“They
tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but
they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.” (Matthew 23:4)
*Look to "Modern Day
Pharisee: PT. 1" for more context*
How To Be A Modern Day
Pharisee:
3) Tell people to
follow morality rather than Jesus: In this verse, the writer uses imagery of labor (tie up,
literally speaking of field work) to explain the difficulty of the “heavy
burdens” the Pharisees put on the people. The “heavy burdens” represent a
metaphor for the traditions of the elders—the obligations put on the people by
the religious elite. This verse is in glaring contrast to an earlier Jesus
saying, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest. Take my yoke
upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will
find rest for your souls. For
my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”[1]
Here, the main thrust of the conversation shows the Pharisees to be ones
willing to work, to obtain “right standing” before God, as a religious person,
but unwilling to be so themselves. They make the way to God difficult! The
modern day Pharisee makes people jump through hoops to obtain salvation /
freedom. Modern day Pharisees are about a pressured moral obligation; the more
one does, the “better” they are. They force the world to change, not through
love, but through moral duties, and are never willing to examine or change themselves.
They put those moral standards, that even they have not achieved, or let alone
tried (not willing to move them with their finger), upon the shoulders of all
of those around them. The modern day Pharisee lives in stark contrast to Jesus
in which burdens are made lighter, not heavier.
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