44. Buying Some Time (John 5:11-12)
Posted by:
SeLahGirl on
February 4, 2008 at
11:50AM EST
Buying Some Time
(John 5:11-12)
10and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat."
11But he replied, "The man who made me well said to me, 'Pick up your mat and walk.' "
I love the clear contrast here. The law felt no compassion for this man
in verse 10. But the GOD/MAN did in verse 11. The Pharisees did not
feel the compassion of a Savior, they were too caught up in enforcing
the cold legalism of the law. But Christ had come to perfect the law
and to personalize it. He was the author of the law, and by being God
with us, he is able to communicate it to us in ways that allow us to
understand. He waves his mercy as Savior because it is more important
to him that we understand what is being required of us, than to slam us
under cold stone.
Oh he will judge sin and all that brings harm to his children, make no mistake, he has to.
But he is so patient and slow to anger. He gives every soul every
possible chance to embrace Love rather than inflicting hurt on
themselves and everyone around them.
There was a time when
we answered to the law, but God became man so we could answer to the
giver of that law, so we could understand the heart of it, the
necessity, the beauty. He wanted us set free from being ruled by a list
of laws. He wanted our hearts to taste and see the goodness of the
law-giver, so we would be free to obey his laws rather than forced to.
Choosing/wanting to do something makes us free. We would never
understand the beauty of obeying him had we not first understood what
it was to live without him, to be separated from him, to know him from
a distance.
You cannot truly appreciate something or to
walk in humbleness of heart until you see and understand what life is
like without it. In the Old Testament, the world lived without Christ,
without a Savior, without the fulfillment/explanation of the law. But
then, Christ came. And the beauty of the law was revealed because the
law-giver had come to explain all things. To make all that is good real
and understandable and do-able. He changed us, and he extended mercy to
us. He is the only one that could.
He made a safe place for us in his presence where there is mercy and mediation.
He withheld judgment of sin, until we had the chance to be free from
it. He made a way to freedom and gave us the power to choose it. After
making that choice, judgment must come, and all sin must be removed.
Refusing that freedom in Christ, Holding on to sin... we sentence ourselves to death.
Christ came to set us free. He suffered and died to do it. That pretty
much explains the extent of his love for us. He was so far above us,
yet he lowered himself willingly and passionately. He knew it was the
only way to save our lives, so there was no question in his mind. What
more can he do to prove himself? What more will it take to convince
people that God loves them? God becoming one of us and dying on a cross
in our place is already beyond anything reasonable... such a
demonstration of love is lavish and waaaaay over-the-top.
The law says that all that is selfish and arrogant so that it doesn't
refrain from hurting people (because causing harm to people goes
against the heart of God)... must die.
Christ came to set us free from the law, by buying us some time, by buying us GRACE.
This life is that time of Grace, a time to choose a new life, a new destiny, a second chance.
He saved you and me from a life that leads to death,
And he offers us a new life...
a life with a totally new and clean start...
the best of LIFE that will literally last forever...
2because
through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the
law of sin and death. 3For what the law was powerless to do in that it
was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in
the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned
sin in sinful man, 4in order that the righteous requirements of the law
might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful
nature but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8)
12So they asked him, "Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?"
yeah, that's my question...
who is this fellow, this Man, this God,
this Jesus?
I know who he is to me.
but who is he to you?...
