“Rules are made to broken.” As a child I was told that this was a bad, bad mantra. As a result, I grew up every mindful of what the rules were. I was likewise ever mindful of the consequence for breaking the rules. To break the rules meant being punished by my parents or being shamed in the eye of the public.
But in a very public way, Jesus broke many rules along his journey to the Cross. In this week’s text of Luke 13, Jesus breaks a biggie when he heals the woman on the Sabbath. To do so carried multiple implications. Not only was he doing so on the day of rest, but Jesus was healing a woman – bringing a multi-faceted reality of scoff before the religious class of his time.
Jesus broke the rules. Jesus broke the rules in order to fulfill the rules. Jesus broke with human rules to live out God’s understanding of those same rules. In essence, Jesus gave fullness to the rules by breaking the people’s misunderstanding that had evolved over the course of thousands of years.
Jesus takes our breath away by shining light on the rules…by breaking them…in the name of God’s unending love for all of his people. I look forward to seeing you at Young Harris UMC this Sunday for worship at 11 a.m. as we proclaim God’s love for all and the rules that must be re-examined in our lives.
✝davidwofford.com 