Umm, me? Pharisee? No!

On one Sabbath, they walked in as they always do, with their long garments, spiced with that Sabbath-best look of holiness. Carefully diced, rightly sliced with a dash of cinnamon. They owned the show. And so they went about their business; busy here and there. Not stopping to look, not stopping to care. Why should they, why would they? They are the leaders, remember?

Oh but one entered through the same gates, quivering, desperately crying for attention. Guess what happened! They rushed to help and all was well, right? I also thought so but nay. Nobody paid attention to him. He held his mat tightly to his chest, as if it was the only possession he had. But the truth is the mat knew all his pain, his anguish as he fought for his life; if mats could speak, his would sure tell how he shrieked in pain all those decades he had been sick.

The day wore on; it was business as usual. Then hushing all the music, some ‘strange’ sight grasped their attention. Smack-dabbed, their eyeballs seemed to pop out. It could be an understatement to say that they were all shocked at what they saw… but there he stood, the once sick man. He was uprightly standing, with an elastic step that easily made him the healthiest in the room. He had been healed!

Amidst shocks and gasps, one of them gained the courage to speak.

“Howbeit that you carry your mat on the Sabbath day?”

Ha-ha! Yeah why carry it on the Sabbath brother, you know better, no?

Ok straight face on, really? Is that the question to ask? What happened to ‘how did this miracle happen?’ or ‘praise the Lord you are finally ok!’?

Talk about missing the mark!

Sometimes we get so caught up in rituals that we miss out on the important detail that lies in wait of being understood, and being appreciated. Sometimes, we miss the mark so greatly that the things that were meant to be blessings have become yokes, huge burdens that people do not want to bear.

Rules, rules, rules! That is all people see. What happened to the God behind all these ‘rules’? Do people know Him, do we even show Him? Holiness is not right living; rather it is Christ in us, the hope of glory! Christianity has become a set of thou shalt nots, that breaking the law is the central focus and not breaking the heart of the Friend that gave the law.

This is not even about being liberal or conservative; it is about missing the point. Why is it that they failed to recognize the Messiah when He was in their midst? Because they had run away with the doctrine and left the Man of the doctrine. It had all become about sticking to rules, doing it right… on your own. Why, because the one who gives power was ousted, completely from the picture. And as is all self-righteousness, it made them cold, heartless, and gave them a form of godliness that denied the power thereof.

There is so much we need to unlearn; we all need that life-giving power that will breathe life in all of us. It won’t make us lower the standards, neither will it make us tolerant, it’ll just make us realize that we can be cheerful, caring and loving law-keeping Christians, because that is who Christ is!