CONTRADICTIONS BETWEEN THE GOSPELS AND THE EPISTLES

In the following pairs of Scriptures, one might expect some differences in ideas since the authors of the epistles are addressing the church while the Gospel writers dealt with Jesus' own words in an earlier setting before the church was born. In the cases below, the best resolution usually relies on a complete understanding of the background behind each saying.

“We are worthless servants.” (Luke 17:10)

“We are his workmanship.” (Ephesians 2:10)

Luke 17:10 is Jesus' comment coming at the end of a short parable which is based on a comparison with the master-slave relationship in the Roman Empire at the time. Marshall explains that it is directed against the typical attitude of the Pharisees who said that they were going beyond what God required of them. And therefore they should obtain special rewards from Him. In contrast, Jesus says that all of us are but lowly servants of God who can never put Him under an obligation to us by our actions.

This scriptural mindset runs totally counter to that of a “name it, claim it” believer I knew who said that there were many promises in Scripture to which we could hold God accountable, and He would have no choice but to follow through with them.

Taken in its full context rather than in the truncated form above, Ephesians 2:10 actually confirms Luke 17:10 rather than contradicting it. In the first place, the previous verses 8 and 9 make it abundantly clear that there is nothing in ourselves to be boastful about since it is all God working in us. And what he created us for was nothing more or less than to serve him as a dutiful slave since “God has ordained those works for us to walk in” as the conclusion to Ephesians 2:10 states.

“Take up my yoke and learn from me.” (Matthew 11:29)

“Don't submit again to a yoke.” (Galatians 5:1)

Since the word “yoke” obviously appears in both these passages as a metaphor, I turned to The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery for its comment. There it was pointed out that there are more than fifty references to “yokes” in the Bible, most of them figurative, not literal. So keep in mind that a given word can actually have a number of figurative meanings depending on the context. In the cases above, the image in Matthew 11 is a positive one representing “legitimate discipline in a person's life” while in Galatians 5 it stands for “oppressive subservience” or “bondage.” Specifically, Paul is referring to those Christians who return to the ceremonial law of the OT. By contrast, those who take up Christ's light yoke are trading it for the heavy yoke of sin that hangs on their neck. As Bob Dylan sang, “You've gotta serve somebody; it may be the Devil and it may be the Lord, but you've gotta serve somebody.”

“The Father judges impartially according to each one's works.” (I Peter 1:17)

“The Father, in fact, judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son.” (John 5:22)

The simple answer to this quandary is resolved by what Ellis calls “a delegation of authority.” Other commentators elaborate this theme:

Morris: “This was something new to Jews. They held that the Father was the judge of all men...Jesus tells them now that the Father will exercise his prerogative of judging through the Son.” This same fact is also taught in Acts 17:31 where Paul tells the Greeks that God “has fixed a day one which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed...”

Brown: “Jesus is the judge, for the Father has turned over the power of judgment to the Son.”

Borchert: “The absolute dependence of the Son upon the Father means that the decision-making process or evaluation has been given to the Son. As a result, the Father does not need to judge.”

Seifrid: “The book of Revelation stressed that it is supremely right that Jesus, who suffered innocently and thereby secured salvation, should be the agent of divine judgment (e.g. Rev 1:4-7; 5:9-10). Jesus' resurrection and ascension signify God's vindication of his messianic claims and place him in a role that otherwise was reserved for God alone (Acts 10:42; 17:30-31).”

In fact, one can take this idea of delegation even one step further since in Matthew 19:28, Jesus promises the apostles that they will sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. In addition, Paul tells us in I Corinthians 6