Lights flashing and sirens blazing, an ambulance speeds down the road toward a home that has just called 911. The speed limit is 45mph, but the ambulance is traveling at 65mph. Is the ambulance violating the law?
Well, even though the speed limit is violated, a higher law comes into play. You can think of it this way: in the big scheme of things, what is the law designed to protect? Life! It’s purpose is to protect life. The speed limit, as you know, is put in place to protect life. But in emergency situations, an ambulance transcends the speed limit because the protection of life calls for it. Thus, in a greater sense, the law is never actually broken, because again, the law is established for the protection of life. An ambulance speeding down this road at 65mph is a fulfillment of the law’s ultimate purpose.
A similar dynamic applies to God’s law. This is very important to understand when we move to become “doers of the word and not hearers only” (James 1:22, written at a time when there was no New Testament). If we understand its purpose, we can begin to discern what Jesus calls “the weightier matters of the law.” Understanding the law’s purpose is paramount because, if we don’t, we can actually offend the purpose of the law with our efforts to keep the law. This requires some explanation.
As we strive to keep the commandments to the best of our ability (Romans 3:31), occasionally situations arise in which two commandments come into conflict with one another. In such situations, we must weigh the two commandments and determine which one is greater. The greater one we keep; the lesser one we forgo. But how do we know which is which? Well, I hope some examples will clarify the matter.
As we strive to keep the commandments to the best of our ability (Romans 3:31), occasionally situations arise in which two commandments come into conflict with one another. In such situations, we must weigh the two commandments and determine which one is greater. The greater one we keep; the lesser one we forgo. But how do we know which is which? Well, I hope some examples will clarify the matter.
The Torah says the seventh day is a day of rest. On that day no one in your household may do any work (Exodus 20:8-10 NLT). However, the Torah also says, “If you see that your neighbor’s donkey or ox has collapsed on the road, do not look the other way. Go and help your neighbor get it back on its feet!” (Deuteronomy 22:4 NLT). Question: what do you do if your neighbor’s donkey gets stuck in a ditch on the Sabbath day?
You say to your neighbor, “I am sorry, but today is the Sabbath. Helping you would require work, and God doesn’t want me to work on this day. You’re on your own, buddy.” Of course you don’t say this! Such a response misses the point and fails to fulfill the purpose of the law. In this situation, God wants you to set aside your rest and help your neighbor get his donkey to its feet. Assisting your neighbor is the higher law and it must take precedent.
Think back to 1 Samuel 21, when David and his men have fled from King Saul and they find themselves in desperate need of food. The priest––seeing that no ordinary bread is on hand––removes the consecrated bread from before the Lord and gives it to David. Even though the consecrated bread is supposed to be eaten by the priests alone (Leviticus 24:9), the priest is right to give the bread to David because David’s men would starve without it. The priest discerns the higher law and acts accordingly. Is he violating a commandment? Yes, Leviticus 24:9 is violated. But is he violating the Torah? No! The priest is actually fulfilling the Torah’s purpose and keeping with the law’s original intent. We know this is true because Jesus taught it.
Let’s read Matthew 12:1-5 ESV:
At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? ...”
The priests profane the Sabbath? Here Jesus is making a point. He is pointing out that the Sabbath is a work day for the priests attending to the Tabernacle/Temple. There are special activities the priests have to do on the Sabbath day specifically (see Numbers 28:9-10 for example). So we have the Sabbath day in which we are to do no work, and yet the Torah says that certain works are to be done on the Sabbath. Which is it? Are we to keep the Sabbath and do no work? Yes. But then God comes along and says, “But you priests, there is some special work I want you to do on the Sabbath.” And so that, then, becomes the greater commandment––performing their duties in the Tabernacle/Temple.
Having read Matthew 12:1-5, look at His response to the Pharisees as a whole and note: Jesus is a brilliant Master Rabbi. When He speaks to the Pharisees, it’s like a battle of wits between high-level lawyers. Jesus’ argument is one of transitive relation: “If A is greater than B, and B is greater than C, then A is greater than C.” Referencing 1 Samuel 21, here’s what Jesus is saying: A. Human need trumps the Temple service (taking care of hunger is more important than the priests’ exclusive rights to the holy bread). B. The Temple service trumps the Sabbath (priests have to do work in the Temple on the Sabbath day). If human need trumps the temple service, and if temple service trumps the Sabbath, then C. Human need therefore trumps the Sabbath. Because if A is greater than B, and B is greater than C, A is therefore greater than C. Logically and Biblically, it stacks up.
His hungry disciples plucking grain and eating it resolved a human need. So when the Pharisees saw only a violation of Sabbath, Jesus was like, “Guys! What’s the Torah’s purpose? To give and protect life! Okay––then, keeping in line with the Torah’s purpose, what is the higher law in this situation? What gives and protects life the most: to rest as you define it? Or to eat when we’re hungry? Don’t lose sight of the big picture.” The key thing is that Jesus is not undermining the Torah. On the contrary, He’s restoring balance. He’s expressing the law’s original intent. He’s challenging them to discern the higher law. The Pharisees got it, too. He had bested them using their own book. (They failed to realize He was the author.)
Let’s look at another example where two laws come into conflict, and how Jesus expects us to hold to the higher law. In Leviticus 21:1, the Torah says to the priests, “No one shall defile himself for a dead person among his people.” (Ezekiel reiterates this later, saying, “A priest must not defile himself by going near a dead person.”) With that in mind, Jesus tells the parable of the good Samaritan. It is centered around a man who fell among robbers. These robbers “stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead.” So get the picture: the man is lying there and he appears to be dead. Jesus continues, “Now by chance a priest was going down that road. [The priest] saw him and passed by on the other side.” The priest here is merely keeping the law, right? He does not want to defile himself with this man who looks to be dead. But the priest falls short of the higher law: to be a good neighbor and check on the man. Instead, it is a Samaritan who checks on the man and realizes that the man is not dead at all! The Samaritan then helps the man along. The irony of the story is that the Samaritan keeps the law better than the priest does, in that he upholds the higher law and the priest does not.
In Judaism, there is a rule of thumb that says if two laws come into conflict and you can’t keep both of them, choose to keep the positive one. A positive commandment outweighs a negative commandment. So for example, God’s law commands us not to work on the Sabbath day. The law also says on the eighth day a baby boy is to be circumcised. Circumcision is considered “work” because cutting is one of the 39 Melachot. What happens, then, if the eighth day of the baby’s life coincides with the Sabbath? Which law do we keep? Here’s where the rule of thumb comes into play: if the eighth day falls on a Sabbath, we circumcise nevertheless. The positive commandment trumps the negative commandment.
If I may offer two examples from my own experience, times in which “You shall love your neighbor...” (a positive commandment) trumped a “You shall not...” (a negative commandment).
A number of years ago, my wife and I decided to start eating kosher. If you know anything about eating kosher, then you know that pork is one of those “You shall nots”. Well, on numerous occasions since our making that decision, I have eaten at a friend’s house in which some form of pork or ham was served for dinner. And guess what? Not only did I not judge them for it (Colossians 2:16), I ate what they offered with delight! I enjoyed every bite of it! Here’s my point: if you (like me) choose to eat kosher (for sanctification, not justification), fantastic! But never forget the higher law: to honor your host. If your host serves up a fine roasted pork––enjoy it! And don’t feel one ounce of guilt for violating the kosher laws, because in this situation, you are not violating the Torah. You violate the Torah only if you embarrass your host or undermine their hospitality in any way. To show them honor is the higher law, for you shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Let me give you another example, this one a little different. Recently, I reconnected with an old friend on Facebook. He and I were instant messaging back and forth. In our written dialogue, he misspelled a certain word (I knew it was not a typo). Well, it happened that I wanted to use that particular word in my response. As I went to type, the thought occurred me: what is the higher law? The law of spelling, or the law of not embarrassing my friend? To me, the answer was obvious. Thus, in my response, I too misspelled the word. I spelled it exactly the way he did so as not to embarrass him. Now look, being a person who likes to write, spelling and grammar are dear to my heart. But the You shall love your neighbor trumped the You shall not misspell a word.
Here’s the way I see it: how does a bird fly? A bird’s flight is “unlawful” in that it violates the laws of gravity. But there’s more to the story. Just as an ambulance transcends the speed limit, a bird transcends the laws of gravity––operating according to a higher law called “Bernoulli’s Principle.” Bernoulli’s Principle doesn’t nullify gravity. Rather, it compliments gravity. The wings of a bird operate according to this higher law. So, too, we should operate according to the principle of the higher law. Otherwise, we’ll never get off the ground as students of God’s law.
“The Lord said to Moses, ‘Speak to the people of Israel, and tell them to emphasize the wings of their garments . . . something to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, to do them...’” (Numbers 15:27-39).
