Day 11 – What Jesus taught – Sabbath for man

“𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, ‘𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘩.” 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘬 2:27 𝘕𝘒𝘑𝘝

On Day 5, we explored why God created the Sabbath, but it warrants a deeper examination of the meaning behind Jesus’ words. By this time in Jesus’ ministry, He was the primary person of interest to the Pharisees. They followed Him everywhere, questioned everything He did, and used every available opportunity to interrogate Him, trying their utmost to discredit Him.

Although the Sabbath was intended to be a day of rest, the Pharisees had made numerous laws designating what could or could not be done on the Sabbath. Some have counted as many as 1,500 Sabbath regulations, and their tradition had turned it from a day of rest into a legal land mine where even the simplest action could inadvertently be a violation of one or more of their religious rules.

On this specific Sabbath, Jesus and his disciples were walking through some grainfields, and the disciples broke off heads of grain to eat. According to the religious rules, the disciples committed a grave sin by breaking the Sabbath through their “work” of reaping, gathering, and selecting. Luke accounts that the disciples rubbed the grain in their hands, which added to the list: threshing, winnowing, grinding, sifting, and kneading. They argued that since His disciples violated their Sabbath regulations, it revealed Jesus as a fraud or an unworthy Rabbi. Jesus answered with scripture, reminding them of King David in 1 Samuel 21:1-6 and his use of the “Holy Bread,” confirming that human need is more important than religious rituals. The Sabbath was created for man to rest and receive.

Jesus did not (nor did His disciples) break the Mosaic Law concerning the Sabbath. They only broke the man-made laws of the Pharisees. But they (the Pharisees) did not distinguish between their rules and God’s Law. This is exactly what many people, steeped in tradition, simply cannot accept: that what God really wants is mercy before sacrifice and that love to others is more important than religious rituals.

Prayer: Jesus, thank You for diluting the manmade falseness of the Sabbath regulations to leave the pure meaning of what the day is about. Keep us from stepping into the trap of religious rules and regulations and hold fast to the Truth of Your Word. Amen.