Zen Buddhism uses teaching devices called koans which are
short phrases that seem simple but are really very complex and require much
consideration and meditation in order to sort out their meanings and
implications. Moses says that the law of
God isn’t like that at all, it is simple, you don’t need teachers to go to
heaven to get the meaning, you don’t need anyone to go over the sea to get the
interpretation, it is in not only plain language, but in their own
language. The Bible isn’t esoteric
literature, no matter how we may try and make it some sort of allegory or
mystical document. Moses is warning
against incipient Gnosticism. He surely
knew it would come. The plain meaning
and words would be too unchallenging and some would arise who would feel the
need to go beyond that meaning of the text in order to provide for their own
preferences. Both Judaism and
Christianity have been susceptible to such teachers who would speak of the deep
things rather than the plain things.
Mastery of the plain things should come first and only one has
accomplished that feat.
What did Jesus say that prompted Zacchaeus to repent and
offer restitution? We know that this
“wee little man” was probably a tax collector’s tax collector. He was likely a man who had purchased a
territory from the Romans. The
collection of certain taxes was farmed out to the highest bidder who then made
his profit by overcharging by overvaluing the assets that were taxed. His percentage was fixed but his values were
variable and these men were roundly despised.
Zacchaeus wanted desperately to see Jesus when He passed through Jericho
and broke all social conventions by climbing a tree in order to better see
Jesus. How amazed must he and all others
have been when Jesus called him down and invited Himself to dinner! There is no mention of Jesus fussing at him
about the sin of tax collection and extortion, His very presence moved
Zacchaeus to repentance. Grace, the
grace of choosing him, taking the risk of public renunciation, made all the
difference. Who would have guessed such
a man was ripe for change? Jesus. Zacchaeus took a risk, humbled himself like a
child in climbing that tree, and his seeking was rewarded.
All the things Paul mentions about himself, humility, the
fact that he didn’t get a salary from the church in Corinth, that he spoke
simply, etc. are contrasted with ones he refers to as the super-apostles who
have come in his absence. We aren’t much
different from the Corinthians, our culture has a value for self-promotion and
sometimes those self-promoters lead people astray. When we make much of men rather than Jesus,
when we make celebrity pastors, we do what the Corinthians did. We allow them to preach false Christs and
false Gospels because we see an aura of success around them, they tell us what
we want to hear, the secrets of success, prosperity and having it all. Paul had no problems calling out others in ministry,
speaking the truth about them, calling them “false apostles, deceitful workmen,
disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan
disguises himself as an angel of light.”
If you don’t preach the real Jesus and the real Gospel, if you preach
Gnosticism or anything other than the promise of suffering as He suffered, if
your preaching is devoid of any mention of sin and you preach grace without
repentance, you are a false apostle in this same way.
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