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Today's meditation
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Beyond theory
Luke 6:1-11: Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to destroy it?” After looking around at all of them, he [healed the man]….But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.
Disraeli once wrote, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” His words speak of “real life”—existence with harsh realities that defy any theory of how life should be.
Christianity rings true in the “real life” experience of Jesus on earth. In his time here, Jesus faced the challenge of dealing with other real people, with their prejudices, their fears, and their greed. When he healed a person on the Sabbath, he heard not praise for the healing but criticism for not adhering to human-made rules about the Sabbath. His critics were “filled with fury” and continued to plot to restrain or harm him.
How can a person attack another for helping to heal? As ridiculous as it sounds, those attacks come from a perpetrator’s unwillingness for another to succeed or to thrive. Jesus’ critics wanted him stopped, and their greatest weapon was using the theory of religious practice to resist his loving real-life ministry. And to this day—millennia later—they still have not prevented Jesus from bringing healing to the people. Why?
Because true life is lived in reality, not in theory.
Psalms 41, 52; Wisdom 1:16-2:11,21-24; Colossians 1:1-14
Copyright 2025 by Carol Mead. For noncommercial use and sharing only. For more information on this ministry, and on a free subscription to these meditations, please contact the author by email (thenewmead@yahoo.com).
Disraeli once wrote, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” His words speak of “real life”—existence with harsh realities that defy any theory of how life should be.
Christianity rings true in the “real life” experience of Jesus on earth. In his time here, Jesus faced the challenge of dealing with other real people, with their prejudices, their fears, and their greed. When he healed a person on the Sabbath, he heard not praise for the healing but criticism for not adhering to human-made rules about the Sabbath. His critics were “filled with fury” and continued to plot to restrain or harm him.
How can a person attack another for helping to heal? As ridiculous as it sounds, those attacks come from a perpetrator’s unwillingness for another to succeed or to thrive. Jesus’ critics wanted him stopped, and their greatest weapon was using the theory of religious practice to resist his loving real-life ministry. And to this day—millennia later—they still have not prevented Jesus from bringing healing to the people. Why?
Because true life is lived in reality, not in theory.
Psalms 41, 52; Wisdom 1:16-2:11,21-24; Colossians 1:1-14
Copyright 2025 by Carol Mead. For noncommercial use and sharing only. For more information on this ministry, and on a free subscription to these meditations, please contact the author by email (thenewmead@yahoo.com).