Words from the Rock
He replied, “Is there a person here who, finding one of your lambs fallen into a ravine, wouldn’t, even though it was a Sabbath, pull it out? Surely kindness to people is as legal as kindness to animals!” Then he said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” He held it out and it was healed. The Pharisees walked out furious, sputtering about how they were going to ruin Jesus.
Matthew 12:11–14 Message
Once again, the Pharisees were challenging Jesus. They told him it was unlawful to heal on the Sabbath. The original law was to respect the Sabbath as a day of rest and to keep it holy. But over the years, there had been hundreds of restrictive legal addenda to that law, stating things like how far people were allowed to travel (not far) or what they were allowed to carry (not much). There were even laws for what people were allowed to rescue from their homes if they caught on fire.
So once again, Jesus responded, reminding them of some of their own addenda to the Sabbath law. For instance, you weren’t allowed to lift anything heavy on the Sabbath, but if your lamb fell into a ravine, it was okay to get it out. So Jesus applied this to people, saying that if they could be kind to an animal, why was it wrong to be kind to a human? And when he healed the man on the Sabbath, the Pharisees were enraged—they accused him of breaking the law.
Jesus’s point was to show that God was more concerned with loving and helping people than with keeping the Pharisees’ crazy rules and regulations. It was a point he made over and over again. Unfortunately, the most religious people rarely got it. They didn’t even want to get it. They were too caught up in their own world.
But we can get caught up in our own world too. We can become so self-focused that we don’t see where Jesus is trying to lead us. So before we find ourselves in a corner, let’s open our eyes and our ears—tune in to him.
My Prayer
Dear God,
Thanks for reminding me, again, that you care more about people and relationships than anything. Help me to keep my eyes on you.
Amen.
Final Word
I am not trying to please people. I want to please God. Do you think I am trying to please people? If I were doing that, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Galatians 1:10 CEV
Stone for the Journey
God’s love in me results in acts of kindness toward others.