APRIL 06 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#12 *Who decides what is legal, God or man?* “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?” (Matthew 12:11-12a)

APRIL 06  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#12 *Who decides what is legal, God or man?*  “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?” (Matthew 12:11-12a)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer   

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

Jesus was Teaching a Lesson on “legality” and “True Authority” that is both “universal” and “eternal” because of the fallen nature of mankind and our society today needs to address this issue not only in our personal lives but in our national lives as well!!!  Not only is our “modern” society demanding God be removed from public places but we also are allowing God and His Moral Standard 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” with the specific question “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” (Matthew 12:9-10) and Jesus made it clear that “Compassion and Mercy” are the “True Spirit” of “keeping the Sabbath Holy” is when He gave this reply to their “legalist” question about what is “lawful” 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 [on the Sabbath]” and “keep [the Sabbath] holy” — in other words, the legalist consider it “work” to be “holy” and their interpretation of Exodus 20:8-11 is that the Pharisee’s 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 of today the same reaction of the Pharisees antagonistic attitude towards Jesus honoring God because there are many anti-God laws on the books today that are the same as what Matthew documented about the Pharisee’s negative 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 please 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 that “GOD is the FINAL AND ONLY AUTHORITY!!!!” I rest my case at the CROSS!!!