Today’s scripture: Luke 6:6-11 (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?
My thoughts (Melody Merida):
I cannot tell you how many times I’ve read today’s passage of scripture or a similar passage and thought something like, “Those Pharisees and scribes were jerks!” It sure does seem that they were just mean-spirited men whose sole purpose in life was to trap Jesus so they could justify murdering him. But maybe that’s just our twenty-first century notions of them.
Imagine, if you will, that you are a traffic cop at a very busy intersection. It is your job, your livelihood, indeed everything you have worked for to manage this intersection. In order for you to be successful, to do your job well, and to protect the lives of the travelers in your intersection it must be well-ordered, calm, peaceful, clean, and safe. To maintain this order, there are some rules that must be followed. When you blow your whistle and put up your hand, cars must stop. Likewise, the pedestrians who move about in your intersection should cross the street only when you give them the go-ahead; otherwise, they are risking their lives. Your job and their lives depend upon the people of the intersection heeding your lead.
This is the world of the scribes and Pharisees. For centuries, their people have placed an utmost imperative on keeping the law; indeed, their very lives depend upon it. The job of the scribes and Pharisees is to help the people they serve keep the detailed rules of their tradition, in many ways, to protect them from doing something damaging to their souls. As long as the people followed the rules then everyone in the “intersection” was safe.
Then along comes Jesus — imagine him like a woman in labor desperate to get through your intersection to the hospital. The rules are good and someone needs to enforce them, but when the rules stop serving the people they are meant to serve, then something needs to change. The woman in labor is not served by sitting in the line of traffic at the busy intersection. There are times when the rules have to be broken in order to do the right thing.
This is what Jesus was showing those who gathered around him on that Sabbath when he wasn’t supposed to heal anyone because work was not supposed to take place on that sacred day. He knew that the best thing to do — the right thing to do regardless of the rules — was to serve the people he came to serve. Compassion compelled him and compels us to be prepared to throw out the rulebook sometimes so that the hurting world around us can be healed.
I confess that sometimes I get too caught up in my role as the traffic cop and I miss the chance to serve the people I should be serving. The truth is that I am more like the Pharisees in this story then I am like Jesus.
Don’t misunderstand. Rules can be good. But people are always more important than rules. Jesus knew that; compassion compelled him to break the sacred rules for the sake of another. Yes, in some ways he was wrong, but in many more ways he was so, so right!
Thought for the day: When the rules get in the way of my service to others, what am I going to do? When Jesus shows up in a hurry at my intersection, will I keep him waiting in the traffic line or will we break the rules together for the greater good?
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the suggestions on the How to Pray page.