Acts 15:10b
[Peter speaking] "...by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear?"
Thoughts for Today:
Previously, Peter made the point that God purified the Gentile's hearts (and gave them the Holy Spirit) because of their faith, not because they adopted the traditions and customs of the Jews.
Peter now asks the question of the day, "Why do you want to put a yoke on the necks of new believers that neither we nor our fathers were able to bear?" Wow, that's a really insightful question. You see for thousands of years the Jews had been living under the Mosaic Law which had become incredibly complicated and intricate. For example the Lord said, "Keep the Sabbath Day holy." The Jews said, "It's not that easy." So they wrote and added seven volumes into the Talmud which created rules, regulations and interpretations of what that meant exactly -- the Do's and Don'ts of keeping the Sabbath. One of those rules said you couldn't travel on the Sabbath; this was further defined as more than a thousand paces from your home; so if a Pharisee had to travel more than thousand paces he would lay down a rope from his home stretching one thousand paces, thereby creating a "hallway" which extended his home; if he had to travel farther he would simply lay down another rope, and so on ! until he arrived at his destination. He kept the Law literally, but did he keep the intention of the Law spiritually?
That is the problem with laws -- there is a never ending need to create more laws to clarify the intent of the original law. For example: no sugar means no candy, no donuts, and only certain types of cereals with less than 10 grams of sugar, etc.
You can see how quickly things can become complicated if we try to define every possibility. The bottom line is you can't. So why is this whole Law thing necessary at all? Because we, like Amanda, and the Jews who struggled greatly with the Law, we're always looking for a loophole.
So Peter asks the question, "If all these rules and regulations didn't help to bring us closer to God, then why do we want to place this same burden upon the Gentiles? Do we really want them to be as miserable as we and our fathers before us have been?" What would your answer be?
Peter now asks the question of the day, "Why do you want to put a yoke on the necks of new believers that neither we nor our fathers were able to bear?" Wow, that's a really insightful question. You see for thousands of years the Jews had been living under the Mosaic Law which had become incredibly complicated and intricate. For example the Lord said, "Keep the Sabbath Day holy." The Jews said, "It's not that easy." So they wrote and added seven volumes into the Talmud which created rules, regulations and interpretations of what that meant exactly -- the Do's and Don'ts of keeping the Sabbath. One of those rules said you couldn't travel on the Sabbath; this was further defined as more than a thousand paces from your home; so if a Pharisee had to travel more than thousand paces he would lay down a rope from his home stretching one thousand paces, thereby creating a "hallway" which extended his home; if he had to travel farther he would simply lay down another rope, and so on ! until he arrived at his destination. He kept the Law literally, but did he keep the intention of the Law spiritually?
That is the problem with laws -- there is a never ending need to create more laws to clarify the intent of the original law. For example: no sugar means no candy, no donuts, and only certain types of cereals with less than 10 grams of sugar, etc.
You can see how quickly things can become complicated if we try to define every possibility. The bottom line is you can't. So why is this whole Law thing necessary at all? Because we, like Amanda, and the Jews who struggled greatly with the Law, we're always looking for a loophole.
So Peter asks the question, "If all these rules and regulations didn't help to bring us closer to God, then why do we want to place this same burden upon the Gentiles? Do we really want them to be as miserable as we and our fathers before us have been?" What would your answer be?
Questions to Ponder:
As you look at your life in the context of our devotion today, do you see any rules or laws you have created to define God's intention? Jesus said in Matthew 11:30, "My yoke is easy and my burden is light." What does that mean to you? How have you made being a Christian burdensome and difficult? What has been your witness to others -- the freedom of Christ or the yoke of rules? What is God's intent? What steps can you take today to loosen the yoke of rules in your life and begin to experience freedom and joy in your journey with God?
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