Lifting the Burden

Roman emperor Justinian once ordered a compilation of all the laws governing ancient Rome. A lawyer named Tribonian directed the five-year-long project, which resulted in nearly 300 volumes of laws! From its founding in 753 BC, Rome began accumulating laws. Any leader—local or national—could introduce new laws to govern his subjects. When Justinian came to power in AD 527, Roman law was a confusing mass of contradiction and redundancy. Justinian appointed Tribonian to thoroughly examine the laws, determining what to keep and what to discard. Seven years later, in 534, the Justinian Code was finally finished.

Today, most European nations owe the structure of their legal systems to Roman law. Even in the United States, many legal concepts that we take for granted originated in Rome. Like their hated captors, the Jews amassed an enormous set of confusing and burdensome laws. Regarding the Sabbath alone, Pharisees created 39 categories of activities that might be considered work and were therefore taboo on Sabbath.

Enter Jesus and His no-nonsense spirituality. A lawyer once asked Jesus which law was most important. Jesus summarized the Ten Commandments into two simple ideas: “Love Me, and love your neighbor.”

We serve a God who keeps it simple! Christians still gravitate toward black and white lists of dos and don’ts; with lists, thinking and communing with God over life’s unique situations becomes unnecessary. But God promises that when we ask Him for guidance, He will direct us—to actions that demonstrate our love for Him and for our neighbor.

Key Bible Texts

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:37-40 KJV)