Luke 6:5-9 On another Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. 7 And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse him. 8 But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” And he rose and stood there. 9 And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” 10 And after looking around at them all he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored. 11 But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.
Honor the Lord of the Sabbath by doing acts of mercy and love.
There is another caution for us in this text. It’s as though Christ were saying to us, “Beware a religion that leaves you unfeeling and without compassion toward those in need. Beware a religion that keeps a list of things you think God likes or doesn’t like and all the time miss the things that are important to him.” That was the Pharisees. You see what they were really angry about wasn’t so much that Jesus broke their rules but that he had exposed their empty, heartless religion that left them without compassion on people. Indeed, he showed them that they were the Sabbath-breakers (they had missed the point of the Sabbath which was to give life) and that they had hatred in their heart. Here’s the question he was asking them?
1 John 3:17 But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?
If your religion keeps you from doing drugs or drinking alcohol but does not make you compassionate toward addicts and alcoholics then something is seriously wrong friend. If your religion causes you to give thanks to God for his forgiveness of your sins through Jesus’ death on the cross but doesn’t move you with compassion for all those who don’t have that, something is seriously wrong.
Friends, listen to the Jesus of the Bible: there is more to religion that staying away from bad things and bad people. “Haven’t you read” …
James 1:27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
Gal 5:6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.
And see, that’s the kind of religion we need. And if you look in those verses you’ll see that there are a whole lot of needy people and lost people who need us to have that kind of religion as well. And that’s the kind of religion we have received; we believers here are withered-handed sinners who have been rescued by Christ; we are self-righteous or self-loving sinners who have been given an eternal rest by our Lord; and even now, if you are feeling sorry for your sins, God offers you healing and rest … this is what we have received. BUT, BUT, BUT freely we have received and so freely we give.
