Church School

The Pharisees were basically the religious leaders of Jesus’ day. They were zealous about obedience to God – which was good! But they had a problem. Their behavior didn’t match their hearts. That is, they weren’t obedient for the right reasons, and Jesus called them out on it. God wanted their good deeds to flow out of grateful hearts. He wants the same for us.

Jesus had a lot to say about those who are quick to criticize others without looking at their own faults first. He said that doing so is like trying to remove a speck a sawdust from your friend’s eye when you’ve got a plant of wood sticking out of your own. That would be crazy, right? That’s exactly Jesus’ point. It is crazy! This week we’re learning to deal with our own sin before trying to address it in others.

Jesus had so many amazing encounters with ordinary men and women. Take the woman at the well, for example. She was decidedly ordinary – and really rather immoral. But Jesus met her right where she was. He spoke the truth about her past and offered her grace in the present. He does the same for us. He doesn’t pretend we haven’t sinned. He doesn’t overlook our faults. Instead, He offers to graciously take them upon Himself and graciously gives us a life with Him now – and into eternity.

In the Ancient Near East, fishermen were low on the socioeconomic totem pole. They weren’t particularly educated, and they didn’t make a lot of money. Yet the first disciples Jesus called were fishermen. That was kind of a pattern for Jesus. He chose really ordinary people to be His disciples – and, through them, He changed the entire course of human history.

It's easy to imagine that Jesus never struggled with temptation the way we struggle with temptation. He was and is, after all, God! But the Bible tells us that He was tempted in every way we are tempted – but He never succumbed to it. I know this might sound crazy – but we don’t have to succumb to it either. God promises that there will always be a way out when we’re tempted to rebel against what He says is best for our lives.