What did Jesus mean when he said that “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27)? Could people be more important than the laws of God?
The question is similar to the business-related question we’ve been discussing the last couple of days: Are people and relationships more important than process and products?
On one hand the question doesn’t make sense. As many of you have already noted, business (including non-profits, and church ministries) without good process and product isn’t likely to survive—either for the good of its owner(s), its employees, or its customers.
In a similar way people or relationships that break the moral laws of God will be broken by them.
So then, why ask whether people and relationships are more important than process, products, and even the laws of God?
All are essential. Yet as Jesus makes clear in his comment about the Sabbath, even among essentials, some things are more important than others. From God’s point of view, just as people were not made for the Sabbath, people were not made for work. On the contrary, work and rest were both made for people—who in God’s eyes are also worth dying for.
Even if employees need to be let go because of a bad job fit, poor performance, or company efficiencies, the persons themselves are far more valuable than all of the assets of that company–in the eyes of those who love them.
Even if the person in view breaks all of the laws of society, their real worth, in the eyes of God, is far greater than the laws they have broken.
If that weren’t the case. Jesus would never have allowed himself to be nailed to a Roman Cross…even for the criminal who was crucified at his side.
The Face of Purim
Who can really understand the cost of such redemption? Who can estimate the exchange of currency that is behind the words, “You will be with me in Paradise”… and for today, and tomorrow, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” (Luke 23:43; Hebrews 13:5).
I wonder how wide our eyes would get if we could see the price tag Jesus puts on the back of the illegal alien, the criminal, or the expendable worker we are tempted to dehumanize and call worthless…
Maybe that price tag is one reason the Apostle Paul urges first century slaves, owners, church elders, members, and anyone who has found identity, dignity, and security in being loved by Christ, to start treasuring… rather than trashing one another.
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