Luke 20:18 The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest him immediately, because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people.
Sometimes in life we don’t like the message someone is sending our direction. The message is usually one of correction or rebuke. They are literally or figuratively ‘all up in our business,’ and we don’t like it. They are demanding a change in our attitude and behavior, and we want to remain the same.
This happens most frequently in our most intimate relationships. We want to keep them smooth as silk, but too often they are more like burlap or sandpaper! They rub us the wrong way, irritating our emotional skin and creating a rash that bothers us, even they they aren’t present. If it isn’t solved, then infection can set in and the relationship will become septic. Surgery is the only option, along with a large dose of antibiotic.
Jesus has a way of offending people, and He did it with no apologies. He would certainly have been canceled if He were around today. He would be speaking against the churches that won’t stand up for the poor. He would speak against those who claim an allegiance to Him, but by their actions they declare their allegiance to His enemy. He would be looking at bank statements and credit card bills to see where our true allegiance is.
Jesus has told a wonderful spiritual story about the ungratefulness of some workers at the generosity of their employer. The employer provided everything the workers needed to succeed, but the workers wanted more. The employer had risked everything, and they had simply taken advantage of his kindness. They don’t want the employer to get any of the profit. They want to keep it all. (Sound familiar?)
The story is told about these ungrateful workers as a way to speak to the ungratefulness of the religious leaders of His day. And they hear the message. They don’t like having their sin displayed before the people. (Sound familiar?)
So their solution is to kill Jesus. They will cancel Him! They will take away His ability to communicate with the masses. They will silence Him! But Jesus can’t be silenced. Even death doesn’t take away His voice.
But these leaders have a problem: the people. The people like what Jesus has to say. They have been wanting to point out the hypocrisy of the leaders for years, but their fear kept them from saying these things in polite company. They were afraid they would be ‘canceled’ as well. (Sound familiar?)
So the leaders are stuck. They want to silence Jesus, but the people love what Jesus has to say, and the leaders are outnumbered. But what the leaders have is political pull. They have some influence with the Roman leaders, the real powerbrokers of their region. So they do their backroom deals to seal the fate of Jesus. A bribe here, a promise of celebrity there, and all for the sake of stopping Jesus from pointing out their hypocrisy.
What lengths will you go to keep your hypocrisy from being discovered? What do you do to keep the hidden hidden? What gyrations do you see around you, in those who have power over us, to conceal their hypocrisy?
But I guess the real question is, what is the righteous response to hypocrisy, both in other people and in ourselves? How do we take the log out of our eyes?
The Arnold Journey 