Jesus Math

The religious leaders in Matthew 12 get all over Jesus for healing a guy on the Day of Rest. He's not supposed to work on that day. God said so. Healing is work. So, Jesus shouldn't heal. Jesus doesn't care, and He heals the guy, on purpose, in church, on the Day of Rest, in front of them to tick them off. It works, and they decide the best answer to this is to kill the One who Heals.

Dumb story. The religious leaders are so stupid to kill Jesus for healing someone, aren't they?!

So I read this story in verses 1-14 for like the 83rd time in my life, and I ask God, "Where am I in this story." Unfortunately, God takes me seriously, and shows me exactly where I am in this. I wouldn't get mad at Jesus for healing a guy on a Sunday. I think it would be cool. That's not the issue for me. But the question comes to the surface, what would I get mad at Him for? What do I believe about God, that I can't do, that would upset me? You see, the Pharisees never get accused of healing anyone. They know God can do it, but He doesn't seem to do it through them. If they were going to heal someone, they can only assume it must be hard work. I mean, they work harder than anyone to be holy, and they can't heal. It must be CRAZY hard!

So, they take their understanding of God ("don't work on the Day of Rest") + their limits ("I can't heal") = no healing on the Day of Rest. And when God shows up and challenges that, their only solution is to kill off this God in their face. Okay, THAT I do all the time. I take some understanding of God and put my limits on it, and then assume that I have God's truth. But He is constantly challenging me to see the world through His eyes. What if healing isn't hard work, but is actually a joy filled experience? Then it would be something that exactly fits in with the Day of Rest idea. Here is one of my messed up God equations: "God wants to help people in need" + "I don't have enough time to help everyone" = "I can ignore THAT person's needs". But God comes in and tells me to ask for help, to encourage others to get involved, to spend time training other people how to reach out and help. Ohhhh, THAT'S how it works.

Or what about this screwed up Jesus math: "God wants us to tell people the truth" + "If I tell them THAT piece of information, it will hurt them" = "I'll ignore God and keep my mouth shut". That one is really stupid, and that's why I do it alot. I completely kill off God, not giving Him any credit that the honest hurt it brings might be what heals the person.

You get the idea.