Implications

The Question on the Table
Three days ago I asked what were some of the implications of the dialog between the Jews and the man healed by Jesus.  Here are some that I saw.

What I saw

• First, Jesus is greater than the Law.  Matthew 12:6 alludes to this.  God is the source of the Law.  It reflects His nature and character, Jesus is fully God, He is greater than the Law and cannot, based on who He is, violate that Law.  Thus His actions did not violate the Law.
• The man was more important than the Jews understanding of the Law.
• The healing was intentionally done on the Sabbath in order to provoke the Jews.
• Jesus did not seek credit for the healing.  He did not stay with the man and only came to him after he was challenged by the Jews.
• The Jews ignored what had been done for the man.  They were more concerned with keeping what they understood to be the law than the fact that someone had comprehensively healed one who had been lame for 38 years.  Their narrow focus caused them to miss what was really happening.

Application
I have to ask myself how I am behaving like those Jews today.  How am I missing what God is doing because it does not fit with what I expect Him to do?  How am I fighting God because what He is doing does not fit my expectations?

There is a bit more to cover in Matthew 5:1 – 18, I will try to wrap this up tomorrow.

Posts in this series:
Intentional Focus
"Strange" Question
Non-Answer
Commands and Response
The Immediate Effect
Sadly Predictable Reaction