Who is God? Rule Breaker for Righteousness - Rejector of Religious Rote

The hot-pink shag carpet of my bedroom crunched beneath my feet as I sprinted across the floor. In one giant leap, I landed knees-first onto a gaudy canopy bed festooned with dusty cream-colored ruffles and lace. At six years old, mom always fussed at me for jumping on my bed, but in the mid-1980s with a steady TV diet of adventure cartoons like Duck Tales, He-Man, and Teenage Mutant Nina Turtles, bounce away, I did. Bedtime called, but my mind swirled over a book I had recently checked out at the library. I prided myself on memorizing the main character’s tricky first name. It wasn’t easy, but I did it! And I repeated that glorious given name over and over with joy as I slowly drifted to sleep: Tikki Tikki Tembo-no Sa Rembo-chari Bari Ruchi-pip Peri Pembo.

If you haven’t heard of it, “Tikki Tikki Tembo” is a wildly popular and award-winning kid’s book first published in 1968 by Arlene Mosel. From the first reading, my childhood soul was captivated by the story, which goes like this: Two young brothers in China were given names – the firstborn an honorable name of great length (Tikki Tikki…) and the second born, “Chang” which meant “nothing.” One day, the two brothers played near a well (despite their mother’s stern warning not to do so), and the elder brother fell in. Chang (rescued from the well earlier) ran as fast as he could to get help. Out of breath and frantic, he struggled to speak his brother’s massive name. His mother foolishly refused to listen to him until he spoke his brother’s name “with reverence.” So, wasting precious time, Chang repeated the name slowly, finally able to tell his mother what had happened. Chang’s mother, now fully aware her favored son sat at the bottom of the well, took Chang and rushed to find “the old man with the ladder.” Again, causing dangerous delay, Chang carefully uttered every syllable of Tikki Tikki Tembo-no Sa Rembo-chari Bari Ruchi-pip Peri Pembo, to the “old man” able to fish his brother out. Chang’s brother was rescued, but unlike Chang, who was pulled out quickly from the well (and made a fast recovery), Tikki tikki tembo-no sa rembo-chari bari ruchi-pip peri pembo spent so much time underwater all due to his difficult and long name that “the moon rose many times” until the boy recovered fully.

Sink or Swim

Was a “many moons” recovery really due to Tikki Tikki Tembo’s “great long name”? Even as a kid, I remember feeling miffed at Chang’s mother as I understood the problem wasn’t a name but her mindset. What is she doing? Stupid lady! Chang’s trying to tell her something important, and she needs to stop being so stubborn about rules! How do you see God when it comes to “the rules”? If you’ve read through “Moses’ Law” in the Old Testament (spread throughout Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy), you may see a stern God of judgment who punishes lawbreakers harshly and, at times, with death. And indeed, we are deceived into thinking God did not, and now will not, bring judgment upon sinful people. He has, and He will. However, is God so interested in “by-the-letter-law-followers” that, like Chang’s mother, He would demand compliance without common sense? I love the Andy Griffith episode where Andy explains to his son, Opie, about righteous rule-breaking. Andy asked Opie about an official “no swimming” sign posted at a nearby pond – what should a man do if he sees a boy drowning? Should he obey the law or jump in and swim for a rescue? Without hesitation, a young Opie wisely replies, “Well, he couldn’t let him drown!”

Jesus versus the Fools for Rules

Jesus’ famous words to a repentant (and short) chief tax collector tell us His core mission – “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10) Zacchaeus was indeed drowning, but not in water. Guilt, shame, and frustration over the “religious rules” of the day were certainly heavy on this Jewish man’s mind (who was likely labeled “traitor” by his neighbors). Jesus painfully witnessed spiritual drownings under a deluge of Jewish customs and laws enforced by hypocritical leaders. He knew “The Law” better than any of the pompous priests. But while the synagogue elites behaved like Chang’s mother demanding “reverence, rules, and ritual,” Jesus sprinted towards “the child at the bottom of the cold well.” Luke left no doubt about how the people felt during Jesus’s rescue of Zacchaeus: “But the people were displeased. ‘He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,’ they grumbled.” (Luke 19:7)

In Jesus’s day, the laws of the Sabbath were followed with such strictness and fervor it would have taken a unified force of He-Man, She-Ra, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael, and Danger Mouse (cartoon heroes of the 80s) to hinder the religious zealots in their devoted obedience. Still, if Jesus is the Son of God, wouldn’t He also strictly obey these sacred statutes? What if “breaking” the Sabbath meant saving a life? John 5 details one of many showdowns. On the Sabbath, Jesus healed a man who had been sick for 38 years, telling him to roll up his sleeping mat and walk home. Instead of rejoicing, the religious leaders lectured the healed man, scolding him for his illegal, holy day “work” (apparently mat carrying). Verses 16-18 spell out the “thanks” lavished on Jesus by the hoity-toity teachers of The Law:

So they began harassing Jesus as a Sabbath breaker. But Jesus replied, “My Father constantly does good, and I’m following His example.” Then the Jewish leaders were all the more eager to kill Him because in addition to disobeying their Sabbath laws, He had spoken of God as His Father, thereby making Himself equal with God. (John 5:16-18 TLB)

And since Jesus was on a roll to get Himself killed, He continued angering the Pharisees (hoity-toity teachers):

Jesus went into the synagogue again and noticed a man with a deformed hand. Since it was the Sabbath, Jesus’ enemies watched Him closely. If He healed the man’s hand, they planned to accuse Him of working on the Sabbath. Jesus said to the man with the deformed hand, “Come and stand in front of everyone.” Then He turned to His critics and asked, “Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?” But they wouldn’t answer Him. He looked around at them angrily and was deeply saddened by their hard hearts. Then He said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” So the man held out his hand, and it was restored! At once the Pharisees went away and met with the supporters of Herod to plot how to kill Jesus. (Mark 3:1-6 NLT)

Dirty Hands or Dingy Souls

Without question, Jesus stood undaunted in His rebuke of the religious leaders in one epic smackdown after another. In Luke 11 (another “get the popcorn ready” moment), Jesus unleashed one of His greatest criticisms. The buildup to the brawl went like this: A Pharisee invited Jesus to his home for a meal. Jesus, knowing full well the nefarious intent, went anyway. According to Jewish laws, a person must perform a “cleansing ritual” before eating a meal containing bread. The custom was more than just simple (and common sense) hand washing. Commentary in “Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges” sheds light on this practice:

“No washing was necessary to eat a few dates or figs. At the chief meal of the day, where all dipped their hands into a common dish, it was a matter of cleanliness. But the duty of cleanliness had been turned by the Oral Law into a rigorous set of cumbersome and needless ablutions, each performed with certain elaborate methods and gesticulations (Mark 7:2-3) which had nothing to do with religion or even with the Levitical Law, but only with Pharisaic tradition and the Oral Law. In the Shulchan Aruk, a book of Jewish Ritual, no less than twenty-six prayers are given with which their washings are accompanied. But all this was not only devoid of divine sanction, but had become superstitious…” (1)

Jesus, refusing to play this game, horrified onlookers by skipping the foolishness and went straight for the bread and dip! Luke 11:39-52 details the entire account. I suggest you read it in The Passion translation. Below are verses 42 and 46:

[Jesus said] “You Pharisees are hypocrites! For you are obsessed with peripheral issues, like paying meticulous tithes on the smallest herbs that grow in your gardens. Of course, these matters you should do, but when you unjustly cheat others, you ignore the most important duty of all: to walk in the love of God…You are also hypocrites, you experts of the law! You crush people beneath the burden of obeying impossible religious regulations, yet you would never even think of doing them yourselves.”

All Show and No Substance

Religious rote does not impress Jesus. Even so, what about God’s commands in the “Laws of Moses”? Is God of the Old Testament the same Father as in the New Testament? Jesus boldly proclaimed who He is: John 10:30 (TLB), “I and the Father are one,” and John 14:9 (TLB), “Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father!” So, observing Jesus is key to understanding the true nature of God Almighty. True, God instructed Moses to write a series of laws for His people to obey strictly, but what the scribes and teachers in Jesus’ day missed was God’s desire in men/women for pure holiness, not heartless performance. God spoke clearly to the Israelites through the words of His prophets about pointless pomp:

What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to His voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams. 1 Samuel 15:22 (NLT)

I hate all your show and pretense—the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies. Amos 5:21 (NLT)

When you come to worship Me, who asked you to parade through My courts with all your ceremony? Stop bringing Me your meaningless gifts; the incense of your offerings disgusts Me! As for your celebrations of the new moon and the Sabbath and your special days for fasting—they are all sinful and false. I want no more of your pious meetings. I hate your new moon celebrations and your annual festivals. They are a burden to Me. I cannot stand them! When you lift up your hands in prayer, I will not look. Though you offer many prayers, I will not listen, for your hands are covered with the blood of innocent victims. Isaiah 1:12-15 (NLT)

The people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regemmelech, along with their attendants, to seek the Lord’s favor. They were to ask this question of the prophets and the priests at the Temple of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies: “Should we continue to mourn and fast each summer on the anniversary of the Temple’s destruction, as we have done for so many years?” The Lord of Heaven’s Armies sent me this message in reply: “Say to all your people and your priests, ‘During these seventy years of exile, when you fasted and mourned in the summer and in early autumn, was it really for Me that you were fasting? And even now in your holy festivals, aren’t you eating and drinking just to please yourselves? Zechariah 7:2-6 (NLT)

Convinced? I love The Message translation of Zechariah 7:6: “And when you held feasts, was that for Me? Hardly. You’re interested in religion; I’m interested in people.” E.M. Bounds said it best when he keenly wrote, “God's plan is to make much of the man, far more of him than anything else. Men are God's method. The church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men.”

In Tikki Tikki Tembo, Chang not only struggled with his mother for help, but when he reached the “Old Man With The Ladder,” he found him fast asleep and completely absorbed in daydreaming. After Chang shouted his brother’s long name and the peril he was in (twice), the Old Man aroused from his stupor and chided Chang for interrupting his dream. The devil has no greater prize than to convince “The Church” that God isn’t who He says He is. Lulled to sleep in purple mists of “performance over people” and “religious routine over radical Holy Spirit presence,” many churches are caught up in daydreams as the world, destroyed by sin, drowns.

Heart Change Leads to Heavenly Welcome

Every word recorded on the life of Jesus reveals the true character of God. Even in Jesus’ final, terrible moments before dying from crucifixion, He assured the salvation of a criminal beside Him suffering the same fate. I doubt the thief (2) could have recited “The 10 Commandments.”. He probably hadn’t even once correctly “kept the Sabbath.” I don’t think he gave a whit about Jewish ceremonial hand washing. I wonder…had this man even seen or heard about Jesus before nails were brutally hammered into his own hands? Unless these verses are mistranslated, Mark 15:32 and Matthew 27:44 state at first, both thieves mocked Jesus. (3)

…Those who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him. (Mark 15:32 NLT)

The robbers who had been crucified with Him also began to insult Him in the same way. (Matthew 27:44 NLT)

So, what changed the one man’s heart? My best guess is when Jesus prayed, Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing. (Luke 23:34 NLT) Yes, the “them” included a horde of temple snoots, “the crowd” chanting for Barabbas’ release instead of Jesus’, and the soldiers. But think about it; only those closest to Jesus would have audibly heard Him. One criminal ignored Him. The other may have thought He’s praying for us. Even if the repentant criminal knew nothing of Christ before that day, he surely gathered enough details by overhearing accusations hurled at “The King of the Jews.” Because of simple faith - without baptism and without reciting “the sinner’s prayer” - a dying man who possibly couldn’t even turn his head to look at Jesus entered paradise alongside The King of Heaven.

Repentance and Rescue

If the God you’ve met in “church service” was boring, distant, a stickler for system, and stoic, please know you encountered an imposter. I’ll bet the Lord’s authentic and powerful presence never even approached the parking lot. Looking for Him? It is no more complicated than this: “The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.” (Psalm 51:17 NLT) Paul, in his letter to Timothy, clears up any confusion as to who God wants in His Kingdom: “…God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:3-4 NASB) This means YOU. Jesus has no problem smashing through religious and unbiblical nonsense to get to you. Cry out to Him. Change the way you think and act. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. He’s running to get the ladder!

(1) https://biblehub.com/commentaries/luke/11-38.htm

(2) Luke uses the word “criminal” in his gospel, but Matthew and Mark specify with the Greek word “léstés” which means robber or bandit

(3) I compared Mark 15:32 and Matthew 27:44 in multiple translations. All I reviewed used a plural form to describe the criminals (they, thieves, robbers, bandits, rebels). Were there others crucified along with Jesus besides the two thieves? I don’t believe so – Matthew 27:38, Mark 15:27, Luke 23:33, and John 19:18 clearly state Jesus was crucified with just two other men, so it does seem at first both mocked Jesus.

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