Luke 6:6-11

           The mind of God

                 

6 On another Sabbath, when he entered the synagogue and taught, a man was there whose right hand was withered. 7 And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find an accusation against him. 8 But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man who had the withered hand, "Come and stand here." And he rose and stood there. 9 And Jesus said to them, "I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?" 10 And he looked around on them all, and said to him, "Stretch out your hand." And he did so, and his hand was restored. 11 But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

          What is in the mind of God? I suppose it might be blasphemous to to even think we are capable in any way of coming close to what God thinks. Still, here we have a reading that clearly has Jesus going against the 'law' of keeping Holy the sabbath by curing a man. Jesus is the one who asks what is better? It is the law that the Pharisees and Scribes have set forth as God's word which Jesus is not adhering to. Of course if anyway can break God's rules, it's himself that can do it, eh?

          For all those religious zealots, the far 'Christian' right, the people who would adhere to the law strictly and take every word of the Bible literally, here is Jesus' answer in this reading.  What is God's intent by saying keep the Sabbath holy? We have the law, it is quite clear is it not? Why would Jesus disobey? Why would Jesus so boldly give a bad example in such a public setting to repudiate in a way, the law that is held so high? Because this is a clue from Jesus that we are to use our brains, our intellect, our conscience in our adherence to the law. It si not enough to obey the law strictly and blindly. It is not enough to read scripture and take it literally. What is the intent? Surely the law is, at the very least, inspired by God, or conveys a truth that God wishes us to know. God gave us brains that we must use to determine how we should adhere to the law and understand his word as it is handed to us.

            This makes life so much harder for the scriptures are also filled with the notice that we will be held accountable. The question is accountable for what?  The young man who came to Jesus in a reading last week said that this young man adhered to all the laws. He asked Jesus what more must he do to achieve salvation? Strict adherence to the law, literal adherence to the law is NOT enough.

           As we go forth into our lives, we can become complacent and arrogant at how well we do at adhering to the 'law' ( the commandments, church law, church doctrine, etc ). 

           Do not rest, do not become complacent with God's word.