Question: Did Jesus break any of the Ten Commandments? Many religious people will automatically say, “No”.
Others that know the Scriptures a bit may say, “Yes, just one – the one about the Sabbath. ‘6 days you will work and on the 7th day you must rest’.
“Jesus did miracles on the Sabbath, and allowed His disciples to pick grain on the Sabbath. He travelled beyond the limits allowed on the Sabbath. So He did break one of the commandments.”
Not true. Jesus didn’t break one of the commandments, he broke the rules around the Sabbath that were man-made.
Further – Jesus took the other commandments to a higher level of implementation. Jesus said murder was not just physically killing someone. Just speaking badly about them was like killing them. And, on the subject of adultery, Jesus said it is more than a physical act. If you look at someone with lust in your eyes, you have already committed the act of adultery.
So today, as we read the Bible, it may be good to ask, what did God mean and what did religious people add to it?
I know it is not popular among religious leaders, but I ask myself, “How much of 21st century religion is man-made?” Jesus died, but not to start a new religion. He died to end the power of religion over us. Amen.
