Jesus and the Sabbath

Jesus came under fire from the Pharisees on many occasions, largely because He was a threat to their authority and position. In today's reading, His act of healing and of gleaning wheat from a field were brought into question. The observance of the Sabbath, as God had ordained it, was to be a day of rest and a day to cease all "regular" work. The Sabbath was intended as a blessing to God's people. But over time, the Jews had added innumerable technicalities to the observance of the Sabbath and any violation of these traditions was considered breaking the Sabbath. The man-made customs had grown so entangled with God's command that the people did not know where one began and the other ended. I have copied below a paragraph that outlines some of the outrageous details of what a "lawful" observance of the Sabbath required.

In the four or five centuries before Jesus came, the Jewish religious teachers debated at length about what observances should be made as regards the Sabbath. Thirty nine articles were formulated prohibiting all kinds of agricultural, industrial and domestic work. A Jew must not carry on the Sabbath even so much as a pocket handkerchief, except within the walls of the city. If there are no walls it follows, that he must not carry it at all. Even the preservation of life was a breaking of the Sabbath. A man could not peel a fruit. A woman could not kneed her dough. A boy could not wash his dog. A girl could not plait her hair. An old man could not tie a knot in a string. No one could write or cross out what had been written. All was forbidden, except that a man could go to the help of a bogged cow or a trapped sheep. A Sabbath Day's journey was about seven-eighths of a mile. One could not light a fire, or put it out, forbidding even any fire to be kindled on the Sabbath, even for culinary purposes, but not probably the use for warmth.

So it was in this legalistic climate that Jesus performed a healing and faced criticism. Jesus rightly cut to the heart of the matter, pointing out that the Pharisees were guilty of clinging to the letter of the law as opposed to the spirit of the law. Furthermore, Jesus was very aware of the motivation behind the Pharisees' attack. While His heart was pure, theirs held jealousy and deceit.

Tomorrow's reading: Mark 3:7-19; Luke 6:12-26; Matt. 5:1-6:4