2023_06_28 Insight Post- Rusty Coram
This week’s reading- 1 Samuel 1-2, Matthew 12
In the beginning of Matthew 12, we see a confrontation between Jesus and the religious critics who hounded Him constantly. It was a Sabbath, and being hungry, Jesus and his disciples picked some grain and ate it. It was a Biblical mandate to let travelers hand pick grain from anyone’s farm as an act of kindness and compassion (Deuteronomy 23:25). The religious critics believed they had caught Jesus violating the fourth commandment, and they were appealing to their own man-made interpretations. According to William Barclay, there were 39 specific rules regarding not working on the Sabbath, with each rule having numerous implications. For example, the disciples picking the grain violated (1) reaping, (2) harvesting, (3) winnowing, and (4) meal preparation. Their rules were so detailed and specific because they had lost sight of the true meaning of the commandment. God wants us to have the Sabbath so we can be refreshed and reconnected with Him and others. Jesus challenges this religious “mafia” with Biblical references, like when King David fed his men, breaking tradition, to do an act of kindness. After this, we see Jesus heal a man on the Sabbath, and see Him challenged again.
We have seen this kind of “legalism devoid of love” at New Hope over the years. For example, the fact that I don’t wear a suit and tie has been criticized, and calling our main meeting area an auditorium and not a sanctuary was offensive to some people, and the list goes on.
I want to encourage you to join me in reading this chapter again and ask God to show us any way that we might be following in the Pharisee’s sandal steps, and missing what God wants us to do. Are there areas in our lives where we’ve replaced the principles God has entrusted to us with our own big ideas that feed our pride and make us feel superior and proud?
Proverbs 16:2 reminds us of the mindset we need to carry with us, “We can always “prove” that we are right, but is the Lord convinced?” (The Living Bible)
Rusty Coram
Senior Pastor