A truth about the human experience, albeit an easily overlooked truth, is that context matters. This is particularly important to grasp when we talk about rules or laws. Whenever rules or laws are written, it is often the case that they are written in a specific context. There is a reality in a given community, or a need to be addressed, which the proposed rule or law addresses. There is no rule that we recognize that was written in a vacuum. This is true for the Ten Commandments. This oft used piece of Scripture was a gift to a formerly enslaved people who had been stripped of their community identity in favor of their enslavers. Upon being liberated by God, these simple rules created the context for a new community that would reflect their relationship with God, one another, and eventually the nations with whom they shared the world. They were meant to be the basis by which a beloved community could be built.

Unfortunately, the ways that this code was often interpreted by the leaders of Israel led to a pattern of abusing power.  Nowhere was this more on display than with Jesus’ ongoing dispute with the Pharisees over Sabbath law. The Sabbath, intended to be a space for people to grow in their relationship with God, became a burdensome set of expectations that more or less missed the whole point of Sabbath. To help his followers regain the intention of Sabbath, Jesus was not afraid to teach or even heal on the Sabbath. It was in these moments that he was able to demonstrate the deeper meaning of God’s reign…Liberation. This should be the intent of all of our theology and talk about God. All theology should be Liberation Theology.