This week's example of Jesus as law breaker

Wednesday's readings included this passage.

John 5:16 For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath. 17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.” 18 Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God. 

He broke the Sabbath.

How can Christian's argue that Jesus did not break the law, when it is so clearly stated over, and over, and over again? His violations of law are like the peals of a bell, calling believers to love and to worship.

On dismissing the contradictory Christ

Today's readings included a segment of Matthew chapter 23, which takes place immediately before the seven woes that Jesus delivers in judgement against the hypocritical pharisees:

1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. 

This puzzles me.

I've grown accustomed to his contradictory behaviors, breaking laws and advising that his followers break commandments.


What confuses me is how Christians, particularly of the Bible Alone style, handle this demand of Christ.

If you've been following this blog, you'll know that the question of how Christians are called to follow the law which Christ fulfilled is something I wrestle with. For many Evangelical Christians, they reject the difficulty, dismissing the many examples of conflicting instruction. Often this is handled with a statement like "Oh, he obviously meant such and such."

I'm often quite OK with the justification offered for what he meant, and even agree with it. But that doesn't change the reality of the contradiction.

It's usually a bit more veiled, but today's passage puts it right out there. Jesus himself says not only for his followers to continue obeying the law, but in fact to do EVERYTHING the law wielders tell us.

So how does the sola scriptura crowd handle this? Why are they not acting as observant Jews?

Christians wave a hand around muttering something about old testament versus new, and show that Jesus told Peter we could eat pork. But they ignore what this reality illustrates: it is not straight forward.

Jesus broke laws and told us to break others. We as Christians have cast off countless laws throughout the centuries, but remain steadfast in proclaiming that people will burn in hell if breaking whatever subset a particular denomination or church believes are still in play.

I don't have an answer to the conundrum. I just wish more Christians admitted that it exists.

God's Imperfect Construct

I think I realized a major part of the problem for Christians in understanding how we are to view The Law.

For most Christians, the Bible is viewed as the inerrant word of God. If it's in the book, it is perfectly true and complete. It's veracity is ensured through the authorship of the Holy Spirit.

I'm not arguing that point, but I think this view of perfection has led to a misunderstanding. We have become confused, despite so many New Testament passages which attempt to explain it.

And what we are confused about is this; we think that because the Law of Moses is conveyed in a perfectly true book, the law itself must therefore be perfect.

Because of this, conservative Christians scramble their brains to figure out how the Law still remains completely intact, because it is perfect, while simultaneously believing that many of it's rules no longer apply. This requires rigorous mental gymnastics which inevitably result in an eventual internal dropping of the subject.

Here's a typical silent monolog:  

Jesus says He hasn't come to overturn the Law but to fulfill it, so that MUST mean it still stands, right? Expect for the bits that are discussed in Acts and the epistles, and those things that Jesus Himself did. Like circumcision, and not eating bacon. He did away with those. But if they weren't specifically mentioned in the New Testament, the laws still stand.

I DO wonder about the one related to cutting mens' hair... And the one about stoning disobedient children. And the one...
.
.
.
I should really go start a load of laundry.

We simply can't figure it out.

We think about it just long enough to realize that the concept doesn't actually make sense, and then we have to stop thinking about it, and sum it all up by saying that God knows best.

Which, of course, He does.

But I think this is all unnecessary, and it comes from a state of confusion about the Bible itself.

Somewhere along the line we have come to think that since scripture is perfect, the Law, which is in scripture, must also be perfect.

But that is not the case.

The Law was not perfect.

According to the scriptures, that is why Jesus came. Because of it's imperfection. When we read the law, we should not view it as a set of perfect instructions set down for us by God. We should view it as an imperfect construct put into place for a season.

And now that season has passed.

Here's how some passages from Hebrews explains it:

Heb. 8:1 Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being. ...  5 They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”6 But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises. 7 For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another.

The law was imperfect. There were things wrong with it. But as Christ Himself said:

"It is finished."

It Has Been Accomplished

DiDi recently posted the following on Facebook:

John 1: 17 NIV "For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." 

Seems simple, right? Thoughts?? 

 One of our friends responded, saying:

Fo' sure, but of course grace doesn't eliminate the law, not one bit.

"I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished."

Not for me to define that, of course. Sin is between each man and his maker, and only resolved through renunciation and reconciliation. Where we get this daft idea that we're supposed to do a running commentary on everyone else's behavior is beyond me.

Here is my response.

Jesus spoke the words you quote as part of the sermon on the mount. But I read it differently than you do. While I won't argue about the phrase "not the smallest letter or least stroke will disappear", it's the "Until" part that I am focusing on. Because scripture tells us that Jesus DID the accomplishing.

John 4:34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to --finish-- his work.

John 17:1 When Jesus had said this, he raised his eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you, just as you gave him authority over all people, so that he may give eternal life to all you gave him. Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ. I glorified you on earth by --accomplishing-- the work that you gave me to do.

John 19:28 After this, aware that --everything was now finished--, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I thirst.” 29 There was a vessel filled with common wine. So they put a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop and put it up to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, --“It is finished.”-- And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit. 

Gal 4:4-5 Brothers and sisters: When the --fullness of time-- had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

We know from Acts that letters and jots were being disregarded in the law, as directed by visions sent to the apostles, and as directed by the logic the same apostles applied to their work of evangelization.

And we know that God himself appeared to violate his own laws even prior to Jesus death through the institution of the Eucharist; His followers were commanded to drink blood, an instruction which clearly went against Jewish dietary rules. Jesus also broke the law many times by performing healings and taking other actions which violate Sabbath laws of behavior.

Jesus was the fulfillment of the law, not it's replacement. But everything --has been accomplished--, through Him.

The real question is, how does He want us to live, and what are the rules that should be maintained within the two greatest commandments?

Who is doing the judging, and what it is based on

For the past few months our morning meditations have centered around the books of Hebrews, James, and now, John. There is much in these books on old law versus new, and what it meant for Jesus to come in regard to judgement.

Today we looked at John 5. I was particularly drawn by the passages about Jesus as judge. For some reason, I never picked up on this before. I've always envisioned the Father as the judge, with Jesus as intermediary. But John 5 shed new light:

²⁷ And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.

What a comforting thought. The one who tells us that the greatest commandment is to love God and to love each other is the one who is going to evaluate our behavior.

Jesus goes on to remonstrate the pharisees who judged his healing of an invalid on the sabbath:

⁴⁵ “But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set.

So Jesus will not accuse those who focus their attention on the dots and tittles of the law. The law itself will accuse them. As for Him, He will judge our love. 

There is much condemnation of same sex relationships based on scripture, especially Old Testament scripture. But if scripture alone is used as the basis of the argument, there is also much to show that the law is no longer what it once was. It is no longer what we must live by in some vain attempt to be righteous. The law will not be our accuser unless we set our hope in it. 
 
As Christians, we have the choice to set our hope in the law, or in Him who's mercy triumphs over judgement.

I set my hope in Him, and pray that He will judge me according to my love. And I pray that those Christians who structure so much of their faith around law, judging others based on the particular set of laws that they have chosen not to disregard, will have their hearts attuned to the words of Christ.

God Himself Violated the Law

While reading through some of the laws in Leviticus and Deuteronomy recently I came across the passage below:

Deut 22:23 If within the city a man comes upon a maiden who is betrothed, and has relations with her, 24 you shall bring them both out to the gate of the city and there stone them to death: the girl because she did not cry out for help though she was in the city, and the man because he violated his neighbor's wife. Thus shall you purge the evil from your midst.

I wasn't hunting for marriage related laws, this one just happened to jump out at me. Why did it grab my attention? Because according to this passage, God Himself violated the law.

Luke chapter 1 describes the occurrence.

Mary the mother of Jesus was in a city; the town of Nazareth. She was betrothed to Joseph. The Holy Spirit came upon her, overshadowed her, and planted a child in her womb. She did not cry out for help because she didn't want or need it. Joseph initially believed himself to have been wronged and planned to divorce her.

All of these facts line up to show a clear violation of the law laid out in Deuteronomy 22.

At the very moment the New Covenant was initiated, God Himself broke an Old Covenant law related to marriage. Perhaps it was a sign of it's passing, a shattering of a clay tablet inscribed by a Pharisee.

The Spirit must have whispered to Mary "Don't think about what you've been taught. Simply love Me with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." Mary responded by opening to His request, despite knowing that she could be stoned.

I'm still pondering what this could mean. I don't have an answer. But since God Himself begins the very life of Christ through a violation of marital law, it certainly points out that the Biblical "view" of marriage is far from straight forward.