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For I know the plans I have for you,declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jer 29:11 |
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| Archived Manna: | |
Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Wednesday, September 23, 2020
Today's Passage : Today's Passage:Jesus, the Scribes, and the Law [1] Bible Verse:Matthew 12:9-14 (ESV) "He went on from there and entered their synagogue. And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse him. He said to them, “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other. But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him. Matthew 5:17-20 (ESV) Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven" Message:
Before we go any further in Galatians, we need to understand some basic principles about Christ and the Law.
God gave His laws to Moses and the Hebrews at Mount Sinai. These were written down in the Torah, the written Hebrew Scripture and most fundamental sacred writing of Judaism. A copy of the Torah, written in Hebrew on scrolls, is kept in Jewish synagogues and temples today.
Christians call the Torah the “Penteteuch”, a fancy name for the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Numbers. The law is scattered through them, interspersed with historical and poetic passages, but the bulk of the law is set down in the last three books, beginning in Exodus 20 with the first recitation of the Ten Commandments.
Levite Hebrew Priest and Altar
Many people who have read one or more Gospels do not realize a fundamental aspect of Jesus’ life: He was a practicing Jew. He and all of His disciples followed the Law. The Last Supper, after all, was a Passover feast. So — why did the Pharisees accuse Him of breaking it so often? To understand it, one needs to understand several aspects of Judaism in 30 A.D.
The scribes, who were a class of specially educated men, became the keepers of the Law, the professors of ancient Judaism; somebody had to be able to read the Torah, after all, and the job naturally fell to those who learned to read and write as part of their occupation. In the thousand years before Christ was born, the scribes evolved from being secretaries to being teachers.
But as men will do, they were not satisfied with reading what was written, and began to interpret it. If a man was unsure what he might do on the Sabbath, who could he ask? He had to ask a scribe. And if the Law was not clear, the scribe would reason something out. There was no baleful intention here and they took it seriously, consulting other scribes and trying to find out if someone else had already answered the question.
These interpretations grew and grew, slowly evolving into an vast and detailed body of secondary, oral law. Those with strong attachment to these oral laws became the Pharisees. By the time of Christ, they were organized, influential, and powerful, especially in the countryside of Judea outside Jerusalem. (The Sadducees were centered in Jerusalem itself and predominated there. Annas and Caiphas were Sadducees.)
Jesus heals Bartimaeus
The actual law about the Sabbath is neither long nor precise. (Exodus 20:8-10) The oral law of the Pharisees, by contrast, contained hundreds of nit-picking rules. First-aid was allowed, but treatment was forbidden. A Jew could bandage a fresh wound on the Sabbath, but could not put ointment on it.
Thus Christ, when he healed a man’s withered hand on the Sabbath, did not transgress the law, but did transgress the Pharisees’ oral interpretation. This exemplifies a much broader issue between Him and the Pharisees, the difference between technical compliance with the letter of the Law, and spiritual compliance with the intention of the Law.
Meditation : Prayer : May the Passion of Christ be ever in my heart. May your law and your goodness guide my every thought, O Lord. And may the power of your Holy Spirit flow through my words and my actions today, and always.....Amen |
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