Job 8-10
Bildad is making some hard assumptions about how God works – He will do this and He won’t do that – but who are we to assume we know the ways of God? Job, at least, seems to understand that God is sovereign; He can do whatever He wants and who is to tell Him it is wrong? There is a lot of flowery language in this book that I have trouble putting together to an actual point, but this seems to be the general gist of what is being said, as far as I can tell.
Matt. 9:1-17
I continue to see the recurring theme of attitudes and motives mattering more than following the “letter of the law”. Not that the law doesn’t matter, but what good is sacrifice (the letter of the law) if it is not done with the right heart (mercy, repentance, etc)? And for Jesus’ disciples to fast (the letter of the law) while in His presence would have been inappropriate – the action would have been for show, since the purpose for the action was voided with Jesus right there among them. I believe the law was given to us to reveal our hearts, but the law cannot change our hearts – only Jesus can do that.