Today's Scripture
TODAY’S READING SCHEDULE: 2 Kings 1 -3; Matthew 12:1 -23
Understanding the meaning – Matthew 12:9-14
9 Jesus left that place and went into their synagogue. 10 A man with a withered hand was there. Wanting to bring charges against Jesus, they asked, “Does the Law allow a person to heal on the Sabbath?”
11 Jesus replied, “Who among you has a sheep that falls into a pit on the Sabbath and will not take hold of it and pull it out? 12 How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! So the Law allows a person to do what is good on the Sabbath.”13 Then Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he did and it was made healthy, just like the other one. 14 The Pharisees went out and met in order to find a way to destroy Jesus.
What does this passage mean to me/us?
The tension between Law and Grace is hard to find the balance. By emphasizing the law, it is easy to fall into legalism. By emphasizing on grace, we can make God’s grace cheep and centered to our own desire.
The law about keeping Sabbath should be understood with balance. The legalistic understanding of the Sabbath kept the people away from truly understanding God (Worship is the true source of understanding God and I mentioned this, based on Hosea 6:6).
On the other hand, because Jesus allowing his disciples picking the heads of the wheat or healing a person on Sabbath doesn’t mean that law doesn’t matter.
Eugene Peterson, in the Message, presents a great way for us to understand the balance; “There is far more at stake here than religion. If you had any idea what this Scripture meant—‘I prefer a flexible heart to an inflexible ritual’—you wouldn’t be nitpicking like this. The Son of Man is no lackey to the Sabbath; he’s in charge.”
Neither let our inflexibility keep us from fully understanding God’s will, nor our disregard for the law prohibits us from seeing God’s way.
Prayer
Lord, give us the wisdom to follow your ways, and your’s alone . In the name of Jesus, we pray, AMEN.
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