Jesus Twisted His Scriptures And So Should We
The Pharisees were always on Jesus’ case about the way he interpreted and applied the various laws recorded in the Torah. Over 12 different times in the Gospels we see Jesus battling with the religious leaders of his day as they accused him again and again of disregarding the orthodox interpretations of various laws.
Matthew 15.
Matthew 16.
Matthew 23.
Luke 11.
Luke 14.
Over and over again the Pharisees attack Jesus because they don’t approve of the way he uses their sacred exclusionary texts to uphold and drive forward his very radical and inclusive ministry.
(PAUSE: do people attack you for the same? Do your interpretations of Scripture get you accused of being heretical? Unorthodox? Blasphemous? Jesus understands. You’re in wonderful company.)
In Matthew 15, for instance, the Pharisees approach Jesus about various dietary laws and want to know why his disciples don’t observe laws that would ensure their food was “clean” in the eyes of God.
Jesus responds and says, “What goes into someone’s mouth doesn’t defile them, but what comes from their mouth - that is what defiles them.” In other words, “your dietary laws are useless, obeying them doesn't make you clean - it’s what comes out of your mouth … the words you speak, the way you treat people - THESE are the things that make you clean or unclean.”
The Religious leaders interpreted the text in (what would have been considered) their original context and stuck with the orthodox (and often exclusive) meaning while Jesus gladly ripped the verses from their context and applied them in a very different way, a way that always made room for more people and bent the words in a way that showed more love, more grace, and more inclusion to the world.
I find it fascinating that Jesus chose to twist the Scriptures and bend them in a direction that was more inclusive of all people …
Tax Collectors.
Prostitutes.
Sinners.
… And yet so many in the Church today insist that our Scriptures are static documents that are meant to be unchanging, inerrant, and 100% complete in the way that we have it on our shelves with no room for growth, change, or evolution of thought.
For Jesus it seems like the Bible was a living text that was always evolving and growing and changing so as to expand the arms of the Divine to reach an even more diverse group of people than ever before … but for us it almost seems like the Bible is a dead text that has no ability to grow and evolve, but has every intention of simply remaining static and dry and inclusive of only the spiritual or religious elite.
Said differently, a lot of us read our Bible’s like the exclusive Pharisees who battled, belittled, and mocked the inclusive ministry of the Christ.
I get accused of misinterpreting Scripture a lot. I get accused of using it in unorthodox ways and of having no regard for study, context, etc. And although I do study it very much, love it very much, and devote very much of time to it … I am learning to be OK with the accusations.
Accusations that say …
I use it in unorthodox ways.
I rip things out of context.
I use the Scriptures to include too many people.
I apply them in ways that defy some of the historical doctrines and theologies of the church.
… It used to bother me when people said those things, but I’m learning to be more OK with it nowadays because Jesus did the same thing, and they crucified him for it.
And so …
Has your character been crucified lately for taking an unorthodox approach to the Bible?
Have you been accused of being uneducated?
Heretical?
Blasphemous?
Lost?
Having gone astray?
Being a false teacher or prophet?
Take heart, my friend. They might crucify your character and your passion and your devotion for the Divine and for the desire to make God’s table bigger and more inclusive than we ever imagined, but they crucified Jesus for the same. They didn’t like when Jesus twisted their exclusive Scriptures to expand his inclusive ministry and they won’t like it when you do it either.
Too bad, because we’re going to do it anyways.
Much love,