Tuesday 5th September - Matthew 22
Today’s chapter is Matthew 22
Tom writes:
The Sadducees were the culturally engaged wing of the religious world. They probably read the Guardian and worked in the civil service. The Sadducees had chopped Isaiah onwards out of their Old Testament and so focused on making good of this life for this life, using the principles of the Torah as “a bit of a guide”. The Pharisees farted in the Sadducees general direction. They hated the idea of woolly compromise with the corrupt. They were looking for the destruction of evil society and the establishment of a new Davidic Kingdom for Israel. They totally believed Yahweh would resurrect the righteous to live in this Coming Kingdom and they were determined to be righteous enough to get into it. Even if it killed them. Or killed you. More likely you; with stones or something. Jesus rebukes both. The Sadducees and Pharisees both came to scripture to gain proof-texts for their preconceived ideas. Jesus says they never knew scripture at all. Both came to God for a leg-up in their pre-adopted agenda and so they never knew God at all.
God doesn’t do proof-texts or leg-ups. God does God. Better than David, more majestic than Torah, more delicious than marriage and sweeter than Caesar - God is God. And while we might not be quite like the Saducees or the Pharisees it seems that one of the hardest things for us humans is to let God be God. We love to grasp hold of God and twist him towards our intentions. We love to cast God in our image, to squash God into our box. Let’s remind ourselves of this - the Coming Kingdom will all be about God. In that day, in that world, God will be all in all. So the best way to spend our days in this kingdom is getting used to God; humbly apprenticing ourselves to God. Engage with society, hope in the resurrection, seek righteousness, do a good job for Caesar, but do it all like God. Not what you think God is like but what God is really like. What God says he is like. Jesus came to form a people who - for once - would truly let God be God. So let’s choose to be people who really do let God be God.
Question for reflection
How would you know if you were trying to squeeze God into a box?