And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.
Too often we take our traditions and doctrine and use them to condemn the people around us. Not knowing what Scripture actually says, or what God means by it, we completely disapprove of our fellow man (and even fellow believers).
In Matthew 12, Jesus of all people found Himself the victim of such behavior. The Pharisees accused Jesus of breaking the Sabbath by allowing His disciples to glean wheat while hungry on the Sabbath. Breaking the Sabbath in this way was seen as an execution-deserving sin.*
In the way that Jesus often did, He expanded the perspective of those willing to listen by telling them that they had it all wrong. Up until that moment, the Pharisees understood that people should serve the Sabbath by following every rule and prohibition enacted by their understanding of Scripture (tradition). This understanding caused them to see anyone who broke their traditions as guilty of breaking God’s law.
Jesus explained that to break tradition is not to break law, and that man was not made to serve the Sabbath. He corrected that the Sabbath was made for man.*
How often do we condemn others for not seeing things as we do? How often does our passion of “what should be” override and miss the heart of God? How many times have we condemned ourselves in the same way?
I have been the worst at judging others and judging myself for failing to measure up to an abbreviated list of God’s law that I thought I was good at upholding. Completely missing His heart and His authority, I created my own standards and my own understanding of His Word. This prideful foolishness caused me to miss what God would have me do on several occasions, and it caused me to miss out on some amazing people because I wrote them off by judging them.
Today, take a step.
Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to look to Him for His heart. Perhaps today God wants you to look back at His Word and not to just lean on others to tell you what it says. Maybe today God wants to reveal to you how the Sabbath is for you as is all of His law. Perhaps today God wants you to stop condemning others and yourself for not measuring up.
Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.
Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a step today… just one is fine.
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*Leon, Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew. Pillar New Testament Commentary (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1992), 298–302, and Keener, C. S., Matthew (Vol. 1, Mt 12:1–21) (InterVarsity Press, 1997).