Posted on 08/22/2002 9:17:27 AM PDT by Raymond Hendrix
When Jesus visited this earth about two thousand years ago he was confronted with evil, wicked and sinful people of every sort. Contrary to what some have been led to believe, he did not forgive all of them. There seemed to be a definite division between the unforgiven and those whom Jesus chose to forgive. In today’s culture things have not changed much. Good and decent people are again confronted with an evil world and we are again faced with the problem of who to forgive and who to leave alone on whatever path they have chosen.
Some of the followers of Jesus came to him once and asked him how often they should forgive those who transgressed against them, “seven times?” “No”, Jesus answered, “Seventy times seven”. In another place Jesus said to his followers that if they did not forgive others then they themselves would not be forgiven by God. Herein then is the line drawn between the forgiven and the unforgiven. All that came to Jesus in a spirit of truth and humility received the healing touch of forgiveness. Others received nothing from him except a confirmation of the fact that they were unforgiven and condemned.
Who exactly were these unforgiven people? They were for the most part the scribes, Pharisees and the Sadducees. A cursory examination of the Gospels will confirm what becomes rather obvious throughout scripture in both the old and the new testaments. That is, the condemnation that results from being unforgiven is often directed toward, not the common sinner, but toward religious people. One of the most frightening indictments in the Bible is found in Matthew chapter twenty three. Here the condemnation “to hell” is directed to the scribes and Pharisees as usual. Furthermore these people were not to be thought of as some far out cult but rather they were occupying “Moses seat”. They were what we might call today “Christians”. And who was condemning these people to “the damnation of hell”? Well it was the lowly Savior from Galilee, Jesus Christ himself.
Now how can this man who came “not to condemn the world” speak so vehemently against these very people who sat in the seat of Moses? Were they beyond the grace of God? In a word, yes. They were unforgiven and they would die in their sins. They were guilty, you see, of the sin of unforgiveness. Their hearts were not soft but hardened. They had violated the law of Jesus. Some would say here that Jesus brought no law, he brought only “grace and truth”. But the scriptures do speak of the “law of liberty”. This law is in many ways even more severe than the law of Moses. For example in Hebrews chapter 10 we are taught that “those that despised Moses law died without mercy under two or three witnesses.” But then we are told in the next verse (29) that who have done “despite unto the Spirit of grace” will receive a “much sorer punishment”.
So we have the greater condemnation going toward those who sin against the law of grace. The division between the unforgiven and those who have found grace in the eyes of God is pretty clear really. Forgive others from our heart and God will forgive you for your many sins. The problem with the scribes and Pharisees is that they never saw themselves as sinners. They did not need to be forgiven of ‘many’ sins. They were the judges of sinners, at least in their own eyes. But Jesus upset their tables. He forgave those that the “Christians” refused to forgive and he condemned the unforgiving hypocrites to hell.
So here we have both the justice of God and the mercy of God. The vengeance of God is satisfied on the hypocrites and the mercy of God is applied to those who were the objects of their condemnation. Perfect justice. The oppressor is now the oppressed and the captive is set free.
Now this is all well and good but I am afraid that I may have offended some by interjecting the word ‘Christian’ into this little lesson on the evil scribes and Pharisees. Let’s not get too personal here. After all this object lesson was directed toward those evil Jews who killed Jesus. Modern day Christians would never do that. Or would they? Well of course my position is that they would. We as Christians must find ourselves in the same place as the ancient hypocrites did. We are no more the judges of the earth than they were. We only think we are judges – like they did. That is not to say that some of us are not God-ordained judges. And it is not to say that righteous judgment is to be avoided. Jesus did not teach his followers to avoid the necessity of judging right from wrong and dealing with it accordingly. That is not what this little lesson is about however.
As Christians we have a duty to judge, but not like the Pharisees did. They saw themselves as lords. We should see ourselves as servants. They condemned sinners, we should forgive them. They saw themselves as beyond the need of anymore grace from God. They had already earned their “place and nation” and we have earned nothing – or at least we should understand that truth. If we no longer see ourselves as in the same boat with the sinners then we have become like the hypocrites that Jesus condemned to hell. Today’s hypocrites are Christians. We are the ones in danger of being unforgiven. We are the modern day scribes and Pharisees. Isn’t it time to look back into the pit from which we were rescued? Isn’t it time to forgive?
Why are so many conservative Christians the first to cast stones at the sinners that society has placed in a circle surrounded by hypocrites? Why do we have so much trouble separating law from grace and mercy from justice? Is it not possible to long for justice and order in society without frothing at the mouth when a guilty sinner is condemned by the law? Is it not possible to see the necessity for judgment without becoming like a pack of Pharisees? Are we the modern day wolves in sheep’s clothing? Jesus found no pleasure in the death of the wicked yet we do. There is something wrong here. I for one refuse to be a part of the wolf pack. I believe in the death penalty and the enforcement of just laws in order to maintain a decent society where the innocent are protected and the guilty are condemned. But I find no need to be the first in line with a rock in my hand. Throw your own stones without me. I don’t weep for guilty hard hearted criminals who have no place in their heart for the love of God and I don’t weep for the hypocrites here that line up behind every news story with their usual pile of self righteous rocks to throw at the guilty sinners. Justify yourself. The word’s of Jesus condemn you.
I cannot think of a single example of conservative Christians casting stones. Muslims do this, but not Christians.
.... Oh, you mean to say that Jesus was speaking figuratively?
Where's the evidence that he was speaking figuratively? He was trying to prevent a literal stoning.
If I warn a sinner to avoid sin, am I "casting a stone"? I don't think so. Jesus himself warned the condemned women immediately after the crowd dispersed to "avoid this sin." Was Jesus violating his own teaching by "casting a stone"? Of course not!
BTW, according to Christ there is only one sin which will not be forgiven.
Matthew 12:31 "And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.
In a way it does. Jesus convicted the scribes of blaspheming the spirit. This was their 'unforgivable' sin.
A key word is repentance - i.e. "doing a 180 degree turn" away from sin. After her accusers left, Jesus did not condemn the woman caught in the act of adultery. Rather, he told her "to go, AND SIN NO MORE". (John 8:11)
We all encounter "sinners" daily. We are "sinners" ourselves - only saved by God's Grace.
Some sinners are repentant, some are not. Some may not be repentant today, but will be tomorrow. At any rate, we (as Christians) have to be careful and realize that only God can judge.
Since this IS a political forum, let me tie in a related thought regarding hypocracy. While Christians can all too often be rightly labeled hypocrites - this sin isn't limited to us alone.
"Hypocrite" is the environmentalist who drives to the Earth Day rally in his SUV. "Hypocrite" is the politician who raises taxes on eveyone else, while writing loopholes to exempt himself.
Yes, the world is full of hypocrites. In that regard, it hasn't changed much in 2000 years.
It should also be pointed out that "forgiveness" can only be applied in very narrow circumstances -- that is, when the person doing the forgiving is actually the one who has been harmed by the one asking forgiveness. This means, therefore, that the whole notion of "forgiveness" must be thrown out the window when you are dealing with a situation from a third-party perspective (as a juror, for example). In a situation like this, you are incapable of offering or asking forgiveness.
Not exactly. They did not like that he claimed the authority to forgive sinners, and denied his holy mandate even though they had witnessed his works. Blasphemy of the spirit.
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