John 5:9b-13
9b The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, 10 and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”
11 But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ”
12 So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?”
13 The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.
In this passage, Jesus had just healed a disabled man, and told him to pick up his mat and walk; the Pharisee leaders, following the letter of the Old Testament Law, considered that the man was carrying a “load” and thus was violating Sabbath law. When they question the healed man, they learn of Jesus, “this fellow” who is apparently healing people AND telling them to violate Mosaic Law (at least in their highly legalistic understanding)!
But Jesus, following the spirit of the Law, knows that the formerly-disabled man walking is an important demonstration, not only of Jesus’ divine power but of the old order changing. God is moving among His people again, shaking up the human-created hierarchies and pointing out the useless legalism in their interpretations of His Word. And, as you might expect, the Pharisees are none too happy about that!
We modern Christians, however, are not immune to Pharisee-like beliefs. We, too, like to put human-created pseudo-Christian laws and opinions in God’s mouth, like the following:
- You HAVE to be dressed nicely to enter church*
- The more money you give to the church, the closer to God you are
- If you call yourself a Christian but don’t belong to a certain political party, you are not actually Christian*
- Certain kinds of people (homosexuals, junkies, etc.) cannot be saved*
* I have actually heard “Christians” say these things
These sentiments may have started out based on wanting to honor God, wanting to be holy, etc., but along the way they got twisted to serve human interests and conveniences instead of God. It’s very easy to do–you might say it’s very tempting to do. That’s why it’s so important for us to do a faith self-exam every so often, to check ourselves against the Word of God so that we don’t start falling into Pharisee traps!