Key Verse: "Woe
to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues
and greetings in the marketplaces."
Luke 11:43
In the song,
"If I were a rich Man," from the musical, "Fiddler on the
Roof," the main character, Tevye states: "If I were rich I'd have the
time that I lack to sit in the Synagogue and Pray, and maybe have a seat by the
Eastern wall."
In western
American culture we have a hard time relating to this kind of a reality. But
the people of Jesus' day could relate. It was the rich and the educated who
could afford to spend time in prayer and study of scripture. The rest had to
make a living. God may have been the Lord of everyone, but it was only the
learned who could get to know and understand Him better because they were the
ones who had the time to study His law. How frustrating for Jesus that they
were abusing their privilege so badly and not really benefiting from it.
It was the
learned who could afford the best seats in the Synagogue so that they could
learn more. The learned men and leaders had the closest seats, the seats
reserved for them. Behind them sat the poorer men and common laborers. Behind
them sat the women and behind the women the Gentiles who had converted to Judaism
either stood or sat. The leadership would walk through the crowd of on lookers
and take their place in front, as close to the Eastern wall as allowed, for all
to see. They loved the admiration that they received as much as a bride enjoys
being admired as she walks down the aisle for her wedding.
Outside of
worship, these men were treated with deference and respect. The commoner would
step aside to let them pass or allow them to go first as a sign of honor and
respect. Their concept of greatness was as the world defines greatness. They
would not even begin to comprehend Jesus' words to His disciples when He said,
"Whoever wants to become great among you must become your servant, and
whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. (Mark
12:43-44)
In our sinful
nature, we love to be served, but in Christ, we stop living by the standards of
the world. Back before the fall, satan was jealous of God for receiving praise
that satan wanted to receive for himself. The leadership loved and coveted what
satan himself coveted and was willing to ruin creation because he couldn't have
it.
When we get
caught up in ourselves, and the praise of man, we are bowing to our sinful
nature as well. Whoa! Let us be like
Jesus! Instead of asking, "How can
I be served?" Ask, "How can I serve?" Then we are beginning to
think like our Savior.
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