Messianic Musings ~ What is Jesus Really Saying?

Has anyone ever said to you, "I want you to hear what I am NOT saying."?  Sometimes we may have a preconceived idea of what someone is going to say to us. When this happens we can hear what we think they are going to say rather what they are really saying. This can happen when we read Scripture as well. 

I think many of us began our study of Matthew with the presupposition that Jesus and the religious leaders, meaning all of the religious leaders, were on two sides of a battle. We have seen in Matthew that Jesus was often accused of taking a stand against the law of Moses and Jewish tradition. We have learned this was far from the truth. Jesus Himself says in Matthew 5:17, "Do not think I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them".  

Reading through Matthew 23, it might seem that Jesus is speaking against the Law. He has some harsh things to say to the scribes and Pharisees who have been confronting Him. Jesus speaks about their words, their actions, and even their attire. What we may hear is what He is NOT saying.

Let's look at what Jesus is saying specifically about their attire: "For they make their phylacteries broad " (v.5). You may be wondering what a phylactery is. This is a small leather box that during times of prayer would be worn on the arm and the forehead. Inside the box was a small scroll that would have the words of the Sh'ma on it. The Sh'ma is found in Deuteronomy 6:4-5: "Hear, O Israel, The Lord our God, the Lord is One. You shall love your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might".  Deuteronomy 6:8 goes on to say: "You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes".

So is Jesus criticizing the Pharisees for wearing them? Quite the contrary. Jesus Himself was an observant Jew and would have worn phylacteries of His own. Wearing these prayer boxes would be a beautiful fulfillment of the law given in Deuteronomy 6:8. What Jesus was condemning was that some of the Pharisees would make their prayer boxes very large. It was not about what they were doing, rather, why they were doing it. If small is good, than large would be much more holy, right? They were doing this for man to see, not to honor God.

We have seen again and again that Jesus is after our hearts. We may not wear phylacteries on our heads but I am sure we could take this example and apply it to some of the religious actions in our own lives. Perhaps you could ask God to show you if there is something you are doing that is more about what others see than the joy of pleasing Him.

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." (Psalm 51:10)