Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath. “The Jews” (as John calls them) were aghast. These people had the 10 Commandments. Then they had all the laws of Leviticus. And other laws. And laws developed over centuries to explain the laws. (sounds a little like our society, but that’s a different story).
God said, set aside a day of the week to honor me and keep it holy. What does that mean? Well, it took hundreds of laws and interpretations to explain that one simple sentence.
Jesus, a self-proclaimed rabbi who should have known better, broke one of them. You can’t work, and healing is work, so judge him guilty. And already there were people in power who wanted to kill Jesus.
Jesus answers them (see John 7). He seemed to be always pointing out to people that they aren’t doing what they tell others to do. He says, you condemn me for healing on the Sabbath, “Did not Moses give you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Moses gave you circumcision, and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.”
Jesus also said, you judge by outward appearance. Instead, judge with right judgement.
When I was growing up, Christians were called a bunch of hypocrites. Play actors who wore masks that showed an outward appearance of perfection, yet unclean on the inside. While I’ve been “spiritual” for as long as I can remember, I struggled well into my 20s whether to call myself “Christian.” I didn’t want to be one of “them.”
We are all unclean inside. There is no greater or lesser. If it’s a little, it’s a lot. To set up lots of rules and pretend to follow them so that we can accuse others of not following them is to be the sort of person that Jesus condemned. Jesus had tremendous empathy and love for broken people. He had little patience for those who sat back in their comfortable persona pretending to be clean and condemning others for not being like them.
I seek to understand people. But I hate myself when I get one of those judgment thoughts. I know Jesus hates that, too.
Faith Venture 
Leave a comment