Matthew 12:1-8
...He answered, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread - which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. Or haven't you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,'you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."
The Lord said that "I desire mercy, not sacrifice." What is sacrifice? It's the law on the outside. When God established the law, it was His will for the law to lead people to turn back to Him. It was not just for people to follow the rules of law, but rather God hoped that people will come before Him and our relationship with Him would be restored. People, however, often only pay attention to the law on the outside, not only applying it to their own behavior, but also use it to judge other people. That's what the Pharisees were like back then - When they were able to follow the law to a certain degree, they use the rules of law to judge and condemn those who could not follow them. In the process, they unfortunately forgot what exactly the will of God was.
The Lord's will was to have compassion and mercy on the people who are weak, and that's why Jesus came to the world and was nailed on the cross for the weakness of people. God is happy to show His love to us again, and He wants us to turn back to Him in order to enjoy His love again. The Pharisees only paid attention to what people couldn't do on Sabbath, but the essence of Sabbath is for people to lay down all their burden, have peace in their hearts and restored the close relationship with God. Pharisees focused on what people could do and could not do on Sabbath, but neglected the fact that God called us to be near Him on Sabbath. We often also value things on the outside, but neglect that it is God's will for us to receive rest inside our hearts.
Faith is not just rituals on the outside. It's not whether you are attending services, making offerings, or involved in ministries. Services, offerings and ministries are certainly important, but the most important things are whether our hearts have turned back to God and whether we are close to God, because these are what God value the most! May God help us, not just follow the law, but let the Lord's love fill ourselves. The law will be completed in us because of love!
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