A Spiritual CAT Scan (Luke 18:18–30; Lord’s Day)
Dr. Daniel Hyde opens the Catechism’s treatment of our misery by asking how we come to know it. The answer: the law of God tells us. Preaching from Luke 18:18–30 alongside Lord’s Day 2, he distinguishes between reading the law as an x-ray with a surface check of outward conduct and reading it as a CAT scan that penetrates to the thoughts and intents of the heart (Heb. 4:12–13). The law reflects God's righteous character, and so it requires nothing less than perfect love of God and neighbor. The rich ruler comes to Jesus preoccupied with doing, claims to have kept the commandments from his youth, and is exposed by a single request. His sadness reveals what he couldn’t see in himself: that he was inclined by nature to hate God and neighbor. The sermon closes by setting the Pharisee beside the tax collector and asking which one we are, insisting that unless we know our misery, grace means nothing.
Let’s turn to Lord’s Day 2 (questions and answers 3–5), of our Heidelberg Catechism. God has spoken to us in his Word; let’s speak it back to him in our catechism. So, let’s joyfully read responsively these questions:
Q.3. How do you come to know your misery?
A. The law of God tells me.
Q.4. What does God’s law require of us?
A. Christ teaches us this in summary in Matthew 22:37-40:
“‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the Prophets.”
Q.5. Can you live up to all this perfectly?
A. No. I am inclined by nature to hate God and my neighbor.
According to Jesus, when he would send the Holy Spirit, the Spirit’s main work in relation to the world would be to “convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8). It’s that conviction our Catechism now discusses in nine questions and answers before it goes on in seventy-four to discuss deliverance and in forty-four to discuss gratitude. Keep in mind that these nine questions and answers on guilt are all under the overall theme of living and dying in the joy of the comfort of belonging to Jesus (Barth, Learning Jesus Christ Through the Heidelberg Catechism, 35). And to know what that looks like in our lives, we need to know our guilt.
“Guilt” is really only a part of this. The Catechism speaks of “misery” (elend). Misery is our condition as fallen human beings of experiencing separation from God because of our sinfulness. The German word elend in fact means “out of the land,” and was used to speak of aliens in a foreign land ( Klooster, 1:62–65). Misery is also the condemnation of being rejected by God (Ursinus, 23). And unless you know this about yourself and about your neighbors, grace means nothing. It’s like having a fireman show up at your door but you refuse to believe there is a fire right behind you.
In contrast to the modern philosophy of man, Karl Barth once said,
“…man is not ‘basically’ good…the whitewash of humanism and culture is painfully thin and…not much is needed for it to crumble away and expose a subhuman, brutal being” (Learning Jesus Christ Through the Heidelberg Catechism, 38).
Tonight, let’s think about how we come to know our misery and therefore our need of Jesus Christ. Just like we undergo a CAT scan when we have serious illness, the Lord scans our hearts tonight.
How God Scans Us
I come to know “how great my sin and misery are” (Q&A 2) according to Q&A 3 by the law of God. God is righteous, meaning, he’s upright in all he is. And he reveals this to us in his moral law (Bastingius, 5; Klooster, 1:60; VanderKemp, 21–22). That’s why Paul can say, “the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good” (Rom. 7:12, 16; 1 Tim. 1:18).
This moral law is used in three ways in Scripture:
It is used to show us our sins;
It is used to restrain depravity in society;
It is used as a guide for gratitude.
The law is like a mirror that reflects who God is as righteous and therefore who we really are. The law is also like a CAT scan. An x-ray, you know, only shows our outer skeleton. But a CAT scan can show our inner parts, our organs, our nerves, etc. It gets into the details of our body.
The law also does this. We may hear, “You shall not steal” and say to ourselves, “I haven’t taken anything from the office, I haven’t walked out of a store without paying for something.” That’s viewing the law as an x-ray. Outwardly, no, you haven’t stolen. But don’t you want your neighbors new car? How about his place in life? This is what Hebrews 4:12-13 means:
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
What He Scans For
So what does God use the law to scan for? Because the law reflects God’s character, it requires perfect love. This is what Q&A 4 teaches us, quoting Matthew 22:
We are required to have a love that is towards God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, and with all your strength.
We are required to have a love that is towards neighbor as we love ourselves and as we desire to be loved.
Think about that. There were six hundred thirteen commands in the Old Testament. Those 613 were summarized into Ten Commandments. Jesus summarizes them into two. Paul says they are all really one: love (Gal. 5:14).
What His Scan Reveals
When God scans us by his law, what does his scan reveal in our hearts? Are you ready for a really personal question: Can you live up to all this perfectly? Can you answer: No. I am inclined by nature to hate God and my neighbor (Q&A 5)?
This is what the parable of the rich young ruler helps us to see. It’s interesting that it comes right after Jesus says we must receive the kingdom like a child (Matt. 18:15–17). And before that, a “parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous” (Luke 18:9). The rich ruler approaches Jesus with the flattering words, “Good Teacher—or, Rabbi—what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Notice the ruler’s preoccupation with the law and doing something.
Jesus’ answer has perplexed interpreters for centuries: “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone” (v. 19). He’s basically saying this: “Don’t call me ‘good’ unless you’re willing to call me ‘God.’”
Jesus then puts him under the scan of the second table of the Law:
“You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother’” (v. 20).
The ruler in his pride pretends to be perfect: “All these I have kept from my youth” (v. 21). He’s saying, “Give me another rule to follow.” Jesus responds, “Oh, you want something else to do? Here you go”:
“One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me” (v. 22).
“What?” Luke says he became very sad, for he was extremely rich (v. 23). Why? Because Jesus’ scan of his heart was searching to see if he loved God and not his riches; if he loved his neighbor by providing for him before his own needs. And then when Jesus saw that the young ruler had become sad, said,
“How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God” (vv. 24–25).
Jesus’ law-scan revealed that the ruler couldn’t live up to all this perfectly; it revealed that he was inclined by nature to hate God and…neighbor. Jesus is saying what the law said: “Cursed is the one who does not confirm all the words of this law” (Deut. 27:25). “Then who can be saved?” (v. 26) Listen to Jesus’ answer: “What is impossible with man is possible with God” (v. 27).
Do you view yourself tonight like the Pharisee? “God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector” (Luke 18:11).
Or do you see yourself like the tax collector, standing far off, not lifting up your eyes to heaven, beating your breast: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’” (Luke 18:12–13)
Let’s read the Catechism questions again:
Q.3. How do you come to know your misery?
A. The law of God tells me.
Q.4. What does God’s law require of us?
A. Christ teaches us this in summary in Matthew 22:37-40:
“‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the Prophets.”
Q.5. Can you live up to all this perfectly?
A. No. I am inclined by nature to hate God and my neighbor.