During Jesus’ earthly ministry, he constantly and consistently battled against the false acts of worship displayed by the religious leaders of Israel: The Pharisees, and the Sadducees. These leaders arrogantly boasted about their academic prowess regarding the scripture. As virtuous as these leaders looked on the outside, as intelligent, and as God-loving as they proclaimed themselves to be, they failed to rightly interpret God’s Word, thus they failed to see that Jesus was exactly who he claimed to be, The Messiah, even God himself. Jesus described these individuals this way:

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. Matthew 23:27

They looked the part and acted the part in public but they were “dead on the vine”. As an old preacher friend of mine would often say, “They were as lost as a ball in high weeds”!

In Matthew 16, Jesus called attention to the flawed theology and doctrine of these empty religious leaders. Looking to test the claim of Jesus’ messianic authority “they asked him to show them a sign from heaven”. He answered them,

 “You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.” Matt 16:3

They were very skilled with their study of the Scripture in the sense that they knew words and phrases, yet their spiritual understanding of it was only at a superficial level. These spiritual leaders of Israel had the ability to interpret events in the natural world which enabled them to forecast good and bad weather, yet their inability to correctly interpret and apply Scripture cost them an opportunity of a lifetime, knowing and following Jesus as the promised Messiah. He was right there, God in the flesh. One would think that with their training and knowledge of Scripture, they would have understood who Jesus was and bowed in worship rather than buck up against His authority. What was these guy’s problem? A big problem could have been that the Pharisees’ dedication and devotion to the study of Scripture exceeded their love for the author, essentially making a love letter into an academic exercise. As Christians, we should approach the reading and memorization of God’s Word not as an academic exercise or part of a daily ritual, but as a way to know the mind, character, and heart of God.

The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward (Psalm 19:11-17, ESV)    

How do we approach God’s word today? Do we look at it as a checked box or an academic exercise? Does our love for Jesus match our love for His Word?