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Bible Dictionaries
Reform
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament
or REFORM.—There is no mention of this word in the Gospels; the only use of it in the NT is Hebrews 9:10 ‘until the time of reformation’ (Gr. διόρθωσις). It may be well to note in what sense Jesus may be said to have approved of ‘reform.’ There was much about the State that needed reform. Did He step forward to help it on? The answer must be in the negative. He made no attempt to reform the political abuses of His time, yet by the general strain and spirit of His teaching He assuredly did much to help on society towards such reformation. In His own conduct, we find Jesus submitting to the civil authorities under whom He lived. He refused to be made a king, or a governor, or a judge, or to be involved in any way, however remotely, in political revolution. He was ready rather to die than to be engaged in any such work. When asked about the lawfulness of tribute, He said, ‘Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s’ (Matthew 22:21). Although the words may not be pressed to support a doctrine of passive obedience, nor, on the other hand, taken as an incentive to revolution, He probably meant to remind His countrymen that, in return for the benefits of Roman government under which they lived, they might well be expected to share the expense by paying taxes. Again, in Matthew 17:27, we find Him providing for the payment of the Temple-tax for Himself and His disciples. He thus submitted to the ordinary ecclesiastical authority, with only a mild protest. Before Pilate, He said, ‘Thou wouldest have no authority against me, except it were given thee from above’ (John 19:11). This surely means that all human authority is subject to the higher power of God, who regulates all by His Providence; though it has sometimes been supposed that Jesus thus acknowledged the legitimacy of Pilate’s power.
Jesus cannot be claimed with any justice as a victim on the altar of political reform. Yet it may well be affirmed that His teachings, if carried out by men, would certainly produce a reformed society. His disciples, being good men, would also be good citizens. He gave to the world principles, which have been the fruitful seed of true reform.
As to Christ’s relation to the law of Moses, it may be asked, Did He become a reformer? While declaring that ‘he came not to destroy but to fulfil’ (Matthew 5:17), we must believe that, at least, He desired some reform of abuses, which had grown up through the interpretations and applications of the Law, made by scribes and lawyers of the past. Even in regard to the law of divorce, He calls attention to the right spirit of the Mosaic legislation, rather than to the exact letter of the Law (Matthew 5:31-32; Matthew 19:3 ff., Mark 10:2 ff.). And He treats with indignant scorn those evasions of filial duty, as in the case of the Corban, which had so long been sanctioned by the practice of Jewish society (Matthew 15:3 ff., Mark 7:9 ff.). In regard to such traditional abuses, as well as in regard to the State and general social arrangements, we may say that Jesus rather gave an impulse to reform than engaged actively in any attempt to bring the Law, as understood and practised in His day, into accordance with the eternal law of God.
When asked to consider a question about a disputed inheritance, He refused to be drawn into such quarrels, and bade men beware of a covetous spirit, remembering that man’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses (Luke 12:13 ff.). He believed that by interfering with the Law, even to have justice done, His disciples might do their spiritual life more harm than such action would do good in a temporal aspect. ‘Jesus’ disciple ought to be able to renounce the pursuit of his rights, and ought to co-operate in forming a nation of brothers, in which justice is done, no longer by the aid of force, but by free obedience to the good, and which is united, not by legal regulations, but by the ministry of love’ (Harnack, What is Christianity? p. 112). See art. Law.
Literature.—Denney, art. ‘Law’ in Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible ; R. Mackintosh, Christ and the Jewish Law; Lux Mundi, ch. xi. ‘Christianity and Polities’; Bruce, Galilean Gospel, ch. xi., Parabolic Teaching, p. 300 ff.; Dale, Laws of Christ for Common Life, ch. xii.; Expositor, i. v. [1877] pp. 214 ff., 436 ff.
D. M. W. Laird.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Reform'. Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdn/r/reform.html. 1906-1918.
