First Things First

John 5:10-12 in the Contemporary English Version reads, "When the Jewish leaders saw the man carrying his mat, they said to him, "This is the Sabbath! No one is allowed to carry a mat on the Sabbath." But he replied, "The man who healed me told me to pick up my mat and walk." They asked him, "Who is this man that told you to pick up your mat and walk?"

Here we have a man who had been lame for 38 years, and all the Jewish leaders care about is him breaking a trivial Jewish statute. The Law Moses gave was to keep the Sabbath day holy. The Jews went back and added many things that a person could or could not do during the Sabbath. I believe there are about 39 subcategories of regulations for Sabbath observance now, but I am not sure if these 39 were in place at the time of Jesus. Minutia, minutia, minutia was the focus of these Jewish leaders in the text. Why are you carrying your mat? Who told you to carry your mat? The whole time they believe they are defending God's Law, but they are missing God's work! Here was a man lame for 38 years and is now walking! Did they rejoice? No! Did they give praise to God? No!

Now the healed man did not know who it was that had healed him. Verse 14 says, "Later, Jesus met the man in the temple and told him, 'You are now well. But don't sin anymore or something worse might happen to you.'" Note where Jesus met the man: in the Temple. I infer from this that the man was giving thanks to God for healing. This lame man now healed was giving praise and thanks to the One who was worthy rather than worrying about the nuances of the Law. Once he knew who it was that had healed him, he told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had healed him. Their response was to begin persecuting Jesus for doing God's work on the Sabbath.

Are we like the Jews in this passage? Do we worry so much about minor things in life or religion that we actually miss where God is working? Matthew 22:37-40 reads, "Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.'" Our focus should be on the people that Christ died for: everyone. People are more important than the Law. They are the focus and the fulfilling of the Law. Serving others and putting their needs first is the fulfillment of the Law. This should be the focus of a Christian's life; serving God and serving others. In this way we fulfill the Law, love people, and keep first things first.