Tidings for Tuesday
Then certain of the scribes answering said, Master, Thou hast well said. Luke 20:39
There is an old saying that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. That is actually an international policy whereby different nations ally themselves against others. For example, suppose that Russia, in typical Russian belligerence, were to actively claim and exploit regions of the Arctic that more rightfully belong to Canada. In the dispute that would follow, Denmark, another country with aspirations to territory in the Arctic, would challenge Russia’s claims and insist that Russia withdraw. Canada would then look on Denmark as an ally, even though the two countries are competitors for Arctic territory. That thinking is what prompted the scribes in our text to praise the response by the Lord Jesus to the Sadducees’ challenge.
The scribes did not like the Sadducees. Their beliefs were vastly different, and the scribes resented the power that the Sadducees influenced over the people in Jerusalem. The Sadducees, with their denial of the resurrection, were difficult to challenge. So when Jesus of Nazareth was able to silence the Sadducees and make their arguments look silly, the scribes openly applauded. They had lost a round or two in debate with Jesus themselves, but it was worthwhile to see the cocky Sadducees put in their place. But despite their admiration for His methods in dispatching the Sadducees, the scribes were still not any friends of Jesus. In fact, they were in the forefront of those who demanded His crucifixion just a few days later. And that is a lesson that we need to remember as we encounter people who oppose some of the same things that Christians oppose, and who endorse some of the things that we endorse.
For example, Roman Catholics are strong opponents of abortion on demand. That is good, because abortion on demand is, plainly speaking, legalized murder. But does that give us any ground for affiliating ourselves with the Catholics? Absolutely not! They are too steeped in gross error for any measure of fellowship to be possible. And it is the same for other groups around us that oppose abortion, same-sex marriage, and other evils; we have nothing else in common with them, and it would be wrong to align ourselves in any way with them. Another example would be the way in which Mormons promote family values and honest living. While it would be hard to argue against those things, it would be impossible to justify any fellowship with a fairy-tale cult that denies almost every doctrine of Scripture. We believe there is only one God, as do the Muslims, but we cannot agree that the god they claim to worship is anything like the God revealed in our Bible.
There are people who will agree with us on certain points. But that does not mean they are in agreement on those things that truly matter. Beware of who we befriend. – Jim MacIntosh