Skip to main content

The Richmond Briefing

A weekly Bible reading for Bridge Builders

The Richmond Briefing has been a weekly feature of the Reachout web site for five years and is now available on the blog. To find out more and read earlier briefings go here

Reading – When You Don’t Need Jesus (Luke 7:36-50)

Have you ever heard someone say that “religion is a crutch”? When I hear this I look at the world and answer, “Perhaps, but look whose limping?” The implication of course is that only the weak and infirm in mind and spirit need a religious crutch. This further implies that the speaker suffers no such weakness and can stand on their merit. Perhaps the most tragic figure in the Bible is the Pharisee who takes such an attitude toward Jesus because, you see, the Pharisee is a very righteous person, careful in following the requirements of their religion, and here is the cause of their tragedy – self-righteousness.

In this passage Jesus is visiting the home of a Pharisee, and a prostitute has entered unawares and begun to weep, washing Jesus feet with her tears. The reaction of the Pharisee is instructional. First he looks at the prostitute, compares his self-righteousness to her sinfulness and recoils in horror. Then he considers the fact that Jesus does not rebuke the woman, comparing Jesus’ apparent lack of discernment with his own “sound judgement”, and deciding that Jesus can’t be so great a prophet otherwise he would have seen what the Pharisee saw and acted accordingly. She is a sinner, the Pharisee stood in his “righteousness” before God and Jesus has proved to be a poor judge of character.

His attitude is typical of many who can see clearly enough why other people need cleansing from sin but can’t begin to see that they need cleansing. They are different; they are upright and respectable, honourable and decent people. They have the right religion, believe the correct orthodoxy, scrupulously follow the right rules and make of themselves paragons that surely others must envy.

But look at the woman’s behaviour and attitude. She has entered the house of a Pharisee; someone she must surely know would judge her like this. Here was Jesus eating with this Pharisee and why should she expect him to be any different? Her faith shows that firstly she had no illusions about her need of cleansing from sin and secondly that Jesus would accept her and grant forgiveness. She trusted Jesus for pardon and cleansing and sought it urgently.

Now look at Jesus. He read the hearts of both the Pharisee and the woman and saw the faith of the woman and the pride of the Pharisee and asked an important question.

“Two men owed money to a certain money-lender. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?

[The Pharisee replied] ‘I suppose the one who had the bigger debt cancelled’” (Lk.7:41-42)

The woman knew the burden of her debt and it showed in her response to God’s forgiveness. The Pharisee on the other hand felt no great burden of debt to God because of his self-righteousness and his response to Jesus was tardy and neglectful. Here is the tragedy of those who cut themselves off from Jesus not because of their worldly ways but because of their religion. Not because they have committed terrible crimes in the world but because they believe that since they haven’t then they are right with God.

No matter what our religion there are things about our lives, our thoughts and emotions that we would never want anyone, especially those close to us, knowing about. Things that shame us to even think of but Jesus knows these things and loves us so much that he died to cleanse and forgive us. Denying this robs us of the very freedom that only Jesus brings. We can reject Jesus because, like John the Baptist, we can be disappointed because he isn’t what we expected. We can reject him because he doesn’t do things the way we think they should be done. We can reject him because we are too proud to admit that we need him, to self-righteous too confess our sins, seek and find forgiveness.

As Christian Witnesses it is our task to help people see this and encourage them to seek Jesus in the same way as did the prostitute and lay down the guarded, self-righteous ways of the Pharisee. When you don’t need Jesus that is when you are most lost.

“Fallen man is not simply an imperfect creature who needs improvement. He is a rebel who must lay down his arms” CS Lewis

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Obama's mother posthumously baptized into LDS Church - Salt Lake Tribune

In the wake of his remarkable success it seemed that the world and his wife wanted to claim President Obama as their own with even an Irish connection being dug up. Now the Mormons have got in on the act by posthumously baptising his mother. They have in the past upset the Jewish community, the Catholic Church and now the American President with this wacky and unbiblical practice but there is no indication that they will review it. And, of course, it is always someone else’s fault and they promise a thorough inquiry to uncover the real culprits. Maybe they should try looking in the mirror. President Barack Obama's mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, who died in 1995, was baptized posthumously into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints last year during her son's campaign, according to Salt Lake City-based researcher Helen Radkey. The ritual, known as “baptism for the dead,” was done June 4 in the Provo temple, and another LDS temple rite, known as the “endowment,” was

Mormon Christians? Whats in a Name?

The Mormon Church, disturbed by the continuing identifying of polygamus sects in the news with the name Mormon, recently issued a press statement aimed at "clarifying" issues. It is interesting to note that if you substitute the name "Christian" where they use the name "Mormon" it makes a very good argument for us against the claims of the Mormon Church. The full press release is reproduced below in italics with each paragraph rewritten in ordinary text to present it from a Christian perspective. SALT LAKE CITY 10 July 2008 On 26 June, Newsroom published a package of information featuring profiles of ordinary Latter-day Saints in Texas. With no other intention but to define themselves, these members provided a tangible depiction of what their faith is all about. They serve as the best distinction between the lifestyles and values of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a Texas-based polygamous group that has recently attracted media attent

Who and Where are the 144,000?

  Last time we saw that only 144,000 have a heavenly hope. Where does that leave the rest of the millions of faithful Jehovah’s Witnesses, the great crowd? “ The key to the identification of the ‘great crowd’ is found within the description of them in Revelation chapter 7 .The vision there presented is concerning persons not in heaven, from where the 'New Jerusalem comes down,' but on earth, among mankind .If the ‘great crowd’ are persons who gain salvation and remain on earth, how could they be said to be 'standing before God's throne and before the Lamb?' (Re 7:9) The position of 'standing' is sometimes used in the Bible to indicate the holding of a favored or approved position in the eyes of the one in whose presence the individual or group stands .It thus appears that the "great crowd" is formed of those persons who have been preserved during that time of wrath and who have been able to "stand" as approved by God and the Lamb.” - I