It’s interesting that both Jesus and Paul were misunderstood
and persecuted.
Both men were raised and trained in the Jewish faith. They knew Scripture (what we now call the Old
Testament) very well indeed. We read
that Jesus quoted the Psalms and the prophets; Paul certainly spoke about
Abraham and Moses.
But there is a difference between knowing the words, and
understanding the spirit behind the words.
Jesus knew that Jewish “law” prohibited work on the Sabbath. But he went ahead and healed the lame man at
the pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath day anyway, knowing that God’s work carries
on without interruption day by day – “My Father is working straight through,
even on the Sabbath. So am I” (John 5:
17 The Message). This was not how the
Jewish elders expected a “good” Jew to behave; they were furious; Jesus had
disobeyed their “law”.
Julie Swannell
No comments:
Post a Comment