Versus law, rules and obedience
I once read an article about a traffic incident. An officer had ticketed an underage age driver, and his parents, who were also passengers in the vehicle.
It seems a couple felt they had too much to drink during their night out and called their son to drive them home. They rode in the back seat.
Ok, what’s wrong with that you may ask? Well, apparently, according to the officer, several laws or rules governing new drivers were broken.
Bottom line for me was that no credit was given for conscientious parents attempting to do the right thing. No love, no compassion.
One day Jesus went into a synagogue. A man with a weak and twisted hand was there. The Pharisees were trying to accuse Jesus of a crime. So they asked him, “Does the Law allow us to heal on the Sabbath day?”
He said to them, “What if one of your sheep falls into a pit on the Sabbath day? Won’t you take hold of it and lift it out? A person is worth more than sheep! So the Law allows us to do good on the Sabbath day.”
(Matthew 12:9-12 NIRV)
The Pharisees, Jewish authorities, asked about ‘doing work’ on the Sabbath… they used the word ‘heal’.
Jesus answered about having ‘love and compassion’ on the Sabbath… He used the words ‘do good’.
Love and compassion should temper every aspect of what we do, how we feel, what we think, and how we act.
This is Kingdom Living.
Of all the things God tells us about love, two specific statements stands out.
(1) when we love our neighbours as we love ourselves we are fulfilling all the requirements of the law.
(Galatians 5:14)
(2) Love covers a multitude of sins.
(1 Peter 4:8)
So, let’s learn from Jesus.