Jesus Broke the Law

     John chapter eleven tells of the death and resurrection of Lazarus. Dying is not unusual. Ever since Adam defaulted the world to satan, death has been the normal, every day occurrence in the world. Paul said in Romans eight that there was the "law of sin and death". Death was something everybody accepted and expected.

     Lazarus got sick. Martha knew that people died from this sickness so she sent for Jesus to come and heal her brother before he died from it. She believed that Jesus had the power to keep this horrible nightmare called death from taking her brother captive.

     Jesus knew it, too. That's why He stayed where he was for a couple of days. He knew when Lazarus died. He told His disciples that He was glad that He wasn't there to heal Lazarus of the sickness. He had previously told them that the sickness was for the glory of God and that through the sickness they were going to believe in Him stronger than ever before.

     It's important to note that God brings us through some hard things for the same reason. There are things that hurt us, things intended on destroying our faith, things that just don't look right or feel right but Jesus is Lord of them all. Hallelujah!

     When He got to the grave site, Jesus broke the law in front of everybody. Not only did Jesus break the law of death, but in raising Lazarus from the dead many of the chief priests in Jerusalem broke the law also and believed that Jesus was the Messiah.

     In Luke seventeen, Jesus met ten lepers. Leprosy was a slow and ugly death that was inescapable. Once a person was chained by the grip of leprosy the law said they were forced to live outside of the city in leper colonies. The law said they couldn't touch anyone. They were no longer allowed to share fellowship with their families. They could only talk at a safe distance while they watched their loved ones body parts disappear in ugly festering sores.

     The law of leprosy was death. Jesus broke that law and told the ten to go and show themselves to the priests so that they could be declared clean and healthy. Jesus broke the law and fellowship was restored with their families and friends.

     Just the law of sin is the same way. Under the curse of sin, fellowship with loved ones is broken. Happy and peaceful lives seem to be forbidden to those under the grips of sin. Everywhere they turn, joy eludes them on every side. Riches might come but loving relationships slip away from them.

     Jesus breaks that law and restores lives in a way that no other can.

     However, there is a worse law than sickness and death. In John the fourth chapter, Jesus came to a well in Samaria. Samaria was considered unclean and it's inhabitants were considered unclean.

     He met a woman at a well there. This woman had been married five times and was now living with a man. More than likely, the social law of the day would have considered this woman more unclean than most of the women of the town.

     Even though her past spoke volumes of "ungodliness" to the people she was around, Jesus saw something inside of her that only He could see. Deep inside this woman was an ability to follow hard after God that nobody else in that town had. This is obvious by the directness of Jesus' activity with this woman.

     He reasoned with her about 'thirst'. Being the Master that He is, He bantered with her until her curiosity about this 'thirst' subject was at it's peak. Jesus saw that her real thirst was not for men as she would think or as we would suppose by reading the story. Jesus saw that her real thirst was a strong ability to follow hard after God.

     Jesus again broke the law by calling this thirsty woman into the ministry. It's obvious that her reputation around the village of Samaria was such that when she announced 'Come see a man which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?' the men of the city came to see this Jesus. They were so amazed at Jesus' words that they asked Him to stay a couple of days and feed their hungry souls. Jesus broke the law and did. He broke the law again and led them into a deeper relationship with the Father.

     Many of us allow ourselves to be judged, convicted and considered outcasts by today's religious society. Our pasts do not necessarily 'measure up' to their supposed prerequisites for ministry. But, still there is a calling and a burning down inside of us that we were born with. Just like the woman at the well, there is a God-sensitivity we were born with that we are aching to answer. But, because of the 'laws' of religious piety we are considered common and unclean.

     In the light of this law breaking Jesus, let us reflect on several God-facts. Abraham lied twice about his wife. Moses had a speech impediment, anger issues and murdered a man. Jacob was a deceiver. King David was an adulterer and a murderer. Saul of Tarsus persecuted, imprisoned and killed Christians before he met Jesus on the road to Damascus. Noah had a drinking problem.

     God saves us and calls us to minister regardless of our background. John Newton was an avid atheist. In 1745, he became a slave trader. But, in 1748, God grabbed his heart and he later wrote the greatest hymn known to mankind, Amazing Grace. Can you imagine that? What qualifications did he have that God would dare move John Newton to write a song that has been America's go-to hymn for almost 300 years?

     His qualifications are the same as yours and mine. There is something God saw in him that nobody else did. He had a desire to follow hard after God. Sin had buried it way down inside of him. But when Jesus came into his life, He broke every imaginable, religious law and said, "Follow me."

     Just like the woman at the well and John Newton, you and I have gone through things that even we hope nobody will ever have to go through. But, God will use our hurts and disappointments to shape us into His instrument of glory. Man might not ever ordain us into "their" ministry just like Jesus was never "one of the priests". But, God will break those religious laws. He'll throw them aside just like last week's left over beans and use us to reach the lost if we'll run after him. Phil 3:12-14