Matthew 12: 1 - 13
At that time Jesus went on the Sabbath through the grainfields, and His disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, "Behold, Your disciples do what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath."
But He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he became hungry, he and his companions; how he entered the house of God, and they ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those with him, but for the priests alone? Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath, and are innocent? But I say to you that something greater than the temple is here. But if you had known what this means, 'I desire compassion, and not a sacrifice," you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."
And departing from there He went into their synagogue and behold, there was a man with a withered hand. And they questioned Him, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" In order that they might accuse Him.
And He said to them, "What man shall there be among you who shall have one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it, and lift it out? Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."
Then He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand!" And he stretched it out, and it was restored to normal, like the other.
My thoughts on this passage:
Clearly, people are more important in these examples in this passage than the rules relating to the Sabbath. Jesus gives a couple of examples that show that the person is very important, and that how one relates to people seems to take precedence over the Sabbath law.
- If someone is in need, then it is okay to meet those needs on the Sabbath.
- If an animal is in danger, then it is okay to help it.
- The example of David shows that sometimes there might be exceptions in the application of the Sabbath and its principle.
- God cares so much about people!
Matthew 24: 20
"But pray that your flight may not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath."
My thoughts: Clearly there is some special distinction for the Sabbath for the followers of Jesus as they are told to pray that their flight not be on a Sabbath.
Matthew 28: 1
Jesus was raised after the Sabbath, which led to a change in practice for the early Church of when they worshiped.
Mark 1: 21- 28, Luke 4: 31-37
And they went into Capernaum; and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and began to teach. And they were amazed at His teaching, for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. And just then there was an unclean spirit; and he cried out, saying, "What do we have to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are the Holy One of God!" And Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!" And throwing him into convulsions, the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice, and came out of him. And they were all amazed, so that they debated among themselves, saying, "What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him." And immediately the news about Him went out everywhere into all the surrounding district of Galilee.
Jesus healed and taught on the Sabbath. Teaching on the Sabbath was a common occurrence for Jesus and He was always willing to heal. The next passage in Mark and Luke has him healing Peter's mother in law, which would have also been on the Sabbath and Jesus also healed many others. He continually did good on the Sabbath, healing the whole person through his teachings and physical actions.
Jesus presented himself in Nazareth on the Sabbath, See Luke 4: 16 - 30
Luke 13: 10- 17
And He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a woman who for eighteen years had had a sickness caused by a spirit; and she was bent double, and could not straighten up at all. And when Jesus saw her, He called her over and said to her, "Woman, you are freed from your sickness." And He laid His hands upon her, and immediately she was made erect again, and began glorifying God. And the synagogue official, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the multitude in response, "There are six days in which work should be done; therefore come during them and get healed, and not on the Sabbath day." But the Lord answered him and said, "You hypocrites, does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the stall, and lead him away to water him? And this woman, a daughter of Abraham as she is, whom Satan has bound for eighteen long years, should she not have been released from this bond on the Sabbath day?" And as He said this, all his opponents were being humiliated; and the entire multitude was rejoicing over all the glorious things being done by Him.
I love this story! It shows Jesus heart for those who have a need. He didn't care about formalities. He cared for the woman who had been bound by something that no one else had been able to cure. He saw that she needed something that He could give, and He gave it immediately. Sabbath day? That was no deterrent to Him. He showed love and compassion on the Sabbath.
In some way, this was keeping the Sabbath. For Jesus never sinned as we are taught in Scripture. Clearly helping someone in need does not break the Sabbath.
Luke 23: 54-56
And it was the preparation day and the Sabbath was about to begin. Now the women who had come with Him out of Galilee followed after, and saw the tomb and how His body was laid. And they returned and prepared spices and perfumes. And on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.
Thought: The followers of Jesus continued to keep the Sabbath after Jesus died, and before He was raised.
John 5: 1 - 47 In this passage Jesus heals a man who is waiting by a pool to possibly be healed. He had been sick for 38 years. For many this is longer than their whole lives up to this point for me it would have been most of my life. The man is hopeless because someone always gets to the pool first. Jesus sees the need. He asks a question, verse 6 "Do you wish to get well?" The man answers in a way that I would paraphrase like this, 'What's the use?" If I hope, I am just going to be disappointed. My circumstance is unfixable. But Jesus has power and volition and He says to Him verse 8 "Arise, take up your pallet, and walk." And guess what? The man does it and is healed, but there is one wrinkle. It was on the Sabbath. The Jewish leaders were incensed that Jesus would heal on the Sabbath day. They had missed the entire purpose of the Sabbath.
In verse 17 Jesus gives a response; "My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working." He emphasizes that He is related to God the Father and that doing good is not something that He nor the Father will stop doing. This enraged the Jewish leaders. Jesus goes into a message in the rest of John 5. Please, read it.
John 7: 21 - 24 Jesus answered and said to them, "I did one deed and you all marvel. On this account Moses has given you circumcision (not because it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and on the Sabbath you circumcise a man. If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath that the Law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath? Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."
Thoughts: It isn't about looking righteous, but about acting in a right way. Do we act in a way that demonstrates our love for God and for others?
The next passage is awesome as is the man's response! Please look it up and read it!
John 9: 1 - 41
Jesus comes upon a man who has been blind his entire life. He tells his disciples that the blindness is not a result of the man's sin nor of his parents sin, but to demonstrate the works of God. Sometimes our afflictions aren't caused by us or others, but are brought about to somehow show God's greatness and grace.
Jesus heals the man by making mud with his spit and then telling the man to go and wash. The man obeys immediately. He is immediately healed, but once again this was on a Sabbath so enter the religious leaders.
The man tells them what happened and how he was healed. His parents come in and confirm, that he was blind from birth, but leave him to answer himself because of fear.
Verse 10-11 Therefore they were saying to him, "How then were your eyes opened?" He answered, "The man who is called Jesus made clay, and anointed my eyes, and said to me. 'Go to Siloam, and wash"; so I went away and washed, and I received sight."
The Jewish leaders continue to have issues with Jesus and keep asking the man who he thinks Jesus is. The man gives his response in the end of verse 17 And he said, "He is a prophet."
Verses 24-34
So a second time they called the man who had been blind, and said to him, "Give glory to God, we know that this man is a sinner." He therefore answered, "Whether He is a sinner, I do not know that, whereas I was blind, now I see." They said therefore to him, "What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?" He answered them, "I told you already, and you did not listen; why do you want to hear it again? You do not want to become His disciples too, do you?" And they reviled him, and said, "You are His disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses; but as for this man, we do not know where He is from." The man answered and said to them, "Well, here is an amazing thing, that you do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes. We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing, and does His will, He hears him. Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, He could do nothing." They answered and said to him, "You were born entirely in sins, and are you teaching us?" And they put him out.
This man's backbone is so strong! He speaks the truth to the religious leaders, but they refuse to listen. He is unashamed and rightly so as Jesus has just done what for man is impossible. The man is unconcerned about what they will do to him. He just knows that whereas he was blind, now he sees. His life has been changed forever by the touch of Jesus. The way Jesus interacts with him in the next passage is also awesome,
35-41 Jesus heard that they had put him out, and finding him, He said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" He answered and said, "And who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?" Jesus said to him, "You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you.: And he said, "Lord, I believe." and he worshiped Him. And Jesus said, "For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see; and that those who see may become blind." Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, "We are not blind too, are we?" Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, 'We see," your sin remains.
Jesus meets the man,, shares who he is, and gives the man a new life direction. Jesus allows the man to worship him. Then those who think they see realize that Jesus words judge them and Jesus tells them that thinking they understand prevents them from truly seeing.
Lord, give me eyes to see!
No comments:
Post a Comment