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Today's Little Lift
by Jim Bullington
“Then they [certain of the scribes and Pharisees] said to Him, ‘Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?’”(Luke drink?’”(Luke 5.33).
One who possessed a love for truth, or the love of the truth simply could not have posed such an argument as the one just quoted. After all, who said that the disciples of John referred to here were correct in what they were doing regarding fasting? Is it not reasonable to believe that some of John’s disciples failed to do as they had been taught just like some of Jesus’ disciples also failed to follow Him perfectly? Just what was the standard of right and wrong anyway? It seems that the querists in this passage thought that the actions of other men formed the standard against which Jesus and His disciples should be measured. How pitifully wrong they were!
On an occasion previously discussed in this column, Jesus told some troublemakers that if they had known the meaning of a certain Old Testament passage, they would not have condemned the guiltless (see Matthew 12.1-8). The occasion here is very similar; those who questioned Jesus did so with the apparent mindset that the standard of right and wrong was somehow possessed by uninspired men (the disciples of John and of the Pharisees). In making this “leap of non-faith,” they chose to ignore two great bodies of truth that were available to them. First, they ignored the overwhelming mountain of evidence that demanded that Jesus be recognized as a true prophet. Secondly, they ignored the completeness of the Old Testament and the fact that it contained everything that was essential to pleasing God in that dispensation. This is a true case of the blind leading the blind (uninspired men leading uninspired men), and both falling into the ditch (see Matthew 15.14)!
Paul would later address this type of error by writing, “For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.” (2 Corinthians 10.12). Like some in Paul’s day, the questioners of Jesus compared them selves among themselves, and in so doing, showed themselves not to be wise. It is an absolute fact in the arena of logic (right thinking), if a person is allowed to assume one (and only one fact), he can prove anything. If you will allow me to measure myself by some uninspired person, I can look like and angel. Likewise, if Jesus had permitted the folks in today’s leading text to assume that the disciples of John and of the Pharisees were the standard, Jesus Himself would have been found to be a sinner! Absurd as it seems, that would have been the result of such flawed reasoning.
How often do we fall under the same condemnation? Have you ever said, or heard someone say, “Well, I’m just as good as old brother so-and-so!” Or, perhaps the statement went something like this, “Well, what I did was no worse than what he/she did under similar circumstances!” Who is right in such a matter? That is absolutely the wrong question! The right question is what is right? The answer: The Bible is right!
Questions:
1. What evidence was there that Jesus was a true prophet?
2. What evidence was there that fasting “at will” was commanded by God?
3. When men become the standard of right and wrong, what is bound to result? Do you like to be judged by such arbitrary standards? Do you judge others by such standards? Does it please God when we do so?
4. Have you ever seen or participated in a discussion of right or wrong when the Scriptures were never consulted or considered? What was the outcome?
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