"Matthew 26:57-68" The Problem With Heresy Hunters

     Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the teachers of the law and the elders had assembled. But Peter followed him at a distance, right up to the courtyard of the high priest. He entered and sat down with the guards to see the outcome....
     The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”
    “You have said so,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” 
     Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy.  What do you think?”
   “He is worthy of death,” they answered.
     Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him  and said, “Prophesy to us, Messiah. Who hit you?” 

 It is very likely that the high priest and elders and religious authorities sincerely thought that they were doing the right thing, protecting the people from a blasphemous heretic.  But they were wrong.  They were so wrong that, in essence, they were accusing God of evil -a serious charge.

I have to wonder, how did these men get to this point?  How did religious men -men who actually affirm and serve the One True God -end up charging The Messiah with blasphemy, mocking Him, and deciding to kill Him?  How did religious teachers and spiritual leaders end up watching the greatest movement of God on this earth and come to the conclusion that it was evil and had to be stopped?

This concerns me because I am a spiritual leader and teacher.  It would be easy to assume that these leaders that accused Jesus were simply evil people and that their inherent evilness caused them to do evil things.  But this event is historical; this really happened.  And in real life, people are complicated and there are reasons that otherwise decent people make horribly wrong decisions and choices.

I think it is probable that these leaders missed the fact that Jesus was the Messiah because Jesus didn't act like the Messiah they were expecting.  There is a sense in which the actual Truth when it finally was revealed did not exactly match the doctrines and theology they had been formulating and teaching for years.  And if Jesus was not actually the Messiah, they felt it was their duty to protect the people and defend the glory of God.  That is what spiritual leaders do, right? 

But what if that's not what we are supposed to be doing?  What if my job as a spiritual leader is not so much to protect those under my care from wolves and heretics as it is to teach them how to spot and avoid wolves and heretics?  What if my job is to teach people how to love God and hear His voice and follow His leading?  That, of course, would be a much more difficult job -I mean, anyone can become adept at spotting heretics.  Spotting heretics is easy -they think differently than us.  Learning to love God?  That is more difficult.  That is a heart thing, not just a mind thing.

So, teaching people to actually love God and authentically pursue truth by listening and obeying is difficult.  But the rewards are great; those under our care end up loving God, hearing His voice, and following His leading.

Father God, help me not to get so caught up in defending my doctrinal positions and theological understandings that I miss the bigger point.  Teach me, instead, to love You and in loving You, to love others as You love them.  Amen.