Journey - April 14th, 21

"Moses gave us a law." This was the preface to their little situational trap that they were planning for Jesus. This convoluted scenario about a man who died and all seven of his brothers follow him in death, all failing to provide an heir...Their desperate little attempt at trapping, Jesus is prefaced with these words. "Moses gave us a law." If we're not careful, we can let our faith be nothing other than the manipulation and weaponization of the law, a way of justifying ourselves, it should be noticed that the scenario in question was pertaining to what happens after we die. In our great fear of death, we want to take the law, if you will, a little passage of scripture here, a little passage there. And weave them in into some contractual obligation, whereby God is bound to behave the way we want him to behave. When this happens, Jesus says to the Sadducees, that they "do not know the scriptures, or the power of God." God's scriptures are not a contract, that we can wave in his face, and demand his obedience. The scriptures tell the story of God, and our life within his story. They lead us to the one who is the point of God's story to the living God who brings life to his people even beyond death. So Jesus says, "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. So he is not the God of the dead, but of the living." If we insist on building our lives upon things like Moses gave us a law, and seek to manipulate God, quell our fears, and coerce others, through the law, we will miss the point of our lives. And we will be badly mistaken as Jesus said to the Sadducees. Today, we come not to the Bible, because Moses gave us the law. We come to the living God. There we join Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. Then we join our Lord, in whose story we live. Amen.

You are loved!