Devo: Missing The Point S2 E8

Pastor Adam on Tuesday, 25 June 2019. Posted in Blog, City Groups, Devotionals

“On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Get up and stand in front of everyone.” So he got up and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was completely restored. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.” - Luke 6:6-11

There’s More Than One Way to Follow Jesus

There were those who followed Jesus because they believed He was the Messiah. There were those who wanted to learn, sincerely seeking to know if He was in fact the Messiah. There were those who came seeking healing and mercy. And then there were those who followed Jesus and his disciples because they wanted to “catch him” breaking the rules. They wanted to prove he was a fraud. They were threatened by him, critical of him, and outraged by his claims. They were even outraged by his acts of mercy. All the while claiming to know and love God. That’s not a good way to follow Jesus. Stop and think about who had the problem with Jesus. It wasn’t the prostitutes or the pagans. It was almost always the church-going, religious, rule-keeping, rule-making, self-righteous Pharisees. They were more concerned with the “law” than with the “love” Jesus came to display. Quite simply, they missed the point. They claimed to be zealous for God, but rejected His Son.

There’s More Than One Way to Miss the Point

There are those who think their rule-keeping makes them righteous. But there are also those who think there are no rules or no need for righteousness…and that too misses the point. Jesus clearly called sinners to repentance. Neither legalism, nor license is the path toward salvation. The true path of liberty and the true path of love involves humbly repenting of sin and trusting in Jesus alone for forgiveness and the gift of righteousness by grace through faith - looking to Jesus, not our religious performance and not our rebellious “it doesn’t matter how I live” foolishness.

There’s a Pharisee and a Rebel in All of Us

Before we point the finger at those dirty Pharisees, or those dirty Sinners, we should do a little honest reflection and heart examination. The hard truth is that there is a Pharisee and a Rebel in all of us. We’ve all missed the point in every way! Let us humbly come to Jesus for mercy and let us quickly extend mercy to others. And let us follow Jesus as those who are eager to trust, learn, and obey from a heart of love and gratitude.