THE LAW OR THE LAWGIVER?

THE LAW OR THE LAWGIVER?

Mark 2:27-28

27 And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:

28 Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.

Mark 3:4

4 And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.

Matt 23:16-22

16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!

17 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?

18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.

19 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?

20 Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.

21 And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.

22 And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.

           Our horse is often attached behind our cart! Jesus expertly addressed this “chicken or egg” scenario when He said: “Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?” God does not often act outside of the laws He has given, but occasionally He challenges our thinking by divine action.

           It was demanded of Abraham that he sacrifice his only son in Genesis 22:2. The confusion that Abraham surely felt was not only due to God’s promises to make Isaac a great nation but because “killing” was a violation of God’s law. Genesis 22:2 pre-dates the giving of the law in Exodus 20:13 but does not pre-date the mind of God revealed in Genesis 4:8-16. The dilemma for Abraham was whether to obey God’s law not to kill or to obey God’s direct command which involved killing.

           For those of us who are accustomed to linear thinking, circular thinking makes our brains hurt! Must the God who gives a law always abide by it Himself or does he operate beyond it or outside of it? A box which God creates is too small to house Him! We must allow God to operate independently of His laws. However, when He does so, it creates great stress for those who follow.

           Jesus came into a world that had elevated the law above the Lawgiver. The system had replaced the designer. It was said of Jesus that “never a man spake like this man for he spake as one having authority!” Jesus was killed because He challenged the laws of two cultures. When he died He challenged the laws of nature by reviving and rising from the dead.

Isa 40:21-22

21 Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?

22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:

God of Wonders, I am a child in my thinking and often go astray because of it. I need your clear guidance today and your forgiveness when I am too foolish to understand. Give me sufficient light to walk by today. AMEN