THE Lord did not judge of persons in relation to Himself, — a common fault with us all. We naturally judge of others according as they treat ourselves; and we make our interest in them the measure of their character and worth. But this was not [so with] the Lord.
God is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed. He understands every action fully. In all its moral meaning He understands it, and according to that [meaning] He weighs it. And, as the image of the God of knowledge, we see our Lord Jesus Christ, in the days of His ministry here, again and again.
I may refer to Luke 11. There was the air of courtesy and good feeling towards Him in the Pharisee that invited Him to dine. But the Lord was “the God of knowledge,” and, as such [He] weighed this action in its full moral character.
The honey of courtesy, which is the best ingredient in social life in this world, should not pervert His taste or judgment. He approved “things that are excellent.” The civility which invited Him to dinner was not to determine the judgment of Him Who carried the weights and measures of the sanctuary of God. It is the God of knowledge [Whom] this civility on this occasion has to confront, and it does not stand; it will not do.
Oh, how the tracing of this may rebuke us! The invitation covered a purpose. As soon as the Lord entered the house the host acts the Pharisee, and not the host.
He marvels that his guest had not washed before dinner. And the character he thus assumes at the beginning shows itself in full force at the end. And the Lord deals with the whole scene accordingly; for He weighed it as the God of knowledge. Some may say, that the courtesy He had received might have kept Him silent. But He could not look on this man simply as in relation to Himself. He was not to be flattered out of a just judgment. He exposes and rebukes, and the end of the scene justifies Him. “And as he said these things unto them, the scribes and Pharisees began to urge him vehemently, and to provoke him to speak of many things, laying wait for him, and seeking to catch something out of his mouth that they might accuse him.”
Very different, however, was His way in the house of another Pharisee, who, in like manner, had asked Him to dine (Luke 7). For Simon had no covered purpose in the invitation. Quite otherwise. He seemed to act the Pharisee too, silently accusing the poor sinner of the city, and his guest for admitting her approach. But appearances are not the ground of righteous judgements. Often the very same words, on different lips, have a very different mind in them. And therefore the Lord, the perfect weigh-master, according to God, though He may rebuke Simon, and expose him to himself, knows him by name, and leaves his house as a guest should leave it. He distinguished the Pharisee of Luke 7 from the Pharisee of Luke 11, though He dined with both of them. J.G.B.