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When Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount, the beatitudes were perceived as something foreign. What Jesus had to say was wonderful to many, but also very troubling because what Jesus was teaching was not lining up with the traditions of the Elders based on their interpretations of the Law, the Prophet, and the Writings. The traditions were nothing more than a composition of interpretations of the Law and the Prophets over the years. In Jesus' day, the traditions were held in higher esteem than the Word of God. Breaking with traditions was tantamount to breaking with the rabbinical interpretations of the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings! And Jesus was breaking with tradition on the Mount that day.
So whenever we read clauses like “You have heard that it was said” … “But I say to you” in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus was rebuking an abusive interpretation of the Law and giving the proper interpretation. The people acted as if they had never heard such teaching! So “radical” was the teaching of Jesus that He was perceived as attempting to do away with the Law of Moses and the Prophets, imagine that, because it went against the grain of the traditions of the Elders (Mt 5:17, note: “do not think”).
The
rabbis probably never articulated to the people that their traditions were more
important than the Word of God, but their practice did; so much so that the
people naturally equated the Law and the Prophets and the traditions of the
Elders as one and the same. Jesus rebuked this practice as nothing more than
nullifying the very Word of God (Mt 15:6, 9; Mk 7:13). Never should the
commandments of man become a greater authority than the Scriptures (Genesis to
Revelation) in all matters of faith and practice.
Time and practice of deviating from the truth of Scripture can
become so rooted and engrained in a culture that it can become virtually
non-extractable, a terminal condition as in the case of the Pharisees and the
nation of Israel. We do well to heed the warnings (Deut 12:32; Jos 1:7; Prov
30:6; Eccl 12:13; Mt 15:9; Gal 1:8-9; Rev 22:18-19). The practice of traditions
superseding the Scriptures did not die with the Pharisees when Titus sacked
Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Christians have been guilty of such.
The rejection of Christ by the Pharisees only revealed that the inner truth of the Law had never penetrated their hearts and minds and became blinded to the truth through unbelief (2 Cor 4:4). In essence they were the blind leading the blind both clinging to a “falling into the ditch” theology (Mt 15:14; Lk 6:39). Jesus came to fill full the Law and the Prophets, not to invalidate or to make empty or neutralize the commandments of God as did the ditch prone “sacred cow” of Jewish traditions.
Jesus posed a clear and present danger of undermining the spiritual authority of the Pharisees who were the self-proclaimed standard of righteousness and the keepers, interpreters, and enforcers of the traditions of the Elders. Jesus rocked their world with the truth, exposing their hypocrisy, and they didn’t like the exposure one bit!
There was no way they could possibly deny the miracles of Jesus. So in order to discredit Him, the Jewish leadership had decided to interpret His miracles as breaking the Law of Moses by working (healing) on the Sabbath. Therefore, any miracles performed on the Sabbath would be considered as “work” in clear violation of Sabbath law according to “their interpretation” of the Law of Moses (cf. Mt 12:10). Such infraction carried the death penalty.
Jesus performed miracles on the Sabbath with the purpose of more than healing.
His acts of mercy and kindness on the Sabbath teach us that grace and mercy
are never to be put on hold; they transcend even religious
observances. This was the spiritual aspect or inner truth of the law the
Pharisees never grasped.
The Pharisees were so blinded by their misunderstanding of what
God intended for the sabbath, a day of rest to be sure, but the sabbath was
made for man, not the other way around (Mk 2:27) that they could not see that the very
miracles Jesus was performing validated His claim to be the Messiah (cf. Lk
7:20-22). It didn't matter to the Pharisees that people were being healed from
their infirmities or that this was a sign that the long-awaited Messiah was in
their midst.
The Jewish leadership realized that if they didn’t do something soon about Jesus who was rising in popularity among the people, who according to the religious leaders was just another Jewish man suffering from a Messiah complex, He would cause the people to rebel against the military occupation of Jerusalem, jeopardizing their Jewish way of life by violating the Pax Romana (Latin, Roman peace), strictly enforced by their Roman occupier. So in their minds, Jesus had to be dealt with severely because the Sanhedrin, the supreme religious and judicial council in Jerusalem, considered Jesus not only a religious menace but also viewed Him as a potential political threat to the nation.
Those
were spurious concerns; Jesus actually threatened the lifestyle of the Pharisees,
Sadducees, and scribes who enjoyed having control over the people. Jesus could
jeopardize their professional careers as "spiritual" leaders of
Israel if He was not stopped. These men were not interested in the truth but
only in protecting their nest egg.
So the spiritual leaders played the political card that Jesus
was not good for the nation and may bring the wrath of Rome upon their heads
(Jn 11:48)! Jesus was not promoting a riot but righteousness, overthrowing sin,
not Rome. The Sanhedrin would have been in trouble and Rome better served had
the people chosen righteousness, but eventually, the nation chose Barabbas over
Jesus, revealing the spiritual blindness of Israel that continues even to this
day.
There are people today who share a similar belief of the Pharisees that man was made for the Sabbath, but this was never how the Giver of the Law intended it (Mk 2:27). What was meant to be a day of joy, rest, and blessing had been reduced by the Pharisees to legalistic bondage and burden. On the flip side of things, there are those who think Sunday is for “me,” having nothing to do with God all weekend. “Worshiping God” is done on the fly anywhere and everywhere (except church) or when convenient, if at all.
It goes without saying, but in heaven, it’s all about Jesus. Forget about the weekend for a moment. The “man was made for the Sabbath” group or “the weekend was made for me group” hadn’t figured out that it is supposed to be all about Jesus here on earth, 24/7 – “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Mt 6:10b), not just on Saturdays or Sundays.
Nonetheless, Sunday is the cornerstone of our love and service
for God and sets the tone for the rest of the week. Isn’t that part of
Jesus’ pattern of prayer for us – respond immediately to His commands (such as
Heb 10:25) and carry them out completely on earth as it is in heaven? This
profound truth will become an eventual reality and should grip our hearts with
a sense of urgency now since we do not know the time of His return.
Exchanging
Saturday for Sunday and attempting to make you feel guilty about not attending church on Sunday or more regularly is not the thrust of this devotional. Its
objective is to remind us of how often we rob ourselves of the blessings of God
by not patterning our lives after the truth of God's Word (cf. Heb 10:25). I realize that this
is a matter between God and you.
I will be the first to say that we are no longer under the
Levitical code, but the inner truth or moral aspect of the Law of Moses
has never been done away with, only the letter (the sacrificial system). Did
you know that only nine of the Ten Commandments are reiterated in the New
Testament after the resurrection? The fourth commandment isn't even mentioned as a
command after the cross – “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Ex
20:8-10). This is significant and largely ignored.
In the spirit of grace, I would say that Sunday was made for man not man for Sunday; as AT Robertson commented on Mark 2:27 in Robertson's Word Pictures, “The church itself is for man, not man for the church,” The Pharisees poured a lot of their man-made rules and regulations into the sabbath and created a day of burden for all sabbath-keepers rather than allowing the sabbath to be beneficial to man as Yahweh had intended.
The apostolic church worshiped on Sunday, the first day of the week (Act 20:7); we should, too! If holidays, weddings, and funerals are the only reasons we ever attend church, we are not like the church of the New Testament. I am not one who advocates that you must be at church every time the doors swing wide open, but we should be supportive and reflective of the New Testament practice as much as possible if we are going to claim to be a people of the Book.
What does your Sunday schedule normally look like? What is your attitude toward going to church on Sunday anyway? The answer to those questions could be an indication of your spiritual temperature. What is your heart’s desire, to serve yourself or God? If you do not desire to worship God in spirit and truth on any given Sunday, it is probably better that you should not go to church on that day anyway! Why would I say such a radical thing!?
Jesus told the woman at the well in John chapter four that “… true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth,” catch this, “for the Father is seeking such to worship Him” (v. 23, emphasis mine). God wants people to go to church who want to go, not because they feel obligated to do so or would rather be somewhere else. God doesn’t need our time, talents, service, money, praise, or worship when our hearts are not in tune with His, for “to obey is better than sacrifice” (1 Sam 15:22; Mt 15:8).
Sunday,
the first day of the week, was a time for a local body of believers to come
together for worship and fellowship (Acts 20:7). Oh, Father, forgive us where
we go astray. We are so prone to be more letter-oriented than Spirit-inclined.
How unsettling the truth can be when it disturbs our traditional comfort
zones. “Do not think” is
not a mindless call to service but a response to examine our own hearts to
answer the question honestly -- Are my ways His ways, or am I heading for the
ditch? Living according to the Book is truly radical because such a
lifestyle pursues the Truth over any tradition that is contrary to the teaching of
Scripture! <><
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