He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” (Matthew 15:13-14)There were times when Jesus just got tired of the people who were always coming against him. The religious leaders were constantly challenging Jesus at everything he did. It didn’t matter what he said, they had some objection. And for the most part, their objections were that he did not keep traditions. And, also, they were the ones setting the traditions. So Jesus was not obeying them.
When John the Baptizer saw Jesus and recognized who he was, he did something that was so unselfish and great-spirited: he sent his apostles, those men who were following him, away and told them to transfer their allegiance to Jesus.
John the Baptizer was an acetic, a man who believed in simple, plain living. It was said of him that he wore camel hair garments and ate locusts and wild honey. He did not believe in fancy things.
Jesus took John’s apostles, men who had followed an acetic for several months and took them immediately to a party where he made a lot of wine (John 2). Then he went straight from the party to the temple where he used a whip to drive out the men who were selling sacrifices and such.
On the one hand, he loved being with people and having a good time. On the other hand, he did not put up with trash.
And everywhere he went, those people, the ones who felt it their God-given right to tell everybody else how they were supposed to act, fought him. They picked apart his words, they analyzed his actions, they guessed his motives and they challenged him.
After a while, Jesus just got tired of it. In Matthew 15, he says leave them alone. They are blind and are trying to lead others around. They have not the slightest idea where they are going and what they are doing. People who follow them, he says, will both end up in a ditch.
Sometimes you just get tired of people constantly confronting you. Everything you do is injurious to them or their feelings. That modern word “hurtful”, one of the most wimpy words I have ever heard, is used. And it is used to make you feel bad.
The man of God does not feel bad when confronting foolishness or sin. He does it boldly, as Jesus did. If we really do what Jesus did (WWJD), we too will be bold in our proclamation no matter what others may think.
And we will not let others dictate how we do it.
Jesus surely didn’t. That is why they killed him. He just made them mad.
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