John 7:24 Tinkering with the heart
Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.
John 7:24 NASB
Of the many topics addressed in this dialogue in John 7, the most notable is the Jews’ offense at Christ for healing a man by the pool of Bethsaida on the Sabbath (which happened in John 5). In their minds, the offense was so severe it warranted death. Keeping the rules, all of them, had become such an obsession in Israel that they ceased considering the higher values of the kingdom — love and mercy — and focused on fearful and legalistic traditions. From God’s requirement of “rest” on the seventh day, flourished, in typical Jewish fashion, books of laws, rules, and traditions to define to the minutia what “rest” meant. (In my thinking, even trying to grasp these rules should have been prohibited on the Sabbath —it was like Olympic-level weightlifting!) One of those rules was about the weight of the load that they could lift. When Jesus asked the man he had healed to “take up his bed and walk,” he crossed the line.
Today it seems utterly foolish that carrying a portable bed would be worthy of punishment, let alone death. Yet they had a grid from which they made their judgement. It was quick and easy: the Sabbath must be honored and carrying a bed disqualifies. Jesus and the man who did it are guilty. Case closed.
When they confronted Christ, rather than dismissing or ignoring them, he responded with an appeal, offering them an off-ramp from the freeway of their quick judgement — a road that that was not helping get them to to their desired destination. He asked, “What about circumcision?” It is work. It is also the law. When you have two laws that seem to conflict with each other, someone must make a distinction. The word “judge” from the Greek (krinō) and originally meant “separate.” Separating the grain from the chaff, thence, to distinguish, to pick out, to be of opinion, to judge. The Jews distinguished the value of circumcision and weighed it with the competing value of rest on the Sabbath. The verdict? Circumcision does not violate the Sabbath. One value is not negated by another. Jesus’ appeal was clear: if circumcision didn’t violate the Sabbath, shouldn’t it be acceptable for the law of salvation and restoration provide this man the real rest of both body and soul? I love the way Jesus explained what he did to the man: “I made and entire man well on the Sabbath.”
Without the cultural context of Israel in the time of Christ, today I instinctively value of health and well-being in this man above arbitrary rules about work — particularly in light of the many years he had struggled with health. The healing was incredible! It was Spirit-directed. It was affirming. An expression of tender love and affection. And in every sense, it fulfilled the Sabbath. If the Sabbath was the avatar for rest, then health, as opposed to the constant struggle internally of dealing with a life-disabling disease, was more of a fulfillment of God’s intent than working to maintain the status quo of severe incapacitation. Mercy is better than judgment.
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.
Matthew 23:23 NASB
I am programmed to make quick judgments. It’s not a bad thing. I see dog poop, without thinking I step over it. When I see mold on food, I throw it out. If I see a car coming while I drive on a one-way street, I immediately understand that one of us is going the wrong direction. Yet there are things I’ve learned, judgments I’ve made that have found their way into the “auto response” system in my life — even though they are wrong. Everyone has them. But what are they? How do I know what they are? When it comes to the things of God, I have a lifelong exposure to perspectives that may not align with the kingdom. I grew up as a Catholic. I then became an Evangelical Pentecostal. I sat under Bible teachers that taught with conviction. Yet years later I struggled with the many of the legalistic, self-serving, fear-based doctrines they taught. None of my experiences are necessarily “bad” or “good.” I value and embrace my history. The Holy Spirit is able to take me from where I am today and lead me in a perfect way, with exactly the right timing. He is so good to me. Whether I grow up in America, in Orthodox Israel, in Hindu India, in radical Afghanistan or the dark corners of drug infested Los Angeles, my Heavenly Father has a road map for me. But it may mean tinkering with my immediate judgments and helping me reconsider certain values that have become habitual — similar to how Jesus challenged his challengers. I love the way the Father frames this up for David and then for Christ:
The LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
1 Samuel 16:7 NASB
And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear;
Isaiah 11:3 NASB
When I consider the circumstances of the healing by the pool, the selection of this particular man (among the many that needed healing) and the timing (among the other six days of the week), and the method (not just “walk” but also, “pick up your bed”), I see the intentionality of the conflict the Holy Spirit precipitated. Even with the prospect of death, Jesus marches directly into the middle of the lion’s den. So, why would the He do this? What is this about? It’s about an opportunity. It’s like the Holy Spirit is saying “Stop!” Rethink the automatic judgments you have made. Listen to what you are saying! Consider the heart and love of God. Maybe you are wrong. Maybe you have made a hasty judgment. Add righteousness to it. Open your heart. Allow a new perspective to invade your thinking. Laws are good and important for the time being, but something else is more important. Are you willing to break from the status quo? Are you willing to step sideways from what everyone else is thinking even if you become the object of their scorn?”
There are real and vulnerable men and women behind the harsh laws and judgments we invoke today in the name of righteousness. For the modern Evangelical, when did the law of love for those for whom Christ died morph into unfeeling and sweeping condemnation and a superseding value of winning some sort of culture war?
I personally don’t ever want to be over introspective about my bad thinking or snap judgements. I know I have them and I deeply trust that when Jesus flags an issue for me, that he will also provide the grace to adjust. He picks the time, place, and method. It may come in the form of a conflict or something that makes me angry — he knows how to get my attention. Yet, I endeavor to have a heart that listens. And when he speaks to me, I can almost be certain it is about an entrenched way of thinking, a snap judgment, or a value that is superseding love. When I consider making any condemnation of another, I can understand why Christ asks me to consider a better way:
Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.
Matthew 7:1-2 NKJV