as a majestic King who would declare and demand the glory that He deserves. But that's not who Jesus was. Jesus came and lived among the poor. The gospels even mention that he shed his outer clothing, wrapped a towel around his waist, and washed the feet of His disciples. This wasn't an ambitious man who insisted to be praised. This was a man who came to serve the people that most who are in church today wouldn't look twice at. The Jesus we serve today isn't the Jesus of the Bible. We, and I include myself, tend to paint a picture of who we want our Jesus to be. The i'm-better-than-the-man-beside-me Jesus. We have misconstrued the idea of why our True King, the King of Kings, is worthy of our devotion.
Because Jesus, who claimed to be the Messiah, wasn't who the Jews wanted him to be, they labeled Jesus and a perjurer. So Paul persecuted anyone who claimed that Jesus was the long awaited Christ and redeemer.
God delivered Paul from his foolishness. Paul eventually achieved understanding and wisdom from God that Jesus was the true Christ. Can you imagine how Paul must have felt after that? I assume his thoughts were somewhere along the lines of "Oh crap!" Here he was, torturing and expelling those who knew the truth and were not being rebellious, but were walking in obedience.
Paul must have struggled living each day after that, following the Lord, knowing that he had rejected Him to furthest extent possible. While we read Paul's letters in the New Testament, we see his guilt. What I think is most extraordinary about Paul is that he never forgot who he used to be. Instead of becoming filled with pride that He was following the Lord and had better morals than those who weren't, he remained humble in that fact that he knew he did not merit God's benevolence and amnesty.
In Paul's letter to the church of Corinth, he says: "For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain." Paul is openly admitting to his former immorality. Why? Because no one wants a know-it-all telling them what to do. Paul was never going to reach these people, these sinners, on an effective level unless he illustrated that he himself needed this life with the Lord.
Humility is mentioned many times in Scripture. In 1 Peter, it even says that only the humble will receive grace, while the proud and boastful will be opposed by God.
There is a passage in Luke that tells us how Jesus was sitting at a table feasting with the Pharisees who didn't even recognize Jesus' face while He was sitting right in front of them. Yet a sinful woman came and poured her expensive perfume on His feet and wiped it with her hair.
The Pharisees' notion that this woman was behaving in a laughable and absurd way was quickly rebuked by Jesus when he said to them, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head.You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil.Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”
Jesus paints it pretty clear that the deeds and superiority of the Pharisees were spit worthy to Him and that the heart of a sinful woman seeking forgiveness and grace was of greater pleasure.
This woman knew Jesus in a way that the Pharisees were not progressing to discern because they had not humbled themselves to fathom the revulsion and pretense that was thriving in them. This woman understood how sufficient God's grace was for her because she possessed the humility to know and confess her reputation and low social position.
Although we do not execute Christians today, we still persecute the church with our actions. Christians mainly. We profess the name of Jesus and say that we follow Him and the example He set for us, but in reality, we don't. We live according to the Jesus we created to fit our lives, not the Jesus of the Bible. We are called hypocrites by the non-believers because that's exactly what we are. No, we are not under the law and are not capable of living sinless lives, however, many of us live a life that is not in line with the commandments of the Lord. We aren't excavating the truth of who Jesus really was.
We aren't going to rejoice in the Lord and fall in love with our Savior by creating this pretense that we are the"best Christian" among our friends, or that we are blameless like the Pharisees did. We only experience the Holy Spirit and the joy of our salvation by remaining humble and asking God each day to teach us, mold us, and grant us the understanding of just how substantial He is and how negligible we are.
Paul was an apostle of Jesus Christ who didn't always have his act together, so to speak. In his early life, he victimized anyone who claimed to follow the Lord. He was a Pharisee. This powerful religion demanded strict adherence to decree and tradition. The Jews believed that the Messiah would appear on earth as a majestic King who would declare and demand the glory that He deserves. But that's not who Jesus was. Jesus came and lived among the poor. The gospels even mention that he shed his outer clothing, wrapped a towel around his waist, and washed the feet of His disciples. This wasn't an ambitious man who insisted to be praised. This was a man who came to serve the people that most who are in church today wouldn't look twice at. The Jesus we serve today isn't the Jesus of the Bible. We, and I include myself, tend to paint a picture of who we want our Jesus to be. The i'm-better-than-the-man-beside-me Jesus. We have misconstrued the idea of why our True King, the King of Kings, is worthy of our devotion.
Because Jesus, who claimed to be the Messiah, wasn't who the Jews wanted him to be, they labeled Jesus and a perjurer. So Paul persecuted anyone who claimed that Jesus was the long awaited Christ and redeemer.
God delivered Paul from his foolishness. Paul eventually achieved understanding and wisdom from God that Jesus was the true Christ. Can you imagine how Paul must have felt after that? I assume his thoughts were somewhere along the lines of "Oh crap!" Here he was, torturing and expelling those who knew the truth and were not being rebellious, but were walking in obedience.
Paul must have struggled living each day after that, following the Lord, knowing that he had rejected Him to furthest extent possible. While we read Paul's letters in the New Testament, we see his guilt. What I think is most extraordinary about Paul is that he never forgot who he used to be. Instead of becoming filled with pride that He was following the Lord and had better morals than those who weren't, he remained humble in that fact that he knew he did not merit God's benevolence and amnesty.
In Paul's letter to the church of Corinth, he says: "For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain." Paul is openly admitting to his former immorality. Why? Because no one wants a know-it-all telling them what to do. Paul was never going to reach these people, these sinners, on an effective level unless he illustrated that he himself needed this life with the Lord.
Humility is mentioned many times in Scripture. In 1 Peter, it even says that only the humble will receive grace, while the proud and boastful will be opposed by God.
There is a passage in Luke that tells us how Jesus was sitting at a table feasting with the Pharisees who didn't even recognize Jesus' face while He was sitting right in front of them. Yet a sinful woman came and poured her expensive perfume on His feet and wiped it with her hair.
The Pharisees' notion that this woman was behaving in a laughable and absurd way was quickly rebuked by Jesus when he said to them, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head.You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil.Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”
Jesus paints it pretty clear that the deeds and superiority of the Pharisees were spit worthy to Him and that the heart of a sinful woman seeking forgiveness and grace was of greater pleasure.
This woman knew Jesus in a way that the Pharisees were not progressing to discern because they had not humbled themselves to fathom the revulsion and pretense that was thriving in them. This woman understood how sufficient God's grace was for her because she possessed the humility to know and confess her reputation and low social position.
Although we do not execute Christians today, we still persecute the church with our actions. Christians mainly. We profess the name of Jesus and say that we follow Him and the example He set for us, but in reality, we don't. We live according to the Jesus we created to fit our lives, not the Jesus of the Bible. We are called hypocrites by the non-believers because that's exactly what we are. No, we are not under the law and are not capable of living sinless lives, however, many of us live a life that is not in line with the commandments of the Lord. We aren't excavating the truth of who Jesus really was.
We aren't going to rejoice in the Lord and fall in love with our Savior by creating this pretense that we are the"best Christian" among our friends, or that we are blameless like the Pharisees did. We only experience the Holy Spirit and the joy of our salvation by remaining humble and asking God each day to teach us, mold us, and grant us the understanding of just how substantial He is and how negligible we are.
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