Rules Over Relationship

Was the Law of Moses given by God? Yes! Were the people of Israel required to obey the Law? Yes! Was the punishment for breaking the Law sometimes death? Yes! For example:

Numbers 15:32-36 (NLT)
32  One day while the people of Israel were in the wilderness, they discovered a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day.
33  The people who found him doing this took him before Moses, Aaron, and the rest of the community.
34  They held him in custody because they did not know what to do with him.
35  Then the LORD said to Moses, “The man must be put to death! The whole community must stone him outside the camp.”
36  So the whole community took the man outside the camp and stoned him to death, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

We need to understand the Old Testament Jewish background to comprehend the next story of Jesus in the New Testament. The Pharisees and the other Jewish religious leaders were already aware that Jesus was healing and doing other things on the Sabbath that were unlawful under the Law of Moses. They were looking for a way to catch Jesus in the act of breaking the law, so they could have Jesus put to death just like they did in the Old Testament.

Of course, Jesus knows all this. Jesus knows they are looking for a chance to trap him. So, He gives them a perfect chance to do so, in the Jewish synagogue, in front of witnesses.

Matthew 12:9-10 (NLT)
9  Then Jesus went over to their synagogue,
10  where he noticed a man with a deformed hand. The Pharisees asked Jesus, “Does the law permit a person to work by healing on the Sabbath?” (They were hoping he would say yes, so they could bring charges against him.)

Jesus came to reveal the truth about God and the laws of God. Jesus knows that these Pharisees teach and preach about God, but their hearts are far away from God (Rules over Relationship). So far away that they miss the entire point of the Laws of God.

Jesus answers their question in a way that Jewish logic could not debate or refute.

Matthew 12:11-12 (NLT)
11  And he answered, “If you had a sheep that fell into a well on the Sabbath, wouldn’t you work to pull it out? Of course you would.
12  And how much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Yes, the law permits a person to do good on the Sabbath.”

They set a trap, but were caught in their own trap. Can you see it? They were looking at the Law as a list of “don’ts” and never thought about the Law as including the “do’s”. Yes, the law permits a person to do good on the Sabbath. Yes, it’s true, you shouldn’t work on the Sabbath and set aside that time to honor God. However, it’s also true that the Sabbath is a perfect day to do good things that honor God. I find these next verses to be both hypocritical and prophetically revealing.

Matthew 12:13-14 (NLT)
13  Then he said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” So the man held out his hand, and it was restored, just like the other one!
14  Then the Pharisees called a meeting to plot how to kill Jesus.

It’s not included in Matthew’s text, but I see the man with the deformed hand jumping, dancing, and celebrating his healing on that wonderful Sabbath day. Did these religious leaders care about the man with the deformed hand? No, they only cared about the Law, the “don’ts”. They have no regard for the law of God that requires us to love our neighbors.

But what about the prophetic revealing hidden inside this scene? Can you see it? Then the Pharisees called a meeting to plot how to kill Jesus. Jesus told his followers that the religious leaders of the last days would try to do the same thing to the followers of Jesus.

John 16:1-4 (NLT)
1  “I have told you these things so that you won’t abandon your faith.
2  For you will be expelled from the synagogues, and the time is coming when those who kill you will think they are doing a holy service for God. 3 This is because they have never known the Father or me. 4  Yes, I’m telling you these things now, so that when they happen, you will remember my warning. I didn’t tell you earlier because I was going to be with you for a while longer.

Rules over Relationship. It produces a spiritual deception that wants to kill Christians, thinking this is a pleasing service to God. I think about the thousands of Christians in Nigeria who have been killed by Muslims recently. Jesus told us about this in advance so that we would not abandon our faith or our relationship with Jesus in our times of testing.

Terry Cooper Lead Pastor