Do as I say, not do as I do!
November 5, 2008
When I was growing up my dad had an expression. When one of us brothers would come to him and want to do something, something we knew was wrong but we had seen him do, he would tell us in his authoritarian voice, 'do as I say, not as I do.' I am sure other father's say that to their kids (though I cannot remember saying it to mine). But what a horrible message to give to a child, especially a boy who tends to want to grow up to be just like his dad. Jesus fought a lot of the same problems, though thankfully not with His Father.
Matthew 23:1-3 ESV
1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples,
2 “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat,
3 so practice and observe whatever they tell you—but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice.
We as humans want to emulate one of two groups of people. The first is the people around us, like parents, that we admire. The second is those that are in authority because we want to learn to be like them so we can be also. Jesus is saying do not do either. If it comes down to the Word of God (show here as the law of God), or what the people we admire do, then we need to follow the Word. This is not always going to be the thing that we want to do, but it is necessary.
Today
Mark 13:1-37
