March 10, 2010

Exodus 21

A friend of mine recently asked me, “Why is it that we seem to pick some portions of the law to say that we must obey it, while others we ignore?” That is a very good question. It has an answer that at times is simple and at times is complex. The simple answer is that Christ came to fulfill the law, not to destroy it. The simple answer is that the law came to reveal sin. The complexity of it is that at times different passages seem to be in contradiction of each other. Theologians have tried to explain the answer to my friend’s question for thousands of years. For example, part of today’s passage was used by some Southern pastors prior to the “War of Northern Aggression” as a defense of the institution of slavery. Yet the driving force behind the abolition movement of the north was the pastors who used the Scripture to argue that slavery was an immoral institution. Those two forces added to the heat that produced the Civil War. Did God desire the Civil War? I don’t think so. But His wrath is displayed in the terror it produced.

Part of the problem is that there were different kinds of law. There was ceremonial, moral, and civil law. There is casuistic law (giving case examples) and apodictic (you shall not . . .) law. When the Lord gave the law, He moved in and out of the different kinds of law without telling us, “Okay listen up! Now we are going to talk about ceremonial law,” nor did He say, “Now that we are done with the ceremonial law, let’s talk about civil law.” No, they are somewhat mixed together. In short the ceremonial law spoke of the ministry of Christ. He fulfilled those ceremonial laws in His death burial and resurrection. They are fulfilled in us as we trust and obey His finished work. What about civil law? The civil law was for Israel in the land. It was God’s way of teaching them how His people should live with each other. In a culture of extremism Israel need to learn how to moderate their justice as they developed as a new country. Since we are not the nation of Israel living in the land, we do not always follow the literal law. Rather we look for the principle behind the law and look for proper applications of that principle. What about moral law? It seems to me that moral law is binding for all times and cultures and we should observe that moral law. The difficulty is in determining which kind is each and how to fulfill it.

But where is the glory of God in all of this? His glory is seen in that He patiently stoops down to help us understand the depths of our depravity. In today’s passage we see that He communicates that we each have a responsibility to work. If we do not work or handle our finances properly, it leads to bondage. But bondage is not to be permanent! Even in bondage, He makes provision for our freedom! In this passage we see His protective desire for those who cannot protect themselves (the female servant). In this passage we see His demand that we respect and honor our parents. In this passage we see that justice is to be equal. Retribution is not to be greater than the crime. In this passage we see the demand for personal responsibility. Where is the glory of God in this? He is glorious because He wades into the muck of our sin and helps us sort it out. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!

--Pastor john

Mark 12:1-27

How often do we make decisions or hold attitudes based upon tradition rather than the glory of God? Levirate marriage was an understood practice where the younger brother would marry the oldest brother's widow when she was childless. It was a practice that sought to ensure that the lineage of the firstborn son was sustained. While the practice had fallen into some discredit at the time of Jesus, the Sadducees sought to use it to insult the Pharisees, and to trick Jesus, and to catch Him in an inconsistency in His theology. Using a hypothetical situation of 7 brothers each in turn marrying the childless woman until they all died and no children were ever produced, they thought they had Jesus trapped. Now, the Sadducees didn't believe in the resurrection. They sought to use this whole argument as a means of ridicule of Jesus.

Jesus brought them up short by revealing the true problem rather than following the typical lines of debate that would have been followed between Sadducees and Pharisees. The brunt of His argument was, "You do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God!" The Sadducees had fallen into the trap of trying to explain the Scripture by the culture rather than explaining the culture by the Scripture. The whole underlying basis for Revelation itself is a living relationship between God and man. Jesus quotes Exodus 3:6,15, part of the Pentateuch, the only part of the Bible that the Sadducees considered to be God's word, "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."

Scripture is a real record of the power of God's working in the past in His relationships with real people. He worked uniquely with each individual. The power of God is such that He is not limited to always doing the same thing in the same way every time. Human culture establishes norms that say this is the way life works. He did it this way with Moses; therefore, He will do it this way with us. God says, "I am infinite, to what will you compare Me?" He operates on the principles of His own character, which is the same yesterday, today and forever, but the individual outworking of those principles is often different for individual people. He only called one man to make an ark. He only called one man to leave his home to a land that He would show him. He led only one man through slavery, prison to the height of power in Egypt. He only spoke to one man through a burning bush. We like to cling to methods because they are safe and familiar. He says, "Cling to Me." And He amazes us with His creativity! He often scares us because He is different in His method every time. But that is what makes Him so glorious. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!

--Pastor john