Don't Trample on My Tradition

Series: Breaking the Unwritten Rules

March 04, 2018
Dave Smith

As we live in an imperfect world we need some rules and laws to combat the worst forms of evil. Both in Jesus’s day and even today, the religious culture then and now had/has its own sets of rules. What we learn from both the teaching and actions of Jesus is that there is a higher purpose—that to obey is better than to sacrifice, that love transcends rules. He was born into a Jewish society which had built up a complex set of traditional rules to moderate and control how people lived their everyday lives and to “safeguard” them against the possibility of violating ordinances of God. These traditional beliefs actually began superseding the original intent of the God’s law.

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Episode Notes

1 Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. 2 Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. 3 Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches. waiting for a certain movement of the water, 4 for an angel of the Lord came from time to time and stirred up the water. And the first person to step in after the water was stirred was healed of whatever disease he had. 5 One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years.

John 5.1-5 (NLT)


A HOPELESS PLAN FOR HEALING

6 When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?”

7 “I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.”

8 Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”

9 Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking!

John 5.6-9a (NLT)


  • His plan depended on HUMAN assistance … hope had faded with time as people didn’t show the same level of care and concern after 38 years


  • His plan depended on PERFECT timing … hope had faded as he conceded that opportunity never matched up with his ability and availability


  • Jesus’ plan relied solely on Divine POWER … that power personified renewed hope for the one that would believe and receive the healing
    1. Stand up … for the first time in 38 years, without help or human assistance
    2. Pick up your mat … the burden of carrying your bed is now yours.
    3. Walk … no need to be carried, no need to wait on the perfect timing


A SENSELESS POLICY FOR OBEDIENCE

But this miracle happened on the Sabbath, 10 so the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, “You can’t work on the Sabbath! The law doesn’t allow you to carry that sleeping mat!”

11 But he replied, “The man who healed me told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”

12 “Who said such a thing as that?” they demanded.

13 The man didn’t know, for Jesus had disappeared into the crowd.

John 5.9b-13 (NLT)


  • Their policy revealed SELF-RIGHTEOUS interpretation … the religious leaders chose to define what was work and thus, revealed that the man had broken the Sabbath as had Jesus


  • Their policy revealed SELF-IMPORTANT intention … "who did such a thing" reveals their belief that Jesus—as was everyone else—subject to their interpretation of the law and were bound to that law

 

  • Jesus’ policy relied solely on Divine AUTHORITY … the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath

16 So the Jewish leaders began harassing Jesus for breaking the Sabbath rules. 17 But Jesus replied, “My Father is always working, and so am I.”

John 5.16-17 (NLT)


    1. My Father is always working … the Sabbath was never intended to be burden to those who might help, do good to others, etc.
    2. So am I … Jesus assumes, as He is equal to God, that he should act in a manner that is consistent with Godliness



A CARELESS PERSPECTIVE ON SIN

14 But afterward Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, “Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you.” 15 Then the man went and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had healed him.

John 5.14-15 (NLT)


  • Man’s perspective equates HEALTH with good behavior … If I am a good person, I should expect good things to happen for me and to me, especially in regard to my health and wealth


  • Man’s perspective equates CALAMITY with bad behavior … Tragedy, sickness, troubles are directly tied to how I have lived, my lifestyle


  • Jesus’ perspective relied solely on Divine DIRECTION … God’s Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. I have sworn and confirmed that I will keep Your righteous judgments.
    1. Now you are well … new opportunities abound for you to do what is right and what is wrong
    2. Stop sinning … all of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. We are all subject to this command. God offers healing but reminds us to stop sinning
    3. Something worse could happen to you … 38 years of not walking, loss of hope, or whatever you may face. Keep sinning and a much worse calamity can occur


Challenge/Application ...

God’s greatest concern is for your eternal SECURITY, not your current or temporary COMFORT in this life


Jesus didn’t break rules/traditions simply to be rebellious, he broke rules to show that people (and their spiritual well-being) mattered more than rules.

The life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ provides the only way we can share in the life of God.

We all need to ask ourselves honestly, “Do I have any religious rules which get in the way of loving God with all my heart, and my neighbor as myself?” and “What would Jesus have to say about traditions in our church or in our lives today?


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