Wednesday, September 27, 2023
“Take heed and beware the teaching of the Pharisees.” (Matthew 16:6,12)
Imagine a flashing CAUTION sign on the highway. Take heed literally means to stare at or to attend to. Beware means to devote thought and effort to. The Bible doesn’t employ things we do to emphasize things. We underline or highlight. To give prominence to something written the Bible authors use repetition, especially repetition using synonyms. Jesus does this here: take heed and beware. This is a great emphasis in Jesus’ teaching. He said it several times. What are we to take heed to and beware of? Whatever it is, it is important.
What the Pharisees teach is important. It says Jesus came in the fullness of time and part of that fullness of time was when the Pharisees were around. There never was a time in the history of Israel when Jesus could have pointed at one group of people and said, “If you want to know what God is NOT like, look at the Pharisees! God is not like them.” And their behavior came from their beliefs, what they did came from what they taught. Jesus said, “Beware the teaching of the Pharisees.”
This message seems to be out of place in this series on the book of Acts. We don’t encounter the Pharisees until Acts 4 where it talks about the Sadducees, scribes and priests. These people were all part of a huge religious system that taught the same thing about God and “the traditions of the elders.” But I’m bringing them up here because by this time in our study of Acts we are sure to have some who disagree with what I say in these early chapters of Acts.
Disagreements are normal. Christians sometimes disagree. People will disagree. That’s not all bad. It’s like the old saying, “If everyone is thinking alike, somebody is not necessary.” The Bible says, “Iron sharpens iron.” We can learn from each other, unless you think you already know it all, then you can’t learn anything.
We must never let differences divide us. Differences don’t actually divide people. According to Galatians 5:19-21 the flesh divides people. “The works of the flesh are hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions…” The fruit of the Spirit is love and that covers a multitude of differences. Agreeing to disagree is vital to any relationship: marriage, parenting, living in church.
This is why churches need a “Statement of Faith” that gives the essentials of what they believe. It should be printed in every bulletin along with this: “In Essentials we have Unity, in Non-essentials we have Liberty, in Everything we have Love.” It’s not that this will stop divisions. Some will have their own scruples and beliefs that cannot keep from dividing because they are intolerant of differences.
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