Tuesday: The Young Scribe
Following the Rabbi
How long have you been studying under the Pharisees?
I study under only one Pharisee. He is my rabbi. The day he said, “Come, follow me,” was one of the greatest moments of my life. I have been following this man for years now. He had one of the greatest minds I had ever known—until I met Jesus.
Tell me, what did you see?
I saw this man from Galilee look right into the eyes of my teacher and the other rabbis, and he boldly called them hypocrites. He called them whitewashed tombs.
Matthew 23:27 (NASB)
’Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.
Hypocrites! These were men of the law whose entire dedication to the law was the very heart of their faith. At first, I was outraged. I had heard that many in my sect were seeking to get rid of Him, and in that moment, I wanted the exact same thing.
The Trap of Taxes
To defeat Him, we knew we had to make Him an enemy of His own people or an enemy of Rome. We were desperate. We had to entrap Him.
So the rabbis asked Him, “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
It seemed like the perfect trap. To say yes would deny the sovereignty of God over Israel—and what faithful Jew would follow that belief? But to say no made Him a criminal who refused to pay his taxes, and therefore an outright enemy of Rome.
Do you know what He said? He looked at them and replied, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
Matthew 22:21 (NASB)
They said to Him, ‘Caesar’s.’ Then He said to them, ‘Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.’
Simply put: Fear God and honor the king. It was a brilliant answer, but that didn’t stop us.
Without Sin
We found Him again teaching outside the city, and we brought to Him a woman caught in the very act of adultery. We asked Him, “What should be done with her?”
If He were to say, “Let her go,” then where was His respect for the holiness of God and the righteousness of the law? Yet, if He condemned her, what became of His claim that He had come to seek and save that which was lost?
And He replied, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”
John 8:7 (NASB)
But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, ‘He who is without sin among you, let him [be the] first to throw a stone at her.’
Not a single word had He uttered against the law, and in no way had He condoned this woman’s sin. I waited for one of the rabbis to respond, but they all stood completely silent. I wanted to speak up, yet this one sentence silenced even me. It convicted me to my core, making apparent the hidden sin still inside my own heart.
The Heart of the Law
Though His truths were strong, my stubbornness was stronger. He had to be stopped. I was determined to ensnare Him personally.
I stepped forward and asked, “Which is the greatest commandment of all?”
If He chose only one, it would show His neglect of the others and make Him a violator of the laws He deemed trivial. But He answered without hesitation:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Matthew 22:37-39 (NASB)
And He said to him, ’‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ ’This is the great and foremost commandment. ’The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’
This man from Galilee understood the true essence of the law. If the life of God is real in our lives, it will show by the presence of our love for God and our love for others.
My teacher understands the letter of the law. But whoever this man was, He opened my eyes to the heart of the law.