The Gospel of Luke probably gives us more insight into Christ's attitude toward the Sabbath than any of the other accounts of his life and teachings. Indeed, in the fourth chapter of that Gospel, we read: "And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.' And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, 'Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.'" (Verses 16-21, ESV)
Notice that Christ was in the habit of going to the synagogue on the Sabbath, and that he decided to read a passage from the book of Isaiah on this occasion. Notice too, after he was finished reading the passage aloud, Jesus told them that that particular prophecy had just been fulfilled by him on that Sabbath day! Strangely, the prophecy was all about the work that God had given him to perform - to proclaim good news, freedom to those who were imprisoned, healing of the blind, and the time of the Lord's favor. Why did I characterize that as strange? Because the Sabbath is NOT usually associated with work. Instead, Scripture normally associated the Sabbath with resting from one's work. Interestingly, Jesus then went on to predict that they would not believe in the work which God had given him to do, and that other folks would be the beneficiaries of that work (verses 22-27). Unfortunately, when Christ told them that, they became enraged and tried to kill him! (Verses 28-30)
From there, we are informed that he went down to Capernaum and also taught them on the Sabbath. In that synagogue, we are informed that Jesus cast a demon out of a man who had been possessed (verses 31-37). Later that day, we are told that he healed Simon Peter's mother-in-law of a fever (verses 38-30). Now, this was something very different from what the Jews had been accustomed to! They were not used to someone "working" on the Sabbath day.
In the sixth chapter of this same Gospel, we read that Jesus' disciples picked and ate some grain while they were walking through a field (verse 1). Next, we are told that the Pharisees pointed out that it was not permissible to do this kind of work on the Sabbath (verse 2). Jesus, however, responded: "Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?" (Verses 3-4) In other words, taking care of one's needs on the Sabbath was consistent with the Sabbath's purpose. Then, we are told that he finished with what would have been for them another startling declaration: "The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath." (Verse 5) Hence, Jesus (a human) declared that he was superior to the Sabbath!
Next, we read: "On another Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse him. But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, 'Come and stand here.' And he rose and stood there. And Jesus said to them, 'I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?' And after looking around at them all he said to him, 'Stretch out your hand.' And he did so, and his hand was restored. But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus." (Verses 6-11) So, we see that Christ taught that not only was it acceptable to see to one's own needs - he asserted that it was also acceptable to see to the needs of others on that day!
To reinforce this conclusion, another Sabbath healing followed that one in Luke's account of Christ's life and work. We read: "Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, 'Woman, you are freed from your disability. And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God. But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, 'There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.' Then the Lord answered him, 'You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?' As he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him." (13:10-17)
Notice that the woman had been ill for eighteen long years. In other words, from the perspective of the leader of the synagogue, there would have been numerous opportunities to heal her over that period. Jesus, however, pointed out that Torah had made provisions for taking care of animals on the Sabbath. Hence, it was absurd to believe that it wasn't acceptable to heal this "daughter of Abraham" who had been afflicted for so long on the Sabbath!
Then, in the very next chapter, we read: "One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, 'Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?' But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. And he said to them, 'Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?' And they could not reply to these things." (14:1-6) Once again, Christ "worked" on the Sabbath day by healing a man. Now, of course, I'm sure that all of these individuals who were healed appreciated what Christ had done for them. Jesus, however, clearly used these situations to demonstrate that the strict ways in which the religious leaders of his day observed the Sabbath contradicted God's purpose for the day!
Hence, we can see that Christ clearly believed and taught that it was acceptable and good to do God's work on the Sabbath day - to help others - to see to their needs. In other words, the Sabbath wasn't all about resting. According to Jesus of Nazareth, the spirit of the Sabbath was all about demonstrating our love for God by helping others! For Jesus, the scrupulous physical observance of the day which the religious leaders of his day lived and taught were NOT consistent with God's intent for the day! Indeed, Christ's actions and teachings regarding the Sabbath recorded in this Gospel suggests that the Jews had completely misunderstood the day which God had given them to observe!
No comments:
Post a Comment