Can
I pray for you in any way?
Send
any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
In
Christ, Mark
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
**
Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk
**
Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark
Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn
**
Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at
http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The scriptures. May God
bless the reading of His holy word.
"Do not spread false
reports. Do not help a wicked man by being a malicious witness. Do not follow
the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert
justice by siding with the crowd." Exodus 23:1-2
This ends this reading
from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
After an extensive look at
the 22nd chapter of Exodus, we turn the page today to the opening two verses of
chapter 23 where we find God continuing to provide guidance to the people of
Israel. In our passage, we find the Lord offering words that reinforce the
ninth of His Ten Commandments, "You shall not give false testimony against
your neighbor" (Exodus 20:16). Look again at today’s verses here:
"Do not spread false reports. Do not help a
wicked man by being a malicious witness. Do not follow the crowd in doing
wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding
with the crowd." Exodus 23:1-2
Taken in sum, we can see
where God obviously despises false witnessing, lying, slander, gossiping, or
any other sinful behavior that might propagate wrong against another. We read
where this included not standing up for what is right when in the midst of
others who are doing wrong. In regard to the latter, our Lord demands that believers
dare to be different, to be the voice that wouldn’t shy away from crying out against
injustice or boldly reminding others of the wrongs of their ways.
As you see in a lot of my
messages, I feel an important application point of God’s Word comes in self
reflection, asking ourselves tough questions in response to what our Lord
commands us to do. There are several that come to mind regarding these two
verses:
1. Have I ever spread a
false report about anybody?
This would include either
starting or spreading a rumor about another person, participating in an
exchange of gossip about someone, or flat out lying about someone, especially
falsely claiming they did or said something they didn’t.
If you’re like me, you’re
guilty before you even reach the second thought provoking question.
2. Have I ever lied to
cover up a wrong that someone else committed?
I remember my mother
teaching me a long time ago that two wrongs don’t make a right. And as I grew
older and read the Bible, I soon realized that her teaching was really coming
straight from the Word of God. For as we see in the scriptures, anyone who lies
to cover up the wrong of another become just as guilty as the one who committed
the offense. In legal circles, this is often referred to as an obstruction of
justice; spiritually, it’s a sin. .
3. Have I ever gone along
with the crowd, even though I knew they were doing or saying things that were
not consistent with God’s commandments and expectations? Have I ever failed to
speak up for what was right, for the truth in the midst of others who were
doing wrong, choosing instead to stay silent?
If we’re totally honest
with ourselves, I think we can see where we have all failed in one or more of
these areas and so there should be little wonder why God addresses it. He knew
it was going to be an issue within the ancient Israelite culture and we know it
still remains a problem today. Such is the depth of His wisdom and foresight.
There’s no question that
there’s a serious destructive nature within bearing false witness, slandering
another, or going along with the crowd instead of doing what is right.
Need an example?
Let’s rewind back to the
days of Jesus where we find the Pharisees, chief priests, and elders feeling so
threatened by Jesus and His ministry that they felt the only way to stop Him
was through murder, even though the God that these men supposedly served had
commanded against such an act. Despite this, we find Jesus being arrested in
the garden of Gethsemane after being betrayed by His own disciple, Judas,
before being led away to appear before the Sanhedrin, the governing Jewish
religious council. And before I proceed, we should note that Jesus was never
told why He was being arrested or what He was being charged with.
Once Jesus was before the
Sanhedrin, the scriptures tell us this:
"…the chief priests, the elders, and all the
council sought false testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, but found
none. Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none. But at
last two false witnesses came forward and said, "This fellow said, ‘I am
able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.’" Matthew
26:59-61
Here we see that the
Jewish religious leaders had so much hatred in their hearts for Jesus that they
were willing to use anything against Him to justify killing Him, even false
testimony which we know was in direct violation of the commands we’re studying
today. Through their actions, we see that the very ones who were to be the
righteous keepers of God’s directives were very willing to break the Law if it
would suit their purpose.
And for us today, this
sends a special, stern warning for we should never repeat the sins of those who
were responsible for sending our Savior Jesus to His death.
Now this would have been
bad enough but the Sanhedrin decided to double down on their transgressions,
accusing Jesus of blasphemy after this exchange:
The high priest said to Him, “I charge you under oath
by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”
“You have said so,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all
of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of
the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of Heaven.”
Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He
has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have
heard the blasphemy. What do you think?”
“He is worthy of death,” they answered. Matthew 26:62b-66
Of course, we know that Jesus
was telling the truth but it was a truth the Sanhedrin weren’t able to handle.
And of further interest, no one on the council ever once took this matter
before God to either confirm or deny that Jesus was telling the truth. They
were so desperate to find something to use against Jesus that they sold their
souls to the devil to get what they wanted.
Well, in those times, the
death penalty was unauthorized in Jewish law and so the Sanhedrin needed
someone else to carry out their dirty work to execute Jesus.
Enter the Romans who
controlled Israel at the time. They didn’t shy away from killing anyone who
would come against Caesar and the empire and the most extreme of their
practices was crucifixion, nailing a living human being to a cross before
lifting them up to hang and die. This is what the Sanhedrin was shooting for
and all they needed to do was convince the Romans that Jesus was a threat.
And so they hauled Jesus before
the Roman governor of their region, Pontius Pilate, who examined the accused.
Pilate came out of that encounter proclaiming Jesus was innocent:
“You brought me this Man as One who was inciting the
people to rebellion. I have examined Him in your presence and have found no basis
for your charges against Him. Neither has Herod, for he sent Him back to us; as
you can see, He has done nothing to deserve death. Therefore, I will punish Him
and then release Him.” Luke 23:14-16
Here we see where Pilate
wanted to set Jesus free but then this happened:
...the chief priests and the elders persuaded the
crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed.
“Which of the two do you want me to release to you?”
asked the governor.
"Barabbas,” they answered.
“What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the
Messiah?” Pilate asked.
They all answered, “Crucify Him!”
“Why? What crime has He committed?” asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify Him!”
When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that
instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of
the crowd. “I am innocent of this Man’s blood,” he said. “It is your
responsibility!”
All the people answered, “His blood is on us and on
our children!”
Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus
flogged, and handed Him over to be crucified. Matthew 27:20-26
In John’s Gospel, we learn
that it was a tradition for the Romans to release one prisoner at the time of
the Jewish Passover. Hoping that this would provide an opportunity to get Jesus
released, he asks the gathered Jewish assembly who should be released and when
he does, the scriptures tell us that the members of the Sanhedrin persuaded the
crowd to ask for Barabbas, who had been incarcerated for “an insurrection in
the city, and for murder” (Luke 23:19).
And so the Sanhedrin got
their way, pressuring Pilate to do what they wanted. He may have washed his
hands of the matter but he still was guilty of not standing up for what was
right and perverted justice by siding with the crowd.
We only need to look at
the last day of Jesus’ life to see first-hand how damaging false accusations,
slander, and going along with the crowd to do wrong can be. Friends, we need to
learn from this and take a stand for what’s right and righteous in the sight of
the Lord, no matter the cost. We need to remember that all we do is in the
sight of our risen Savior who sits in full authority over all things in Heaven
and on earth (Matthew 28:18) and with that in mind ask ourselves:
How does Jesus feel when
He sees us falsely accuse or slander another?
Does He go back and have
to remember the events that led to His execution when we decide to go along with
the crowd, no matter how wrong their actions might be?
Does Jesus, the One who
endured all the pain, suffering and persecution to save us relive His betrayal
and suffering every time we decide to do something that put Him on the cross in
the first place?
My hope and prayer today
is that we will allow this message to take root in our hearts so to serve as a deterrent
the we need to make a choice about what think, say, or do. No matter what, let
us resolve to do as Jesus would do, to the glory of His precious and holy Name.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS:
Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might
be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to
TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
