A Better Way: "You have heard it was said"
In 2009 I took a group of teenagers to South Dakota on a mission trip. As part of our cultural exploration day, we took a side-trip to Devil's Tower, Wyoming. In the middle of a vast plain, a single tower sticks straight up 867 feet out of the ground. As I stood underneath the sheer cliffs I felt so small, and it is still a mystery for me as to how that rock formation could have happened naturally.
Earlier this year I met Francis Chan. As I shook his hand I felt like I was standing in front of a man of God whose life experience, knowledge of Scripture, and ability to communicate towered over me. It was as if I was standing next to the Devil's Tower of American Christian Celebrity Culture.
In Matthew 5:20 Jesus said that unless our righteousness reaches higher than the Pharisees' we cannot hope to see the Kingdom of Heaven. I'm sure that to take that statement by itself in those days was to beg the question, "How will I EVER measure up, then?"
The Pharisees of that day were the Devil's Towers of righteousness. No one could measure up. They were the overseers of how to do things just right. They memorized the Torah, they knew the Law backwards and forwards, and they devoted their lives to Torah study and judgment of others for how they followed it. Spiritually they towered 867 feet over the normal Jewish person.
The question has never been about comparative morality, though. The question has always been about whether we meet the sinless standard of God's character. That standard is like the moon to Devil's Tower. I will never reach the height of Devil's Tower. But Devil's tower is not even visible from low earth orbit, let alone the moon. It is completely unattainable.
For the next couple of chapters in Matthew, Jesus lays out how the Jewish religious leaders misunderstood the Law. He repeats the phrase, "You have heard that it was said...but I say to you..." And as He does, Jesus sets the standard of the Law so much higher than any human could possibly achieve. Essentially He set the Law up as proof that no human being could possibly be good or moral enough to reach Heaven on their own.
It's easy to compare ourselves to someone who may seem to be spiritually or morally high above us. Our Christian Celebrity Culture especially leads us to put church leaders on a pedestal, considering them as somehow on a higher spiritual plane that anyone else. But we are all in the same boat. We all need God's grace, expressed through Christ offering Himself as our covering for sin. Even if we did get to be a spiritual 867 feet above everyone else in the world, we would still fall unbelievably short of the righteousness required.
And that's a comforting thought for me.
The disciples needed Christ's covering for their sin. The Pharisees needed Christ's covering for their sin. Francis Chan needs Christ's covering for his sin. I need Christ's covering for my sin. You need Christ's covering for your sin. And it's only available by grace through faith in the One who loved us and gave Himself for us.
Earlier this year I met Francis Chan. As I shook his hand I felt like I was standing in front of a man of God whose life experience, knowledge of Scripture, and ability to communicate towered over me. It was as if I was standing next to the Devil's Tower of American Christian Celebrity Culture.
In Matthew 5:20 Jesus said that unless our righteousness reaches higher than the Pharisees' we cannot hope to see the Kingdom of Heaven. I'm sure that to take that statement by itself in those days was to beg the question, "How will I EVER measure up, then?"
The Pharisees of that day were the Devil's Towers of righteousness. No one could measure up. They were the overseers of how to do things just right. They memorized the Torah, they knew the Law backwards and forwards, and they devoted their lives to Torah study and judgment of others for how they followed it. Spiritually they towered 867 feet over the normal Jewish person.
The question has never been about comparative morality, though. The question has always been about whether we meet the sinless standard of God's character. That standard is like the moon to Devil's Tower. I will never reach the height of Devil's Tower. But Devil's tower is not even visible from low earth orbit, let alone the moon. It is completely unattainable.
For the next couple of chapters in Matthew, Jesus lays out how the Jewish religious leaders misunderstood the Law. He repeats the phrase, "You have heard that it was said...but I say to you..." And as He does, Jesus sets the standard of the Law so much higher than any human could possibly achieve. Essentially He set the Law up as proof that no human being could possibly be good or moral enough to reach Heaven on their own.
It's easy to compare ourselves to someone who may seem to be spiritually or morally high above us. Our Christian Celebrity Culture especially leads us to put church leaders on a pedestal, considering them as somehow on a higher spiritual plane that anyone else. But we are all in the same boat. We all need God's grace, expressed through Christ offering Himself as our covering for sin. Even if we did get to be a spiritual 867 feet above everyone else in the world, we would still fall unbelievably short of the righteousness required.
And that's a comforting thought for me.
The disciples needed Christ's covering for their sin. The Pharisees needed Christ's covering for their sin. Francis Chan needs Christ's covering for his sin. I need Christ's covering for my sin. You need Christ's covering for your sin. And it's only available by grace through faith in the One who loved us and gave Himself for us.
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