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Introduction
When it comes to the Person
and Passion of our Lord,
there can be no room for the
slightest degree of error.
Therefore, the Lord can
never be accused of any
inconsistencies relative to
the law of God. Such would
have been a severance of
fellowship and failure to do
the will of God. The Lord
could never have said, “I
come to do Thy will” (Heb.
10:9) or “I have glorified
Thee on the earth” (Jn.
17:4).
Never was there
at any time in any way been
inconsistency between them.
Man accused the Lord of
inconsistency, but it was
with their traditions which
they held with great
veneration (Matt. 15:2-3).
Although the Lord was
perfect in every activity,
thought, goal, and
motivation, that did not
stop the keepers of
tradition from accusing Him
of being a “deceiver” (Matt.
26:63) and one who broke the
law (Matt. 12:1-13). The
Lord spoke of their majoring
on the lesser points of the
law while ignoring the
weightier truths when He
said, “But woe unto you,
Pharisees! for ye tithe mint
and rue and all manner of
herbs, and pass over
judgment and the love of
God: these ought ye to have
done, and not to leave the
other undone” (Lk. 11:42).
God bore witness of the
Lord’s perfection in saying,
“Behold my servant, whom I
uphold; mine elect, in whom
my soul delighteth; I have
put my spirit upon him: he
shall bring forth judgment
to the Gentiles” (Isa.
42:1). Christ said, “And he
that sent me is with me: the
Father hath not left me
alone; for I do always those
things that please him” (Jn.
8:29). |
Continuing situations in which He
seemed to be inconsistent.
On the morning of His resurrection,
the Lord appeared to Mary.
As
she clung to him (else there was no
sense in Him saying, “Touch (the
Greek word indicates to use strength
and hold to retain, the word carries
the idea of attaching oneself, to
cling) me not; for I am not yet
ascended to my Father: but go to my
brethren, and say unto them, I
ascend unto my Father, and your
Father; and to my God, and your God”
(Jn. 20:17). On that same day the
Lord met women
who were allowed to hold
Him (Matt. 28:9). That seems to be
inconsistent. Why was it right in
one situation and not the other? It
is observed that Mary was given a
commission and there was urgency in
it. The other disciples must learn
as quickly as possible the Lord had
risen from the dead. This good news
must not be hindered. With the
women
there
was no such urgency for this was a
time of exuberant rejoicing, so
there was no restraining of delight.
Furthermore, Mary had to
learn that there was now a new
relationship.
Again, when the woman who was a
Canaanite came to the Lord and
called Him “Lord”, He did not answer
her (Matt. 15:22-23). The woman had
to learn to take her rightful place,
and in her second statement to the
Lord, she does not cry to Him as the
Son of David but as “Sir”. She had
no right to call Him “Son of
David”. That did not seem
consistent with the character of
God, but it was.
Consider the matter of the Lord’s
delay in coming immediately to the
sisters, Mary and Martha when He
knew their brother was dead. At
least (I speak after the manner
of men) could He not have at
least apologized for not coming
earlier?
Such
a person does not need to apologize
for God’s ways. In contrast with
Jarius’ daughter, the woman with the
issue of blood caused a short delay
but there was nothing to delay the
Lord in coming to the bereaved
home. Yet, eventually the sisters
must have thanked Him for the delay
for when Lazarus was risen, he would
not have been raised with the
illness which caused his death, he
would have been a new man.
Again,
they were caused to learn the Lord
in a deeper way which they could
never have learnt any other way.
Lazarus
had to die and the Lord had to wait.
The Lord and the Sabbath days, what
activity and objections the
Pharisees reacted with when the Lord
healed on the Sabbath day.
To the Pharisees, God in the law
stipulated, “Remember the sabbath
day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt
thou labour, and do all thy work:
But the seventh day is the sabbath
of the LORD thy God: in it thou
shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy
son, nor thy daughter, thy
manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor
thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is
within thy gates: For in six days,
the LORD made heaven and earth, the
sea, and all that in them is, and
rested the seventh day: wherefore
the LORD blessed the sabbath day,
and hallowed it (Ex. 20:8-11).
Nothing
could be plainer. No work was to be
permitted, yet on the sabbath day
the Lord healed individuals (Matt.
12:9-13; Lk. 13:11-16) and His
disciples plucked the ears of corn
on the Sabbath and He did not
discipline them (Matt. 12:1-8).
With infinite wisdom, the Lord
sought to correct their
misunderstanding of them and how
they also, because of care for their
animals from a case history of
David, showed there was nothing
erroneous with what He did.
He
had broken their traditions and
showed their hypocrisy and false
values by putting an animal before a
person.
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