For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ
for the sake of my own people,
my kindred according to the flesh.
This is the Holy Spirit at work within Paul. This is charity that is above and beyond what is natural for humans. It builds on a love that he already had for his people. But it turns that love into the self-sacrificial love of Christ. It changes merely human love into a love that is willing to do anything possible in order that others may come to know Christ overall and God blessed forever.
We hear a lot about the importance of self-care. We are told that it is important to secure our own oxygen mask before attempting to help others. And it is. But it cannot be an excuse for sitting happily in our seats watching the entertainment console as the plane crashes and burns. The Pharisees are basically doing this with the Sabbath. They aren't interested in others, nor even so much in their relationship with God, as they are with their own rest and their own self-image as followers of the law.
"Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath or not?"
But they kept silent; so he took the man and,
after he had healed him, dismissed him.
The Holy Spirit wants to help us love others the way that Jesus loves them. He wants us to be able to lay our lives down for them if need be. We know that if we are willing to seek first the kingdom without counting the cost we receive infinitely more than anything we stand to lose.
He has granted peace in your borders;
with the best of wheat he fills you.
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