I spent the past hour reading a few chapters in my book. The chapters were about how Jesus broke the law when he lived (the Old Testament laws called the Torah), he broke the oral traditions (man made rules) and how he undid tribalism.
One of the reasons I love Jesus is because of how scandalous he was. But perhaps I am missing the point on WHY he was scandalous. I don't like breaking rules. but I certainly don't like following stupid rules (in my mind) that make no sense (like having to dress up to go to church). So perhaps Jesus intrigues me because of how often he broke the rules. But he didn't break the rules because he was rebellious like me. He broke them to prove a point.
THE LAW (The Torah - Old Testament)
Jesus often broke the law. For example, he would heal people on the Sabbath (the Jewish people's holy day of rest.) This was a major NO-NO. But he did it to prove a point. The Sabbath day of rest is a good thing. We all need rest and God himself said we should rest on this day. Now that being said, Jesus was showing love and compassion to the people he healed on the Sabbath and it was better to love them and have them healed on that day them it was to wait for another day when it would of been acceptable to heal. Jesus broke the rules to show that we are to love people. Rules become religion if we don't have love involved. Rules are good and God did put them into place. BUT if we follow the rules and neglect people or God in the process, we're being religious. It is better to break the rules if it means loving somebody then it would be to follow the rules. This is what Jesus demonstrated often.
ORAL TRADITIONS (the man made rules to help people follow the law)
Not only were Jewish people very religious and followed the law, they also followed the man made rules made up to help them not fall into breaking the fall. I struggle with this concept because I think in a way they were being wise by making up rules to help people not sin....BUT they were putting their rules on par with God's law. They were making it more difficult for people to live by making all of these rules. These were not just guidelines to help guide people. They were made into hard/fast rules that people HAD to follow. It is tough to follow the law AND man made rules.
Anyway, Jesus broke these too. He did so in order to show that people were making rules that were becoming burdensome to those around them. God doesn't give us anything to burden us but to give us life.
TRIBALISM
The Jewish people in first century were VERY tribal. I don't know if tribal is a good word...but I can't think of a better one. Because they were God's chosen people, they were the only nation (in their mind) that mattered and they would defend off anybody who got in the way of this.
BUT God didn't have a plan for JUST Jewish people to be saved. He wanted all people to be saved. Enter Jesus. Jesus came to save all people, not just Jewish people. So when Jesus came, he broke down the ideas of tribalism and essentially declared all people (Jewish and not Jewish people alike) were loved by God. Anybody who followed God would be one big happy family, no matter what country you came from.
So I was contemplating these three things and wondering if I've been religious with any of these areas.
Here is what I came up with:
The Law - In some ways I don't feel very religious (I don't feel bad if I miss going to church on a Sunday, I don't dress up going to church, etc.) but in other ways I am very religious. I often think the only way people will encounter God is through reading the Bible. As if God isn't bigger than his book. I also do many things out of duty rather than love. Sometimes I follow 'the rules' of the Bible out of obligation rather than because I love God and others. So I may give tot he poor because I feel like I have to. Or I may pray for the sick because it seems like a good thing to do. But if I do these things without love, I may as well not do them.
Oral traditions - I forget what I came up with here. Man-made rules. Perhaps an area here is that in order for me to feel close to God, I HAVE to spend time with him daily and in a certain way. The Bible doesn't say this anywhere that I am aware of.
Tribalism - Well I'm not exactly attached to my country (though I do love Canada very much) but I'm more attached to my faith. In a way, sometimes I look at non-Christians and think they'll never be saved because they're too bad. As if God's grace doesn't extend to them too. So even though I don't struggle like the 1st century Jews, in a way I very much do. I too look at outsiders and think I'm better. I too look at outsiders and think what I have isn't for them.
So these things I need to repent of. Jesus is gracious and I'm glad he came to break the rules.
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