It’s that time of the year again, yes, the “Most Wonderful time of the Year!” Happy Thanksgiving 2025 to everyone. Thanksgiving is typically a time of gathering with family, friends, and often a time of meeting new people who have been “added” to our family/friends by others. In my case, this year, my youngest daughter turned 18 today, so Saturday we’re calling it Aniah’s-Giving, a family gathering to celebrate her and give thanks! I’m sure I’ll meet some teens I don’t know. Even in their world, you can see the dynamic; sometimes coming together brings things to the surface that can stay buried when they’re apart. Some will link closer to others, creating cliques within cliques, and conversations surface thoughts and motives previously unseen. In those moments, it becomes strikingly accurate that a day built around selflessness and gratitude can be so pregnant with the potential to reveal the tension between self-interest and truth.
“If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the Law of Moses will not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath?
~John 7:23
God values restoration and compassion above ritual observation. True obedience honors the heart of God’s law, not just outward form.
The reflection on the fictional film “Straw” explores an important question: what happens when kindness meets strict rules. I agree with this idea. When looking at what Janiyah did, looking only at the rules, we’d say she deserves immediate punishment. She took a life, so by that standard alone, she should go to jail, without the argument that she held up a bank as well. But this view sees only law, ignoring her suffering or mental health. If someone says she should be set free because her suffering was shown on live video, a strict judge would see that as a mistake by the justice system. This is exactly the tension Jesus confronted in John 7:23: to judge with fairness, not just by appearances. People who focus only on what’s obvious and measurable often forget how broken people really are and the importance of mercy and kindness.
In the context of the passage we’re talking about today, we can see a legal trap is being set for Jesus (allowing circumcision on the Sabbath but condemning healing). The truth is, the man’s sin had placed him in that disabled state; this was, in essence, 38 years of consequence. Therefore, it would be fair to say that God Himself saw the need to hold him accountable for an action he committed 38 years prior, in the context. Yet God in His mercy didn’t leave him that way. Jesus was targeted as a lawbreaker for making this man entirely well. The self-interest of the Jews was about preserving their authority and their preferred interpretation of God’s law, and this blinded them to the compassionate truth of the miracle that happened.
Judgment today often lacks compassion, driven more by self-interest than truth. Love will always be the fulfillment of the law; if circumcision was permitted to fulfill the law, it should have been allowed in the celebration of this invalid of 38 years being made entirely whole. However, this tension is not only found in our homes during this time of year, but also in our churches. We often confuse rules with righteousness. God is not either-or. He is both justice and mercy. We should choose compassion in a world that is hurting and needs healing more than ever before. As believers, we’ll have to make the crucial shift of exercising our faith to choose compassion and truth.
This passage teaches that tradition should not be elevated above caring for people. It’s the spirit of the law we uphold, to love, not the letter. While we shouldn’t withhold grace to uphold a standard, we should be clear about the need for boundaries at the moment. Mercy can sometimes feel so inconvenient, but it’s never wrong. We live this out daily as we die to ourselves and walk as living sacrifices. We choose willingly and freely to love God’s way, and to uphold His heart no matter the situation.
Time of Reflection:
** Religious tradition should never eclipse human compassion.
** God’s law points us to love, not legalism.
Heart-Probe moment:
** In what area of my life have I valued rules over the well-being of others?
References:
John 7:23-25
Matt 12:7
Rom 13:10
Study tool: Thomas Chronological Study Bible Q. 50a
Closing Prayer:
Father, thank You for showing me that mercy is not a loophole; it is knowing the heart of Your law. Teach me to honor You by choosing to see others the way You do at all times, acting in both courage and compassion.
