— His passion as participant with the triune God of Grace
Music just about rules the worship movement today. Although there are exceptions, music is pretty well king. Although Christ is in the music, it primarily addresses individual interests rather than kingdom priorities. There are signs that the mission of justice is returning to worship. This essay points out how the Lord Jesus tethered worship with justice, even though worship was not one of the topics during his teaching tours.
Frankly, Jesus addressed worship only twice. Once to rebuke Satan when he set himself up as worthy of divine worship (Mark 4:9-10). A second time to chasten the testy Samaritan lady who resurrected a well worn argument about where to worship. In both cases, Jesus didn’t add insight about worship that Satan and the peppery lady didn’t already know from the Jewish Torah or Samaritan tradition.
However, there are two passages where Jesus dealt with tithing with worship overtones. He didn’t call tithing worship, even though Moses considered it an act of worship (Deut. 2610). “Then you shall set it (the tithe) before the Lord your God, and worship before the Lord your God.” Actually, an act of genuine submission to God was considered worship.
In these two texts, Jesus didn’t see worship as distinct from justice. He identified the passion that paid homage to God with the fervent pursuit of covenant law. In particular, where the law addressed the plight of the poor and oppressed. These passages are Matt. 23:23 and Luke 11:42. Please bear in mind that although they seem to occur at the same time, the Matthew event happened before a crowd, whereas the Luke passage occurred during a private dinner in the home of a prominent Pharisee.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone” (Matt. 23:23).
It’s possible that Jesus intended to chastise the scribes and Pharisees with these harsh words, but the context suggests that Jesus reacted spontaneously to the arrogance of the religious leaders. There are two reasons for this view. First, Jesus rarely dealt with the topic of worship. It was not in his bag of issues. Second, our Lord was furious with their callous attitude toward the Law. Over and again in the Sermon on the Mount, he repeated, “You have heard that it was said . . . but I say to You” (Matt. 5:21ff). He was untiring in his effort to correct their flawed teachings in regard to God’s covenant commandments.
There are two parts to Jesus’ thrashing. He shamed them for tithing the cheapest items they could find. Mint and anise and cumin were commonly grown by even the poorest of the poor. Then he hammered home his shattering indictment; that they disregarded the weightier requirements of God’s Law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. They ignored the real intent of the Law; that worship was submission to God, and submission involved passion for social justice, compassion, and steadfastness.
Jesus’ mind was steeped in the wisdom and passion of the prophets. The Lord’s allegation may have risen from meditating on Jeremiah. 9:23-24:
23 Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches; 24 But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” says the LORD.
The other place where Jesus tied worship with Justice is Luke 11:42
“But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.
I mentioned above that Jesus spoke these words at a different time and in a different place than the quote in Matthew. Jesus accepted an invitation by a Pharisee to dine with him. When the host expressed surprise that Jesus did not observe the usual cleansing, the Lord chided him for being more concerned with outward appearances instead of the inner values of the kingdom. “For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.”
No need to wonder where Jesus ingested his passion for justice for the poor and oppressed. He revealed the eternal spring of his passion during an early visit to the synagogue in Nazareth. According to Luke 4:16-21, while seated in the synagogue, he was handed the scroll of Isaiah and immediately unrolled it to the messianic text recorded in 61:1-2a.
“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD. . . . “
He read the text as if it were his very own mission. He rolled up the scroll, gave it to the attendant, and sat down. Wonder arose among the people. Their eyes were fixed upon him. He spoke quietly: ”Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” At first they marveled at his gracious words. Then they wondered how he dared make such a claim as Joseph’s son. When he chided them that God’s prophets were sometimes called to minister to pagan Gentiles rather than covenant Jews, in a rage they tried to push him over a cliff. But passing through their midst, he went on his way.
This story shares several insights about Jesus’ restless spirit and his messianic passion. He thrust forth a startling statement and waited for response. When they pointed to his humble heritage, and questioned his authority, he goaded them with insults. Why create a crisis at such an eventful and opportune moment? Jesus exploded upon his generation with supreme confidence that the Father appointed him as Messiah. For him, it was wholly unimaginable to negotiate his messianic status, and inexcusable, therefore, for the people to reject his messianic claim.
Besides establishing his messianic call, the public reading at Nazareth unveiled his personal awareness of the triune God. Summoned by the Father, the Spirit anointed the Son to preach Good News, to heal broken lives, to proclaim liberty to those bound by sin, to recover sight to the blind, and to set at liberty those oppressed. His was an immediate and holistic participation in the mission of the triune God.
During his warfare with the legalism of the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus passionately tethered the worship of God with the pursuit of justice, mercy and faithfulness. Worship—defined in Scripture by the verb proskuneo as humble and loving obeisance to the Lord—was not an end in itself, as if the Creator lost touch with his creation, but the at-hand kingdom out of which the Spirit brought forth justice for the poor and those oppressed by evil.