Priority Is Relationship Over The Law?*

Luke 6:2 – Some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”

Luke 6:9 – Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?”

Priority suggests that there is a list of important things to do but not all can be done first. All are equally important but one must be attended to first. Attending to one first doesn’t mean others are not important. The one attended to first is the one given priority.

God created us, therefore we have a relationship with Him. The same God gave us laws to follow to make our lives easy. Between our relationship with Him and the laws He gave, what is His priority?

In the garden of Eden there was a relationship between God and the couple He created. In the garden of Eden there was a law against eating the forbidden fruit. When Adam and Eve broke the law, what did God prioritize?

A salvation plan was put in place to save us from sin, before we sinned. Salvation is prioritization of the relationship over the law. The law required that the sinner dies. The law could not be broken. Would God forfeit His relationship with us in order to uphold His law? Both were important none could be forfeited. God prioritized the relationship by developing a salvation plan to satisfy the law in order to protect His relationship with us.

God the Son died for us to satisfy the law that required death of the sinner. He died so that we can live and continue relating with Him. The relationship became a priority over the law. Yet the law was not trashed at all.

The Bible teaches about forgiveness. We forgive each other to maintain good relationships. If God didn’t give us forgiveness and told us to follow the law over relationships, life would be impossible. When you break the law by hurting me, you should be punished and probably banished. That means end of the relationship. Forgiveness is when relationship becomes a priority over the law.

In our text today, Jesus had serious disagreements with Jewish religious leaders. They prioritized the law over relationships. They would rather lose a relationship than follow God’s formula where both law and relationship were upheld for the sake of the relationship.

The Sabbath law was much more important than feeding hungry disciples from a wheat field. The Sabbath law was more important than healing a man with a lame hand. For the Jewish leaders the law was much more important than the welfare of the people. Jesus corrected them. Priority is relationship over the law. We seek to uphold both in the interest of the relationship.

Grace is prioritizing the relationship over law. Upholding both the law and the relationship but in the interest of the relationship. When you uphold both in the interest of the relationship, the relationship is the priority.

We forgive seventy times seven or endlessly because we are interested in the relationship. Forgiveness gives the relationship another chance. If we stuck to the law only without thinking about the relationship, we would have ended the relationship when the first offense was done.

David committed adultery with Bathsheba and then killed Uriah. God would have killed him instantly. That way the law would be a priority and fully satisfied. Instead, God send Nathan to lead David to confession and repentance, because God wanted to restore the relationship with David. Upholding both law and relationship in the interest of the relationship.

When we refuse the relationship prioritization we eventually end up dealing with the law only and eternal death becomes inevitable. Those who will end up in hell are those who have rejected the advances made by relationship and must now deal with the law that demands their death.

Preaching is upholding of law and relationship in the interest of the relationship. When the sermon is accepted the relationship prioritization has won. When the sermon is rejected, the sinner prefers to deal with the law directly. Cursed is he who is under law, Galatians 3:10, because he must die.

The small punishments we subject wrong doers is to help them see the harshness of the law so that they can choose the relationship. Redemptive punishment, the intention is to win back the person into a good relationship.

Love is about relationships. Grace is about relationships. Forgiveness is about relationships. Punishment is about the law. Punishment is a result of a rejected and offended relationship. Hell fires and eternal death is end of a relationship.

Jesus death on the cross was to save us from end of relationship. Jesus experienced end of relationship on our behalf so that we don’t experience it. That is why He cried, “my God why have you forsaken me?” It was end of relationship death.

Can we too prioritize relationship over our personal interests? Can we prioritize relationships as we relate with parents, children, spouses, neighbors, relatives, workmates and even church members? In the event of an offense, can you prioritize restoring the relationship over revenge and punishment? When we prioritize relationships then forgiveness comes first.

God has prioritized our relationship with Him. God wants us to prioritize our relationship with others. As I have forgiven you, forgive one another.

Don’t break the law for the sake of the relationship, no! Uphold the law and the relationship in the interest of the relationship. Act in the interest of the relationship without offending the law. God did it for us and we can do it for others. Prioritize the relationship.

Between our relationship with God and with others, the relationship with God comes first. We should uphold both relationships in the interest of our relationship with God. For God relationships are important, are they important to you?

May God grant us the interest in relationships that He has. May we act in the interest of our relationship with God and others. In Jesus’s name, Amen!

Someone you know will only know about this article if you share with them. Someone you know needs this article. Share this with one more person. Don’t copy the text. Copy THE LINK or send the website address which is reikesis.com so that they too read the word of God FROM THE WEBSITE and access more. YOU CAN COMMENT on this article at the bottom of the article. Also remember this author has a YouTube channel @ReiKesis which has hundreds of videos for you! Thanks for your loyal support of this ministry!