Jesus healed a man who'd been invalid for 38 years. It was a remarkable demonstration of the power of God. But he did it on a Saturday. He did it on the Sabbath. The man, in our Scripture for Sunday, is discovered walking with his mat-by Jesus' command-and is accused of Sabbath-breaking by the religious leadership. The man said Jesus told him to do it. So they come after Jesus.
Sabbath-breaking is a Ten Commandment thing, pretty high up in the Legal Code of the Bible. Today, it is practically irrelevant. "Blue laws" are pretty much extinct except for a few locations around the nation. Their real impact on the lives and faith of people is questionable at best. This is NOT an issue that will pack the pews of our churches today.
But while the issue is not overly relevant to this day's culture, the legal principles, the principles of applying the bible to life situations, that is absolutely relevant. Because the way the Jewish leadership is applying the Bible to that situation is a way that continues today, with the same damaging effects to the lives of the faithful.
This Sunday, we are going to look at those principles of biblical application and apply them to an issue of extreme, deadly relevance today, that of domestic violence. The kinds of arguments made in that passage are the same kinds of arguments that are made today. We need to be able to identify them, understand where they come from, and make the case when the bible is being used as a tool of oppression and not liberation, where the love of God is presumed to carry the stick of punishment, not the freedom of relationship.
We worship at 10am, 45 Market Street in Perth Amboy. Come and join us.
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