Legalism

There are many stories in the Gospels where Jesus healed people on the Sabbath, clearly disagreeing with the learned men of the day about whether or not this constituted work, which was forbidden according to Sabbath law.

Jesus was born a Jew here on earth, and therefore kept all the commandments and statutes as given to them by God through Moses (Gal 4:4 But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law). In this situation the Jewish leaders did not primarily object to the healing as such but were very upset that the man was breaking the law by carrying his sleeping mat. Christians easily dismiss this carrying law as being only a rabbinic add-on to (or interpretation of) the laws of Moses, but it is actually based on a biblical verse – this prohibition is found in Jeremiah 17:22 Do not bring a load out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your ancestors. It is not recorded anywhere that Jesus ever carried something on the Sabbath, nor did His followers. He never spoke about this law publically; He did not attempt to correct the leaders on their interpretation of it; He did not stay behind to argue the point with them. He therefore did not deny the validity of it. Why then would Jesus specifically order the man to violate the law?

He never intentionally overturned Jewish tradition unless He had a sound reason to do so, and in this case He justifies his action based on the fact that He puts compassion for human beings way above ceremonial concerns (Matthew 23:23 But you would not have condemned my innocent disciples if you knew the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’). Think about it: this man had been lying there for 38 years. His only worldly possessions were the clothes on his body and his bed! If he had to get up and not take his bed with him, because of the carrying law, he would have had nothing. Jesus instructed him to ignore the law so that he was not left destitute – compassion from the Law giver indeed!

Points to ponder:  Are you perhaps caught up in a legalistic type of religion? Where rules and regulations define your worship, often to the detriment of people around you? Is it more important, for instance, to control the way people partake of communion, than to encourage them to engage with their God in this intimate way? Is a code of dress enforced to be able to come to church, often putting poor people at a disadvantage? Do restrictive clothing regulations only have bearing on some followers and not on others? Remember that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom, not oppression!