Bible
Study: Isaiah 38, 1 to 6 and 21 to 22. Matthew 12, 1 to 8.
In response to those who accused
Jesus of breaking the law by plucking and eating heads of grain on a Sabbath
day with his disciples, Jesus said: “If you had known what this means, “I
desire mercy, not sacrifice,” you would not have condemned the guiltless.”
Matthew 12, 7. Surprisingly, this is not the first time Jesus is making
reference to this phrase. In this same Gospel of Matthew, when Jesus was at the
house of Matthew himself who used to be a tax collector, the Pharisees accused
Jesus of descending so low as to be eating and drinking with tax collectors and
sinners. In response, Jesus simply said: “Go and learn what this means, “I desire
mercy, not sacrifice.” Matthew 9, 13.
When we look closely at these two
occasions when Jesus quotes this phrase, we would see a lot of similarity.
First, on both occasions, Jesus seemed to be breaking the law, the norm or the
tradition. It was considered sinful to eat on the same plate with a sinner but
there he was eating freely with them. Again it was considered sinful to do any
work at all on a Sabbath day even if it means plucking grains from the field
but Jesus did just that.
Secondly, both occasions involves
food and Jesus is at the centre of it all. He is caught eating; eating with
sinners or eating on a wrong day of the week. Food is important. There is more
to sharing a meal with somebody than just filling your stomach. Through food, Jesus
not only brought about the repentance of Matthew and his colleagues, he showed us
that he was the Lord of the Sabbath.
Thirdly, on both occasions, Jesus
draws our mind to who God really is. Jesus is saying to us, “God is more
interested in our repentance than in our isolation. God gave us rules but the
spirit behind the rule is more important than the letter of the written code.”
Fourthly, on both occasions, Jesus
gives us a deeper understanding of the meaning of sin. Sin is not transmitted
by eating with a person. Our attitude towards sinners should not be avoidance
or condemnation. Our attitude should be that of mercy. Again, it is not
everything that appears sinful that is actually a sin. God alone should be the judge.
Rather than analyse people, I should always learn to look inwards and take off
the logs from my eyes before attempting to remove specs from others’ eyes.
Being merciful means that I value the
goodness of people rather than treat everyone with suspicion. When I begin to
be suspicious of people, there is nothing they do that makes sense to me
anymore. Even if they are kind, I would say their kindness has ulterior motives,
and if they decide not be kind, I would say they are just displaying their wickedness.
Imagine if God was to have such an attitude towards me! I don’t think I would
still be alive by now.
In our first reading this morning, we
saw how God granted fifteen more years to King Hezekiah who was at the point of
death and cried for mercy. God does not treat us according to our faults but
according to our potential. His greatest gift to us and in fact, his greatest
act of mercy is the life he gives to us. He continues to keep us alive despite
our sinfulness so that we may have the opportunity to repent and allow our
essential goodness dominate instead.
Let us Pray:
Lord Jesus, you desire
mercy. May the mercy I practice daily become my gifts to you. Amen
Good
morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you.
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