And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just as this entire law that I am setting before you today?” vs. 8
Deuteronomy 4:6-9
Even though the world is good, brokenness has also been a part of the human experience from the beginning. One of the first great spiritual insights of our faith ancestors was that a system of laws and commandments would make it possible for them and their children to bring healing to their broken world. By obeying the rules families could actually experience the goodness of God and have harmony in their relationships. It was a good plan–and we can read the final edition in the Hebrew scriptures, where some have come to know it as the Deuteronomic Code. As the centuries passed and the kingdom of Israel faded into oblivion, this Code remained as a source of inspiration and pride to the Jewish people. It made them distinctive among the nations and was the one thing their enemies could not take away. But even though the law was good, and a key to their happiness, it too was broken, and occasionally its brokenness could be oppressive. This was something that Jesus understood and he regularly showed people that the law could not be their ruler with teachings like “the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath.” Because the religious leaders had come to think of the law in such rigid terms, in order to protect it, they ultimately decided that if Jesus did not change his ways, he would need to die.
Thought for the Day: When does the law become a burden?
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