MEN AND SHEEP

MEN AND SHEEP

“How much more valuable is a man than a sheep”! (Matt. 12:12).

Peter Singer is an Australian born Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University. In 2006 he was voted one of Australia’s ten most influential public officials. His ethics, however, are much different from those of Jesus. Singer believes that a sheep is better than a man. In fact, on June 23, 2015 he went on record as saying “If a house were on fire I’d save 200 pigs before saving one human child”. He believes that human babies are not self aware and are therefore not persons. Consequently, he concludes that the “life of a newborn is of less value than the life of a pig, a dog, or a chimpanzee”. Further, he believes that an attending physician should kill some babies on the spot and that infanticide should be an option until a baby is 30 days old. Is this the kind of “ethics” you want college students to be taught?

While you may consider his views as radical, many do not. Have you noticed that the most outspoken promoters of animal “rights,” are also the most militant supporters of abortion? Craig Bannister reported on April 3, 2018 that the president of Planned Parenthood, Cecile Richards, pleaded for people to adopt a dog before the humane society killed it. Ironically, Planned Parenthood kills 113 babies for every child they refer for adoption. Apparently a dog is better than a child to Cecile Richards. When a 4 year old child was being dragged around by a gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo the gorilla was killed to save the child. Over 60 million babies have been aborted since Roe vs. Wade but not one of them made the headlines. This dead gorilla, however, was immediately front page news and was mourned by millions. Apparently many believe that a gorilla is better than a child. Destroying an eagle egg can result in a $250,000 fine and 10 years in prison. Destroying a baby in the womb is sanctioned by the same government that protects the eagle.

The story of Randy Alcorn demonstrates the determination of our government to protect abortion clinics. Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s Randy was involved in peaceful, non- violent demonstrations at abortion clinics in Oregon. Randy was jailed for protesting and then sued. Even though no physical damage was done an $8.4 million judgement was levied against him. Obviously the state of Oregon feels that killing babies is very important. To avoid having his assets confiscated Randy transferred them to his wife. When they attempted to garnish his wages he resigned from the church he had started 13 years before. Now Randy lives on less than the minimum wage to keep the courts from taking his money and giving it to those who kill babies. Randy is not only a preacher, but also a best selling author. He established a non-profit foundation for his books and gives away the profits. In only 3 short years he gave away $450,000. Randy is not complaining! In fact, he feels that giving infuses his life with joy and interjects an eternal dimension into even the most ordinary day.

Our text was spoken by Jesus in a Jewish synagogue. Seeking for an excuse to accuse Jesus the Pharisees sought to entrap Him with a man who had a shriveled hand. They taunted Jesus and wanted to know if it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath day? Jesus reminded them that they would rescue a sheep on the Sabbath and that a man was more valuable than a sheep. He then commanded the crippled man to stretch out his hand and miraculously healed him. Instead of rejoicing, however, that the man was made whole, the Pharisees plotted instead to kill Jesus. How sad that some killers still think they are doing service to God (Jn. 16:2).

There is, of course, nothing wrong with rescuing a sheep that has fallen in a pit. “A righteous man regards the life of his beast” (Prov. 12:10). It ought to be obvious, however, that a man is better than a sheep. It is good to rescue a fallen sheep, it is better to rescue a fallen man!