Examine Yourselves

Luke 20:41-47

The Priests and the Sadducees had asked Jesus questions they hoped would cause him to answer in a way that they could use to discredit him. In each case, he answered in a sincere way that left them with nothing to say. Now he asks them a question that will force them to think about their own position if they give an honest answer.

“And he said unto them, How say they that Christ is David's son? And David himself saith in the book of Psalms, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Till I make thine enemies thy footstool. David therefore calleth him Lord, how is he then his son?” (Luke 20:41-44)

Israel had looked for the Messiah, or Christ for centuries, eagerly anticipating his coming to restore the Davidic kingdom, somewhat similar to what Charlemagne attempted in establishing the Holy Roman Empire. His goal was to reclaim the glory and power of the original Roman Empire, inferring that it was the ultimate.

Under David, Israel reached it’s military and political peak, which it retained throughout most of Solomon’s reign, even expanding and reaching greater economic heights, but it had already begun to weaken by the end of Solomon’s administration, and split immediately after his death.

David, the greatest of Israel’s leaders, recognized that Christ would be greater than he was, referring to him as his Lord. Culturally, the child is not greater than his progenitors, nor can a servant be greater than his master, so how can David make such a claim? Solomon, David’s son was considered the greates king they ever had, yet in Matthew 12:42, Jesus proclaimed himself greater. “The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.” The leaders of Israel need to review their position before becoming too sure of their own superior understanding.

“Then in the audience of all the people he said unto his disciples, Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues, and the chief rooms at feasts; Which devour widows' houses, and for a show make long prayers: the same shall receive greater damnation.” (Luke 20:45-47)

The desire for prestige and public recognition is spiritually dangerous. It encourages a major show of piety in an effort to gain approval, even as they violate other of God’s commands. The scribes, the ones who were to be teaching the law, as the ones trained in it, would spend hours in prayer and fasting to make it clear how spiritual they were. Today people make an issue of dress or of charitable activities to impress others with their goodness.

Those same highly respected scribes would then cheat a widow out of her home in the name of good business, ignoring commands like Exodus 22:22, “Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child,” or Deuteronomy 24:17, “Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless; nor take a widow's raiment to pledge.” As God clearly warned in Deuteronomy 27:19, “Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow…”

The facade of extreme piety and respectability usually conceals a thoroughly rotten core. As the old saying goes, “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.” Real things have flaws, and so do real Christians. Perfect ones are fakes and can be dangerous. Jesus has attempted to make the leaders examine their position, but warns the people against fakes. In II Corinthians 13:5, Paul instructed us to “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?”

The test is not some religious activity, but the presence of the Holy Spirit, as demonstrated by the attitudes he produces. Galatians 5:22-23 lists these attitudes. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”