Pharisees and the neglect of justice and the love of God

John 3:16 speaks of God’s Love manifested in the fact that he through His Son, Jesus Christ became human and manifested his Glory – that is his humble Love of Man, which is unchanging, and not his glory as in his power. In so doing he offered to man another path to come closer to Him, and remain in his presence. I.e. believe in God’s Love shown in and through Jesus  Christ.

But believing does not only mean that we speak and proclaim out belief in Jesus vocally, but as John 3:36 says, our belief is identified with how we live our lives – with respect to what we vocally claim to believe. So believing has two parts; 1) vocal unashamed acceptance and proclamation, b) living our lives based on this belief.

This is the paradox which the Pharisees and Scribes were living… There was only vocal statements of belief in Yahweh, and no engagement with God in a relationship. So what they proclaimed and lived were two different things. In this situation they were demanding that people listen to them and honour them for their ritualistic belief. This repulsed the people from God and also confused them no end… leading them into guilt traps.

Let us pray, Jesus help us come closer to you and be able to see you with the eyes of our heart, that recognising you in our daily life, we lead our lives dependent on you. Bless the people we come in contact with each day and let the perfume of our relationship with you, pass on to them…. Lord let your will be done, not ours. Amen.