Friday, July 21, 2023

Mercy Over Sacrfice

 

Matthew 12:1-8

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

12 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”

He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Jesus radically breaks with the Pharisees in his regard for the Law. He replaces strict adherence to the letter of the law to the "law of mercy." Exemptions were already in place (vs 5), so when hunger would be solved by "breaking the law", a greater "law" took precedence, the law of common sense and charity.  Take care of needs first, and then see to the legal law. How do I practice "the Law of Charity"?

Bro. Rene

Dear God, open my eyes and my heart to a greater practice of the "Law of Charity" in my daily dealings with others, particularly  those with whom I do not see eye to eye. Amen.

 

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