Abolish= do away with
Jesus said, “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.” (Mth 5:17, NIV)
When I first looked this verse up, I thought it wasn’t the one I was thinking of. Abolish means to “do away with”, according the “Dictionaire” on my iPhone. I thought, “no, that’s exactly what Jesus came to do. He came so that we would love each other into relationships with Chist, not legalize each other into an unhealthy fear of God.”
I love commentaries. Mine states my thinking exactly…who knew I was a Bible scholar (ha). It says, “God’s…laws were given to help people love God with all their hearts and minds. Throughout…history, however, these laws had been often misquoted and misapplied. By Jesus’ time, religious leaders had turned the laws into a confusing mass of rules.” (Life Application Study Bible)
This circles back to the conversation that I was having this evening and my point. We have, all too often, judged someone’s spiritual credibility, relationship with Christ and message from the Holy Spirit based on appearances. Piercings, blue jeans and untucked shirts, funky-colored hair, age, grammar usage, education, the place one chooses to sit in the sactuary, the name of the sanctuary, the name of the song, the volume of music, the instrument, the age of the person playing the instrument and on and on. These seem to be the things I hear on a regular basis. Things that are “just not right” or that “keep me from worshiping”. These are the “laws” we have confused, misquoted and misapplied in church.
Back to that word abolish. My thought was that Jesus came to “do away with” all those laws. BUT NO!! He came so that the laws God had set up for us would be brought to their true purpose and restored. He came so he could live those laws out the RIGHT way and reveal God’s character.
Wow! So here I am thinking about Jesus’ words and thinking about those people who burn me up. The ones who call themselves religous leaders and have “misquoted, misapplied and confused” a mass of rules. I am humbled too. I know I have done this. I know I have uncessarily judged and said things like “I can’t worship when the lights are so dark or the music is so loud or…”
“God forgive me. Help me to abolish the law and reveal your TRUE character.”
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