"As long as the world shall last there will be wrongs, and if no man objected and no man rebelled, those wrongs would last forever." ~ Clarence Darrow
This past Sunday I spoke about Jesus' willingness to break social customs and norms thought by the Scribes and Pharisees to be Jewish Law. I want to say a bit more about his actions.
The 10 Commandments are the essence of all Jewish Law. The Scribal Law at the time of Jesus' birth contained some 603 additional laws aimed at enhancing or clarifying that original essence. Some scholars refer to the additional laws as the Fence around the Law. When Jesus healed on the Sabbath he broke certain laws in the Fence. His same action in the eyes of others seemed in alignment with the essence of the 10 Commandments. This is how Jesus could, on the one hand heal on the Sabbath (breaking the oral Law), and on the other hand say, "I have come to fulfill the Law and not abolish it."
Jesus' primary and repetitive point of conflict with the Scribes and Pharisees was their strict adherence to the Fence resulted in additional demands upon the people. In Luke 11:46 Jesus said, "And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.
Jesus dedicated his life to alleviating the suffering of the poor and to bringing justice to the oppressed. As his followers we will be wise to expect times when serving in the name of Jesus will put us in conflict with the guardians and custodians of social norms thought to be laws.
Shalom, Greg
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