[AI translation] During my daily Bible reading recently, I came across this Scripture, which I just read. Every time I read this passage, my soul shudders. This time, too, the last phrase of this Word in particular, "they shall fall under a more severe judgment" (verse 40c), really struck me. Jesus has something very, very serious to warn us in this short little sentence. For days this Word kept echoing in my soul, I could hardly get rid of it. So I feel compelled to pass this warning on to you. It speaks of things that, unfortunately, we do not often talk about these days. It is about the fact that God will judge everyone one day, and even more than that, it is about what we do not even think about afterwards, that God judges some people more severely, more harshly than others.But of whom does Jesus say that "they will be judged more severely"? According to our Word, the scribes. Of course, the scribes, we think to ourselves, the ones Jesus always mentioned along with the Pharisees and the chief priests, the ones against whom He spoke so many scolding words, the ones who refused to understand Him, the ones who were always digging at Him, the ones who were the greatest enemies of Jesus, the ones who ultimately led Him to the cross. Yes, these wicked people do deserve to fall under a more severe judgment - the most severe judgment. So let them be punished for their terrible sins! Somehow this is how we think to ourselves when we hear about the scribes, and we are nicely reassured that it is not us, that we are not these scribes.
But let us now try to peel back a little the layer that our instinctive aversion to the Pharisees and scribes, which stems from a superficial reading of the Bible, has put on them. Who were these scribes in their day? It turns out that they were not exactly the sort of people who are usually said to be evil, despicable, wicked sinners. On the contrary! They were exactly the kind of people who were said to be serious, decent, good people. In our Word, Jesus only describes them in a few words, but from this we can also draw many beautiful things about them. Jesus says of them, "they walked gladly in long robes" (v. 38c). In today's language, I could say that even their clothing showed that they were serious people. They are not the kind of long-haired, tight-pantsed, unkempt-looking hooligans, nor are they the kind who always dress in the latest fashions - yet they take care to dress neatly and cleanly, as if they know that even good looks, a respectable appearance, make a difference to people. Which of us doesn't try to do that, if we have a little way to do it?
'They love to be greeted in the market-places' (verse 38d) - that is, being well-known and highly respected personalities, how could they not receive with a good feeling the cordial tribute of greeting! They sat in the front of the synagogues, because they were the people's advisers, the people who settled other people's troubles, the people who settled their lawsuits, the officials of their time, the social leaders. No wonder they were seated in the main seats at banquets, for it was an honour for anyone to have such a distinguished public figure in their home. They were even religious: Jesus says they prayed at length. It would be difficult to tell today whether they prayed from the heart or from the heart, but they seemed to take their religious practice seriously, and in this way they set a good example for others.
Do you feel how close the figure of these scribes comes to us? In fact, if we widen the circle a little, we have a stratum of religious people in our society today who do their daily work honestly and honourably, and who have higher aspirations in their reading and entertainment. This stratum, who go to church and concerts instead of bars and bars, are serious-minded, reliable, productive workers, and have no particular excuse for their lives. They are people faithful to their religion, devoted to their church, respectable men and women, so this is roughly the stratum that we make up, this church congregation, you and me!
There is, however, one great danger in this great goodness and religious virtue: that one can pass by the Saviour Jesus in this state much more unnoticed than while living in the midst of glaring great sin. It is not only the "prodigal son" who has been degraded to the trough of the swine who may be lost to his father, but also the "other" son who has always remained at home in the father's house, living a good, decent life near his father. Well, on that particular wide road not only do evil-minded, debauched people, fornicators, thieves, walk, but many walk it praying, singing psalms and with Bibles in their hands. One can be damned as much in the immediate vicinity of Jesus, in His closest environment, as very, very far away from Him. It will also be on that day of judgment that some who claim, "Lord, we have prophesied and done many great things in Your name," will be told by Jesus, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of iniquity." (Mt 7,23)
It has already happened that a sinful woman who was held in public contempt and wanted to be stoned to death by popular condemnation was not left out of the Kingdom of God, but a well-respected, sympathetic, rich young man was. The raggedy men gathered from the streets were included in the great royal banquet, but the invited nobles were left out! Jesus also once spoke of how the hated tax collectors and the despised harlots might overtake the popular scribes and the educated Pharisees in the Kingdom of God! In other words, the sick will overtake those who do not need a doctor. And here is the danger of the scribes: they are the healthy ones who feel they don't need a doctor! They are religious people who didn't need Jesus. They knew about Him, they knew His works, His teachings, His life, they knew His person, but they didn't need Him! Why? Without Him, one can be godly!
This is the danger of the so-called good people in general, the hard-working Marthas, the solid, religious-minded rich young men, the learned, (Bible-turning) Nicodemus, that in their great, swelling health they do not feel the need of the blessed Physician. They could live out a whole life in peace without the forgiveness of sins obtained at the cross of Christ, without the renewal, the rebirth, obtained in Jesus! Why this? They don't need that! They are not sinful people! Their undoubted virtues make Jesus and redemption by His blood indispensable to them! To this Jesus says: "Beware of the scribes"! And this is very important: Jesus does not say, "Beware of the great sinners, the fallen men, the evildoers", but "Beware of the scribes". Not from men, but from that spirit which wants to please God without the redemptive merit of Jesus, that religiosity which does not need Jesus! He does not need grace, he does not need redemption, he does not need the cross, because he feels that he is such a "good man" that he does not need it, because there is no sin in him, there is nothing to bring under the blood of the Lord! He knows about redemption, about grace, he knows about it, but he doesn't need it - or at least he never really takes it seriously enough to make Jesus a restorative force in his life!
But there is something else Jesus says about these scribes which then exposes all their apparent goodness and integrity: 'they devour the widows' houses' (v. 40a), that is, they exploit the helpless selfishly, having no regard for the needs of others, only for their own benefit, and seeking to make the most of everything for material gain. So, however respectable, religious people they are, they are basically heartless, unloving, greedy, avaricious people. Indeed, if one has no room in one's heart for other people, if one has no understanding and helping love for the wretched of life, no matter how beautifully and long one prays: one is only praying out of appearances! And that is worse than not praying at all! Jesus says: "these will be judged more severely" (12,40b).
Why will these be judged more severely than others? Simply because they are scribes! Because they know from the Scriptures what they should do, they are well versed in the things of God, and if they do not put it into practice, they will have to give an account of it with increased responsibility! The man whose speech is full of gracious words, who reads the Bible, who lives a prayerful life, but is hard, cold, unforgiving towards others: he will be judged more severely than the unbeliever! Are you complaining about how heartless people are? But do you know that if you are one of them, it is a worse sin than theirs! If you cannot forgive someone, it is more serious than the fact that he has hurt you. If you are angry with someone, it is worse than being hated by someone who does not know Jesus! Even on your part, a lack of a good word or a failure to do an occasional good deed is judged more severely than a curse or a slap from someone who doesn't know Jesus. Because you do. Because you are a "scribe", a person who knows the Scriptures!
It is not only a great privilege to believe in God and to do the things of God, but it is also a grave responsibility, because the Word of God cannot be listened to irresponsibly! Whoever does not obey the Word, whoever does not put it into practice, for him the Word itself becomes the most serious accusation, the most serious condemnation. For the Word of God - which we so complacently listen to or read in our Bibles at home - is a fearsome power! It is never ineffective on the one who hears it, always doing its work in the soul and never returning to God empty. Either a man freed from his sins or a prisoner in bondage will be the reader or hearer of the Word, for the Word of God always loosens and binds: it unties, comforts, strengthens the one who obeys it practically, but it binds and makes immovable the one who does not take it seriously! To hear, to read, to know the Word of God, and yet not to act on it, is the most irresponsible play against God, which will make the fate of the soul in question more serious in the judgment than that of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Such a soul will indeed feel as if it were bound together. He cannot defend himself, he has no excuse, he cannot say, "Lord, I did not know! Why didn't you say, why didn't you warn me, why didn't you speak out? He cannot say, because he knows, he has heard the warning many times, but it is this divine word, often heard but never really taken seriously, that will keep his tongue tied up, so that he cannot say a word in his defence.
On yet another occasion Jesus confirms the same warning when he says: "And whosoever servant knew his lord's will, and did not do it, nor did it according to his lord's will, shall be punished much; but he that knew not, and did that which was worthy of punishment, shall be punished less. And whosoever hath been given much, much shall be required of him: and whosoever hath been trusted much, more shall be required of him. (Lk 12,47-48) We who are here have been given so much: given the knowledge of the living God through Jesus; given the grace of forgiveness of sins for the merit of Jesus' death; given the promise of eternal life through Jesus' resurrection; given the Bible as our daily guide and the Holy Spirit as an inexhaustible source of strength for it; given prayer as the most powerful weapon we have to fight for our lives and the lives of others! It is therefore right that we should be demanded to do much, that the Lord should make greater demands on us than on those who do not know this. Do not expect others to show you love, forgiveness, kindness, peace, patience, understanding, Christian virtues, Christian virtues! Don't expect it from those who are not Jesus', but you give it, because God expects it from you, and if you don't give it, you will come under a heavier judgment than they. Because you have received more than so many others!
Yes: we who sit here week after week listening to God's Word are under a heavier judgment than others. Do you feel that it is we, the so-called healthy, decent, upright, religious Christians, who really need the blessed doctor! What would we be if we did not believe that the most severe condemnation of Jesus on the cross can only mitigate our most severe condemnation! I beg you: let us not now hide behind a yes-nodding, easy-approving attitude of our old man, but let us take seriously that without regeneration by the blood of Jesus none of us will escape the most severe judgment!
Look at this table spread: again, how immeasurably much is given to us in this mystical bread and wine, for which Jesus says: "This is my body which is broken for you" (1 Cor 11:25), "this is my blood, ... shed for many for the forgiveness of sins". (Mt26,28) Our Lord can rightly expect us to pass on much of this: much love, kindness, help, blessing to others - for there is plenty of it! So we ask Jesus, the Saviour of the world:
Do not be angry with my sin,
But with your blood, be merciful,
Such a filthy patient, faithfully
Wash him, and he shall be free from sin.
Jesus, let me return to thee,
To die with you, to live with you.
Me of your great love,
Take me to thee by thy holy grace,
Take strength from your cross,
And absolution from my sins.
Jesus, let me return to you,
To die with you, to live with you.
(Song 342, verses 4-5)
Amen
Date: 25 August 1968.
Lesson
Lk 12,42-45