Rules are a good thing. It tends to put order where there is disorder. This is true in the classroom (where I teach), it’s true in our households, and it’s true in society.
But rules can be harmful when people forget that the rules are not there simply for their own sake. There are reasons for rules, and if we forget the spirit of them, we can get into trouble.
What’s worse is when we start making up rules to keep us from breaking other rules.
What do I mean? To take a very modern example, God says, “Don’t get drunk, instead be filled with the Spirit.” (Ephesians 5:18)
Throughout scripture, especially in the Proverbs, you see warnings against getting drunk. Why? Because when you get drunk, you’re no longer in control of yourself. Even more importantly, God no longer is in control in your life.
But some people put a rule around the rule. “Don’t drink alcohol at all. If you drink, you might get drunk.”
Now that rule around the rule is not bad in itself. I basically avoid drinking myself for that very reason (not to mention the fact that alcohol doesn’t taste very good).
But it becomes bad when you start criticizing others for breaking the rule around the rule.
That’s what the Pharisees were like, and you see it in their keeping of the Sabbath. You had the rule: “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” (Exodus 20:8)
In short, “Don’t work on that day.”
What was the spirit of the law?
First, to take some time to focus on God.
Second, to learn to trust him to provide for you by working only six days a week instead of seven (as the Israelites did when they were slaves in Egypt).
And finally, to relax. Let your body rest.
That was the spirit of the law.
But the Pharisees and teachers of the law built all these rules around the rule.
They had restrictions on how far you could travel or how much you could carry on the Sabbath.
They also had restrictions on doctors. If it was the Sabbath, they could only help someone if they were dying. And even then, they could only help to the point that the person could survive until the end of the Sabbath.
But by putting in place all these laws, they forgot the reason for the commandment and placed burdens on the people that God never intended.
Further, they criticized anyone for breaking their rules, rules that God never gave the people.
Not only that, they became blinded to what God was doing because of their fixation on rules.
You see that in this passage.
They see a man walking with his mat (breaking the rule against carrying “a burden.”)
“You’re working! What are you doing working on the Sabbath?”
“Well, the man who healed me, he told me to pick up my mat and walk.”
Translation: “If this guy had the power to heal me, he must have the authority to tell me to carry my mat.”
Now two things to note here. First, the Jews probably didn’t recognize this man at all as a person who had been disabled for 38 years. They only noticed him when he broke their rules.
How often are we that way? We totally ignore the people who are spiritually needy around us and only notice them when they break the rules.
Second, even when they realized what had happened, they were so focused on the breaking of their rules, that they couldn’t see the incredible thing God had done for this man.
Instead, all their focus was on finding out who broke the rule for healing this man. And when they found out it was Jesus, they persecuted him.
That’s the danger of being too focused on rules. We fail to see the needs of the people around us, and we also fail to see what God is trying to do around us.
How about you? Are you blinded by rules?
Moment to Moment (Bible blog) 