MAY 06 JQ#12.9 The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

MAY  06  JQ#12 - Who decides what is legal, God or man?

365 Prayers to JESUS 

Jesus, O the Precious Name —No other name can calm doubt and fears like the Name of Jesus, what unspeakable privilege to call on the Son of God and know that the Father is listening. Jesus, may every thought of self be buried in my desire to serve You honorably.  May my prayer be as I awaken each morning to face another new day that You have made that I will start the day with “give us this day our daily bread” and end it with “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”    AMEN

The Jesus Questions

JQ#12.9 — “Who decides what is legal, God or man?” (Matthew 12:4,5,10,11,12).  Our society today needs to address this issue not only in our personal lives but in our national lives as well because not only is society demanding God be removed from public places but we also are allowing Him to be “over-ruled” in our personal lives. The incident with the Pharisees documented in Matthew 12:1-23 was not the only time that Jesus addressed the fact that the “legalist” did not know “the Spirit of God’s law” as Jesus repeatedly entered synagogues and temples on the Sabbath and performed miracles to prove the deep Truth of God that the Sabbath should be honored by acts of mercy and not condemning the “guiltless” (Matthew 12:7). Jesus was confronted by “legalism” in verse 9-10 with the specific question “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” and Jesus made it clear what the “True Spirit” of “keeping the Sabbath Holy” really is when He gave this reply to their “legalist question of the Sabbath”: “Then [Jesus] said to them, ‘What man is there among you who has one sheep and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath will not lay hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.’ Then [Jesus] said to the man [with the withered hand], ‘Stretch out your hand.’ And [the man with the withered hand] stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other.” (Matthew 11-13) Jesus could not have done any more to illustrate that the “Spirit” of the commandment “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” (Exodus 20:8) is to do “good” on the Sabbath and to demonstrate “mercy” to others. The legalists have taken the “letter of the law” and have misinterpreted God’s instructions in Exodus 20:8-11 and have confused “you shall do no work” and “keep it holy” — in other words, the legalist consider it “work” to be “holy” and their interpretation of Exodus 20:8-11 is that the definition of “holy” really means “doing nothing” and have completely missed the “Spirit” of the Sabbath which God intended as a day of honoring Him and demonstrating “mercy” to others which is more pleasing to God on the Sabbath than “forced sacrifices” (see Matthew 12:7 again). Jesus continued illustrating this Truth of the Spirit of the Sabbath as He time and time again healed and cast out demons and forgave men of their sins on the Sabbath and Jesus did these acts of God’s Mercy openly in the synagogue on the Sabbath for all to see the Son of God honoring the Father on the Sabbath by doing acts of mercy in strict defiance to the legalist of His day, the Pharisees. We are seeing among the legalist today the same reaction of the  of the Pharisees to Jesus honoring God because there are many anti-God laws on the books today that are the same as what Matthew documented about the Pharisees reaction to Jesus and Him confronting their “legalism” as we read: “Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.” (Matthew 12:14) Jesus made it clear that God has the Only Authority and His law is perfect so can we not cease “plotting against God” and now declare the only correct answer to this very important question, “Who decides what is legal, God or man?” as a resounding and confident declaration “GOD!!!!” I rest my case at the cross.