One of the claim's of Christ is he was about his Father's work. I often wonder with Christ knowing the law why he did not try and not stir the crowd around him up. Instead why not talk of doing God's work and not his Father's work. It does not matter that it is true that God is the Father to Christ, but that what was occuring early in ministry was offense to the Jewish people. His ministry was in opposition to the temple teaching so it seemed to the crowd. Opposition because with healing of one man and telling him to pick up his mat angered the Jews, who knew the law was not to work on the Sabbath Day and carrying one mat was consider work. What we know is anything in opposition to what they understood as law was sin or a crime. Even by the laws of Moses this sin of work required a death sentence. Yet this was not the law practiced by the Jews in the day of Christ, for the Roman law was what the land was ruled by. No Roman law was broken.

If you explain laws and rules by yesteryears and not today, you see most people have broken at least one law in their life time by old rules. If we base our faith on laws of old time religion do we inflict those laws. Many religions practice their faith to the point that they obey the law that effects at least themselves, and punishes themselves by the old laws, even down to suicide or physically beating themselves. The gruesomeness of those obeying laws that have changed hopefully for the better, is some feel they are going against God's original law or even false religions. Are we debt to the law or the law of faith.

Jesus is acting on the law of faith going about doing the good works of God as his Father had instructed him to and had shown him. Jesus was doing the work God had instructed him too. What about the sabbath day rest, it had to do rest for God, to lay aside his work. Yet his work continued without him, through his Son/Word, through HIs Spirit. The Word of God changes not. And Christ is the word of God in the flesh according to John 1:1-14. Yet if we think for a moment then why did Moses execute for the breaking of the law if it was not God's will for man to perish for breaking the law by working on the Sabbath. Man takes the law of God and to keep order he enforces it to the letter of the law even to a stranger. Jesus was not the law nor was Jewish law, the law at that time when Jesus healed on the Sabbath. The laws of faith were not enforced by the religious leaders, though they did have a council that could bring certain matters before legal council of Roman. Jesus had to go before Roman government to be put to death. The laws of Jews had not bearing on the Roman law that why on the cross he died the king of the Jews.

Kangeroo court said the mob rules, if you watch the Old Westerns you learn real quick that the sherrif and rangers had to fight many battles against the crowd. The crowd would try and rule but they could not, without going by the law, for the law always won. In our nation when riots arise we learn real quick the government steps in to stop it. Sometimes by military or federal force of some sort. Yet the people have a right to peaceful demonstration.

Now the crowd was angry at Jesus because perhaps they did not understand how Jesus could call God Father. They two called themselves son's of God, but not God Father. Prehaps they were questioning how a man that seem to show God disrespect could heal, and heal on the Sabbath at the worse, breaking the law.

There will be people that obey God that will seem to walk a fine line on our nations laws and our nations practices. Yet the question must come did they break the law. Did they break religious law? What is religious law today in our churches, and in our society. Go to any strict Christian group and ask, will someone be punished in anyway by the religious law? Most churches will say no, but others will say yes. Some people are shunned, and outcasted for disobedience. Some groups might require someone to confess before the group their sin. I met a minister that walked up to me once that if you confess we let you back into the group. And all I could think was what was sin and did I know it was sin at the time.

I talk about homosexuality being a sin, but neither God or Jesus ask anyone about their sexuality or practice. God did tell Solomon not to marry foreign wives. God did stop a king from sleeping with Abraham's wife. Rape was always a crime, but adultery was also. Now sin was sin, sexual immorality was anything against God's original law of one man marrying one woman. Yet he never chastise anyone for sexual immorality but David who took another man's wife because he was king basically and his lustful desire. Crimes of sexual immorality by religious standards that were not enforced by all people. Any form of rape was consider sin, and any form of sexual practice having to do with pagan practices. No sex outside of marriage was permitted, but never enforced in many cases. Jacob slept with a harlot that turned out to be his daughter in law. Did sin ever stop faith, or being saved. Sin took Cain from God, it had to do with the law of sacrifice and his gift being unworthy and then he killed his brother which was not the worse crime against Cain, but the crime of not honoring God and total disobedience to God being second, that cost Cain happiness with faith. Cain believed in God and yet he would not obey God.

If you feel something is sin it maybe or at least for you, but other things or sin must be wrestled by the indivual, like sexuality and sexual desire. If I teach on sexual sin according to scripture to many of the leaders of faith failed in scripture on that one but all gained the promise of faith. There is point what law do Christians go by the law of the land, the law of Moses, or the law of God has Christ did. Christ did not chastise a woman caught in adultry, no the woman at the well for sleeping with a man not her husband, instead divorced and living with a man.

The question is what would Jesus do, he went about doing his Father's well by making the world hopefully better through healing and teaching, Help people sort out the issues of the law and issues of what exactly faith is. Faith is believing, repenting from sin, and doing the will of God has Christ instructed by his life style and his Father's will. Where are you this morning obeying God or obeying standards no person can obey in our society. Are we living by faith and not by the critical eye of what we think God is displeased with more. Crowd did not rejoice over the healing, they chastised the first thing they could find wrong with the situation. Jesus did not stop doing God's will, he continue in that chapter teaching about God's the Father and his will.

Dear Heavenly Father help us know your will in our life and how to be obedient to your word not by legal law but the law of faith and your works being performed in our life and others as we do your will. In Jesus precious name, Amen.

Continual Scripture Study: James 2:9-14 KJV
9 But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.
10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
11 For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.
12 So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.
13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.
14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?