| LEGALISTS | ||||
| A legalist is someone who insists on keeping all the rules, but doesn't really like people very much. If a teacher is a legalist, s/he will make the students obey, but never smile at them. Sometimes even a church leader gets this way. One time Jesus healed a man who had been unable to walk for 38 years. He healed the man on the Sabbath Day which is like our Sunday. The man who was healed went to the Temple and told the religious leaders the wonderful thing that Jesus had done for him. Instead of being happy for the man and happy that Jesus could heal people, they became angry. They did not like Jesus being so popular. People weren't supposed to work on the Sabbath Day. The religiouis leaders foolishly said Jesus had worked on the Sabbath when he healed someone. That was silly. They were just jealous of Jesus. They didn't want people to follow him and his teachings. They wanted people to follow them and their teachings. Another time Jesus and his Apostles were out on the road and became hungry. There were never any restaurants along roads. So the law said people could eat from strangers' crops as long as they didn't take any with them. Jesus and his Apostles went into a field and ate grain from the stalks. They had just enough to fill them up and give them strength for the day. This was a Sabbath Day too. When some legalistic religious leaders learned what happened, they again accused Jesus of working on the Sabbath. Of course, picking up a meal and eating it is not work. The legalists liked to talk about people's sins more than about love. Jesus kept saying God wanted mercy, not constant accusations. At another time a man with a withered hand went to the synagogue church on the Sabbath. Jesus asked the worshippers if it was right to hurt or help on the Sabbath. He reminded them that they helped their injured animals on the Sabbath. Then Jesus made the man's withered hand whole and strong again. The legalistic religious leaders got mad again. They preferred to tell people how bad they were instead of how much God loves them. Have you done something bad that you think God couldn't forgive you of? God likes to think about the good you do more than the bad. He really does want to forgive you. Ask him to, and he will. |
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