Second Sunday after Pentecost – Sunday, 6th June 2021

One of the concerns of many Christians with regard to the modern-day church is its over reliance on man-made laws.  Many Church leaders point to Paul’s teaching in Romans chapter 13 where he urges believers to “submit to the authorities”.  However, this teaching flies in the face of the, more important, life and teaching of Jesus Himself.  Jesus unashamedly broke the rules.  This week, the Bible reading from Mark’s Gospel is one such example.  Jesus was being accused by the scribes (lawyers) of having a demon in him.  This followed an incident earlier in the Gospel where Jesus allowed his followers to pick ears of corn on the Sabbath and then Jesus proceeded to heal a man’s hand on the Sabbath.  Why did Jesus break the religious rules and why did He allow his followers to break the religious rules?  The answer is that the law, in itself, is only part of the solution to society’s ills.  The complete solution is love.  Jesus lived, died, rose and ascended out of love.  Love will always trump legalism.  As long as the church uses legalism as its default position it will not be able to show grace; it will not be able to show love and it will not be fully the bride that Christ calls it to be.