mattbraunlin
Member
- Nov 1, 2023
- 82
- 83
Revive the Scribes!
Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
Isaiah 43:19
For many Christians, the word scribe has a very negative connotation. It was, after all, the scribes who hated Jesus so much and tried with all their might to sabotage his ministry. However, there is far more to understand about what exactly it means to be a scribe.
The word scribe in the Bible has a powerful history. The position of a scribe has held different duties over the centuries but it is most commonly associated with two meanings.
Firstly, an ancient scribe was simply someone whose full-time job was to copy out documents. Before the printing press was invented, large numbers of men were needed to copy words by hand, and men who could read and write were employed to do so. All manner of documents were copied by them, but they are most commonly associated with religious texts.
Secondly, they were also religious teachers. Scribes were deeply knowledgeable about Scripture and were charged with defending its integrity and teaching it to the common man.
All of this is very good. However, by the first century the scribes of Israel had become a corrupt institution. They worked hand-in-hand with the Pharisees, defiling God's message and creating a dark theocracy in which the religious officials grew rich and powerful by exploiting and oppressing God's chosen people.
It was these scribes whose hypocrisy Jesus challenged and ridiculed and (through his warriors) eventually overthrew. It was these scribes whose legacy has been so maligned by God's people for two thousand years.
And unfortunately, we have tossed out the baby with the bathwater. The word scribe has been more or less deleted from our vocabulary, and we have forgotten the inherent goodness (and ferocious power) of the vocation of a scribe.
And if you don't believe me, ask Jesus.
Near the end of Matthew chapter 13, Jesus has just finished teaching a series of parables. After confirming that his closest disciples have understood the meaning of these wonderful stories, he makes this statement:
And Jesus said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”
Matthew 13:52
Here we have all the evidence we need that, far from being inherently evil, scribes were immensely important.
What's more, I would go further still and say that scribes are every bit as important in the 21st century as they were in the 1st. All we need to do is refine their nature a bit, based on the definition Jesus declares in this verse.
I will begin with what I see as the nature of a scribe: to bring out of his treasure things new and old.
Here we see Jesus revealing the duty of these men (and of course, in our era, women): to defend the integrity of what God has already taught us (the old) and to discern what he wants to teach us today (the new).
Now let me make this very clear: by the new, I do not mean a new text of Scripture. Anyone who claims to have written or discovered a divinely inspired text to be included alongside the Old and New Testaments of the Bible is a liar. Here we see an example of a scribe's duty to defend the old: ensuring that quacks and cultists do not defile God's word with human lies. The Pharisees concocted a myriad of unbiblical teachings which suited their own ends, and when Jesus exposed them, they tried to destroy him.
But conversely, anyone who claims that the Bible has taught us every single Truth it can ever teach us is making a terrible and costly mistake. Such a mindset attaches a ball and chain to the Church, hindering its growth and development and leaving it frozen, feeble, irrelevant and grumpy.
Have you ever checked out those ultra-fundamentalist websites that preach hellfire and brimstone against everyone who doesn't think exactly like they do? I have, and the most remarkable thing about them is how alike they all are. They use the same vocabulary, they quote the same Bible verses, they evoke the same imagery and mood and emotions. And of course, they all preach the same stale, annoying rhetoric their forefathers did in the Fifties when pop culture exploded. These sad souls are trapped in a prison of pride, and pride is the enemy of all spiritual growth which gives birth to the beautiful uniquenesses of Joy and style and learning and progress.
It was the Pharisees who thought they knew everything there was to know, and when Jesus claimed otherwise, they tried to destroy him. It is the purpose of the scribe to discover the new Truth within the pages of God's word while defending the old; to keep the Church on the cutting edge without compromising the integrity of its foundations.
Here we see the shameful example of the Pharisees and their scribes: they were guilty on both ends of the spectrum. They defiled the old treasures of God, and tried to suppress the new treasures of God.
Now my first thought when I got the idea for this blurb was that anyone can be a scribe. That with these words Jesus ushered in a new era of learning and revelation in which everyone contributes.
To which the Spirit replied ‘Whoa, now. Take it easy. Look closer.’
My initial assumption left out Jesus’ comparison of a scribe to a head of a household.
A scribe remains an authority. An appointed teacher with a thorough understanding of Scripture. It would be disruptive and chaotic for every Christian under the sun to start proclaiming new Truth. Most of it would be garbage, and the Church is already divided enough.
But if you do wish to become a scribe, the first step is the same for all: you must become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven. You must follow Christ. And I state with sad certainty that most people never reach that point.
Believing in Jesus is a far cry from following him. Many people believe; not many follow. Not many are willing to surrender their entire lives to Christ. All their hearts, souls, minds and strength. This is a painful journey indeed, and our western lives are too comfortable for most people to be willing to surrender those lives to Christ.
I hope you reading this are an exception. You must be, if you want to know the Joy and wonder of being on the cutting-edge of spiritual warfare.
So how do we revive the scribes? I don't know. There's no system in place. It is not at all necessarily an educational institution. Education does not guarantee revelation. Peter and John led the charge against the rule of the Pharisees in the Book of Acts, and are described as uneducated and untrained men (Acts 4:13). I've encountered preachers with years of education who are more likely to put people to sleep than awaken them to new Truth.
But the scribe is a Christ-ordained order. They are defenders, and they are explorers. And at this point in the history of the Church, they are needed again. A wide world of new understanding is out there, and God wants us to discover it.
Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
Isaiah 43:19
For many Christians, the word scribe has a very negative connotation. It was, after all, the scribes who hated Jesus so much and tried with all their might to sabotage his ministry. However, there is far more to understand about what exactly it means to be a scribe.
The word scribe in the Bible has a powerful history. The position of a scribe has held different duties over the centuries but it is most commonly associated with two meanings.
Firstly, an ancient scribe was simply someone whose full-time job was to copy out documents. Before the printing press was invented, large numbers of men were needed to copy words by hand, and men who could read and write were employed to do so. All manner of documents were copied by them, but they are most commonly associated with religious texts.
Secondly, they were also religious teachers. Scribes were deeply knowledgeable about Scripture and were charged with defending its integrity and teaching it to the common man.
All of this is very good. However, by the first century the scribes of Israel had become a corrupt institution. They worked hand-in-hand with the Pharisees, defiling God's message and creating a dark theocracy in which the religious officials grew rich and powerful by exploiting and oppressing God's chosen people.
It was these scribes whose hypocrisy Jesus challenged and ridiculed and (through his warriors) eventually overthrew. It was these scribes whose legacy has been so maligned by God's people for two thousand years.
And unfortunately, we have tossed out the baby with the bathwater. The word scribe has been more or less deleted from our vocabulary, and we have forgotten the inherent goodness (and ferocious power) of the vocation of a scribe.
And if you don't believe me, ask Jesus.
Near the end of Matthew chapter 13, Jesus has just finished teaching a series of parables. After confirming that his closest disciples have understood the meaning of these wonderful stories, he makes this statement:
And Jesus said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”
Matthew 13:52
Here we have all the evidence we need that, far from being inherently evil, scribes were immensely important.
What's more, I would go further still and say that scribes are every bit as important in the 21st century as they were in the 1st. All we need to do is refine their nature a bit, based on the definition Jesus declares in this verse.
I will begin with what I see as the nature of a scribe: to bring out of his treasure things new and old.
Here we see Jesus revealing the duty of these men (and of course, in our era, women): to defend the integrity of what God has already taught us (the old) and to discern what he wants to teach us today (the new).
Now let me make this very clear: by the new, I do not mean a new text of Scripture. Anyone who claims to have written or discovered a divinely inspired text to be included alongside the Old and New Testaments of the Bible is a liar. Here we see an example of a scribe's duty to defend the old: ensuring that quacks and cultists do not defile God's word with human lies. The Pharisees concocted a myriad of unbiblical teachings which suited their own ends, and when Jesus exposed them, they tried to destroy him.
But conversely, anyone who claims that the Bible has taught us every single Truth it can ever teach us is making a terrible and costly mistake. Such a mindset attaches a ball and chain to the Church, hindering its growth and development and leaving it frozen, feeble, irrelevant and grumpy.
Have you ever checked out those ultra-fundamentalist websites that preach hellfire and brimstone against everyone who doesn't think exactly like they do? I have, and the most remarkable thing about them is how alike they all are. They use the same vocabulary, they quote the same Bible verses, they evoke the same imagery and mood and emotions. And of course, they all preach the same stale, annoying rhetoric their forefathers did in the Fifties when pop culture exploded. These sad souls are trapped in a prison of pride, and pride is the enemy of all spiritual growth which gives birth to the beautiful uniquenesses of Joy and style and learning and progress.
It was the Pharisees who thought they knew everything there was to know, and when Jesus claimed otherwise, they tried to destroy him. It is the purpose of the scribe to discover the new Truth within the pages of God's word while defending the old; to keep the Church on the cutting edge without compromising the integrity of its foundations.
Here we see the shameful example of the Pharisees and their scribes: they were guilty on both ends of the spectrum. They defiled the old treasures of God, and tried to suppress the new treasures of God.
Now my first thought when I got the idea for this blurb was that anyone can be a scribe. That with these words Jesus ushered in a new era of learning and revelation in which everyone contributes.
To which the Spirit replied ‘Whoa, now. Take it easy. Look closer.’
My initial assumption left out Jesus’ comparison of a scribe to a head of a household.
A scribe remains an authority. An appointed teacher with a thorough understanding of Scripture. It would be disruptive and chaotic for every Christian under the sun to start proclaiming new Truth. Most of it would be garbage, and the Church is already divided enough.
But if you do wish to become a scribe, the first step is the same for all: you must become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven. You must follow Christ. And I state with sad certainty that most people never reach that point.
Believing in Jesus is a far cry from following him. Many people believe; not many follow. Not many are willing to surrender their entire lives to Christ. All their hearts, souls, minds and strength. This is a painful journey indeed, and our western lives are too comfortable for most people to be willing to surrender those lives to Christ.
I hope you reading this are an exception. You must be, if you want to know the Joy and wonder of being on the cutting-edge of spiritual warfare.
So how do we revive the scribes? I don't know. There's no system in place. It is not at all necessarily an educational institution. Education does not guarantee revelation. Peter and John led the charge against the rule of the Pharisees in the Book of Acts, and are described as uneducated and untrained men (Acts 4:13). I've encountered preachers with years of education who are more likely to put people to sleep than awaken them to new Truth.
But the scribe is a Christ-ordained order. They are defenders, and they are explorers. And at this point in the history of the Church, they are needed again. A wide world of new understanding is out there, and God wants us to discover it.
