Annuls

“Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and so teaches others, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven,”  Matthew 5:19

Annuls – What rules are so insignificant that they don’t really matter?  How about the speed limit on an empty road?  Does it really matter if you go 75 instead of 70?  No policeman will give you a ticket for that!  What about taxes?  Everyone cuts a corner here and there, right?  How about NO PARKING zones?  Well, after all, it was just for a minute.  Or insurance reports?  Medical claims?  Little white lies? 

If you said “Oh, no.  Those all matter”, then how do you react to the rules of worship like taking care of any unforgiven conflicts before you come to the altar?  Or what about that little thing call tithe?  Is it first on your financial list?  Are your promises to pray for someone so important that you just don’t let anything stop you?  We could all add a few more things to this kind of list, I’m sure.

Jesus was an Old Testament man.  He knew the Book, through and through.  If there were ever a man who could have said, “Well, this rule really doesn’t apply any more”, he would have been the one.  But he said something so demanding that we choke on the implications.  The word Matthew uses is luse, from the verb luo:  to release or untie.  Jesus said that anyone who unties men from the obligations of God and teaches others to do this is treading on very thin ice.  God does not forget or overlook His commandments.

This is another example of the impossible demand of the Law of God.  It’s not unreasonably impossible.  In fact, it is exactly what reason tells us we should do.  It’s just volitionally impossible.  No matter how carefully I live my life, I just can’t keep every tiny bit of the Law.  I am bent on compromise.  My problem is that God never compromises with the Law because the Law is not just a set of lofty rules.  It is an expression of His character.  God can’t be less than perfect just because I can’t live up to a perfect code.  So, I’m stuck.  I might not speed or cheat or lie but I still have a battle with envy and anger and lust.  I just can’t do it on my own.  And every time I offer an excuse or tell someone else, “It’s OK, everyone does it”, these words of Jesus slam into my brain and I realize that I am untying something that God bound up tight.

“Father, forgive me.  Your Law is holy just as You are holy.  Help me to never minimize its claim on me.  I know that without Your Spirit and Your grace, I have no chance of meeting all its obligations.  Thank you for working out my salvation in me.  Left on my own I would be nothing but untied ends.”