Good Morning Friends,
The Gospel reading today relates to Pharisee’s challenge of Jesus infringing on their control about the details of the Sabbath laws. It is about the problem of following laws that are no longer helpful because they have been expanded beyond the original intent. The controversy arose from the actions of Jesus’ disciples one Sabbath when they were physically hungry and ate some grain in a field. The ever-vigilant Pharisees and self-appointed guardians of the old laws and traditions were looking for some excuse to challenge Jesus – and finding nothing in Him they sought to bring charges against His disciples. There is no doubt that the Sabbath law is Biblical. It is both a Creation ordinance and an ordinance of Redemption. However, what was not so Biblical was the thirty-nine man-made regulations with which the Rabbis had sought to put a hedge around the Sabbath. The disciples were accused of doing something that was unlawful. Jesus answered the Pharisees in much the same way as He overcame the tempter in the wilderness. He did it with Scripture. Jesus was, like David in the passage which He quoted, a king-in-waiting, the Messianic Son of man and as such the Lord of the Sabbath. Still there is a challenge of moving the cultural needle toward healthier communities in relationship to laws and love. And it seems here that Jesus is up against impossible odds. And indeed, eventually there is irony. Jesus brings life, and healing. And the Pharisees plot on the Sabbath to murder an innocent man. When the passage is combined with our reading from Isaiah in the story of Hezekiah, we see the means of salvation is supported through prayer and compassion not the carrying out of a judicial sentence and something truly impossible happens…the sun moves backwards… as if time goes in reverse and Hezekiah gets a reprieve. And it is instructive for us in understanding the purpose of what was exacted then as a demonstration of the same power that reflects the light of Christ on the Cross and across time for the salvation of our souls each and every time, we remember Christ and He remembers us. Here we get a taste of how God works to accomplish the desired results. Still, we ask, Will We Pray That Mercy Has Already Triumphed Over Judgement For Our Salvation?
Scripture: In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.” Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and prayed to the Lord: “Remember now, O Lord, I implore you, how I have walked before you in faithfulness with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: “Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the Lord, the God of your ancestor David: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and defend this city. Now Isaiah had said, “Let them take a lump of figs, and apply it to the boil, so that he may recover.” Hezekiah also had said, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?” “This is the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he has promised: See, I will make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the dial of Ahaz turn back ten steps.” So the sun turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had declined.
Isaiah 38:1-6, 21-22, 7-8 (NRSV)
At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the sabbath; his disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. When the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the sabbath.” He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests. Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests in the temple break the sabbath and yet are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.”
Matthew 12:1-8 (NRSV)
He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
Micah 6:8 (NRSV)
Message: Some believe godly living, great faith and positive thinking will exempt them from trials. But good King Hezekiah of Judah did all that and still finds himself in a dilemma. He was caught in a crisis. The prophet Isaiah for many years had approached the kings of Judah with an offer to repent and beg God’s forgiveness that the nation might be spared. His offer was rejected, and the prophet received a new message. Isaiah comes with the judicial sentence, dooming the nation to exile and the land to desolation. While this was righteous retribution, it was a measure of mercy as well. Although Isaiah pronounced destruction, he knew that holy love, devoted zeal, and sincere repentance would restore God’s mercy. Through the prophet, good King Hezekiah and his people turned to God with decision and uprightness and the power of Assyria was not allowed to touch Judah. In this crisis of danger, when the nation seems to be in its last gasp, a pardon of 15 years is granted. What is noteworthy is that Hezekiah is spoken of as a great and good king, who followed in the way of great-grandfather King Uzziah. He abolished idolatry. A great reformation was wrought under his reign of Judah. But he still had problems. Hezekiah’s trouble began when he refused to pay the tribute which his father had paid and defied the king of Assyria. This act of rebellion led to the invasion of Judah by Sennacherib and his army. They took 40 cities and besieged Jerusalem. Finally, Hezekiah yielded to the demands of the Assyrian king and agreed to pay him 300 talents of Silver and 30 talents of Gold. Sennacherib dealt treacherously with Hezekiah and invaded Judah again two years later. Even before the situation with Sennacherib had been settled, Hezekiah had become very ill. In his weakened condition, Hezekiah received this unsettling message from God’s prophet, Isaiah, that he is going to die and needs to set his house in order. Although Hezekiah was highly favored by God, he was not exempt from sickness and disease. This text reminds us that it is our duty to prepare for death, before it approaches, to provide for it, both by a settlement of all our worldly concerns, and especially by dying daily to the sin of the world.
And So, in a crisis we should not be surprised. The world is full of trouble, and thankfully almost always God uses the trials to perfect us and prompt us to appreciate God’s word the most. Isaiah had often been God’s messenger of Good news. Yet, in today’s text God sends Hezekiah through Isaiah a heads up concerning his death. The message is for us all but what is instructive is how Hezekiah received it. His only word was really only a tear asking God that he be remembered. The amazing beauty is that such a message and response is in some ways a prayer of thanks that opens up opportunities. Here prayer brings comfort in calamity and joy even in the face of death. It is God’s prayer for us. Of course, it helps if our conscience bears us witness that we have lived a life pleasing to God and that our very tears are as praise to God. But still there is the need for mercy even for the good and guiltless. Friends, the Lord requires that which is good. And namely to do justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with God not just on the Sabbath, but every day. Hezekiah is a good example of one who walked humbly with God and foreshadows how Jesus walked. We are to walk prayerfully and thankfully, believing mercy has already won.
Pray we realize that Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath and has conquered death. Pray we are delivered regardless of what day of the week it is. Pray that we are sanctified for the journey of life. Pray we believe that Jesus is Lord not just of the Sabbath but of all creation. Pray we avoid the wrath of God. Pray we repent by directing our heart to God. Pray we are Spirit-filled in a humble walk with God. Pray we spend time alone with God. Pray we are obedient in small things so we might be prepared to be used by God for divine purposes even if we face death. Pray we realize that God’s laws were made for humans not humans for the law. Pray we develop spiritual integrity. Pray we realize that in our fighting, praying, loving, and sinning, God is still at work molding us. Pray we better understand each day what God is looking for in our behavior. Pray we are a people that have a heart for God’s heart. Pray our individual and collective heart is a home for God. Pray we are inspired by the great invitation and realize its reward is what we all are to seek. Pray we honor Christ in our relationships and love with abandon. Pray we discover the rewards of hospitality and endurance and quality and faithfulness. Pray with thanks in the hope that once we have endured the crisis that God will reward us and surprise us with joy so that we might survive and be transformed by the severe mercy of life through God’s grace.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 