Today's Reading: 1 Samuel 30; 1 Samuel 31; 1 Chronicles 10; Matthew 12
Scripture: Matthew 12:13-14
13 Then [Jesus] said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. 14 But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.
Observation: The contrast here is vivid! Light vs. darkness, healing vs. murder, love vs. hate. Jesus healing of a man with a deformed hand was not welcomed by these religious leaders. No, they were angry that Jesus healed because it was Saturday. And Saturday was a day set apart for God. Of course everybody knows what that means: "ABSOLUTELY NO HEALINGS!" I find it so bizarre that the Pharisees could not realize that if someone was healed on the Sabbath, that God must have been OK with it because God was the one doing the healing. But these Pharisees had created substitutes for true Godliness and Jesus had just violated one of the biggies. So they wanted to murder Him.
Application: Watch out for what I call a religious spirit. It's primary symptom is spiritual blindness which is directly proportional to an inordinate concern over trivial matters. You can do really wonderful things, like Jesus did here - healing this man, but those with a religious spirit will pick at you and find fault with some small detail. And it's not just others we need to worry about. You can find yourself slipping into the fault-finding mode and becoming a critic of other Christians, ministries, or ministers. Watch out! God didn't call anybody to be the Perfection Police. The Bible says to keep a right spirit and to "watch yourself, or you also may be tempted." Look to see how people are getting healed, or blessed, or helped, or saved. Find the reason to rejoice and avoid the critical spirit.
Prayer: Lord, when I see Jesus doing such wonderful miracles and His critics attacking Him, I am always surprised. I know I shouldn't be because I have also encountered the same kind of spiritual blindness and controlling spirits. Help us to keep doing right, regardless of the opposition. And keep us focusing on Your approval and not looking to those who seem to be religious for theirs. I pray that we too may have the privilege and joy of being chastised for many unapproved miracles. May it come to pass.
This I pray in Jesus' name, Amen.
1 comment:
I love that line that "spiritual blindness is directly proportional to an inordinate concern over trivial matters". So true! Another way to say it is that spiritually blind people focus on following rules and spiritual people focus on the heart of a matter.
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