Interpreting the Law

There are several very different ways to interpret laws: the letter of the law, the spirit of the law, and the enforced law. Some laws become very cumbersome when they are interpreted by the letter of the law and some become useless when interpreted by the spirit of the law and when those who enforce the laws don’t like the laws as written, they enforce what they like instead and people soon figure out how much they can get by with or cannot do even if it is not written as law.

There are many areas where we choose to challenge or to obey laws. Driving is one of the most obvious. The letter of the law may be to drive no faster than 35 mph. The spirit of the law is to slow down because it is a higher risk area where people may walk out in front of you or car doors may be opened into you or someone may pull out in front of you. And the enforced law may be 5 mph over the written law, meaning you won’t get a traffic citation until you go over 40 mph.

The written Sabbath law is, “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” Exodus 20:8-11 “On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor the alien within your gates…” Deuteronomy 5:14

But what is work? Over the generations, the religious leaders had further defined the law in terms of how far you could walk, how much you could carry, how meals should be prepared, etc. The letter of their law had become very cumbersome and they spent a lot of time discussing it and enforcing it among the people. Those in charge of interpreting and upholding the laws became powerful individuals in the community and sometimes interpreted the laws in their own favor and did not care about the people. Then came Jesus.

“On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, ‘Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.’ Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God. Luke 13:10-13 Eighteen years is a long time to deal with a disabling infirmity like this. In fact, by that time, she likely assumed it would be that way the rest of her life. But Jesus had compassion for her. She did not come to Jesus and ask him to heal her. He saw her and called her to him.

“Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue ruler said to the people, ‘There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.’” Luke 13:14 (Sounds like a voice enjoying his power to tell others what to do! And since he can’t seem to tell Jesus what to do, he orders the people around.) I wonder how it was written into their books that healing on the Sabbath was forbidden. I wonder if they were allowed to bind a wound or if it had to bleed until the Sabbath was over and if the person lived that long, then they could bind it. None of that would have been written into the original law. It would have all been added later as interpretation of the law.

If Jesus ever showed impatience, it was at a moment like this when the laws were interpreted to bring further hurt to people rather than healing. “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?” Luke 13:15-16 Jesus is using their very interpretations of the law to show them how foolish they are – interpreting what suits or benefits them in their favor and drawing the line tight when it doesn’t affect them. The synagogue ruler was focusing on enforcing the letter of the law and totally void of compassion or mercy. Jesus was trying to realign their thinking to include mercy and healing – he was looking back at the original spirit of the law.

“When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.” Luke 13:17 “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18 It seems that the religious leaders lost their footing – at least for the moment. And the people were at least momentarily set free from the bondage placed on them by the extensive interpretations of the law.

I wonder when I may become indignant because someone broke a rule rather than having mercy and seeing why they may have broken the rule. Am I willing to reconsider the rule? Is it within the purposes of God or does it unduly encumber others? How many ‘rules’ do we have in our churches that keep people out rather than invite them in to be healed by Christ? The Sabbath is a day for rest(oration) and healing, remembering our Creator and honoring him. How that happens may be up for interpretation.