Something Good

Luke 6:9 - And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?”

Do you ever wonder why some laws exist? Most make sense. Laws protect the majority from the excesses of a minority. It is against the law to steal something that belongs to someone else. However, some laws wind up fighting the real purpose for which they were created. In August 2013, Florida lawmakers passed a law that was supposed to eliminate the use of Internet cafes for illegal gambling. Former Lieutenant Governor Jennifer Carroll had been accused of running a charity as a front for gambling, and state lawmakers responded with a hastily worded law that inadvertently required the shutdown of all Internet cafes in the state and ultimately any computer or smartphone connected to the Internet. What should have been a good law became a very bad one that was quickly repealed.

Luke Chapter Six starts with two incidents of Jesus and his disciples breaking Jewish Sabbath laws in force in their day. Remembering the Sabbath day and keeping it holy was one of the original Ten Commandments. Jesus makes clear throughout the Gospels that its purpose was to help human beings, not keep them from good things. Our bodies and minds work most efficiently when we have a day of rest each week. Taking a day to worship and focus on God helps us keep everything in perspective.

We get into trouble with two extremes: The first is when we view a law as existing for its own sake. That’s what the Pharisees had done. They had defined Sabbath keeping so narrowly it was virtually impossible to keep the law, and it became a means of controlling others. It prevented good from being done. However, the other extreme is also dangerous. If we ignore the benefit of a legitimate law because of a fear of “legalism,” we can harm ourselves and others. We need to get to the heart of the law. Is keeping the Sabbath a good thing? Yes, because it is a law with a purpose. It is good for us. Should we focus on keeping the law so that we feel we are better than those who do not or so that we keep others from experiencing the good the law was intended to protect? Absolutely not.