Are We Pharisees?Sample

In Genesis 2 and 3, God made a garden. He placed two humans there: one male (Adam) and one female (Eve). They were representatives of God to creation, creation to God, and God to one another.

They didn’t understand much. They had God as a friend, though. In the most refreshing part of the day, He walked and discerned life with them. God was their ultimate blessing.

He gave one rule: don’t eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Eat = die. I doubt Adam and Eve were burdened by it, though, or thought often of that tree. They had their place. They knew their place. They loved their place.

Then, Satan deceived Eve. I’ll paraphrase what he said: “That fruit will give you powers to discover, discern, and define (based on what you know) what is good and bad, right and wrong. God does it! You can, too, without Him. He just wants to maintain a status quo where He stays on top. Eat it! It won’t kill you. You can be free! You can be powerful. You can be God.”

Well, they ate and they were free of God, the most affectionate, benevolent, creative, genius, innocent, and powerful person. They had traded God for themselves. It was all up to them now and it didn’t feel good. It didn’t feel like freedom and power. It felt vulnerable.

Generations later, Jesus spoke a parable about a vineyard owner and his terrible tenants. The Pharisees understood this story was about them: they were the tenants. They were terrible. It doesn’t seem they understood why Jesus said this about them, though.

You see, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil wasn’t merely a tree. It imparted an operating system; and the Pharisees were PRIME examples of this OS at work. In this system, knowledge is necessary. Knowledge is power. Knowledge is how we live our lives. The more we have, the better decisions we can make. Knowledge is, I dare write, salvation. “I need to know. I have to know. I must know.”

If we operate this way, this will mean God (and God in others) needs to prove Himself to us. With the Pharisees, Jesus didn’t come from their schools, he came from God. They had no matrix for that; to them, if it wasn’t in their matrix, then it wasn’t right—and so it wasn’t God! Consequently, they behaved like they were in charge of the vineyard, even though Jesus was right and was God.

We can be like them, sometimes. Our leaders are great people, we can reason to ourselves. They’re well-educated, experienced, knowledgeable, and they’ve taught us well! Our standards are met. We can figure we’re capable of discerning, then, too, and can discern ourselves, other people, and things in general, pretty well.

And, like them, we can figure we have the responsibility. So, we do things as best as we know how. If it doesn’t seem right, we don’t do it. We definitely don’t do it if it seems wrong! If it isn’t in line with our matrix, then it isn’t right and it isn’t God. We can behave like we are in charge of the vineyard.

“12 There is a path before each person that seems right,

but it ends in death.” - Proverbs 14:12 (NLT)

We may not realize our knowledge is running the show. The Tree of Knowledge will make us spectators and speculators instead of lovers and followers. Relationally, we won’t know Him and He won’t know us. If this is true, we likely won’t realize this about ourselves. We definitely won’t want to admit it.

Truthfully, God doesn’t need to prove Himself to us. I mean, whose vineyard is it anyway? And who are we? We’re terrible at judging and discerning. We have immensely inadequate information, sub-par perspective, laughable knowledge, and often-mixed motivations. God needs to be able to do what He wants with His people and planet, whether or not we like/want/agree-with/get it, and He sometimes does anyway. We are not in charge.

Because of Jesus, we can have the original option. The cross He bore has become to us a tree of life. We can eat His body and drink His blood. We can be offended by this, as the original hearers were, or we can forgo our knowledge and understanding and enter and live in His kingdom as little children. This way, like Adam and Eve, we can know God as a friend.

In this system, God is necessary. God is power. Communion with God is how we live our lives. The more we have of Him the better decisions we can make. God, Himself, is salvation. “I need God. I have to have God. I must have God.”

Understanding Him, life, and situations does come over time, but it does not limit our friendship or obedience. We don’t need understanding to know, rest in, and enjoy Him. God is trustworthy and we discover it more every day.

We need Him. He knows. We don’t. Our understanding and knowledge will never be perfect, not like Him. Knowledge is a tool. It is not my master. Jesus is my master.

Has knowledge become more valuable to us than communion with God? Do our hearts feel safe with Him because of the strong friendship, trust, and communion we’ve cultivated with Him? Who is in charge of the vineyard? Are we the tenants in the parable? Are we… Pharisees?