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By DEACON KEITH FOURNIER Published on November 18, 2016 • Edited for brevity.
Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else: Luke 18:9-14.
The Lord wanted to communicate a danger which can afflict all of us, the temptation of succumbing to self-righteousness and pride. They prided themselves on their strict adherence to the Law — and believed they were being devout. Instead, though, they became incapable of seeing the Source and Fulfillment of the Law, even as He walked and taught in their midst.
We can become such men and women without knowing it. People do not decide to be a Pharisee voluntarily. It happens subtly. The greatest defense we have is to stay in a fresh and ongoing intimate communion with the Lord.
Decades ago I was a leader in a community of believers who had come together because we had all experienced a fresh encounter with the Holy Spirit. This experience had awakened our Christian faith and given us a zeal to bring others into the same experience. However, over time, some of us fell into this trap: we began to act as though we had the whole thing figured out. We reduced the wonderful action of God’s Grace to a formula and separated those whom we thought had it from those who did not. But, by God’s Grace, I had my eyes opened in a way which now informs my daily life. I was convicted by the Holy Spirit of my pride. I took time away from leadership to let the Lord teach me what He wanted me to learn.
A friend, unaware of my struggle but concerned for me gave me a print of a famous painting by an artist named Gerrit van Honthorst (1590-1656) which hangs in the London Museum of Art. It is titled Christ Before the High Priest. (click)
During an intense period of prayer and reflection one morning, the scene in the painting came alive and entered my heart. The experience shook me, drawing me to repentance. It helped me respond to the Lords deeper call.
The painting depicts Jesus, standing before the High Priest, with His holy hands bound. The Priest is looking up at Him with an arrogant demeanor. With pointed finger, he appears to be addressing Jesus as though he were correcting the One who is the Truth. Before him on the table is the Torah.
Standing in front of this man is the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Incarnate Word, Jesus the Christ, the One greater than the Temple, the One who is the Lord of the Sabbath, the One who fulfills every promise in that Book.
Yet the High Priest failed to see Him.
I thought to myself, “How could a man get to this point? How could he fail to see the Light of the World before him?” I sensed the Lord prompting a response in my heart as I looked more deeply into the eyes of the High Priest and the eyes of Jesus, as depicted in that painting. I drew close to the painting and sensed the Lord lovingly correcting me with these words, “You have become that man”.
The experience shook me to the core — and changed my life. We are often called to deal with our own inner Pharisee. When we do, the world begins to look different. We see Jesus with the eyes of living faith and we are changed by the encounter. We are called by Him to be emptied out of ourselves so that we can be filled with His divine life and be used by Him for others.
Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else: Luke 18:9-14.
The Lord wanted to communicate a danger which can afflict all of us, the temptation of succumbing to self-righteousness and pride. They prided themselves on their strict adherence to the Law — and believed they were being devout. Instead, though, they became incapable of seeing the Source and Fulfillment of the Law, even as He walked and taught in their midst.
We can become such men and women without knowing it. People do not decide to be a Pharisee voluntarily. It happens subtly. The greatest defense we have is to stay in a fresh and ongoing intimate communion with the Lord.
Decades ago I was a leader in a community of believers who had come together because we had all experienced a fresh encounter with the Holy Spirit. This experience had awakened our Christian faith and given us a zeal to bring others into the same experience. However, over time, some of us fell into this trap: we began to act as though we had the whole thing figured out. We reduced the wonderful action of God’s Grace to a formula and separated those whom we thought had it from those who did not. But, by God’s Grace, I had my eyes opened in a way which now informs my daily life. I was convicted by the Holy Spirit of my pride. I took time away from leadership to let the Lord teach me what He wanted me to learn.
A friend, unaware of my struggle but concerned for me gave me a print of a famous painting by an artist named Gerrit van Honthorst (1590-1656) which hangs in the London Museum of Art. It is titled Christ Before the High Priest. (click)
During an intense period of prayer and reflection one morning, the scene in the painting came alive and entered my heart. The experience shook me, drawing me to repentance. It helped me respond to the Lords deeper call.
The painting depicts Jesus, standing before the High Priest, with His holy hands bound. The Priest is looking up at Him with an arrogant demeanor. With pointed finger, he appears to be addressing Jesus as though he were correcting the One who is the Truth. Before him on the table is the Torah.
Standing in front of this man is the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Incarnate Word, Jesus the Christ, the One greater than the Temple, the One who is the Lord of the Sabbath, the One who fulfills every promise in that Book.
Yet the High Priest failed to see Him.
I thought to myself, “How could a man get to this point? How could he fail to see the Light of the World before him?” I sensed the Lord prompting a response in my heart as I looked more deeply into the eyes of the High Priest and the eyes of Jesus, as depicted in that painting. I drew close to the painting and sensed the Lord lovingly correcting me with these words, “You have become that man”.
The experience shook me to the core — and changed my life. We are often called to deal with our own inner Pharisee. When we do, the world begins to look different. We see Jesus with the eyes of living faith and we are changed by the encounter. We are called by Him to be emptied out of ourselves so that we can be filled with His divine life and be used by Him for others.
