February 2, 2017

LIVING BY THE RULES?

Mark 2:27-28

And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”

Personal Challenge

People are always looking for a concrete set of rules to follow. This way, we know where the limits are and also know what we can do that is not included in the rule set. It is so much easier to try to follow a clearly defined set of rules than it is a guideline such as, "Love your neighbor." With something ambiguous like that we start asking all kinds of questions. Who is my neighbor? How much do I need to love them? What if they offend me? We so often seek the clarification to the point where we end up ignoring the original rule. In Jesus' day, the leaders of the Jewish religion had taken this to the ultimate and set up so many rules. So many rules that no one could ever follow them. In this passage, they start throwing these manmade rules at Jesus and accusing Him of not being from God because He does not follow their rules. Jesus reminds them that He is the Creator. He was the one that originally gave the ten commandments to Moses. And as such, He is above all of these rules. It is His two commandments that we are now bound by. Love your God with all of your heart, soul, and body and love your neighbor as yourself. Our duty, my duty, is to put this into practice. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have Mercy on me, the sinner!