“The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, it is the Sabbath day: it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.”
I thought of the word “absurd” when I read John 5:10. What had happened was that Jesus healed a man who had been a cripple for thirty eight years. He was lying there waiting for the waters of the pool to be moved by an angel so that he could get in the water and be healed. He was unable to get to the water, so Jesus just simply told him to “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” This is not what is absurd. What is absurd is that the Pharisees’ main concern was that the man picked up his bed on the Sabbath. Forget that he had been healed of an infirmity that for thirty eight years had kept him from the enjoyments of life. That is absurd. This was something that Jesus had to contend with more than once. Perhaps you remember the time when Jesus healed a demon possessed man who lived among the tombs, and ran around among the tombs naked and raving like a maniac. Well, Jesus removed those demons from the man and the townsfolk saw him he was “clothed and in his right mind.” Good news, right? Wrong. Jesus had cast the demons, by their request, into a herd of pigs that were nearby. The demon-possessed pigs ran into the water and were drowned. As it turned out, the people were more concerned that the pigs had drowned than they were that a local menace had been healed and able to function as a normal human being again. They cared more about pigs than they did about people. That is absurd. This kind of thinking is called “legalism.” Jesus pointed out the absurdity of legalism in Mark 3:1-4: “And (Jesus) entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there with a withered hand. 2. And they watched Him, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath day; that they might accuse Him. 3. And He said unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth. 4. And He said unto them, is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath days, or to do evil? To save life or to kill?” The legalists couldn’t answer that, and Jesus proceeded to heal the man. God never intended for His laws to make us callous in the face of human suffering. Jesus’ question, “Is it lawful to good on the Sabbath days, or to do evil?” seems to say that it would have been evil not to heal the man rather than legalistically ignore him. I guess the main point that I want to make here is that being a Christian should not make us callous about human suffering around us. If we really want to be like Jesus, we will not turn a blind eye to the needs all around us. We will listen for the “still small voice” of the Holy Spirit and obey Him in all of these matters. The problem with legalism is that we are often legalistic about things that human beings have said about God’s laws, ignoring God’s intentions in what it really means to obey His laws. Jesus Himself did not come to be religious. He said of Himself that He came to serve, and that He expects the same of us. When asked what the most important commandment was, Jesus said that it was to love God and to “love our neighbor as ourselves.” Let us pray that our commitment to obey Jesus will not make us callous to loving our “neighbor as ourselves.” Let’s not be absurd in our dealings with people, and let’s rejoice when God uses us to be a blessing to a fellow human being. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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September 2021
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