The red letters

There's a great old song by the band dcTalk, called "Red Letters."  It is a poetic way of referring to the words of Jesus, as many translations of the Bible have Jesus' words printed in red, while the rest of the text is in black.  The chorus says that: "There is love in the red letters, there is truth in the red letters, there is hope for the hopeless, peace and forgiveness, there is life in the red letters."

I was listening to the song this morning, and I decided to go straight to the source, as it were.  Just what is it in Jesus' words that made them so powerful?  What is it about His words, that have caused them to endure and thrive throughout thousands of years of persecution?  

Something He said in Matthew 12 struck me.  In verse 7, He said that "I desire mercy, not sacrifice."  I would add my own paraphrase to that - He desires people, not rules.  God is a God of compassion, not cruel dictatorship.  Many other religions in the world are run by rules, their people dictated by fear.  Even people's good deeds are often not done out of love, but rather out of a fear of what will happen to them in the next life if they are not kind to their neighbors in this one.  

But Jesus is different.  He goes straight to the heart of the matter.  He desires mercy, not sacrifice.  People, not rules.  Love, not fear.  Perhaps that is one of the reasons why people still cling to His words, even thousands of years later.  Because, deep down inside, all of us want to feel that we matter.  All of us want to feel that we believe in something important.  All of us want to feel loved.  And love?  Well, love is Jesus' specialty.  That's what he is all about.  If you don't believe me, take some time to read the red letters for yourself.  

Matthew 12:3-8

He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?  He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests.  Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent?  I tell you that something greater than the temple is here.  If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.  For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”