A Pearl Before Swine

The thought of having an expensive possession that I liked very much and splattering mud all over it (for fun!) is something that would never enter my mind in a natural way. It would have to be forced in by some weird external circumstances. Mud is a disgusting thing. Getting it on you is the opposite of what anyone would want to happen. Or so I would suppose. But I would be wrong.

There are 100’s (1,000’s?) of people that like to get muddy. They derive a weird self-satisfaction by finding a place of abundant mud and driving, sliding, slinging, etc it all over their vehicles, themselves and everybody within reach. They are proud that at the end of their time in the slime field the color of their vehicle cannot be determined because the surface cannot be seen. You may be one of these people. Please don’t be offended by the analogy that follows. It’s not personal.

The sacrifice Jesus made in being crucified for our sins, and thus our salvation, is the super ultimate example of a loving sacrifice and Christians speak of it reverentially, as they should. But Jesus made a huge sacrifice for us before he was crucified. “[Christ Jesus], being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to . . . even the death of the cross.” Phil. 2:6-8.

Jesus, God the Son, gave up Heaven though He was equal with God the Father. He left Heaven behind to come to the earth in the form of a slave. One moment you are God, creator of the universe, John 1:3, and the next you’re as a slave. That is a sacrifice I dare say none of us would be willing to make.

He left the pristine purity of Heaven to come live amidst the filth of sin. We may not like that statement because we are the perpetrators of that filth, but it is real. It is what He did. We were playing in the mud and He came to get us clean.

I spent a summer on a farm in Nebraska, complete with hogs and a pen. Several times I was given the honor (horror, really) of “slopping” the hogs. Years later I lived for a time in another place downwind from a hog farm. I learned to sleep with the windows closed. I can with authority say that hogs are filthy animals.

You may have heard the phrase, “gag a maggot.” (I apologize.) I’m sure it was invented when somebody was trying to describe hogs. They slog through their feeding troughs dripping mud. They relieve themselves amidst their food (in not just one, but two ways, if you catch my drift.) They wallow in mud containing the scummiest of scummy things. They are not at all like Arnold ( but maybe you never watched Green Acres.)

Imagine a scenario in which you have committed to go to the hog pen, live with the hogs, take up their ways and basically be one of them while avoiding the filth. You’ll eat with the hogs. You’ll sleep with the hogs. Oh, and your job is to try to help the hogs understand that it is better to be clean. There is not enough money in the world.

This is analogous to Jesus leaving Heaven and coming to earth. You may not like this analogy either, because we are the hogs. Sin is the mud. (Stay calm, mudders. This is figurative, not literal.) Sin is a filthy thing to God.

That’s why sins have to be washed away. “Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins,” Acts 22:16. Those who bear the guilt of sin cannot enter Heaven, 1 Cor. 6:9-11. Because of his sinfulness, Isaiah was frightened for his very existence when he found himself before God’s throne in Heaven, Isaiah 6:5. But in verses 7-8, God used a method analogous to baptism to take away his iniquity, to purge his sin.

Sin is a disgusting filth to a holy and pure God. It was sin in the lives of people that made it necessary for Jesus to die on the cross. Considering all this, how might we expect Jesus to treat sinners as He walked among them? Revulsion and contempt are two words that quickly come to mind. Anger and hostility are two others that seem an appropriate response.

But we find that Jesus had two different responses to sin. While we might expect that He would be uniform in His treatment of people, it turns out that the attitude and demeanor of the person determined how Jesus would treat them. Some He rebuked and chastised severely. To others he spoke with kindness and encouragement. This is because as Paul says in Hebrews 4:15, “we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

The first group, whom he rebuked severely, were those of high station who had authority over the common people. They were the teachers of the law and they held themselves up as an example of perfection to which the commoner should aspire. Jesus’ favorite descriptive term for these people was “hypocrite.”

In Matt. 7:1-18, Jesus does nothing but call out and ridicule these hypocrites for performing their religion for show. He lists several examples of their hypocritical performative religion and instructs His followers specifically not to do what these people do. In Matthew 23, out of 39 verses, only 3 do not specifically lambast and excoriate the scribes and Pharisees as hypocrites with many examples of their hypocrisy given.

The second group of sinners can be divided into two subsets. One subset consisted of the common folks who mostly were trying but in all cases had fallen to temptation. The other subset did consist of “elites”, but they didn’t carry themselves with pride expecting all to look up to them. They didn’t tell other people what to do while failing to do it themselves. In every instance of His dealing with both subsets Jesus was kind, loving and encouraging.

In Subset A there are: the woman caught in the act of adultery (by the scribes and Pharisees, no less) John 8:3-11; the woman at the well, John 4:5-26; the woman who washed Jesus feet, Matt. 26:6-13; the ten lepers, Luke 17:11-19; the lame man let through the roof, Luke 5:17-39 and others. In Subset B there are: Nicodemus, John 3:1-21; the centurion with a sick son, Matt. 8:5-13; the rich young ruler, Mark 10:17-27; Zacchaeus, Luke 19:1-10 and others. I apologize for not having room to include all of each of these verses. I beg you to read through each one as you consider the thoughts being presented here. It is important that you are familiar with Jesus’ behavior in regard to these people.

With prideful hypocrites Jesus was unrelentingly harsh. With humble people, whether of high station or commoners Jesus was kind, encouraging, and understanding. This is why, to finish the thought begun in Hebrews 4, now adding vs 16, “[we can] come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

We may be in the prideful group, and if so I could say, “God help us.” But the hard fact taught in Matthew 7 and 23 (please read) is that God is not going to help this group. He is going to pronounce on them the condemnation their pride has earned for them. If you’re in this group, get out. Don’t rationalize and be defensive. Humble yourselves.

If not in the prideful group, how blessed we are. We struggle, we mess up. We find ourselves in the very act of sin, repeatedly, but our High Priest has come to the pig pen. He’s been there beside us trying to get us to clean up our act. He understands. He understands. He looks on us with love. He is anxious to say, “neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more.” He says to us, “come down from the tree. Take me home with you.” “Behold I stand at the door, and knock if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will [eat] with him and he with Me.” Rev. 3:20.

I couldn’t treat a filthy pig that I knew was going to cause me to experience a horrible death with such mercy and grace. But that is how Jesus treats a humble sinner. He is anxious to receive you. I hope you are anxious to submit to Him

PS: A reader asked me how Christianity was different from other world religions. It wasn’t my purpose in writing this, but I think I just answered that question.