Some of us find our security in rules. Social rules—both written and unwritten, etiquette rules, grammar rules, rules on the job—there are rules for everything, and believe it or not, there are those among us who crave rules. Rules provide security.
If I know the rules and follow the rules, the result I want is guaranteed, right? If I follow the rules perfectly, I cannot fail. Or that is the thinking, anyway.
One of the first things God did for Israel was give the nation rules: the Ten Commandments were only the highlights. There are 613 laws in the Old Testament! These rules provide guidance on nearly every subject: marriage and family, cooking, eating, worship, hygiene, clothing, haircuts, health and medicine, education, mold remediation, crime and punishment, government, business, animal husbandry, etc.
The law was a blessing, A huge, MAGNIFICENT blessing. The law was a gift from a loving God, a gift that set Israel apart from other nations. And Israel knew it.
And WE should know it, by the way. Most of us today have no idea what an incredible blessing the law was for Israel. In fact, the law of ancient Israel continues to bless the world centuries later, creating a starting point for today’s societies of democracy, free markets, education, liberty, and independence.
Those of us who love GRACE should remember the incredible role God’s law plays in bringing us to an awareness of our sin. The law is essential to repentance and salvation—not to mention the role it has played in history as its principles helped students of the Bible (including pilgrims, Colonial leaders, and America’s founding fathers) to create better governmental systems.
Dear God, grant us reverence for Your beautiful law.
But by the time Jesus came to Israel, God’s people had made an idol of the law. Over and over, the Messiah had to point out to them that they had become hypocrites, more concerned with following the law than following the God who gave them the law, more concerned with keeping the Sabbath than with showing compassion to someone with a critical need.
Jesus repeatedly healed on the Sabbath and otherwise violated the law to make this point. When asked, He explained, “Man was not made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath was made for man” Mark 2:27.
After He healed a man born blind, the leaders argued about Jesus:
“‘This man is not from God, for He doesn’t keep the Sabbath!’ But others were saying, ‘How can a sinful man perform such signs?’” John 9:16.
Those who made an idol of the law failed to recognize the Messiah, considering Him evil because He healed on the Sabbath. Those who judged Jesus by the fruit He bore knew He was a good man. Let us judge that way, with grace and an eye toward Godly fruit:
“You will know them by their fruit” Matthew 7:16.
Read John chapter 9.
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Household Words: 