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.
The radical Jesus overturned the tables of complacency within the religious community of His day. Where the Pharisees saw Him only as a threat to their traditions, practices, and power, His was a ministry that upset the equilibrium that they so desperately craved. So long as they could separate the secular and the holy, the Religiousists would be able to keep God tucked safely away in His Temple, accessible at certain times and in certain ways.
Jesus knew otherwise. God never intended to be separated from His space and our space; it is all His space. There is no sacred and secular in God’s economy, it is all sacred. Jesus was, and is, about total commitment rather than practice. Ritual is good, but living moment by moment with God at your side is far better. Rules and rituals become benchmarks against which we measure our religiosity. The sad thing is, we can excel at the practice and fail in the ultimate test by using ritual and rule to cordon off our heart from the radical effects of Jesus.
I hope we will all grow weary of temporary sacrifice that changes nothing in our lives. If our Lenten surrender is composed of nothing more than a practice that we will soon resume shortly after Easter, doesn’t it seem a bit empty? Jesus brought full meaning to the Law by infusing right practice with right purpose. Shall we join Him and radically change the world, or turn aside from M&Ms for four more weeks? Any takers?
LOVE | ACCEPT | FORGIVE 