Religious law or Law of Love
Monday, August 30th, 2010 | Uncategorized | No Comments
I don’t want to be a wishy-washy Christian. You know the type? The type where “anything goes”, where I don’t stand for anything. However, I also don’t want to be one of those cheesy, in-your-face, judgmental Christians who thinks it’s my business to tell you how to live your life.
One of the (many) things I love about Jesus is that he knows what he stands for and he calls people out for misbehaving, yet he does so with a mix of wisdom, compassion, and my personal favorite; sarcasm. Last night in worship we read Luke 14. In this scripture Jesus calls out the selfishness and pettiness of the Pharisees and the others trying to catch him in the act of being…loving. Yes, I did mean to say loving. Jesus was invited to a Sabbath meal at the home of one of the top Pharisaic leaders (a “very important” religious leader) and while he was at dinner he noticed a man who was hugely swollen in his joints (probably a very painful condition). Knowing that these religious leaders frowned upon “working” on the Sabbath, Jesus decided to challenge their beliefs and posed the question: “Is it permitted to heal on the Sabbath? Yes or No?”
I read somewhere that while “emergency healings” were permitted on the Sabbath (i.e. the person will die if they aren’t taken care of that day), if someone had a long-term illness, the religious leaders preferred that they wait until the next business day to be healed. So, the religious leaders now find themselves in a difficult situation. They know what Jewish Law states, yet they’ve got a willing “healer” and a sick person in their presence – so what is the right thing to do?
Have you ever found yourself in this kind of situation? You know what your parents, your church, your friends, or school would say is the “right” thing to do, but deep inside you, you know that the “right” thing to do is something completely different?
The Pharisees were in this situation. They knew that Jewish religious law stated that they were not to allow healing to take place on the Sabbath, yet Jesus was here, willing to heal, and asking them if it was permitted. (Note: I do not think Jesus was asking their permission. He was being sarcastic. Trying to teach them a lesson. Trying to make them think outside the box, or outside their religious law.)
The Pharisees are silent. They didn’t have an answer for Jesus.
So Jesus heals the man…on the Sabbath! God forbid! 
It seems to me that Jesus chooses to live and work according to the Law of Love – not the religious law. He knows the Law, he is a rabbi after all, but he also sees the hurting man, and chooses to work according to mercy, healing, grace, redemption, and love. I like that about Jesus.
I hope to see you around the PC this week!
Kally