April 25 - The Law of Love

 Read today’s texts first: 1 Samuel 30,31; 1 Chronicles 10; Matthew 12

MAXIMize YOUR DAY
 If you want to understand the Spirit of the Law,
get to know the Lawgiver.

Jesus encountered them all the time, and so do we: people who love the law, but fail to realize the law of love. Most of the religious rulers in Jesus’ day had become so preoccupied with the law, expanding it, explaining its nuances, that they lost sight of the reason for it.

To explain the fourth commandment, remember the sabbath day by keeping it holy (Ex. 20:8), the rabbis had identified, in the Mishneh, 39 prohibited activities, along with hundreds of applications for each of those activities. When Jesus (the Son of God, the One who wrote the law) arrived on the scene, the religious rulers constantly criticized Him for violating the Sabbath. In our reading today, Jesus allowed His disciples to glean grain on the Sabbath and He healed a man with a shrivelled hand. While the Pharisees piously gasped in shock, Jesus reminded them of Hosea’s words, for I desire mercy, not sacrifice, which is followed by, and acknowledgement of God rather than burnt offerings (12:7; Hos. 6:6). I love this section of Hosea, which took on new life for me in the 70s with the chorus “Let's Press On to Know the Lord” (Hos. 6:3).

When we take the time to know Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath (Mat. 12:8), we will start to understand the reason for the law. Jesus summed up the entire law with two commands: love God and love others. Most of the Pharisees missed it. They had pressed on to know the law, but they didn’t know the lawgiver. They didn’t really love God and they certainly didn’t seem to love people. 

The contrast between Jesus and the Pharisees is similar to the one between David and Saul. Saul, who became more and more infatuated with himself, learned the hard way how self-destructive a self-centered life can be (31:4). David, on the other hand, pressed on to know and love God, which became evident in his compassion for those less fortunate. David’s parallel to Jesus healing the man with the withered hand was his feeding of the abused Egyptian slave. That seemingly random act of kindness was rewarded with information that led to David rescuing his family and restoring everything his enemies had stolen from him and his men.

“Lord, I want to press on to know and love You, and to fully love the people You bring into my life today!”