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ALTHOUGH JESUS WAS completely aware of the social injustices of His
day, He refused to allow His compassion to draw Him into any party
or movement. When an individual complaint was brought to Him,
Jesus asked, "Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?"
(Luke 12:14). Yet in His condemnation of the greed of the Temple
rulers and the cruel hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees, and
the woes He pronounced upon those corrupt and blind guides, there
is seen a deep consciousness of the social ills of His day, and His
effort to rid the nation of them.
Jesus of Nazareth was not a rabble-rouser, nor did He promote a
program for social reform and political reorganization.
Nevertheless, no teacher has ever been more intent upon bettering
the conditions of men than was He. Jesus set forth principles not
programs. He knew that conditions will change through right ideals
in the minds of men, so He sought through His teaching to free men
of greed and of hate by implanting within them a genuine and
sincere love for one another--an equal love for friend or foe.
So
Jesus would not perfect society today by having his people march on
the capital, nor by getting involved in some sweeping political
reform, nor by a frenzied turn-out at the voting booths. No, He
would have the society change by the regeneration of each and every
individual. The disciple's responsibility therefore, is to preach
the gospel of regeneration to all men.
THE FAMILY
We have heard that the home is the foundation of a society, for "as
goes the home," they say, "so goes the nation." Each home is a
unity within the population. Destroy the virtues of the home and
the moral foundation of the nation will crumble.
Jesus teaches that the marriage relationship is of divine origin,
and that under no circumstances can its demands be set aside.
Divinely appointed marriage is extremely important to a society as
a whole, because proper marriage is the foundation of the home, and
the home is the foundation of the society. No nation can be any
better than its homes. To have a strong nation, it must be made up
of homes with strong Christian principles. If the marriage tie
between husband and wife is weak, the home is resting on a weak
foundation. If the marriage tie rests on shifting sand, then the
home is insecure. When the floods come and the winds blow and beat
upon that house it will fall.
DIVORCE
In Matthew 19:3-9 Jesus points to God as the creator of marriage
which makes it a divine institution. He said, "Have ye not read,
that he which made them at the beginning made them male and
female.... and they twain shall be one flesh." Here Jesus
declares that God made the first pair, Adam and Eve; that He made
them male and female; and that He made them for each other. He
also shows marriage is the primary human relationship. "For this
cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his
wife; and they twain shall be one flesh." The relationship between
parents and their sons and daughters is one which is exceedingly
intimate and precious, but the fathers and the mothers of the bride
and groom must be willing to take a secondary place in their lives.
Furthermore, Jesus teaches that marriage makes the husband and wife
one. "Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh." The
Christian husband and wife are truly "heirs together of the grace
of life" (I Peter 3:7).
MARRIAGE IS FOR LIFE
Marriage is a life-time relationship. The Lord said, "What
therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." It
is not a temporary arrangement, but it is permanent for life (Read
Romans 7:1-3). The marriage bond is permanent and is broken only
in one of two ways--by death or by fornication being committed
(Matthew 19:9). It was God's will in the beginning for the husband
and wife to be bound together until death shall separate them. God
never intended that there be divorce, but neither did He intend
that there be adultery. Under the law of Moses God made provision
that those guilty of adultery should be stoned. When the scribes
and the Pharisees brought the woman taken in adultery to Jesus,
they said to Him, "Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the
very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be
stoned; but what sayest thou?" (John 8:4-5). Where is it?
Leviticus 20:10 says, "And the man that committeth adultery, with
another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his
neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adultress shall surely be
put to death." This left the innocent free to marry again. Of
course, in the Christian age we are not permitted to stone to death
those guilty of adultery; hence, Jesus made this exception of
fornication. Paul taught that it was sinful to be one flesh with
a harlot, and Jesus gave the way out if there is no repentance.
UNCLEANNESS
On this question of divorce the Jewish scholars were violently
divided, and it was on this question that the scribes and Pharisees
hoped to involve Jesus. Moses' law said, "When a man hath taken a
wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour
in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her; then
let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand,
and send her out of his house" (Deuteronomy 24:1). The school of
Shammai was certain that this uncleanness meant fornication.
According to their belief, a woman could be a Jezebel, as long as
she did not actually commit adultery, and she could not be put
away. On the other hand, the school of Hillel interpreted this
matter of uncleanness in the widest possible way. They said that
it meant that a man could divorce his wife if she just burned the
beans, if she went with unbound hair, if she spoke to a man on the
street, if he heard her speak to his parents disrespectfully, or if
she was a brawling woman whom the neighbors could hear.
The tragedy was that the obvious result followed--it was the school
of Hillel whose teachings prevailed, and the marriage bond was
often lightly held; it was tragically common that divorce was
granted on the most trivial grounds. So in effect the scribes and
Pharisees were asking Jesus for His views on divorce, whether He
favored the strict views of the school of Shammai, or the very lax
views of the school of Hillel, and thereby seeking to involve Him
in controversy. Jesus' answer was to take the marriage bond back
to the beginning; it was absolutely irrefutable that Adam and Eve
were created for each other and for no one else. So should it be
today (1 Corinthians 7:23).
DUTIES TO THE NATION
Two incidents in the ministry of Jesus are recorded to illustrate
His teaching on the disciple's duty to the nation. First, there
was the case of the Temple tax (Matthew 17:24-27). The Temple in
Jerusalem was a costly place to maintain. There were the daily
morning and evening offerings of a year-old lamb (Exodus 29:38-39).
The incense had to be burned perpetually (Exodus 30:7-8). There
were many other offerings to be made. There were the costly
hangings which from time to time had to be replaced. The robes of
the priests were constantly in need of replacement. Of course, the
robe for the High Priest was like that of a king. All of this
required a great deal of money. So in the Law was a provision that
required every Israelite male over twenty years of age to pay an
annual Temple tax on one half-shekel (Exodus 30:13-14). That
amount was about two-day's wages.
In Matthew 17 Jesus paid the Temple tax. The tax authorities came
to Simon Peter and asked him if His Master paid this tax. Peter
promptly replied that Jesus did pay it. Then wondering Peter went
to tell Jesus about this matter. Jesus said to Peter, "Of whom do
the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own
children, or of strangers?" Peter answered, "Of strangers."
"Then are the children free," said Jesus. We understand that if
any ancient king imposed taxes on a nation, those taxes were not
levied on his own family and his household. It was for the support
of his household that the taxes were imposed. Now the tax in
question was for the Temple, which was the house of God, and Jesus,
of course, was the Son of God. But Jesus said, "Notwithstanding,
lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook,
and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast
opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and
give unto them for me and thee" (Matthew 17:27).
TAXES
The second case which illustrated Jesus' teaching on the disciple's
duty to the nation was that of tribute to Caesar. (Please read
Matthew 22:15-22; Mark 12:13-17; Luke 20:21-26). The land of
Israel at that time was an occupied country and the people were
subject to the Roman Empire. The Romans exacted taxes from the
Jews, which was a bitter experience for them to pay taxes to a
heathen king and his government. The question was asked of Jesus,
"Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?" This clearly
was a loaded question which the Herodians put to Jesus, for the
purpose of entrapping Him. They felt that they had Him in a
perfect dilemma. If He had said that it was unlawful to pay the
tax they would promptly report Him to the Roman tax officials as a
seditionist and they would have arrested him promptly. On the
other hand if He said that it was lawful to pay this tax to Caesar,
He would stand condemned in the eyes of the Jewish people. To a
Jew God was the only King; to pay tax to any earthly king was to
admit the validity of his kingdom and thereby insult God.
Therefore, the more fanatical Jews insisted that any tax paid to
any foreign king was necessarily wrong. So whichever way Jesus
answered, at least His questioners thought, He was in trouble.
But Jesus wisely asked to see a coin, which was stamped with the
Emperor's head. Jesus asked whose image was on the coin. The
answer was that it was Caesar's. Then Jesus said, "Render
therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God
the things that are God's." With His unique wisdom Jesus, as
always, laid down principles which are never out of date. Here He
lays down a very great and important principle--that a disciple of
Jesus has a double citizenship--he is a citizen of an earthly
country, and to the country's government, where he lives, he owes
his respect and obedience to its laws, and he should pay the taxes
which this government levies (See Romans 13:1-7). But, above all,
the disciple of Christ is a citizen of the kingdom of heaven.
These two citizenships should not clash, but the Christian's first
loyalty and responsibility is to Christ (Matthew 6:33; Acts 5:29;
Philippians 3:20).
LAWBREAKERS
Jesus' authoritative teaching brought difficult questions from both
his friends and foes. Often the Pharisees tried to induce Him to
commit Himself on various questions so that they might bring the
charge of treason against Him.
The account of the woman taken in adultery (John 8:3-11) is an
example of Jesus' attitude toward law-violators. The foes of Jesus
brought this sinful woman to Jesus thinking that she would likely
appeal to His sympathy. If they were interested in dealing justly
with this case, they should have brought the guilty man also, but
they evidently felt that "the friend of sinners" would involve
Himself in a fault of which they could accuse Him. They seemed to
say as an insult to Jesus, "Here is one of your friends. What will
you do with her?" Wisely Jesus reserved His answer until His foes
were gone, and He was left alone with the woman. To her accusers
Jesus said, "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast
a stone at her." Clearly conscience-stricken they "went out one
by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last; and Jesus was
left alone and the woman standing in the midst." Then Jesus said
to the woman, "Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man
condemned thee?" The woman said, "No man, Lord." Then Jesus said
to her, "Neither do I condemn thee; go, and sin no more."
Jesus did not condone sin. He told the woman, "Go and sin no
more." The punishment in the Law for such crimes was clear if it
had been sought honestly. But, in this situation, to stone this
woman to death would not save her soul, but to extend compassion
and love would give her opportunity to redeem herself. Instead of
writing off men as hardened criminals, Jesus would offer the
offenders the opportunity to become disciples and put them to
useful service to God and man.
CARE FOR THE POOR
The Jews had always been faithfully benevolent in their care for
the poor. God told them that as they harvested not to gather all,
but to leave a portion for the poor (Leviticus 19:10). Also, every
third year a tenth was taken for the poor, to be eaten in their own
dwellings (Deuteronomy 14:28,29). The responsibility for caring
for the unfortunate and dependent would naturally have the approval
of Jesus, however, there is no record of Jesus putting on an appeal
for alms for the poor, or encouraging the construction of a
benevolent organization. It is obvious that Jesus always
emphasized individual responsibility. The command to the rich man
to sell his possessions and give to the poor, found in Matthew
19:21 and Luke 18:22, is the only direct instruction He gave on
this question. The charity that He stresses is more for the sake
of the giver than for the receiver! This is seen in His words, "It
is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35). The
Apostles instructed the members of the early church to give to the
necessity of the poor among them (1 Corinthians 16:1,2). This
benevolence began immediately upon the commencement of the church
of Christ (Acts 2:42-45). Jesus is certainly the perfect example
in giving. Paul paid to Jesus this worthy tribute: "For ye know
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet
for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be
rich" (2 Corinthians 8:9).
THE IGNORANT
The context of Matthew 18:6; Mark 9:42 and Luke 17:1-2, shows
clearly that the "little ones" are the weak and helpless. Pity and
contempt are mingled in the strong words with which Jesus denounces
those who would mislead these "little ones" or cause them to
stumble. This is also discussed by the apostle Paul in Romans,
chapters fourteen and fifteen. Such teaching calls for the strong
not to crush the weak, but to nurture them. It demands that the
learned not mistreat the ignorant, but rather teach them and guide
them in the Truth. This duty calls for unselfishness and
self-sacrifice on the part of Christians. Today's disgraceful
society inflicts the horrors of war on the weak, forces the poor
into cruel military systems, and mistreats the lowly with
unscrupulous business practices. The little ones in today's world
are the underfed, overworked, and ignorant masses of society who
are victims, not only of their own vices and ignorance, but too
often are victims of the burdens imposed by the rich and ruling
class of men. Compare this to Paul's words to Christians, "We then
that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not
to please ourselves" (Romans 15:1).
If all would become true children of God there would be no such
abuse and mistreatment; there would be no war, there would be no
murder, and there would be no stealing. If all would follow the
New Testament there would be no need of police and jails and
prisons (Romans 13:1-7). There would be no need of burglar alarms
and locks on doors (Ephesians 4:28). The Lord knows well the
aggressive, self-centered spirit in the unregenerated man, but the
goal He sets forth for each disciple of Christ is not to seek
personal honor or fame, but to hope for only the glory that may
accompany self-sacrificing service for those who need the help of
the strong.
You see, the Lord provides a cure for every social ill. When each
person is converted to Christ the cure for violence, strife,
conflict and immorality is found. These are banished with anger,
revenge, selfishness and impure thoughts. His correction for
poverty is, first, in each person's development of a sense of
personal responsibility to take care of themselves, and their own
(1 Timothy 5:4), and then, secondarily, the development of a love
and compassion in those who are strong and possess wealth and
authority to recognize that these are responsibilities rather than
privileges. The Lord's pattern for living will eliminate crime and
slothfulness, causes of poverty.
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