When I was in college, a friend invited me to join a Wisdom Society. We were required to write a philosophical essay every month, and the best essay received an award and was published. The first assignment was titled “God Created Humans or Humans Created God.”
It was thought-provoking but not as easy to write as I had expected. Even though I didn’t win the contest, the topic stayed in my head for over 30 years: Did God create humans, or did humans create God? I’m open-minded, and I like to investigate the truth. Wrestling with this topic does expand your wisdom.
I’ve discovered that the best way to answer this question is by figuring out the second part, “Did humans create God?” because it’s easier to prove than the first.
If God created humans, God is the higher intelligence. It’s harder for the lower intelligence to understand the higher one.
If humans created God, we are the higher intelligence, and it would be easier to reverse-engineer our creation to figure out why and how we created God.
As humans, we create things to meet necessities. We made airplanes to meet the necessity of traveling faster and farther. We created countries and territories to meet the necessity for security. Otherwise, we could have lived in a global village without borders.
We created kings and presidents because leadership is necessary. We need someone to call the shots; the buck must stop somewhere.
If God is also our creation, what human need necessitates our creation of God? I’ve discovered that humans need a moral compass or a North Star to orient our lives for meaning and purpose. God meets that human need.
Then, it becomes a catch twenty-two situation. If we need God to have a moral compass, the moment we realize God is our own creation, the magic stops working because we are following our own artificial North Star.
When you say, “Humans created God,” you become an atheist instantly? You can’t have it both ways. You can’t be a theist and be a creator of God. Atheists don’t believe in God because they believe God is a human invention.
They also argue that human belief in God evolves with time. They say, “If God is true, why does theology evolve along with human evolution? If God existed, he wouldn’t have changed over time. Therefore, God is a human creation.
That’s also a catch-twenty-two logic. If belief in God is part of human evolution, then wouldn’t it make atheists less evolved? In fact, some cultures do believe atheism to be barbaric. Civilized societies are God-believing societies.
If you think deeply enough, there is no logical argument for “Humans created God.” Instead, the need for meaning and a moral compass are clues that God created humans.
John Calvin said we are born with a sense of divinity and a seed of religion. That’s why you see religions and philosophers all over the world in search of the Creator. Saint Augustine put it succinctly,
“You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” ~Saint Augustine
We didn’t create God to rest our restless hearts; our hearts are restless because God created us to rest in God. After digging into the great minds from past to present and East to West, there is only compelling logic to argue for “God created humans.”
If “God created humans” is more logical, why do we have atheists, and some of them are pretty smart? After talking with many atheists, I discovered that organized religions turn them off. They can’t differentiate religions from God.
God created humans, but humans created religions. Religion is not equivalent to God. The atheists got it wrong. God is not a problem; religions are. When religions corrupt, they blame it on God. They say, “If there’s a God, why can’t he even keep his church in order?”
What they don’t understand is that God created humans with responsibility, not as puppets. God created humans with free will so our love can be genuine.
Jesus didn’t come to establish a religion but to rekindle our relationships with God and with people. So, Christianity is not a religion but a relationship. That’s what Jesus’ Great Commandment is about—love God and love people—nothing more and nothing less.
Religions set rules, but relationships sow love. We see Jesus frequently breaking the rules, triggering the religious leaders’ anger. He didn’t break the rules to be rebellious but to show us that corrupt religions turn people off by valuing rules above love.
So, today, let’s explore how Jesus broke the rules and why so we can learn when to break the rules to maintain loving relationships and avoid loveless religiosity based on this week’s scripture lessons. Let’s begin!
The scripture lesson for today, Proper 4, is from the Gospel According to Mark 2:23-3:6. Listen to the Word of the Lord!
One sabbath he was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24 The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?” 25 And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? 26 He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.” 27 Then he said to them, “The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; 28 so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”
3 Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. 2 They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3 And he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come forward.” 4 Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. 5 He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him. (Mk 2:23-3:6).
[Blessed are those who delight in God’s Word. Thanks be to God!]
This passage covers two stories about the conflict between God and religion regarding the sabbatical law. Sabbath is the day of rest after six days of work. The Jewish sabbath is on Saturday. The Christian sabbath is on Sunday to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection.
You might also know a Christian denomination called the Seventh-day Adventists that insists on observing the sabbath on Saturday because it’s historically the actual seventh day. Such a rigid mindset is religiosity.
The biblical principle is to rest one day after six days of work. It can be any day of the week. God requires it for your health and wholeness because he created you that way, and if you don’t rest one day a week, you will encounter health issues down the line. It’s proven by today’s medical science.
I researched the sabbath on the web this week and found many arguments from both sides. Some say Christians must observe the sabbath, and others say we don’t have to because Jesus has already fulfilled the law for us. They are all wrong because they don’t understand this passage. Jesus said,
“The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath.” (Mk 2:27).
It means the sabbath is made for the health and wholeness of humans. It’s not to bind humans with rules. Jesus didn’t say we should not observe the sabbath, but he wants us to know the truth behind this law so we know when to break it and when to make it.
The laws bind us, but the truth sets us free. So, let’s look at the truth.
The requirement to observe the sabbath came from the Ten Commandments. It’s one of the Big Ten, so it’s important. The Fourth Commandment says,
“Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall not do any work.” (Ex 20:8–10a).
Notice it says, “You shall not do any work.” Later, it also says that you are not to start a fire for cooking, and you are not to eat, meaning you must fast once a week. That’s why some Jews do not drive on the Sabbath. On Saturdays, we see them walking to the synagogues.
That’s why the Pharisees criticize Jesus for his disciple’s behavior. The first story says,
“One sabbath he was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?” (Mk 2:23-24).
Here, the Pharisees regarded plucking heads of grain as harvesting or working. So, they were breaking the sabbatical law. Matthew’s and Luke’s versions of this story say that the disciples ate the grains because they were hungry.
So, the Pharisees saw them breaking two sabbatical laws: working and eating. Failure to observe the sabbath was punishable by death sentence. You can see that these Pharisees valued rules above love. Jesus answered them,
“Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.” (Mk 2:25-26).
David was running from King Saul, who tried to kill him. He was hungry and came to the temple to ask for food. There was no food except the bread of the Presence, which is the bread on the altar that only the priests could eat. But the priest gave it to David after a dialog. He put love above the law.
Jesus meant that if the Pharisees were to criticize or punish his disciples, they should have also criticized their ancestor, David. It’s hypocrisy. But Jesus’ most important teaching here is,
“The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath.” (Mk 2:27).
This principle applies to all laws, not just to the sabbath. The Pharisees failed to understand the purpose of the sabbath and treated it blindly as a rigid rule. Jesus reveals that the sabbath is to preserve our life, not to starve us to death. It defeats the purpose if we starve to death by keeping the sabbath.
The main problem here is that the Pharisees knew laws but not love. Without love, laws become a weapon to gain power. They become a means to enslave people. If we understand the purpose of every law is for love, we can break it to preserve purpose.
I always say, “When love is right, nothing is wrong.” That’s the principle I learned from Jesus.
Jesus summarizes the Ten Commandments into one Great Commandment: love God and love people; nothing more and nothing less. The first four commandments are for loving God, and the others are for loving people.
The sabbath is one of the first four commandments. We observe it to express our love for God and maintain a healthy relationship with God.
For example, Sunday is our sabbath day. We use that day to express our love for God in worship and other activities, such as resting, playing, and enjoying God’s creation since God said that the sabbath is to “remember” God’s completion of the creation.
Jesus frequently emphasizes loving people as the way to love God. If you don’t love people, you don’t love God.
Then Jesus said something that triggered the rage of the Pharisees even more. He said,
“So the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.” (Mk 2:28).
They knew God made the sabbath, so Jesus was saying he is God, and that’s why he knows what these laws are for. They are for love. The next story reinforces this teaching.
Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him. (Mk 3:1-2).
Normally, cripples were not allowed to enter the synagogue on the sabbath. So, it was a setup for lawfare. They wanted to catch him working on the sabbath by curing people and might punish him with a death sentence later. At least they could defame him as a lawbreaker and not a legitimate rabbi, far from the Son of God or the Messiah.
As always, moved by love, Jesus jumped right into their trap, even knowing their evil intention. He also used this opportunity to teach them the seriousness of their corruption.
And he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come forward.” Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. (Mk 3:3-4).
They were silent because they were holding their breath, hoping to catch Jesus red-handed. It was sad to see the religious leaders launching lawfare on the Son of God. There’s no love in them. No wonder many people stayed away from the religion.
Jesus wanted to save a life, but they tried to kill him for that. They were silent not because they felt convicted by Jesus’ question but because their hearts were hardened; they were determined to get Jesus. Jesus noticed it and was angry.
He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. (Mk 2:5).
His love made him break the rule, risking his life. Of course, he didn’t break God’s rule; he broke the religious rules. The difference is love. The Pharisees got what they wanted.
The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him. (Mk 3:6).
Now, they have collected other evidence of Jesus committing a crime. Herodians are King Herod’s people. They were politicians. The Pharisees and Herodians usually don’t get along because Herodians are Roman minions. Now, the shared hatred against Jesus joined religious leaders and politicians hand-in-hand to conspire the next level of lawfare.
That was just the beginning of the Gospel of Mark. Mark reveals the killing of Jesus was not an overnight decision but a long-term plan by those who know are law-savvy without emotional intelligence. They thought he had won when they eventually crucified Christ. But we know they lost because the love of Christ continues to spread all over the world.
The risen Christ shows love never dies because love is above the law and defies the law. God is love. Let us not repeat what the Pharisees did and make people stumble, but let’s carry on the love and light of Jesus to break the laws of darkness.
That is for today. Until we meet again, keep your light shining brighter and broader, sowing the seeds of love as Jesus did.
Amen!
Bye now!
