Jesus put us First

Jesus Puts People before Rules

Matthew 12: 1-14

Then he went over to the synagogue, and noticed there a man with a deformed hand.  The Pharisees asked Jesus, "Is it legal to work by healing on the Sabbath day? (They were, of course, hoping he would say "Yes", so they could arrest him!)  Matthew 12:9-10

As they pointed to the man with the shriveled hand, the Pharisees tried to trick Jesus by asking him if it was legal to heal on the Sabbath.  Their Sabbath rules said that people could be helped on the Sabbath only if their lives were in danger.  Jesus healed on the Sabbath several  times, and none of those healings were in response to emergencies.  If Jesus had waited until another day, he  would have been submitting to the Pharisees' authority, showing that their petty rules were equal to God's law.  If he healed the man on the Sabbath, the Pharisees could claim that because Jesus broke their rules, his power was not from God.  But Jesus made it clear how ridiculous and petty their rules were, God is a God of people, not rules.  The best time to reach out to someone is when he or she needs help.

The Pharisees were so concerned about Jesus' breaking one of their rules that they did not care about the man's shriveled hand.  What is your  attitude toward others?  If your convictions don't allow you  to help certain people, your convictions may not be in tune with God's Word.   Don't allow dogma to blind you to human need.

Jesus loved people with disabilities and put them first, condemning organized religion for :

1. Putting rules above God

2. Putting religion above human need

3. Putting restrictions on people