Thought for July 23

 History:

• 1148: Crusaders begin siege of Damascus
• 1829: First U.S. typewriter patented
• 1967: Beginning of Detroit race riots--43 die, 2,000 injured
• 1973: Nixon refuses to release Watergate tapes
• 1984: Vanessa Williams resigns as Miss America after nude photos released in Penthouse
• 1995: Comet Hale-Bopp discovered
• 2020: U.S. confirmed Covid cases pass 4 million
• 2021: Cleveland Indians renamed "Guardians"
• Born: Haile Selassie, Arthur Treacher [TV announcer], Pee Wee Reese, Anthony Kennedy, Don Drysdale, Ronny Cox, Woody Harrelson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Alison Kraus, Monica Lewinsky, Daniel Radcliffe, 
• Died: John Rutledge [2nd Chief Justice], U.S. Grant, Glenn Curtiss [airplane builder], Cordell Hull, Montgomery Clift, Eddie Rickenbacker [WWI Ace], Amy Winehouse,  Sally Ride, 

Thought:

The teachings in John 5 followed a Sabbath controversy when Jesus healed the man at the Pool Bethesda. The synoptics describe other Sabbath controversies. The Pharisees were constantly watching and following Jesus to try and catch Him or His disciples in some violation of a commandment or more likely one of the 613 rules they had created.  Today I am reading Matthew 12:1-8, Mark 2:23-28, and Luke 6:1-5 that tell us about another confrontation.

It's the Sabbath and Jesus and His disciples are walking through the grain fields. the disciples get hungry and picked some grain and ate it. The Pharisees immediately accuse the disciples of breaking the Sabbath rules. Luke tells us that the disciples picked the grain and then rubbed it in their hands to remove the husks. One of the 39 classifications of work included plucking and rubbing out grain.

Rather than argue about the rules created by man, Jesus turns to David, the most revered king of Israel. The Pharisees were waiting for one from the line of David to appear and re-establish the kingdom. So Jesus uses David to refute the teaching of the Pharisees.The reference is 1 Samuel 21:1-6. David is on the run from Saul and arrives at Nob, a town just north of Jerusalem. David asks the priest, Ahimelech, for 5 loaves of bread. The only bread on hand was the Bread of the Presence [Holy Bread] kept on the Table in Holy Place in the Tabernacle as a testimony to God's provision of daily bread. This bread was to be eaten only by priests each week when the bread was changed. Jesus points out that when the men were hungry they "broke" the rules and ate the holy bread under the leadership of David. 

Next, Jesus points out that the priests break the Sabbath when they sacrifice lambs [Numbers 28:9-10]. Now notice what Jesus says:

• Something greater than the Temple is here. You Pharisees are worried about breaking Sabbath rules, but here are examples of your great king, David, and  the priests where they broke the Sabbath rules. They were innocent and My disciples are innocent. The One for whom the Temple was built, the One who established the Sabbath is here, but you do not see.
• You are so concerned with keeping the rules you have created that you ignore compassion. Back in Micah we are told to love mercy, seek justice and walk humbly with God. We are told that sacrifices of a contrite heart are expected. Keeping your rules will not make you acceptable to God. Romans 12:1-2--present your bodies as living sacrifices. 

Sometimes I get so wrapped up trying to be good or appear to be good that I forget what God really wants--not just following all the rules, but loving kindness and mercy, pouring out forgiveness and grace, loving others as myself. Lord, help me move on to Godly living not by a series of checked boxes, but through a transformed life.

Blessings

Larry