by Jean Allen
After being publicly exposed by three very pointed parables, the Pharisees were pretty desperate to trap Jesus They were so desperate that along with their disciples they recruited some Herodians to go along with them and ask Jesus about the lawfulness of paying taxes to Caesar. Herodians were actually bitter enemies of the Pharisees. They supported Roman law and taxes and the Pharisees decidedly did not. The Herodianpresence during the questioning of Jesus really put Jesus in a bad place. If he supported the taxes, the Pharisees would pounce but if he did not support the taxes, the Herodians could get Jesus into deep trouble.
Jesus called them hypocrites, which was basically true in the way we think of hypocrisy today. However, originally, a hypocrite was an actor who wore different masks to denote various emotions. These fellows came along and buttered Jesus up, saying that he was a sincere man and taught God’s truth. Those were the masks they were wearing. This time, they weren’t showing off their spirituality so people would admire them. They were trying to pull off a deception. But Jesus knew and he knew what kind of impossible trap lay waiting for him.He wasn’t fooled and he easily slipped out of the trap.
This made me wonder, do we ever wear masks when we pray to the Lord? Do we ever attempt to trap the Lord by using his own words to pressure him or by buttering him up so he’ll more amenable to our requests? Masks can be very subtle, so subtle that we don’t even realize we’ve been wearing one for years. It’s presenting ourselves not as we really are but as someone we think he would approve of. We avoid allowing our true, raw and scabby selves to show. We think that if we can’t stand our own reality, how could the Lord?
We’re only fooling ourselves and making a real relationship with the Lord difficult. He knows our raw selves and he loves us the way we are really are, not the way we wish we could be.
Find the mask and drop it.
Leave a Reply