Waynesboro Church of the Brethren Newsletter
March 26, 2023
The Pastor's Pen
As we rapidly approach Easter, it’s difficult to realize where the time has gone. If you study the Gospels in order of sequence, you’ll realize that the closer Jesus comes to going to the cross the more the Pharisees appear in the narrative. Today we’ll talk about Jesus’ relationship with the Pharisees. It certainly was tenuous. The Pharisees where religious lawyers of the Jews. It was their self-imposed task to enforce Mosaic Law. While the Pharisees were founded on study of scripture and prayer, in Jesus’ time they had become something else. Jesus calls them hypocrites in Luke’s gospel because they instituted rules that they themselves had no intention of following. The Pharisees were big on judgment and interpretation of the Law but were scarce on compassion and mercy. Jesus angered them because He addressed this. He tells man today, “just because your outside is clean doesn’t mean your inside isn’t filled with greed and selfishness”. Because of the envy the Pharisees felt for Jesus, they plotted against Him. They were constantly trying to get Him to do or say something that would turn public opinion against Him. In the days before Palm Sunday, Jesus raised Lazarus from the grave, even though he’d been dead for four days. Jesus performs this miracle in front of hundreds of people. There’s no refuting it. At this point the Pharisees begin working with other members of the religious groups and eventually they begin working with the High Priest. They build a case to have Jesus killed. They arrest Him and bring Him to the Romans on charges of blasphemy because the Lord claimed to be the King of the Jews. Of course, this leads to Jesus’ death on the cross, but it also leads to His resurrection. It’s hard to imagine how desperate the Pharisees felt at the news of Jesus’ empty grave. In Jesus’ resurrection He defeats death, he also thwarts the Pharisees’ evil agenda. It would be curious to know how many of them came to Christ later. The Pharisees functioned as their own God. They thought so highly of themselves they never could recognize or submit to Jesus. Vain earthly status can lead to our demise. – Pastor John
Serving You Today
Pre Sunday School Greeter
Josie Stitely
Pre Worship Greeters
Lisa & Nelson Beaver
Worship Leader
Alex Cabrera
Acolyte
Brian Angle
Sound Technicians
Terry Flegel
Denny Bittinger
Visitor’s Center
Bev Pittman
Josie Stitely
Pre Worship Greeters
Lisa & Nelson Beaver
Worship Leader
Alex Cabrera
Acolyte
Brian Angle
Sound Technicians
Terry Flegel
Denny Bittinger
Visitor’s Center
Bev Pittman