Wednesday 4th October
Read John 7:19-24
“Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?’
20 ‘You are demon-possessed,’ the crowd answered. ‘Who is trying to kill you?’
21 Jesus said to them, ‘I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. 22 Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath. 23 Now if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing a man’s whole body on the Sabbath? 24 Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.’” (NIVUK)
The question of whether we understand the Law becomes more pressing when we consider Jesus’ evidence that they don’t. The last time Jesus was in Jerusalem He healed a man on the Sabbath and told him to pick up his mat (prohibited) and walk (cf John 5:1ff). In doing so the leaders became angry. His argument is that if they truly understood the Law and it’s intent their anger is unfounded.
Circumcision (an act of work) is allowed on the Sabbath because this custom (which preceded the Law itself and was adopted as is) points to a greater truth. A truth that the Law seeks to emphasise. This truth is that circumcision, an act designed to mark people out as participants in God’s covenant and the life that flows from that, is where the Law aims. The Law’s goal is to bring life to the full, of which circumcision is a sign. Therefore, if someone bound for 38 years is granted back their life on the Sabbath, to which the Law itself points, the appropriate response is joy, not anger.
The principle Jesus is using stands above and beyond the mere written Law. Because He is above and beyond the Law itself. He is the very source of life to which the Law points. He fulfils the Law (cf Matthew 5). Jesus is not saying this to score points in a theological argument (though it is admittedly a complicated argument!). He is saying this to make them realise who He is. It makes me want to go back through that very Law and see Him afresh.
