The law is an absolute: this is the way it must be done; if you don’t do it exactly right (follow the letter of the law) you have failed, stand condemned, and must be punished. It makes things certain: you know how you stand, you know exactly what you should do and not do, you can judge yourself and others with certainty. However, there is no way any person can keep all the parts of the law; therefore we all have failed and will fail, all stand condemned, all deserve punishment. There is no excuse or allowance for human weakness, illness, love, wanting. There may be prescribed ways you can pay or atone for what you’ve done; or the cost could be death.
In any case, under the law there is no uncertainty, no need to wonder did you do the right thing. It’s black and white and absolute. You earn the good and the bad, depending on what you do. You can absolutely know that bad things won’t happen to you, and you can see why they happened to others. (I think this is why, unconsciously, people look for explanations of why tragedy – rape, fires, illnesses... – happen to others; then they can “know” that it won’t happen to them, because they won’t do those things.)
Then there is another approach, totally different from the law. It is characterized by grace – unmerited favor and blessing. There is no prescription, no way to earn it, nothing you have to do or accomplish. As Jesus puts it in the Sermon on the Mount, God gives sun and rain to the good and the evil alike. He says not only to love those who love us (anyone can do that), but to love our neighbor as ourselves (more difficult), and even to love our enemies and do good to those who persecute us (almost impossible under normal human standards) – because then we’ll be like our Father in heaven.
Jesus talks of the spirit of the law – yes, no work on the Sabbath, but then he totally disagrees with accepted doctrine on what “work” is, and that eating (picking grain while walking), giving animals water, and healing are all things that should indeed be done. (Perhaps even especially so on the Sabbath, given the insight into God’s heart provided both in the Old Testament – Isaiah 58 about what true fasting should be and the New Testament -- Matthew 25 about helping others. See below.) We may be asked to do things that the law says would defile us (see the parable of the Good Samaritan; or communion -- eating Jesus' body and drinking his blood). He specifically tells people that tragedies, such as a tower falling and crushing people, had nothing to do with those people being any worse than anyone else, or that a man born blind was not that way because of his sins or his parents’ sins, but to show the glory of God (and proceeded to heal his sight, John 9).
Jesus talks in the Sermon on the Mount of not needing to worry or strive about what you are going to eat or wear, that God feeds the animals and clothes the flowers in beauty, and the same will be done for us. That we need to seek first the kingdom of God, and all else will be added unto us. That we can ask and we will receive, seek and we will find. That we are not to live by the law “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”, but by an even higher standard, where we will be and act much differently. And he sends us the Holy Spirit – to be our teacher and friend and counselor and to show us truth.
On the one hand, this is much easier than trying to follow the myriad demands of the law; on the other hand, it’s much harder, since it’s so different from usual human behavior and there isn’t a “certainty” about it. We don’t "know" it like we "know" the law. We have to venture into it, feel, try, be inspired and called, realize there are still more levels and that we can never achieve it or be there once and for all. We continuously have to listen and feel and act, and fail and try again, realize our limited understanding and stretch ourselves. There is no prescribed right way, no recipe or magical set of words to say or specific thing to do that will for sure lead to healing or wealth or any other thing we want. (Sometimes we might be told to do something that seems utterly foolish, like walking around the walls of Jericho playing trumpets and making noise -- and then the walls fall -- but that won't work the next time.)
There is just being, listening, dancing; and when we sing off-tune, or fall in the dance, there is no punishment, just an outstretched hand to help us back up, and rejoining the dance. And oh, the beauty and wonder and miracles all around us in that dance; and the temptation to trade that level, since it’s so beyond us, for the certainty of the law, even though we are bound to fail under it, and flourish under grace. (For flourishing doesn’t mean that everything goes easily and well by normal human standards, but can involve what looks like incredible difficulty and pain – but the joy and peace and purpose and love abound, and there is connection to God and others that can never occur under the law.)
c. 2011, Barbara Showalter (may be reprinted with attribution)
In any case, under the law there is no uncertainty, no need to wonder did you do the right thing. It’s black and white and absolute. You earn the good and the bad, depending on what you do. You can absolutely know that bad things won’t happen to you, and you can see why they happened to others. (I think this is why, unconsciously, people look for explanations of why tragedy – rape, fires, illnesses... – happen to others; then they can “know” that it won’t happen to them, because they won’t do those things.)
Then there is another approach, totally different from the law. It is characterized by grace – unmerited favor and blessing. There is no prescription, no way to earn it, nothing you have to do or accomplish. As Jesus puts it in the Sermon on the Mount, God gives sun and rain to the good and the evil alike. He says not only to love those who love us (anyone can do that), but to love our neighbor as ourselves (more difficult), and even to love our enemies and do good to those who persecute us (almost impossible under normal human standards) – because then we’ll be like our Father in heaven.
Jesus talks of the spirit of the law – yes, no work on the Sabbath, but then he totally disagrees with accepted doctrine on what “work” is, and that eating (picking grain while walking), giving animals water, and healing are all things that should indeed be done. (Perhaps even especially so on the Sabbath, given the insight into God’s heart provided both in the Old Testament – Isaiah 58 about what true fasting should be and the New Testament -- Matthew 25 about helping others. See below.) We may be asked to do things that the law says would defile us (see the parable of the Good Samaritan; or communion -- eating Jesus' body and drinking his blood). He specifically tells people that tragedies, such as a tower falling and crushing people, had nothing to do with those people being any worse than anyone else, or that a man born blind was not that way because of his sins or his parents’ sins, but to show the glory of God (and proceeded to heal his sight, John 9).
Jesus talks in the Sermon on the Mount of not needing to worry or strive about what you are going to eat or wear, that God feeds the animals and clothes the flowers in beauty, and the same will be done for us. That we need to seek first the kingdom of God, and all else will be added unto us. That we can ask and we will receive, seek and we will find. That we are not to live by the law “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”, but by an even higher standard, where we will be and act much differently. And he sends us the Holy Spirit – to be our teacher and friend and counselor and to show us truth.
On the one hand, this is much easier than trying to follow the myriad demands of the law; on the other hand, it’s much harder, since it’s so different from usual human behavior and there isn’t a “certainty” about it. We don’t "know" it like we "know" the law. We have to venture into it, feel, try, be inspired and called, realize there are still more levels and that we can never achieve it or be there once and for all. We continuously have to listen and feel and act, and fail and try again, realize our limited understanding and stretch ourselves. There is no prescribed right way, no recipe or magical set of words to say or specific thing to do that will for sure lead to healing or wealth or any other thing we want. (Sometimes we might be told to do something that seems utterly foolish, like walking around the walls of Jericho playing trumpets and making noise -- and then the walls fall -- but that won't work the next time.)
There is just being, listening, dancing; and when we sing off-tune, or fall in the dance, there is no punishment, just an outstretched hand to help us back up, and rejoining the dance. And oh, the beauty and wonder and miracles all around us in that dance; and the temptation to trade that level, since it’s so beyond us, for the certainty of the law, even though we are bound to fail under it, and flourish under grace. (For flourishing doesn’t mean that everything goes easily and well by normal human standards, but can involve what looks like incredible difficulty and pain – but the joy and peace and purpose and love abound, and there is connection to God and others that can never occur under the law.)
c. 2011, Barbara Showalter (may be reprinted with attribution)
Matthew 25 (NIV version; www.biblegateway.com)
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ 41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ 44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ 45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ 46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Isaiah 58 (NIV version; www.biblegateway.com)
1 “Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the descendants of Jacob their sins. 2 For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. 3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’ “Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. 4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. 5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD? 6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? 8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness[a] will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. 9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, 10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. 11 The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. 12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings. 13 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, 14 then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
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