The Jesus Way

While studying the time between the Old Testament and New Testament last week, I re-discovered this description of the emergence of the Pharisees. Eugene Peterson has a gift with words. As I read it, I quickly lost track of the application to men who walked around Jerusalem during the first century and the message found its way into my heart.

“Imagine yourself moving into a house with a huge private window overlooking a grand view across a wide expanse of water enclosed by a range of snow-capped mountains. You have a ringside seat before wild storms and cloud formations, the entire spectrum of sun-illuminated colors in the rocks and trees and wildflowers and water. You are captivated by the view. Several times a day you interrupt your work and stand before this window to take in the majesty and the beauty, thrilled with the botanical and meteorological fireworks. One afternoon you notice some bird droppings on the window glass, get a bucket of water and a towel, and clean it. A couple of days later a rainstorm leaves the window streaked, and the bucket comes out again. Another day visitors come with a tribe of small dirty-fingered children. The moment they leave you see all the smudge-marks on the glass. They are hardly out the door before you have the bucket out. You are so proud of that window, and it’s such a large window. But it’s incredible how many different ways foreign objects can attach themselves to that window, obscuring the vision, distracting from the contemplative beauty. Keeping that window clean develops into an obsessive-compulsive neurosis. You accumulate ladders and buckets and squeegees. You construct a scaffolding both inside and out to make it possible to get to all the difficult corners and heights. You have the cleanest window in North America – but it’s now been years since you looked through it. You’ve become a Pharisee.  Because of this slow shift from an interior passion to an exterior performance and the shift of attention from the majesty of God to housecleaning for God, the Pharisees, at the time of Jesus were not, as a group, very attractive.”

Eugene Peterson, The Jesus Way

The way of the Pharisee is understandable. They felt it necessary to respond to the pressures of a rapidly changing culture. That is courageous. They felt it necessary to focus on preservation of the Law. That is admirable. But, gradually, a new identity emerged. It became an identity that was externally defined. Their separation from the world became a separation from the God they claimed to worship. Instead of being known for holiness, they became known for their “self-righteousness”. For many of them, their quest became laden with unintended consequences. Many of them did not recognize Jesus when He came. Many did not follow Jesus, love Jesus or serve the mission of Jesus. In fact, many wanted to kill Jesus even though He is the way, the truth and the life.