The Law is Servant to the Master

The law is a good thing. Laws give us definition. They help us understand the boundaries and keep a check on violence—that is, until they themselves become their own kind of violence.

What does one do when the law prohibits one from healing a disease or saving a life? Jean Valjean stole a loaf of bread to feed his starving family. Corrie Ten Boom hid her Jewish neighbours to save them from the Nazis. Jesus healed a shrivelled man, even though it was the Sabbath. Sometimes, it seems, the law might well be broken.

This gospel story doesn’t end well for Jesus. In a classic case of losing the forest for the trees, the Pharisees leave more committed to the law than to the intention the law was supposed to serve, missing that the purpose of the law is as servant to the Master.

The law of the Sabbath is a good thing. It reminds us to sustain a day for God and for his worship. It reinforces the principle that production is not our only value. It assists us in the pursuit of things that are right and holy.

But the Sabbath is not an end in itself. The goal is to serve God, and when Jesus healed this man, God was glorified and the authority of Jesus was made more evident, which is, in fact, the purpose of the law.

I value the law of the Sabbath as a stimulus to worship and as a reminder of my need for godly rest. Yet I understand that the law is servant to the Master—the Lord of the Sabbath who makes our worship meaningful and who allows our Sabbath rest.

Respond in Prayer

Dear Lord, Thank you for helping me with the discipline I so sorely need. Yet, when I am tempted to make the law my God, would you bring my perspective back in focus? Help me to master the law in service to the Master – and allow me then to rest in your provision. Amen.

Kent Anderson

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version® (NIV®).