Tuesday: The Lord of the Sabbath
Daily Lesson for Tuesday 16th of July 2024
In Mark 2:23-24, the Pharisees accuse the disciples of breaking the Sabbath. According to Jewish tradition, 39 forms of labor were forbidden on the Sabbath, which, in the Pharisees’ minds, included what the disciples had done.
Read Mark 2:23-28. How does Jesus counter the charge brought by the Pharisees?
Image © Phil McKay at Goodsalt.com
Jesus responds with the story of David’s eating the sacred shewbread (1 Samuel 21:1-6). The shewbread was removed on the Sabbath; so, David’s journey may well have been an emergency escape on the Sabbath. Jesus argues that if David and his men were justified in eating the shewbread, then Jesus’ disciples are justified in plucking and eating grain.
Jesus further indicates that the Sabbath was made for the benefit of humanity, not the other way around, and that the basis for His claim is that He is the Lord of the Sabbath.
Read Mark 3:1-6. How does this story illustrate Jesus’ point that the Sabbath was made for humanity?
Again Jesus faces controversy with the religious leaders over the Sabbath. (Notice, however, that the controversy is never over the Sabbath day itself.) The religious leaders want to accuse Jesus if He heals on the Sabbath. Jesus does not shy away from confronting them. He sets up a contrast between doing good or doing harm, saving life or killing. The answer to His question is obvious; doing good and saving life are much more appropriate as Sabbath activities.
Jesus proceeds to heal the man, which angers His opponents, who immediately start to plan His demise. The irony of the story is that those looking to catch Jesus in Sabbath breaking were themselves breaking the Sabbath by plotting His death that same day.
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What principles of Sabbath keeping can you take away from these accounts and the challenges that we face in the modern age in keeping Sabbath? |
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There are 39 catagories of Sabbath-breaking according to the Talmud. Here they are: 1. Carrying, 2. Burning 3. Extinguishing, 4. Finishing, 5. Writing, 6. Erasing, 7. Cooking, 8. Washing, 9. Sewing, 10. Tearing, 11. Knotting, 12. Untying, 13. Shaping, 14. Plowing, 15. Planting, 16. Reaping, 17. Harvesting, 18. Threshing, 19. Winnowing, 20. Selecting, 21. Sifting, 22. Grinding, 23. Kneading, 24. Combing, 25. Spinning, 26. Dyeing, 27. Chain-stitching, 28. Warping, 29. Weaving, 30. Unraveling, 31. Building, 32. Demolishing, 33. Trapping, 34. Shearing, 35. Slaughtering, 36. Skinning, 37. Tanning, 38. Smoothing, 39. Marking.
And they are just the headings. Each heading expands out into a detailed discussion of parallel activities that are also condemned. One only has to read part of this to realise that Sabbath-keeping was very important to the Jews. They have obviously spent a long time trying to define pure holy Sabbath-keeping.
And then Jesus said:
Jesus the rebel, redefined "Holy" by declaring that he was Lord of the Sabbath. He turned his back on the legal "Holy defined by years of scholarship and gave the Sabbath back to us as a gift from God.
There are a couple of consequences for us Sabbath-keepers in the twenty-first century. I grew up when the emphasis was on what you could not do on Sabbath. We don't run on Sabbath; we don't talk to our non-Sabbath-keeping school friends because they might talk about "non-Sabbathy" things; and so on. Sabbath-keeping has all too often been defined as what we cannot do. Sometimes I think if we collected them all up they would be as weighty as the Jewish Talmud.
It always concerns me that we spend a lot of time defending our Sabbath-keeping rather than appreciating and sharing the experience with others. As long as we think of Sabbath-keeping as time-displaced church attendance, we are guilty of legalism.
In the Sabbath, we have a gift from God and maybe we should walk though a corn-field and enjoy a few grains of corn.
Amen again and again Maurice! I couldn't say it better.
Jesus reprimanded the religious leaders, time and again because they had misrepresented the character of God to the point that it appeared they loved the rules more than God and made him to be a harsh task master. The really beautiful thing about Jesus's rebukes of the Pharisees was that we are told by Sister White; "He spoke the truth, but always in love. He denounced hypocrisy, unbelief, and iniquity; but tears were in His voice as He uttered His scathing rebukes." STC p.11
If only I could learn to consistently do that.
The Pharisees were the quintessential legalists. They often did the right thing for the wrong reason, or to seek to win favor with God. A righteousness by works experience, rather than a love based, faith relationship and righteousness, which produced good works, out of a heart of overflowing gratitude and the power of God. They were afraid of God and sought to appease Him through their sacrificial system, rituals, even their Sabbath keeping. They had a skewed concept of God as much as the heathen nations around them. They made Sabbath a burden rather than a delight. They made Judaism a galling religion that burned people out and turned them away from God.
I hope and pray that as modern day spiritual Israel we will not follow their example but instead the example of that radical rabbi, Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath day. The Lord of all! Then we will call the Sabbath a delight instead of anxiously counting the hours until it's ending.
Lord have mercy on me/we for the times that I/we have misrepresented you in my/our Seventh-day Adventist Christian experience. I/we don't want to bring dishonor to your Name, only Glory.
Amen to this, Maurice Ashton. For many, many years, I would only hear Seventh Day Adventist Preachers, mention only the places in the Gospels where Jesus only mentions "The Saving an Ox from falling into a ditch on the Sabbath," but never mentioned "The taking an Ox to water on the Sabbath," Luke 13:15. Or going as far as to counsel to "Fast on Sabbath" if we had no time to prepare food before the Sabbath!
I would like that someone can answer this question:
What is the argument that proves that the shewbread was removed on the sabbath?
Here is one reference that refers to the timing of the shewbread replacement:
Some translations suggest that the Sabbath "preparation" of the sons of the Kohathites were to set the bread out every Sabbath.
That translation harmonizes with Lev. 24:5-8, which begins with instructions regarding how to bake/prepare the showbread and ends thus:
"Every sabbath he shall set it in order before the Lord continually ..." The text does not suggest that the bread is actually baked on the Sabbath.
But it also does not say that "The Bread" is removed after the Sabbath either.
Pete, since the Bible doesn't spell out the details, we can fill them in with details given in the rest of the Bible. The rules given to the Hebrews for Sabbath preparation were strict: There was to be no cooking or baking on Sabbath. (Back then, it was not a simple matter of touching a switch on an electric stove. A fire would have had to be built, but the mixing and kneading of the bread also takes some effort and time.)Thus, without an exception being listed, we can reasonably assume that the Showbread was probably baked on Friday. Then the new bread was set out in place of the old bread each Sabbath. Then the "Bread of the Presence," as it was also called, remained in place until the following Sabbath when it was replaced with new bread.
I have questions about eating lunch or breakfast in restaurant/fastfood during sabbath day. after we attend the morning service we went to restaurant to eat lunch with my family. what is your thought or the bible said about eating lunch in restaurant . thank you
We normally don't publish comments with what appears to be a pseudonym. However, I am making an exception because your question is one that seems to get raised every time we have a discussion on Sabbath-keeping. My concern is such questions about right and wrong, acceptable and unacceptable behaviour quickly become legalistic and have more to do with how we appear in the eyes of other Seventh-day Adventists than being right with the Lord.
I suggest that such questions are something that we need to sort out between ourselves and God. I will be honest with you. Sometimes I have used meal services on Sabbath and at other times I have refrained. I am not going into all the reasons why I have taken either action other than to say, I have tried to honour my relationship with God and to share that relationship with others by my actions. I remind myself that Jesus said. "By this shall all men know ..." You can fill in the rest of the words, and apply it to your actions on Sabbath.
Following is an excerpt from an article on how to keep the Sabbath Day Holy by the Biblical Research Institute of SDA:
"The Sabbath is designed to provide spiritual freedom and joy for every person (Ex. 20:8-11). As Christians we must be supportive of this basic human right granted to each individual by the Creator. As a general rule, the purchasing of goods, eating out in restaurants, and paying for services to be provided by others ought to be avoided because they are out of harmony with the principle and practice of Sabbathkeeping.
2. Furthermore, the above-mentioned commercial activities will turn the mind away from the sacredness of the Sabbath (see Neh. 10:31; 13:15ff.). With proper planning, adequate provisions can be made in advance for foreseeable Sabbath needs."
“Sabbath was made for mankind, not mankind for the Sabbath”. God gave us the Sabbath as a gift…He gave it in love and gave us freedom in how we observe it.
When we were young, visiting the beach or hiking in the woods was free. One Sabbath my dad took our family for an hours drive to hike in some fabled woods. When we arrived at our destination there was paid parking. We turned around refusing to pay for parking and drove the hour back home…not memorable. Another Sabbath later, the same scenario occurred…this time dad paid for parking and we had a memorable Sabbath afternoon.
Our Creator loves us and wants us to “call the Sabbath a delight”. In my humble opinion, Sabbath is not a legal issue with countless rules that vary from one congregation to another in order to “keep Sabbath holy” appropriately…it is to be a day of delight, enjoying the companionship of our Creator, friends and family as we are moved by His Spirit…PERIOD
What about our jobs as health care professionals?.
Some of my colleagues don't go to work but I go to work? And I have been told is a paid job that I shouldn't go to work.
I go to work because is people's health, physical health to care. I cannot say to my boss I prefer to go to church and let the patients see someone else who is not in the rota. Can you help me with this please?.
Looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Lidia
Hi Lidia, Please read the reply I gave to Ace. I will add, that I have had surgery on Sabbath and am glad that I had professionals who were working that day. Some of them were Seventh-day Adventists and they kept me alive.
Hi Lidia,
I grew up in a church community in which the majority of the members worked at the local Adventist run community hospital (All heads of departments were Adventist). I remember some of the professionals who needed to work on Sabbath (Nurses, Doctors, etc...) talked about donating the money they made on Sabbath. They testified that God always blessed them abundantly. However, I agree with Maurice, it's between you and God. There are so many times that Jesus healed on the Sabbath, and he himself said "it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath" (Matthew 12:12).
The principle behind Sabbath keeping is life restoration, reinvigoration. A health worker reporting for duty on the Sabbath is thus a Sabbath keeper
Mark 3:4 Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” I don't see a problem healing people and saving lives on the Sabbath.
God said through the prophet Samuel to King Saul: "To obey is better than to sacrifice" (I Sam. 15:22). So, for this reason, God guides us to prepare ourselves on Friday for the holy Lord's day, but if an emergency arises to obtain the blessings of life, we must attend without a guilt complex. This is obedience without legalism.
@ Lidia, my father also worked in the health field and there were some Sabbaths where he had to be at work and wasn't with us in church. Not for one second did I give it a second thought because he was out "doing good on the Sabbath", Just as Jesus recommends that we should!!!!!
Thank you for not giving a hard YES or NO be cause we see the same with David and the bread, and Jesus's open-ness it to me seems that it changes on the situations and intentions. And Maurice handled it exceptionally well.
I am grateful for the reminder always to follow my inner moral compass. If I ever doubt my actions on the Sabbath, I will joyfully take it to the Lord in prayer! I trust that He will always guide me when I seek to do His will.
Is sabbath keeping mainly going to church and enjoying the scripted service? My observation is that most people come to church for the divine worship service (at the churches I have attended as a member or visitor). In almost all instances, I sit and watch the proceedings as a member of the congregation. In most cases, participation is in the singing of one or two hymns and the giving of tithes and offerings. There is usually a fix time to begin and end the service. In some churches, we are told how long the morning or pastoral prayer should be, if asked to give the prayer. In the few instances when someone gets sick during the service, there is a quick pastoral prayer for the individual, the ambulance is called or a nurse or doctor on duty attends to the individual in the sickroom. Then, the service continues as planned. Is this really sabbath keeping?
My beloved brothers and sisters, we keep the sabbath because we love Jesus, We must put the word of God in context
Isaiah 58:13-14 King James Version (KJV)
If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
Hi,
When I work as a health care professional the pay for that day I give as a donation to whatever caused I chose.
Regarding working on Sabbath. I used to work on Sabbath (as a Health care professional). My reasoning was that I was helping the sick. However I got to a point when I asked myself, "are there people who will work instead of me, (because one gets more money for working on the sabbath) so I could spend the sabbath hours with my family?" I realized that I just needed to speak to my manager and I could have the sabbath off. My family was very happy to have me with them on sabbath. And there are many non adventist who would like to work on sabbath for the extra money.
Mark 3:6 depicts the tragic outcome when authorities judge man by the ‘letter of the Law’ instead of the Spirit of the Law. God gave man the Law to know that which is unlawful, not to judge him, but to show His Grace as man repents of his wrong-doing. When one does not know what is wrong, he cannot be judged. But if he knows and willingly transgresses the law, he will be judged by the Grace of God for to purpose of leading him to love the 'Law-giver' who offers eternal life to all who love Him.
The consequences for Jews when breaking the ‘letter of the law’ was condemnation by the religious authority unless mitigated by the willingness to make amends through offerings. But how could giving offerings address the breaking of the ‘spirit of the Law’ as it is judged by the Lord of the Sabbath? Micah 6:6-8.
Rom.5:20-21 – “The law entered so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Ultimately, following Jesus sets us free from the oppression of following the requirements of the ‘letter of the law’ through our faith that the Grace of God has removed the guild and shame of sin from us.
Yes, Sabbath was made for man to give him pause, to rest, and remember to worship the one and only God who made him and all the universe and that which is called ‘life’ in it!
Yes, Jesus and His disciples were freed from the shackles of the 'letter of the law' because they loved God in Spirit and Truth with all their heart and loving their fellow man to want to do right by him - so fulfilling the Spirit of the Law - Mark 12:28-34; Rom.8:1; Gal.6:2.
I’m becoming increasingly jealous for my time with our Lord on Sabbath because of my growth in love for Him and every one else. In being submissive to the Holy Spirit leading the way, I’m learning to worship Him in Spirit and Truth.
What a blessed time!!!👐
Thanks so very much for all your work in Him.