OUR FACE GIVES IT AWAY
So too when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites: they make their faces unsightly so that other people may see that they are fasting. I tell you this: they have their reward already. Matt. 6:16, N.E.B.
Really, now; with all the cosmic issues Jesus had on His agenda during the brief years of His earthly ministry, with all the crucially important things He had to say and do, what difference should it make how a certain group of people look when they choose to go without food? After all, if they want to smudge some ashes under their eyes to enhance the gaunt look, if they get some kind of kick out of standing on the street corners letting their stomachs growl in public, that's their problem! Why should such an incidental quirk be of concern to the Saviour of all mankind?
Fortunately, Jesus saw things far more clearly than our narrow vision usually allows. He knew that the Pharisees were not just some religious curiosity. They were the ones who, more than anyone else, claimed to be the spokesmen for God. In the eyes of most Israel, they were on the inside track with Divinity. And as they dragged abound the landscape in their regular sessions of exaggerated self-denial they were broadcasting that this is what God requires. The light-headed misery of systems drained of vitality, the sallow complexion and staggered step, the Pharisees claimed, were required of the devout as a means of impressing God.
But Jesus deflated the whole scheme. As these pallid figures staggered by, if any of their fellow humans wanted to stand for a moment in awe, that was all the reward they were going to get. He emphatically reported that His Father was not impressed. What is more, His Father was grieved that such gross misrepresentations of His character should be pawned off by the religious authorities. If they needed to fast for a time, perhaps to clear the mind for deeper spiritual understandings, then this should be a private matter. In public they should have their faces scrubbed, hair combed, and a touch of perfume to brighten the occasion.
Being in our Father's family is a joyous experience. All His paths are ways of brightness. The faces of His children can be as inviting as His own. Our eyes, as windows to our souls, may reveal an unmistakable inner joy. These are the ways of our Father.
So too when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites: they make their faces unsightly so that other people may see that they are fasting. I tell you this: they have their reward already. Matt. 6:16, N.E.B.
Really, now; with all the cosmic issues Jesus had on His agenda during the brief years of His earthly ministry, with all the crucially important things He had to say and do, what difference should it make how a certain group of people look when they choose to go without food? After all, if they want to smudge some ashes under their eyes to enhance the gaunt look, if they get some kind of kick out of standing on the street corners letting their stomachs growl in public, that's their problem! Why should such an incidental quirk be of concern to the Saviour of all mankind?
Fortunately, Jesus saw things far more clearly than our narrow vision usually allows. He knew that the Pharisees were not just some religious curiosity. They were the ones who, more than anyone else, claimed to be the spokesmen for God. In the eyes of most Israel, they were on the inside track with Divinity. And as they dragged abound the landscape in their regular sessions of exaggerated self-denial they were broadcasting that this is what God requires. The light-headed misery of systems drained of vitality, the sallow complexion and staggered step, the Pharisees claimed, were required of the devout as a means of impressing God.
But Jesus deflated the whole scheme. As these pallid figures staggered by, if any of their fellow humans wanted to stand for a moment in awe, that was all the reward they were going to get. He emphatically reported that His Father was not impressed. What is more, His Father was grieved that such gross misrepresentations of His character should be pawned off by the religious authorities. If they needed to fast for a time, perhaps to clear the mind for deeper spiritual understandings, then this should be a private matter. In public they should have their faces scrubbed, hair combed, and a touch of perfume to brighten the occasion.
Being in our Father's family is a joyous experience. All His paths are ways of brightness. The faces of His children can be as inviting as His own. Our eyes, as windows to our souls, may reveal an unmistakable inner joy. These are the ways of our Father.
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