Sometimes I wish I could’ve walked the earth at the same time as Jesus to bear witness to His resistless appeal. The cadence of the King of all Kings was steady & strong. Isaiah prophesied that He would not fight, shout or even raise His voice in public.
The Pharisees, however, did their best to trip Him with sly questions. Jesus notices a man with a deformed hand on a Sabbath day. They ask if it is permissible for a man to do work on the Sabbath.
Their desire is for Jesus to say yes so they can bring charges against Him.
But Jesus knows…He knows the motive behind their question & rather than taking personal offense, He replies with a question that not only confounds them, but puts them to silence.
He asks: Would YOU save YOUR sheep if it fell in a well on the Sabbath?
Saving an animal was a Sabbath concession Jews permitted, so by reproving Jesus, they actually condemn themselves.
His question corrects His accusers but it also points to the sanctity of human life. He says, “Oh, how much MORE valuable is a person than a sheep! Yes, the law permits a person to DO GOOD on the Sabbath.”
He rebukes them by essentially saying, “if you’d do it for your animal, than do it for your people.” And did you catch the change in verb?
He answered their question about work by rephrasing it to “do good”.
That little phrase means, “to make a winsomely attractive path”. It is permissible to make a winsomely attractive path any day of the week!
I feel at a mental fork in the road as I type…we could address:
-How we treat animals vs how we treat people who are MUCH more valuable to our Father
-Does my approach with people create a winsomely attractive path that leads to The Way (Jesus)?
-The resistless appeal of our Savior-do my words & actions attract people to Jesus? Maybe they attract people to me instead 😬 or maybe they repel people altogether because there are times when I can be a brute!
I’ll let the Holy Spirit take you down the application path today. What is on my heart, however, is that I want to reflect the resistless appeal of my Redeemer!
Father, rather than shining a spotlight on self, may our lives reflect the winsome Light of Your Peace & Presence! #OneYearBible
GENESIS 35:1-36:43
MATTHEW 12:1-21
PSALM 15:1-5
PROVERBS 3:21-26
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