This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
Two things that will make people mad in church… (1) messing with tradition and (2) putting Jesus first.
First… the refrain “but we’ve never done it that way before” has been the favorite song of the church, I’m sure, for 2,000 years (maybe longer). No one likes for things to change, but the fact of the matter is, if things aren’t changing, then you’re dying. Did you know that every cell in your body will be completely replaced about every 7 years? Wow! Churches, like people, are constantly changing, or they are lifeless. We like predictability so that we can see how we can fit our church life in with the rest of our lives, but that’s not how it works.
Finally… the fact that we want to fit Jesus into our lives is illustrative of our problem. He’s not something to add to our goals, he is the whole enchilada. Jesus is God, he’s not a guru. He’s not giving you good advice of how to make your life better, he came to give you the good news of what he’s done… so worship him! We serve Jesus, he is our Lord, we don’t get to put other things first. Not our own preferences, not what we like, not just when we have the time… 24/7/365 Jesus is God. Don’t play church… be church.
It’s hard for all of us. We’d like life to be nice and neat, predictable, and according to OUR plans… nope, never happens. Trust in Jesus, put him (not you) at the center of your faith. He’s God, he deserves it.
