Hebrews 12:18-29; Luke 13:10-17

 Our reading from Hebrews talks about the Law before and after Jesus’ time on earth. The Law was a big deal for the Jews and rightly so because it set out the way the people could live God’s way and relate to God. But the Law was such a big deal for many that it suffocated them and kept them at a distance from God. The Law had a good purpose in connecting people with God. But rule-keeping can be difficult and failure has consequences.

 Then and now
Until Jesus came God had given rules that had to be kept if people were to come close to him. That’s because he is perfect and holy. But we are neither perfect nor holy, and breaking his laws brings death – as the story of Moses on Mount Sinai shows (Exodus 19, cf: Romans 6:23 The result of breaking God’s Law is death, but God’s free gift is eternal life in Christ.). God gave his laws to teach people that he is perfect and to help them live in a way which pleased him. Over time, the Jewish religious leaders got more bothered about rule-keeping for its own sake rather than doing what was right. They were more concerned with the letter of the law rather than the spirit thereof. They saw their rule-keeping as the goal, while God saw it as the means to reach the goal, which is to get to know God.

Rules are good in that they provide us with boundaries and they order our individual and collective lives. Rules are of less value if they are heeded for their own sake and come to define us and our behaviour. When Jesus came he pointed out their empty legalism to the Jewish leaders – something they found hard to accept. They were proud of their knowledge and law-keeping but they were missing the point of God’s law (Luke 13:10-17).

 The Sabbath rule prohibiting working is there to ensure that God’s people take a break from work and focus on God. By not working we are trusting God to provide our needs for that one day. We stop from working on our upkeep and devote one day in seven entirely to worshiping God. The idea is that our worship of God continues through the week refreshing our working. We worship in and through our work and in our resting as well.

 Those who challenged Jesus were legalistic. I’ve come up with a legal argument to challenge them. Yes, it is against the law to work on the Sabbath, but is healing work? If I pray for you and you are healed have I done any work? I say not. I prayed but that is what we do especially on the Sabbath so that can’t be work. I didn’t heal you, God did. So is God guilty of working on the Sabbath? No, the Sabbath rules do not apply to God – as Jesus said, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:8/Mark 2:28). Therefore the man Jesus wasn’t working when he healed and the Law doesn’t apply to the Lord Jesus so the charge against him can’t stick!

However, there is no distinction between the human and the divine in Jesus and he made no distinction. What he did was to point out two things: that he, the Son of Man, is Lord of the Sabbath and that he was working within the spirit of the Law – that what he did was entirely lawful.

God instituted the Law for people and for their benefit. “The Sabbath was made for man; not man for the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27). On another occasion Jesus asked, “What does the law allow on the Sabbath, to heal or to harm; to save life or to destroy it?” (Mark 3:4, Luke 6:9). He says something similar here. He was saying that to do good is permitted notwithstanding what the Law seems to say. When Paul was writing about the good attributes which the Holy Spirit produces in our lives – love faith, peace, kindness, etc., he concluded that there is no law against such things. (Galatians 5:23). Paul goes on to say, “The Spirit has given us life; he must also control our lives.” (v25).

Healing is not work and therefore is not prohibited on the Sabbath. Moreover God intended people to do good on the Sabbath and, although that may look like work – eg: taking an animal to water – it is well within the ethos and intention of the law. Doing good is not by exception or exemption; it is fully legal. Healing is God’s doing and what better day than the Sabbath to show his power. Jesus healed a number of people on the Sabbath and each one ended with him teaching people what the Sabbath was about – God’s actual purpose in this.

People got angry with Jesus for healing on the Sabbath but at least the officials in this synagogue had the decency to feel shame for their attitude. I marvel at the man who didn’t speak directly to Jesus but told the people off for turning up to synagogue sick and hoping God might heal them.

What was their problem? Their problem was in what they understood of the nature of God and God’s attitude towards people and of the way to please God. They knew God was holy and needed to be treated with the utmost respect and totally obeyed. And that is true. What they didn’t see was God’s love and his willingness to forgive and make friends with people.

Jesus’ death and resurrection changed the old ways of getting to God by keeping rules. Now God welcomes his people to come close to him because Jesus has taken all the punishment for the ways in which we have ‘sinned’ or broken the rules (Hebrews 12:24). Now, God speaks with us directly, rather than through someone else. Now, everyone can have peace with God through Jesus.

How should we respond?
So what has all this got to do with us? Are we rule-bound? Are we keeping God at a distance? Are we keeping some people away from God? I don’t think so. At least the Spirit hasn’t pointed me to any such problem. I think the point is that the Law encourages us to do good and discourages us from doing bad. It also encourages us to know God.

Let us respond to God’s loving invitation and come near to him, not forgetting what a holy and awesome God he is (vs 28,29).

Let us respond with praise and worship. We are part of God’s people together with the angels. In spite of our inability to keep God’s perfect law, we have been ‘made perfect’ through the sacrifice of Jesus (v 24).

 Let us also respond with trust and obedience. Forgiveness through Jesus shouldn’t be taken lightly. We need to say ‘Yes’ to him, and trust and obey him (v 25).

 Let us respond with reverence and awe. We no longer need to be bound by empty rule-keeping – that’s not what the Christian life is about. Jesus came to bring us into relationship with his Father, God – and we must never forget what a privilege that is (v 28). Yet that relationship brings to our lives his peace and healing (see also Luke 13:12,13).