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Many thanks to Peter Jones who has prepared this week’s devotions. This week our attention is focused on Luke chapter 14, verses 1-15. Please read these verses every day this week and, if possible, use a different translation each day, asking God to open your eyes to fresh revelation from His Word.
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Luke 14:3-6 (NIV)
‘Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, ‘Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?’ But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him on his way. Then he asked them, ‘If one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?’ And they had nothing to say.’
In our study today we will look at what happens when Jesus is present in a house group. Yesterday I told you of an experience I had with a house group, but I want to clarify what I think “house groups” mean. I believe it can be anywhere when a group of people gather and invite Jesus to be present. The home of this Pharisee became such a place but I don’t think he expected what would happen. Jesus begins by asking a question “is it lawful?”.
He was talking to experts in the law so He should have got a good answer but instead they said nothing. The one who wrote the law was interested in their opinion, but Jesus knew what that opinion would be. He had encountered their stand on the law and how it should be applied.
When I was in the police force, I was asked on many occasions when faced with people who broke the law, “Is this fair?” There were people who thought it was ok to steal from rich people when they had very little. They would often tell me that the rich people they were stealing from had acquired their wealth dishonestly so they were justified in their actions. I am sure you have heard the statement “two wrongs don’t make a right”.
We all may have opinions on certain issues, but Jesus steps into the picture and gives us an illustration of how to apply the law. Firstly, He takes action and heals the man. Surely this must have had an impact on those who witnessed it, but they remained unmoved. They were so blinded by the law that they failed to see how applying it could produce healing. They were destined to remain in their bondage.
Can I ask you a question? If you were present at that house, how would you have reacted?
In Acts 3 there is the account of a man who was healed having been a cripple for over 40 years. The attitude of the Pharisees had not changed but look what happened when the people responded after seeing what had happened to this man. “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”
When we respond to a move of God, who knows what can happen. In the last 2 years at Oasis we have seen what God can achieve by those who are prepared to leave tradition and legalism in exchange for believing in what God can do with those who are prepared to listen to what He says.
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