Jeremy L. Berg

Pastor Mike Fox offers his keen insights on the themes of episode 6 of The Chosen. Enjoy!

[LISTEN TO PODCAST EPISODE HERE WHERE THIS REFLECTION IS FOLLOWED UP WITH APPLICATION TO TODAY’S TOXIC POLITICS.]

There were 2 things in this episode that caught my attention.  The first is the outcasts. There are 2 outcasts, the 1st outcast is the leper.  Today leprosy is also called Hansen’s disease and refers to a very specific disease of the skin and nervous system.  But in the Bible leprosy is a much more general description and includes many skin disorders.  It was thought to be contagious, transmitted through the air and by touch.  This fear, in turn, led to lepers being declared unclean and shunned by everyone. 

It is shocking to watch the reaction of the shopkeeper and, later, the disciples when they are approached by a leper.  There is fear, anger, and revulsion.  Kindness, compassion, and understanding are nowhere to be found… nowhere to be found that is until the leper approaches Jesus.  This outcast finds acceptance when Jesus ignores all of the social rules, all of the fear and heals the leper with a touch. 

The second outcast is Matthew the tax collector.  In previous episodes, we have seen how Matthew is shunned by the Jews.  Although a Jew himself, Matthew is viewed as a traitor because he works for the Romans collecting their taxes and probably skimming a little for himself as well.  In this episode Matthew finds acceptance from an unusual source, the children.  A crowd has gathered to hear Jesus teach.  The children, because they are short, and Matthew, because he is an outcast, are unable to get close to Jesus.  Matthew and the children find companionship on a rooftop where they can see and hear Jesus.  

The obvious question is who are the outcasts in your life?  The homeless, the beggars at the stoplight, or the immigrants who can’t speak English?  What about those who wear a hijab, sport a gay pride button, or have a bumper sticker supporting the ‘wrong’ political party?  What would need to change before you could accept your outcasts, before you could meet them for coffee, invite them into your home, introduce them to your friends?  To Jesus there are no outcasts, everyone is included.  If Jesus includes everyone, maybe we should as well.  

The second thing that jumped out at me is the wonderful conversation between Nicodemus the teacher and Shmuel his student.  Shmuel had, as many of the Pharisees had, a very rigid interpretation of the law. 

From Shmuel’s perspective John had blasphemed and thus deserved to be locked up.  Shmuel was, after all, only enforcing the law and thus protecting the people.  As they talk Shmuel confesses that he was afraid.  Nicodemus tells Shmuel that “fear ensures that we remain ignorant, asleep in the safety of rigid tradition”.  Nicodemus asks Shmuel if John was truly a heretic or if, maybe, just maybe, there might be a different interpretation of the scripture.  

Shmuel is not convinced by this argument, so Nicodemus tries a different tact.  Nicodemus compares the Pharisees to the Sadducees.  The Sadducees believe that the 1st 5 books, the books of Moses, are divinely inspired.  Everything else is unimportant.  The Pharisees on the other hand acknowledge the value in stories about Ruth and Esther and Job and David and Isaiah.  The Sadducees think that God stopped talking, that God stopped acting when Moses died.  Nicodemus says, “I do not want to live in a bleak past where God cannot do anything new.”

What do you believe?  Is God still active in our world today or did He stop acting, stop talking, when Paul established the church?  Personally, I agree with Nicodemus that life would be bleak if God never did anything new.  But if it is true that God is active in our world today, then we need to keep our eyes and ears open. 

Nicodemus says, “We are still students, all of us!  Our understanding will never be complete.”  We can never become complacent, thinking we’ve got it all figured out.  Rigid traditions and complacency go hand-in-hand.  Traditions create a box with well defined borders.  If the box is small enough, there is nothing new and we never have to change.  Our world is reduced to things inside the box vs things outside the box. 

Take a second.  Skim through the gospels, look at what Jesus has to say about the Pharisees.  At 1st glance it looks like Jesus is hyper-critical, but a closer look will show that Jesus never criticizes the Pharisees for following the law.  In Mt 5:17 Jesus says, “…I have not come to abolish the law but to fulfill the law.”  Jesus is actually criticizing the Pharisees because they have lost the heart of the law.  

In Matthew 15:8-9 NIV Jesus is talking to the Pharisees when He quotes from Isaiah, “ ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me…’ ”  In other words they followed the letter of the law, but lost the intent, the heart of the law. 

In Matthew 5:21-22, 27-28, 38-39, 43-44 NIV in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus quotes the law “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 

‘You shall not murder, 

‘You shall not commit adultery.’, 

‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’, 

‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ “

Jesus doesn’t stop there though.  He goes on to say that if we truly want to please God we need to practice the heart of the law, the intent of the law and not just the the letter, the words of the law.  

“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment.  The law says don’t murder, but the intent, the heart says don’t even get angry. 

The law says ‘You shall not commit adultery, the intent is ’But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  

The law says, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’, the intent says, ‘But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. 

The law says ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’, the intent says,  ‘But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…”

At 1st I thought that these 2 things – the outcasts and rigid traditions were 2 very different things, but as I prepared this reflection I found that, in reality, they are the same thing.  Rigid traditions create small boxes with well defined borders.  Small boxes define a world where some are in (us) and some are out (the outcast).  We see this portrayed in this video; we see this in scripture, and, unfortunately, we see this in the world we live in today. 

Does this mean we shouldn’t have a box at all, that anything goes?  No!  Of course not.  There are still rules – love God, love others.  I encourage you to draw your box large enough to allow God to work in any way He chooses with anyone He chooses.

Let me leave you with words from Nicodemus, “Walk the road laid out in scripture, but also keep your eyes open to the startling and unexpected ways of our very large and very active God.”