Reading
SAA Notes
False religion sees everything singularly in terms of: the good get blessing and good things, the bad get judgment and awful things. If bad things happen to you, then you must have deserved it. Jesus’ compassion reveals the evil in this way of thinking. Jesus Himself suffered the awful cross.
SJA Notes
* Mighty God, thank You for Your word to us today. Please break open our hearts to listen and obey.
“You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?”
Jesus’ words here are a sharp whip-crack into the hypocrisy of the church leadership of the day.
The leaders were indignant that Jesus had brought physical freedom to a woman bound for eighteen years on the Sabbath Day.
Jesus does not say the Sabbath day is to be disregarded.
We need to be careful with this.
What Jesus does, as He always does, is cut through our human reasoning, our faulty logic and thinking, the earthly props and barriers we erect ourselves.
The church leadership of the day had put up many barriers that restricted true worship, the religion that God wants.
Man-made religion is always terrible and leads to destruction.
The religion Jesus teaches and displays is that of His kingdom, like a mustard seed growing, like leaven/yeast in bread – And it is good, it leads to life.
Choose life today!
* God Above,
May our hearts be broken before You today, our worship of You true and right.
Please fix our eyes on You today, write Your word on our hearts that we might not sin against You.
Amen.