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By Jo Gamm Witt
The Old Testament is a recounting of God’s relationship with the Jews. The Jews imperfectly followed the rituals previously given to them via Moses and the prophets. We at times see an angry and frustrated God, as the Jews failed over and over again to be able to live up to the rigid rituals. In many ways Jesus’ time on earth teaching people represented a “reset button,” a reteaching, a new plan.
Countless times in the recounting of Jesus’ life on earth, we read about Jesus teaching love over rituals. The adulterous woman standing before him when he was asked if she should be stoned, as ritual dictated—Jesus response: “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” Jesus taught that love (and forgiveness) were the higher calling than following rituals. And we had the woman with a bleeding disorder who touched his robe while he was in a crowd, with faith that she would be healed, who was admonished by those with him for defiling Jesus—Jesus response: “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.” He didn’t regard the ritual regarding her being “unclean”—he showed her love. It was also considered defiling for him to touch the lepers, and yet he mercifully did touch them to heal them. And the man unable to walk who begged Jesus to heal him when it was the sabbath—did Jesus rigidly adhere to the commandment not to work on the sabbath and turn him away? No! Jesus showed him love and mercy and healed him, in spite of the religious leaders scoffing at him for having done so on the sabbath. We also read about the man with a shriveled hand who sought healing from Jesus on the sabbath, and Jesus showed him love, healing him, while stating we treat our animals with more mercy than people, being willing on the sabbath to get a sheep out of the ditch.
When we consider the types of people Jesus chose as his disciples or the types of people he chose to share a meal with or to enter their home—these weren’t those purporting to be perfect people who rigidly yet imperfectly followed rituals; no, these were people deemed by those caught up in religiousism as “sinners.” Jesus wasn’t drawn to those who arrogantly viewed themselves as better than others (the ritual adherers); Jesus was drawn to those who humbly realized they weren’t—these were the openminded ones whom he could reach with his message of love over rituals.
From how Jesus interacted with people during his time on earth, we learn much about the heart of God towards all people: we learn that God is a god of love, mercy, and forgiveness for all.
Years ago during an adult Sunday school class, I learned an important lesson from a retired pastor that I will never forget. He posed the question as to whether it was okay to lie so as to show love by not hurting another person’s feelings. I took a moment to ponder his question, and then came to realize our higher calling is always to show love. Jesus taught that we are first to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind and secondly that we are to love our neighbor as our self; that if we keep only these two, that we will be obeying all the other laws—these two trump all the other laws. Showing love, God’s love, is at the heart of our calling as to how we are to live our lives, about how we are to interact with and to treat others.
All the special gifts and powers from God will someday come to an end, but love goes on forever. Someday prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge—these gifts will disappear. There are three things that remain—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:8,13 TLB)
Let us be a people of love, people who choose love over ritual in how we interact with others. May we be led by the examples and teachings of God’s Son, that showing God’s love is always the higher calling over ritual.
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