JESUS AND THE SABBATH

JESUS AND THE SABBATH

“At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.” (Matthew 12:1-2)

According to the law of Moses you could enter your neighbor’s grainfield and pick kernels with your hands, but you must not put a sickle to his standing grain (Deuteronomy 23:25). The Pharisees knew what the disciples did was lawful six days of the week, but they insisted that it was “unlawful” to do it on the Sabbath.

“He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread— which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? I tell you that something greater than the temple is here.” (Matthew 12:3-6)

In an ordinary circumstance what David and the priests did was unlawful. In an emergency, however, it was not. For example, while driving a car you are normally required to stop at a stop sign. In an emergency, however, a police officer can stand by the stop sign and wave the traffic through without stopping. In this regard Jesus reminded the Pharisees how David and the priests in an emergency desecrated the Sabbath and yet were innocent. Jesus is greater than the temple and has more authority than any police officer.

Jesus continued: “If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” (Matthew 12:7-8)

These “words” “I desire mercy, not sacrifice” are found in Hosea 6:6. According to the law of Moses those committing adultery must be put to death (Leviticus 20:10). God, however, commanded the prophet Hosea to love his adulterous wife, buy her back from prostitution, and not put her to death (Hosea 3:1). Jesus is “Lord of the Sabbath” and has the right to determine what can lawfully be done on the Sabbath.

“Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” (Matthew 12:9-12)

If a sheep falls into a pit on the Sabbath it is not good to leave it there until the next day. A man, of course, is more valuable than a sheep. “THEREFOR IT IS LAWFUL TO DO GOOD ON THE SABBATH.”

“Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.” (Matthew 12:13-14)

Jesus is not only “Lord of the Sabbath,” He is Lord of everything. Further, “He did not need man’s testimony about man, for he knew what was in man.” (John 2:25) Jesus knew this man’s heart and wanted him to be healed.

Jesus therefore concluded that it was “good” to heal this man with the shriveled hand, even though he did it on the Sabbath.

GATHERING WOOD ON THE SABBATH

“While the Israelites were in the wilderness, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day. Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole assembly, and they kept him in custody, because it was not clear what should be done to him. Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must die. The whole assembly must stone him outside the camp.” So the assembly took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the Lord commanded Moses.” (Numbers 15:32-36)

Since it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath, this man God commanded to be stoned to death was obviously doing something on the Sabbath that was not good.

The verses just before perhaps provide the answer: “‘But if just one person sins unintentionally, that person must bring a year-old female goat for a sin offering. The priest is to make atonement before the Lord for the one who erred by sinning unintentionally, and when atonement has been made, that person will be forgiven. One and the same law applies to everyone who sins unintentionally, whether a native-born Israelite or a foreigner residing among you.“‘But anyone who sins defiantly, whether native-born or foreigner, blasphemes the Lord and must be cut off from the people of Israel. Because they have despised the Lord’s word and broken his commands, they must surely be cut off; their guilt remains on them.’” (Numbers 15:27-31)

Remember what God told Samuel: “Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.” (I Samuel 16:7) Evidently, God looked at this man’s heart who gathered wood on the Sabbath and knew that that his actions were not “unintentional” but “defiant.” He apparently “despised” God’s command with the intention of “blaspheming” the Lord.

We repeat the words of Jesus who is Lord of the Sabbath - “IT IS LAWFUL TO DO GOOD ON THE SABBATH.”

HEALING THE LAME MAN AT THE POOL

“Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of

me.”Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath.” (John 5:1-9)

This may be the only time in Scripture when Jesus was in the presence of sick people whom he did not heal. There were a “great number of disabled people” at the pool, but Jesus only healed one. Further, Jesus knew it was the Sabbath day and yet he commanded this invalid to “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” While Jesus may have had many reasons to do this, two reasons seem obvious. First, it would give Jesus an opportunity to teach about his own deity, and second it would also give him the opportunity to teach how to properly observe the Sabbath.

When Jesus healed the man with a withered hand on the Sabbath “the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.” (Matthew 12:14) Now after telling a lame man to “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” we are told: “For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.” (John 5;18)

Please note that the Jews correctly understood that Jesus was claiming to be equal with God. This prompted Jesus to teach about his own deity! Here are some reasons Jesus gave why he was equal with God and could do what he wanted to on the Sabbath.

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Both God and Jesus can give life (vs. 21)

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The Father has entrusted all judgment to the Son (v. 22)

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The dead will be resurrected when they hear the voice of the Son of God (v. 25)

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John the Baptist testified to the deity of Jesus (vss. 31-35).

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The works Jesus performed testify to his deity (vss. 36-38).

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The Scriptures testify to the deity of Jesus (vs. 39).

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Moses also testified about Jesus (vs. 46).

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Yes! Jesus is God and his name is “Immanuel” which means “God with us” (Matthew 1:23). •

Paul said it like this: “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.” (1 Timothy 3:16)

SEVEN MIRACLES PERFORMED BY JESUS ON THE SABBATH

Jesus did many miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in the Bible (John 20:30). The Scriptures, however, do list seven miracles he performed on the Sabbath.

• Jesus healed Simon Peter’s Mother-in-Law (Mark 1:29-31).
• Jesus healed a man with a withered hand (Mark 3:1-6).
• Jesus healed a man born blind (John 9:1-16).
• Jesus healed a crippled woman (Luke 13:10-17).
• Jesus healed a man with dropsy (Luke 14:1-6).
• Jesus drove out an evil spirit (Mark 1:21-28).
• Jesus healed a lame man by the pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-18).

THE SABBATH WAS MADE FOR MAN

“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27)

There are 24 hours in a day and the average person requires 8 hours of sleep. In other words, God created us so that the average person will spend 1/3 of his life sleeping. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute warns that “Sleep deficiency is linked to many chronic health problems, including heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, obesity, and depression.”

Medical News Today tells us that rest days are also an important part of any exercise routine. They recommend that a person should plan to take regular rest days and should learn to recognize when extra rest days are necessary. The health benefits of rest days include:

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Alleviating muscle pain and soreness. •

Repairing and building muscles.

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Replenishing the body’s energy stores. •

Preventing injury.

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Allowing the mind to rest.

• God gave us the Sabbath to make us healthy!

The Jews, however, lost sight of God’s concern for our health and divided Sabbath rules into 39 different categories. These 39 categories listed hundreds of things not to do on the Sabbath. Their man made rules were so strict that they forbade even plucking a gray hair, swatting a fly, spitting on the ground, or even looking in the mirror. Peter warned at the Jerusalem Council: “Why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear?” (Acts 15:10)

Modern Jews face the same problem if they lose sight of God’s intent. For example, since Jewish law forbade kindling a light on the Sabbath modern Jews are forced to buy refrigerators with a “Sabbath mode.” This enables them to open the door on the Sabbath without turning on a light. With reference to microwaves they are told: “On Shabbat, you may not put food in a microwave oven and have a timer turn it on, even if no light will be lit. However, you may put the food into the microwave oven BEFORE sunset on Shabbat and have the timer turn on the microwave oven on Shabbat. NOTE: You must cover the microwave controls from before Shabbat.”

Sadly, the Jews in Jesus’ day tried to please God with ridiculous Sabbath laws, yet were the very ones who hired false witnesses so they could crucify Jesus. Jesus correctly accused them of being blind guides who would strain out a gnat but swallow a camel (Matthew 23:24).

DO NOT LET ANYONE JUDGE YOU ABOUT THE SABBATH

“Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.” (Colossians 2:16-17)

When gentiles became a part of the church the question arose about how many Jewish laws were they required to keep. The apostles and elders met in Jerusalem to discuss this question. After much discussion they concluded: “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you

with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.” (Acts 15:28-29)

These four prohibitions are thought to date back to the covenant that God made with Noah (Genesis (9:1-17). Not everyone is a descendant of Israel, but everyone on earth today is a descendant of Noah. Christians, however, still have the freedom to do do many things commanded by the law.

The Apostle Paul, for example, was free to circumcise Timothy (Acts 16:3), worship in the synagogue on Saturday (Acts 17:2), shave his head because he made a vow (Acts 18:18), live in obedience to the law (Acts 21:24) and purify himself so he could worship in the Jewish Temple (Acts 21:26). While Paul was free to do these things he could not demand that anyone else do these things.

Just before encouraging Paul to enter into the Jewish temple to worship, James and all the elders remembered the verdict of the Jerusalem council and said: “As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality.” (Acts 21:25)

YES! YOU ARE FREE TO OBSERVE THE SABBATH IF YOU CHOOSE TO DO SO, BUT NO ONE CAN CONDEMN YOU IF YOU CHOOSE NOT TO DO SO!

THE SIXTH DAY AND THE FIRST DAY

The Jews worshiped on the sixth day of the week, but Christians worshiped on the first day of the week.

This, however, does not make Sunday the Sabbath. You are free to rest on Sunday, however, if you choose to do so.

Here are some reasons why Christians meet on the first day of the week.

• Jesus was raised from the dead on the first day of the week (Matthew 28:1)
• Jesus met with his disciples on the first day of the week (John 20:19).
• The church began on Pentecost was was the first day of the week (Leviticus 23:15-16).
• The church met on the first day of the week to break bread (Acts 20:7).
• The church took up offerings on the first day of the week (1 Corinthians 16:1-2).

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We need not divide the church over on which day to worship. Here is Paul’s inspired advice to the brethren in Rome: “Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand. One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone.” (Romans 14:1-7)

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Constantine is celebrated as the first Christian emperor. Not only did he stop the persecution or Christians but in A.D. 321 he allowed them to worship on the first day of the week. Constantine did not change the Sabbath. The Sabbath is still the 7th day of the week. He merely allowed Christians to worship on the first day of the week as they had been doing for 300 years.

THE PEOPLE OF GOD ARE PROMISED A SABBATH REST

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There is a sense in which the deliverance of Israel from Egypt is like our own deliverance from the devil at the time of our conversion.

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There is a sense in which their 40 years in the wilderness is like our journey through life in search of the rest that God has promised.

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There is a sense in which the Jordan River symbolizes death. We must die in order to receive the rest that God has promised.

• Many of the Israelites did not enter into their promised rest because they were not faithful.

Therefore, the book of Hebrews therefore provides this warning: “So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness, where your ancestors tested and tried me, though for forty years they saw what I did. That is why I was angry with that generation; I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.’ So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’” (Hebrews 3:7-11)

Please consider these inspired words regarding our eternal rest:

“Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed. Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, “So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’” And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “On the seventh day God rested from all his works.” And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.” Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience, God again set a certain day, calling it “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.” (Hebrews 4:1-11)