Matthew 12:7
But if you had known what this is, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice,” you would not have condemned those who are not guilty.
Matthew 22:36-39
“Master, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Yeshua plainly refuted the idea that there is no hierarchy or precedence within God’s law. There are greater commandments and lesser commandments. Some laws must be held higher than others in order to resolve apparent conflicts such as healing or feeding the poor on the Sabbath.
Most Christian theologians divide the law into two parts, moral and ceremonial, and they usually dismiss the ceremonial as irrelevant to life after the cross. I believe that division is incorrect and does a great deal of harm. It would be much better to divide the law the same way that Yeshua did: by beneficiary. All of God’s laws have a beneficiary, and usually more than one: either Self, Others, or God.
The Sabbath honors God and includes provisions for ensuring the rest of others, but obedience to it is primarily self-serving. There is nothing wrong with that. God gave us that law for our own benefit. For some, it is a vital opportunity to say no without causing hard feelings.
Other laws are aimed at the benefit of others and take precedence over the former. “If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years. And in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.” A slave owner is required to care for the physical and spiritual welfare of the slave. Like the Sabbath, the laws governing Hebrew slavery fits all three categories: It honors God by honoring his image and his chosen people. It benefits the slave owner by ensuring the good will of his slaves and the health of his community. However, the slave reaps the greatest benefit. His servitude was limited in duration, scope, and rigor. He is assured generous compensation for his service. In fact, if he sold himself into slavery, he will be paid at least twice: First when he sold himself, second during the course of his service, and third when he is released.
Laws that benefit God always benefit the law-keeper and those around him. “You shall have no other gods before me,” for example. Worshipping other gods is a waste of effort and might actually invite sickness and disaster, but primarily we worship only one God because that is what he wants.
We have to be very careful with this category. All of God’s laws were given for mankind’s benefit, and we shouldn’t say that one law or another primarily benefits God unless he has told us so as in, “For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God…” Sacrifice is a good example. Blood sacrifices were never about satisfying God’s blood lust, for he has none. Like Yeshua’s sacrifice, the sacrifice of animals was to bring us closer to God. Hence, blood sacrifice is mostly for the benefit of the one bringing it.
If you encounter an apparent conflict in obeying God’s laws, he has already given us the standard which we are to follow. Choose the path which honors God first, then that which honors others, and finally that which honors ourselves.