Jesus and the Sabbath

Joh 7:22  Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision; (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers;) and ye on the sabbath day circumcise a man.

Joh 7:23  If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day?

Joh 7:24  Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.

Interesting note- Jesus talks of the circumcision as being given of the fathers John 7:22,23 - and yet the Sabbath is  GIVEN of God. The Sabbath was given by GOD directly, God's finger wrote the law on stone tablets! It wasn't a verbal directive given by God, but actually written BY GOD. How dare we call it MOSES' LAW as if the TEN COMMANDMENTS came from Moses!  A lot of ceremonial laws were written down by Moses at God's direction but they were NOT written by God's own hand!

The receiving of circumcision on the Sabbath day to meet the ceremonial law's directive is considered fine by the Jewish leaders of Jesus' day, and by Jesus' Himself. Jesus saw nothing wrong in having a boy child eight days old circumcised on the Sabbath, why?  They were NOT breaking the Sabbath commandment of rest- of no work- because in truth though the actions could be considered work on some level, they were not work that would take the mind from worshipping God.  We must be able to WORSHIP God in the work we do on the Sabbath.  Jesus in healing people on the Sabbath was WORSHIPPING GOD. There was NO SELF gain from what He was doing, none.

When the Sabbath rest was reintroduced to God's people after they'd been in captivity for 400 years they knew next to nothing about what it meant to take a full day of rest in order to worship God- the maker of heaven and earth and all that is in them. Their minds were NOT God focused! They were self-focused, Moses-focused, survival through self and Moses-focused. God needed to reintroduce this very special, very amazing SIGN of their belonging to HIM in a very real, very corporeal manner of revealing the place God should be in their lives.  They had to STOP ALL in order to realize where their source of salvation was to come from and it wasn't SELF, it wasn't MOSES, it was GOD.  Getting MANNA from heaven, from God was their source of survival from starvation.  God wanted them to realize JUST how important it was to DEPEND on HIM for LIFE ITSELF. They were told to gather double manna, God provided DOUBLE amounts on the sixth day so they could have leftover for the seventh day and wouldn't have to go out and pick it up. 

Exo 16:14  And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground.

Exo 16:15  And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat.

Exo 16:16  This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents.

Exo 16:17  And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less.

Exo 16:18  And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating.

Exo 16:19  And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning.

Exo 16:20  Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them.

Exo 16:21  And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted.

Exo 16:22  And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man: and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses.

Exo 16:23  And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.

Exo 16:24  And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade: and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein.

Exo 16:25  And Moses said, Eat that to day; for to day is a sabbath unto the LORD: to day ye shall not find it in the field.

Exo 16:26  Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none.

Exo 16:27  And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none.

Exo 16:28  And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?

Exo 16:29  See, for that the LORD hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.

Exo 16:30  So the people rested on the seventh day.

Exo 16:31  And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.

How clearly is the lesson being taught to these people? If we had to go to the fields to gather our food today it would be the same way! If we were still eating manna it would not have changed!  But God used the manna to teach His people the depths of His commandment, the depths of the importance of resting in HIM on the Sabbath day and not working, but rather trusting in Him.  After the manna ceased to fall and they began to eat of the food they'd grown, they still kept the Sabbath rest and KNEW by then that they were to REALLY rest, to REALLY cease from as much servile work as possible, and I say it that way because they still had to go through the motions of eating what they had ready, they still had to go through the daily tasks of being alive- drinking, eliminating, dressing, etc.  They were NOT taught to lay in bed from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday doing absolutely nothing at all. 

Originally in the wilderness when they were being reintroduced to the Sabbath rest they were walking every day, they were journeying, they were making a FORTY year walk. Walking was their work and during that walking their day to day lives continued. They didn't stop to plant and harvest and build houses to live in.  Their work was to journey. When that manna fell for six days each morning it was in a new location, it fell where they'd journeyed. This was a work. They'd get the manna, prepared the manna for eating that day and they'd journey- it wasn't as if they had a cottage they lived in and each day went outside to gather their food. They were WANDERING the wilderness for FORTY YEARS.  Six days of gathering, of walking, of putting up tents and taking down tents, of every chore involved in the journey and surviving the journey but on the SEVENTH DAY they did NOT have to journey, they did not have to go out and gather the food, they did not have to do anything but the most basic daily living tasks. They RESTED.  And this ENFORCED REST was for THEM! To teach them once again of GOD their CREATOR, their REDEEMER. 

Do you imagine they HATED that day of rest? Do you imagine they wished to keep walking and gathering the manna? Or do you imagine they looked forward to that day of complete rest when they didn't even have to go out and gather fire wood but were to strictly focus on resting in God?

There were those who tested the command to rest.

Num 15:32  And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day.

Num 15:33  And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation.

Num 15:34  And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him.

Num 15:35  And the LORD said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp.

Num 15:36  And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the LORD commanded Moses.

Num 15:37  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

Num 15:38  Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue:

Num 15:39  And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring:

Num 15:40  That ye may remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God.

Num 15:41  I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD your God

GOD ordered a man to be PUT TO DEATH because HE broke the commandment to do no work on the Sabbath! 

Why?

Because God was TEACHING THEM that HE NEEDS TO BE SOUGHT FIRST NOT WHAT WE DESIRE, but WHAT HE DESIRES- why? Because our hearts, our eyes, our own desires will take us AWAY FROM GOD.  GOD NEEDS TO COME FIRST! He was teaching them to LET HIM BE THEIR GOD! 

Who is the GOD of us if we truly believe we can do whatever we please and it be of no consequence?  Where does it stop if we allow ourselves to follow our own hearts and eyes? What things to we deem RIGHT to do and WRONG to do if we have NO standard set for us?

We've grown so incredibly used to following our own hearts and eyes that we have convinced ourselves that it is good, that evil is good. We've deceived ourselves! We've set up our OWN rules, our OWN ways to make it so we can PRETEND we are God's, when in truth we are NOT God's at all!

Yes, when Jesus came He returned the Sabbath to its rightful place, and that wasn't to total disregard for resting.  Jesus revealed that you do not break the Sabbath by doing what is good, what is right, what is helpful to others, what isn't something to turn your mind inwards, your heart inwards.  As the disciples were following Him, listening to Him on the Sabbath - obviously Jesus was WALKING on the Sabbath and not holed up in some place just waiting for the rest day to be over.

Mat 12:1  At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat.

Mat 12:2  But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.

Mat 12:3  But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him;

Mat 12:4  How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?

Mat 12:5  Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?

Mat 12:6  But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.

Mat 12:7  But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.

Mat 12:8  For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.

He walked through a corn filled.

Disciples were hungry- they plucked the corn (WORK)- and ate it- (NOT WORK).

Pharisees- NOT LAWFUL to PLUCK CORN!

Jesus- David was hungry and unlawfully ate from temple bread.

Jesus- Priests in the temple work.

Jesus- I AM greater than the earthly Temple.

Jesus- I have mercy- not sacrifice.

Jesus- I AM the Lord of the Sabbath.

Jesus was telling them and telling us that on the Sabbath the severest of restrictions were no longer in force.  That there is MERCY for those who are God's, truly God's who keep the HEART of the SABBATH- mercy, healing, love.

Jesus RESTED. Jesus TAUGHT. Jesus HEALED. Jesus WALKED. Jesus did NOT break the Sabbath, He revealed it MORE PERFECTLY, just as He did other commandments!

Mat 5:21  Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:

Mat 5:22  But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

Mat 5:27  Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:

Mat 5:28  But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

Mat 19:16  And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? Mat 19:17  And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

Mat 19:18  He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,

Mat 19:19  Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Mat 19:20  The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?

Mat 19:21  Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.

Mat 19:22  But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.

Did Jesus do away with the commandment NOT to MURDER? NO!  But He did say our anger towards others is just as evil.

Did Jesus do away with the commandment NOT to commit ADULTERY? NO! But He did say if you lust after another you've already committed that adultery in your heart.

Jesus told one who asked what they had to do to have eternal life that they had to KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS? Why didn't He take that opportunity to just say, You have to just believe? He didn't say that. He told this man that he had to KEEP the COMMANDMENTS!

Now what commandments did Jesus mean, the man wanted to know because He asked Jesus- WHICH?  Which commandments was He to keep to get eternal life.  Jesus began to recite the commandments from the TEN COMMANDMENTS! And this confused the young man because He told Jesus He kept all of them from when he was young until now so what did he lack? What was keeping him from eternal life if he was keeping the commandments already?  Jesus answered- SELL what you have and give it to the poor-  that would give him treasure in heaven and THEN follow JESUS!

So, yes, Jesus CONFIRMED we MUST keep the ten commandments, that's not a question. Jesus also revealed that there is MORE than keeping the letter of the law, you have to LOVE others MORE than yourself! You have to FOLLOW HIM.  

Bottom line-  Jesus KEPT the SABBATH perfectly, the heart of the law, the heart of mercy, the heart of loving others more than self.  Jesus NEVER told a single person, not ever, that they no longer had to keep the Sabbath, they just had to keep it more perfectly with mercy, with love!

May God help us to do this- to keep His love more perfectly through Him and His power to do so! May we yield to His guidance knowing He only wants what is best for us as the creatures He created.

Please Heavenly Father,

We would be Yours!

All though Jesus Christ, our Lord, our Savior, our King, our High Priest!  In His name.

Amen.

Psa_19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.

Speaking of the law of God- the Sabbath- what we do know of Jesus and the Sabbath.

Mat 12:1  At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat.

Mat 12:2  But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.

Mat 12:3  But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him;

Mat 12:4  How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?

Mat 12:5  Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?

Mat 12:6  But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.

Mat 12:7  But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.

Mat 12:8  For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.

Mat 12:9  And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue:

Mat 12:10  And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him.

Mat 12:11  And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?

Mat 12:12  How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days.

Mat 12:13  Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other.

Mat 12:14  Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.

Mat_24:20  But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day

Mar_1:21  And they went into Capernaum; and straightway on the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue, and taught.

Mar 2:23  And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn.

Mar 2:24  And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?

Mar 2:25  And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him?

Mar 2:26  How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him?

Mar 2:27  And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:

Mar 2:28  Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.

Mar_3:2  And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him.

Mar_3:4  And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.

Mar_6:2  And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands?

Luk_4:16  And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.

Luk_4:31  And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days.

Luk_6:1  And it came to pass on the second sabbath after the first, that he went through the corn fields; and his disciples plucked the ears of corn, and did eat, rubbing them in their hands.

Luk_6:2  And certain of the Pharisees said unto them, Why do ye that which is not lawful to do on the sabbath days?

Luk_6:5  And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.

Luk_6:6  And it came to pass also on another sabbath, that he entered into the synagogue and taught: and there was a man whose right hand was withered.

Luk_6:7  And the scribes and Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the sabbath day; that they might find an accusation against him.

Luk_6:9  Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it?

Luk_13:10  And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath.

Luk_13:14  And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day.

Luk_13:15  The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering?

Luk_13:16  And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?

Luk_14:1  And it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that they watched him.

Luk_14:3  And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day?

Luk_14:5  And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?

Luk_23:54  And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on.

Luk_23:56  And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment.

Joh 5:2  Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.

Joh 5:3  In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.

Joh 5:4  For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.

Joh 5:5  And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.

Joh 5:6  When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?

Joh 5:7  The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.

Joh 5:8  Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.

Joh 5:9  And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.

Joh 5:10  The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.

Joh 5:11  He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk.

Joh 5:12  Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?

Joh 5:13  And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place.

Joh 5:14  Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.

Joh 5:15  The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole.

Joh 5:16  And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.

Joh 5:17  But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.

Joh 5:18  Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

Joh_7:22  Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision; (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers;) and ye on the sabbath day circumcise a man.

Joh_7:23  If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day?

Joh_9:14  And it was the sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes.