Objection or Avoidance?

Not on the Sabbath!  That was the objection they raised.  Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath!  I have no trouble imagining these folks huddled in the parking lot saying to one another, "There is no healing on the Sabbath!"  (Can you hear the echoes from A League of Their Own  There is no crying in baseball"?)

 

The Law supported their position.  Tradition supported their tradition.  The solid, observant, faithful members of the congregation supported their position.

God didn't.  God's desire is for wholeness and each and every agent of God is called to bring forth healing and wholeness and life whenever possible.  That means Jesus, God in the flesh, and that means you and me and everyone else touched by the resurrection power of Jesus.  Bring life, wherever and whenever we can.

It was a HUGE leap of faith to trust that Jesus was acting in accordance with God's desires - even when the old rules and the old ways of doing things were turned upside down.  It required first, that believers focused on God's central activity of giving life and second, that they join an unfolding, unclear and scary future.

Having God's power on the loose through Jesus.....and through you and me....is a whole lot harder to 'nail down' than a Jesus we keep confined by rules and traditions.  So, was it an objection....or simply avoidance of a reality they could not handle?






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