At Odds

Were laws made to be broken?

Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man who had the withered hand, ‘Come forward.’ Then he said to them, ‘Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?’ But they were silent. He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him. - Mark 3:1-6

You might think that Jesus is saying here that the law doesn't matter, because he chose to heal on the sabbath.  Any work one does is forbidden on the sabbath day, so he was breaking the law and doing so intentionally.

Is it that the law is meant to be broken, or is it that we need to understand the intent of the law?

If someone is drowning on the sabbath, do you help him or let him drown?

If you strictly adhere to the law, and yet have compassion, you would be torn.  How does one follow the law and save a life?

We have so many laws and rules, surely it is easy to break one.  We all decide if the circumstances warrant it or not.  And I believe that is what Jesus is teaching here.

We should use common sense.  If someone needs help and we can offer it, we should, regardless of the rules, right?

This is the problem we have at our borders.  People are breaking the law in an effort to have a better life, and it is harsh to punish them for that.

It is also cruel for people to take advantage of them and take away all their money to help them break the law and come across the border, as the cartels do.

How do we stop one and allow the other?

Is the law the problem or who we deal with it the problem?

In the Gospel example, the Pharisees stuck by the letter of the law, but if the law was eliminated, they would not have been able to heal the man anyway.  The law was not preventing the man from being healed.  Their lack of faith and compassion was.

So it is with us.  We argue over the laws when we should be talking about ways to do what is right, which is helping people live a better life and escape pain and suffering.

We should, but we won't.  You would think we prefer to be at odds.

More to come...