RELIGION WITHOUT RELATIONSHIP

I often question why the Pharisees and scribes were so opposed to Jesus and His teaching. I can easily determine the Pharisees' motivation. They were a highly religious sect that craved the attention and recognition of the commoners. When Jesus showed up on the scene, it did not take long for Him to become the center of attention. When they tried to sully his reputation and besmirch his character, Jesus threw it back at them to the point of calling them snakes, vipers, and tombs painted white but full of dead men's bones (Matthew 23:27).

They tried to show how holy they were by criticizing anything Jesus did, like healing someone on the Sabbath day or going through the corn fields to harvest ears of corn, shelling them from the cob, and then eating them. Constant controversies brewed between Jesus and the Pharisees. Even after Jesus died, the contention bled over to Jesus' disciples as they argued over whether there is a resurrection of the dead. But with the scribes, something subtler was causing the rift between them.

I will admit that one of the driving factors may have been from a purist's standpoint. The scribes' duty was to copy, translate, and produce documents for folks who could pay for the work. When Jesus comes along and begins making statements, they are upset because what He is doing may call the veracity of the manuscripts into question. Matthew 21:15 says, "and when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things Jesus did, and the children crying out in the temple. 'Hosanna to the son of David,' they were indignant." What does Jesus do? He makes the rebuttal, "Have you never read...?" What a subtle verbal jab to ask men who are skilled in reading and writing scripture, "Have you not read?"

Then He goes a step further and delivers a shocking statement to these men. "Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise." He was referring to Psalms 8:2, which said, "Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings thou hast ordained strength." Of course, He was translating from the Hebrew to either Aramaic or Greek, the common languages of their day. Even if the scribes were offended by Jesus’ words, had they known He was the living word, they would have known He could interpret the word as He pleased.

Perfect praise does ordain strength. Notice the scripture that says, "the joy of the lord is our strength." I have heard this scripture quoted throughout my life. But it was always understood as a one-way flow. This means that the Lord's joy flowed down to us and gave us joy. But take a moment to view that scripture from the perspective of our responsibility to withstand the temptations of life. And when God sees our faith and stamina, it brings Him joy, which then reciprocates to His children. Can you see the flow?! It is like sap flowing from the vine into the branches. Now, how about this? Since we have the spirit of God within us, and since that spirit is God, whatever God in heaven feels, we automatically feel it in our hearts. Therefore, the Lord's joy is felt within us.

Finally, the main contributing factor for the scribes' envy toward Jesus may have been the fear of losing their livelihood. Getting a scribe to copy or translate a manuscript was expensive. The codex (bound book form) used parchment or papyrus more efficiently (writing on both sides) and could reduce material costs by roughly 25–40% compared with scrolls for the same text. The cost required by the scribes was extremely high for the people of Jesus' day. For example, a full production of the book of Romans cost 21 denarii ($2,200–$2,300), one denarius being equivalent to one day's wages for unskilled manual labor. The Four Gospels combined cost about 70–75 denarii ($7,500–$8,000), and a copy of the Full New Testament (professional papyrus copy) cost 120–200 denarii ($12,000–$22,000).

This is not the first time in scripture that there was an uprising over fear of losing one's livelihood. In Ephesus, Demetrius (a silversmith who made silver shrines of the goddess Diana / Artemis) gathered the craftsmen whose businesses were threatened by Paul’s preaching. He stirred up a riot, claiming that both their trade and the honor of the great goddess Diana were in danger. The crowd shouted, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians," for about two hours until the city clerk calmed them down (Acts 19:23-41). All this was driven by a fear of losing money.

I can see what was driving the scribes to be resistant and even hostile toward Jesus. They saw him as a threat, even when he was not intentionally one. Jesus came with the ultimate priority to seek and save that which was lost. If their lifestyle conflicted with His message, they would have to change their culture and traditions to align with it. John 10:1 states, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that enters not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber."

Any thoughts?