Not So Simple Additions

I went through the self-checkout.
I put the zucchini on the scale in order to weigh it.
I was making a favorite recipe for dinner and wanted everything to be fresh.

I needed four large zucchini.
The prompts popped up on the screen and I dutifully answered.
Customer card…check.
Container…Plastic bag.

Suddenly, the weight and the amount came up on the screen.
$14.49 for four pounds of zucchini.

I must have looked horribly confused.
The lady who oversees the self-checkout area came over to me.
We both looked at the screen in disbelief.

Something must have added extra weight…did you lean your hand on the scale?

I don’t think so…I did adjust the bag to center it a bit.

She went back to her post and got a special key.
She came back and put the key in the designated spot.
She punched in some numbers and started all over again.

I watched her systematically take my zucchini and reposition it.
She went through all the prompts I just went through.
$4.24…much better.

We both laughed at the absurdity of the transaction.
We talked about how wonderful it would be to have our own gardens.

I got into my car with the necessary ingredients.
I thought about what just happened.

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are. (Matthew 23: 13-15)

Jesus had some of His harshest words for the Pharisees and teachers of the law.
They added so many extra laws that they expected the people to follow.
They expected strict adherence to the oral law…which was not God’s law…but man’s.

Jesus never sinned.
He never once failed to keep any of His Father’s laws.
However, He never kept the oral man made laws.
This often got Him into trouble with the Pharisees and teachers of the law.

One Sabbath, Jesus was going through the grainfields, and His disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels. Some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” Jesus answered them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God and taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for the priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.” Then Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” (Luke 6:1-5)

The fourth commandment tells us to keep the Sabbath holy.
On the Sabbath, it was permissible to do anything that would save a life.
The Pharisees and teachers of the law split hairs as to what was considered work.

If your donkey fell into a hole, without water, it could die.
Under those circumstances, it was not considered work to pull your donkey out.
If your donkey fell into a hole, with water, it would not die.
Then, it would be considered work to remove it.
Under those circumstances, you must leave it there until the Sabbath was over.
(Luke 13:15)

The Pharisees and teachers of the law burdened the people with extra laws.
Jesus could not spit on the ground to make mud to heal the blind man.
Making mud was considered work. (John 9)

The Pharisees and teachers of the law watched to see if Jesus would heal the man with the shriveled hand on the Sabbath.
They were looking for a reason to accuse Him.
Healing, in their mind, was work.
Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath, to do good or to do evil, to save life, or destroy it?” (Luke 6:9)

Jesus told the man to stretch out his hand and it was completely healed.
The Pharisees and teachers of the law were furious that Jesus healed him. (Luke 6)

This is the legalism Jesus opposed.
Rules without heart.
Rules without compassion.

God does not want anyone to add to His law.
People tend to remove the aspects of God’s law they find objectionable.
See that you do all I command you; do not add to it or take away from it.
(Deuteronomy 12:32)

God’s law is good and must be obeyed.
God’s law, written in His Word, is what Jesus taught and preached.

Man made laws and traditions are burdensome additions to the perfect Law of God.
They are designed to pile rule upon rule upon the backs of people.
The person is weighed down with innumerable rules made by men.

The oral law…the traditions of the elders…put a hedge around God’s law.
The hedge was so thick and seemed impenetrable.
It was difficult to see God clearly.

Jesus came and fulfilled the Law and the Prophets.
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. (Matthew 5:17)

God’s Law shows us our sin.
Since we can’t keep God’s law on our own, we see how much we need a Savior.
Jesus kept His Father’s law…perfectly.

Jesus the obedient Son of God, points us to the Father.
Do you see Him?
Push away the hedge of man made rules and traditions.
Come to Jesus…and find peace.