Cursed be the Blind Guides

In Matthew 15:14, wherein Jesus charges the Pharisees with leading the

"blind...into the ditch," he seems to be invoking the curse of Deuteronomy 27:18 on his opponents (cf. Lev 19:14). “Cursed be anyone who misleads a blind man on the road.' And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’”

Speaking, as he did, as the master Torah-expositor, to those who prided themselves as being teachers of the law, it seems certain that the connotations would have been unavoidably obvious to all involved.

Calvin on Matthew 5:17—22, an Abridgment

“We must keep in mind the object which Christ had in view. While he invites and exhorts the Jews to receive the Gospel, he still retains them in obedience to the Law…

“I am not come to destroy. God had, indeed, promised a new covenant at the coming of Christ; but had, at the same time, showed, that it would not be different from the first, but that, on the contrary, its design was, to give a perpetual sanction to the covenant, which he had made from the beginning, with his own people.

“I will write my law, (says he,) in their hearts,
and I will remember their iniquities no more,” (Jeremiah 31:33, 34).

 “By these words he is so far from departing from the former covenant, that, on the contrary, he declares, that it will be confirmed and ratified, when it shall be succeeded by the new. This is also the meaning of Christ’s words, when he says, that he came to fulfill the law: for he actually fulfilled it, by quickening, with his Spirit, the dead letter, and then exhibiting, in reality, what had hitherto appeared only in figure.

“With respect to doctrine, we must not imagine that the coming of Christ has freed us from the authority of the law: for it is the eternal rule of a devout and holy life, and must, therefore, be as unchangeable, as the justice of God, which it embraced, is constant and uniform…

“Let us therefore learn to maintain inviolable this sacred tie between the law and the Gospel, which many improperly attempt to break. For it contributes not a little to confirm the authority of the Gospel, when we learn, that it is nothing else than a fulfillment of the law; so that both, with one consent, declare God to be their Author.

“Whoever then shall break Christ here speaks expressly of the commandments of life, or the ten words, which all the children of God ought to take as the rule of their life. He therefore declares, that they are false and deceitful teachers, who do not restrain their disciples within obedience to the law, and that they are unworthy to occupy a place in the Church, who weaken, in the slightest degree, the authority of the law; and, on the other hand, that they are honest and faithful ministers of God, who recommend, both by word and by example, the keeping of the law…Those who shall pour contempt on the doctrine of the law, or on a single syllable of it, will be rejected as the lowest of men…

“The kingdom of heaven means the renovation of the Church, or the prosperous condition of the Church, such as was then beginning to appear by the preaching of the Gospel…The meaning of that phrase is, that God, restoring the world by the hand of his Son, has completely established his kingdom. Christ declares that, when his Church shall have been renewed, no teachers must be admitted to it, but those who are faithful expounders of the law, and who labor to maintain its doctrine entire…Again, we must observe the description he gives of good and holy teachers: that not only by words, but chiefly by the example of life, they exhort men to keep the law…

“The principal charge brought by Christ against their doctrine may be easily learned from what follows in the discourse, where he removes from the law their false and wicked interpretations, and restores it to its purity…

“It has been a prevailing opinion, that the beginning of righteousness was laid down in the ancient law, but that the perfection of it is pointed out in the Gospel. But nothing was farther from the design of Christ, than to alter or innovate any thing in the commandments of the law. There God has once fixed the rule of life which he will never retract. But as the law had been corrupted by false expositions, and turned to a profane meaning, Christ vindicates it against such corruptions, and points out its true meaning, from which the Jews had departed.

“That the doctrine of the law not only commences, but brings to perfection, a holy life, may be inferred from a single fact, that it requires a perfect love of God and of our neighbor, (Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18.) He who possesses such a love wants nothing of the highest perfection. So far as respects the rules of a holy life, the law conducts men to the goal, or farthest point, of righteousness…

“That Christ, on the other hand, intended to make no correction in the precepts of the law, is very clear from other passages: for to those who desire to enter into life by their good works, he gives no other injunction, than to, keep the commandments of the law, (Matthew 19:17.) From no other source do the Apostles, as well as Christ himself, draw the rules for a devout and holy life. It is doing a grievous injury to God, the author of the Law, to imagine that the eyes, and hands, and feet alone, are trained by it to a hypocritical appearance of good works, and that it is only in the Gospel that we are taught to love God with the heart. Away, then, with that error, ‘The deficiencies of the law are here supplied by Christ.’

Gospel First!

Whether it is through an innocently directed question from a small child, who is working through the Q/As in a catechism, or it is the implicitly rebellious  behavior of a teenager, acting as though obedience to the Lord's ways is a trifling matter or wondering why participation in church is so important, or still, we adults are facing an ethical dilemma at work or home, and are struggling with the choice of obedience, we quickly learn that the law simply does not have the power to overcome the flesh. 

However, especially when we are catechizing our young’uns, whether formally or informally, we often communicate to them, whether implicitly or explicitly, that it is law for law's sake.  They should obey, because it is the right thing to do, after all!  In and of itself, however, the law doesn't transform but deforms our spiritual growth.  This gross moralism is rampant in the church's culture, civil American (especially here in the South) religion, and unfortunately our families. 

Of course the law has its proper place in the Christian life.  As the Belgic Confession puts it, "we still use the testimonies taken out of the law and the prophets, to confirm us in the doctrine of the gospel, and to regulate our life in honesty, to the glory of God, according to his will" (Art. 25).  In fact, the Heidelberg Catechism spends questions 92 through 115 expounding the Ten Commandments.  However, by itself, the law only reveals, illuminates, and aggravates our manifold "sins and misery."

Last evening, as Fanny and I were discussing and studying the scriptural basis for catechesis, we of course covered Deuteronomy 4 – 6, the first commands to catechize.  With respect to the law/gospel distinction in Christian praxis, we should ask St. Paul's rhetorical question, "Do you not hear what the law says?" (Gal. 4:21).  Deuteronomy 6:20—25, the law itself, turns our law-for-law's-sake tendency right on its head.  

When your son asks you in time to come, "What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the LORD our God has commanded you?"  then you shall say to your son, "We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt. And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.  And the LORD showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes.  And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers.  And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day.  And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us."

So, when our young disciples ask, or our young people act contrary to the commands of God, or we even ask ourselves whether there is any significant meaning in our obedience in the face of an ethical choice, what are we to say?  Gospel, gospel, gospel!  Gospel first! Moses, the lawgiver, tells us gospel first.  The response to child's hypothetical inquiry in this passage is a detailed summary of Yahweh's mighty deeds in Israel's salvation, their deliverance from the iron furnace of Egyptian bondage...it's gospel first.  Paradoxically, gospel first is obedience to the law! This is likely close to what St. Paul meant when he said, "Do we overthrow the law by this faith?  On the contrary! We uphold it!" (Rom. 3:31).

We too, then, must live gospel first.  When facing these questions of life and practice, we answer: Jesus Christ, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; the third day, he arose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty!! We must think and act gospel first!

Theologically speaking, the law here also cut right to the heart of dispensational theology.  Because of its popular level influence, dispensationalism is responsible for causing many to believe that Israel and the Church are completely distinct and discontinuous entities in the history of salvation.  Moreover, that God has two distinct programs for these two peoples.  For the Hebrews, it is law; and the gospel is for the Church.  Balderdash!!  In the passage above, Moses himself refutes such wrongheadedness.  It is and has always been gospel first—to the Jew first under the Old Covenant economy and also to the Gentiles through the operative grace in the New Covenant!  

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT AS A DETERRENT IS “UNBIBLICAL”?!?

On yesterday’s broadcast of Walk in the Word (which can be heard here), James McDonald, senior pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel, was continuing his series on what the Bible says about capital punishment.

McDonald has come down on the right conclusion: capital punishment is affirmed and prescribed by God in his Word. Many of McDonald’s lesser conclusions were correct. And his cursory answers to common objections were as sharp as they were salient.

Nevertheless, he came to the topic of capital punishment serving as a deterrent and the government’s teleological use of it for that end and said that such was both “immoral” and “unbiblical.” With his stylistic admixture of “Dude” and affirmative “Way!,” in response to an anticipated “No way!” from listeners, I found this statement perfectly incredible.

McDonald, in his sweeping survey of the biblical data concerning this issue, must have simply overlooked the number of cases that flatly contradict his ideas about the deterring and distractive purpose of capital punishment on the larger social matrix. Before stating his negative answer to this question, McDonald first cited multiple studies that found that capital punishment has a decisive psychological effect on every strata of society, serving to dissuade others from crimes liable to execution. Practically speaking, then, whether or not McDonald believes this effect is moral and/or biblical, it is a fact.

But is it really unbiblical? Once this answer is established, then it would be redundant to attach further moral judgments on the issue, since the Bible is the authoritative basis for morality. So, is it...?

We needn’t go beyond the book of Deuteronomy to determine that McDonald is plainly mistaken at this point. There is in Deuteronomy a refrain that presents us with the Divine two-fold purpose for the execution of evildoers: 1) “So you shall purge the evil person from your midst,” and 2) “All Israel shall hear and fear and never again do...” crimes of similar nature. Let’s consider four crystal instances from Deuteronomy.

1. Deut 13:5, 11: “So you shall purge the evil from your midst...And all Israel shall hear and fear and never again do any such wickedness as this among you.”

2. Deut 17:12—13: “So you shall purge the evil from Israel. And all the people shall hear and fear and not act presumptuously again.”

3. Deut 19:19—20: “So you shall purge the evil person from your midst. And the rest shall hear and fear, and never again commit any such evil among you.”

4. Deut 21:21: “So you shall purge the evil from you midst, and all Israel shall hear, and fear.”

In each of these cases, justice is meted out on the perpetrator, which McDonald rightly deems “biblical,” and the Lord intends the consequential effect of the event serving as a deterrent to the rest of society, who “hears and fears,” which McDonald considers “unbiblical.” However, “Clearly punishment—especially capital punishment—is a deterrent to crime” (Earl Kalland, “Deuteronomy” in EBC).