Wednesday: Time for Finding Balance
Jesus respected and upheld the law of God ( Matthew 5.17-18). Yet Jesus also challenged the religious leadership over their interpretation of the law. None of His challenges was more threatening to the establishment than the choices He made on Sabbath keeping. The synagogues did not fail to make the Sabbath an opportunity for education – the Torah was read and interpreted without fail. The scribes and Pharisees knew the letter of the law. However, Jesus went much further in His Sabbath-day education of His followers.
Read Matthew 12:1-13 and Luke 13:10-17. What was Jesus teaching the people in His time, and us today, with these events?
Image © Lars Justinen from GoodSalt.com
The controversies surrounding Jesus’ healing on the Sabbath lead into important spiritual debates about the nature of sin, the reason for the Sabbath, the relationship between Jesus and the Father, and the nature of Jesus’ authority.
Jesus’ attitude toward the Sabbath is summarized well in our memory verse for this week: “And He said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath’ ” ( Mark 2.27-28, NKJV). He wanted to emphasize that the Sabbath should not be a burden. It was “made” (created) as a unique opportunity for people to learn of the character of God who made the Sabbath and learn experientially by valuing His creation.
By raising questions through His actions, Jesus pushes His disciples, the Jewish leaders, and the crowds to think more deeply about Scripture and about what their faith and their God meant, anyway. It is so easy for any of us to get so caught up in rules and regulations that might not be bad in and of themselves, but that become an end in and of themselves, rather than means to an end – and that end should be a knowledge of the character of the God we serve. And this, then, leads to our faithful obedience to Him based on our trust in the merits of Christ’s righteousness for us.
| What about your own Sabbath keeping? Have you turned it into a day of just don’t-do-this and don’t-do-that, rather than a time to truly rest in the Lord and know Him better? If so, how can you change so that you can get more from it that God intends for you? |
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The controversies surrounding Jesus’ healing on the Sabbath lead into important spiritual debates about three things. 1) the nature of sin, 2) the reason for the Sabbath, and 3) the relationship between Jesus and the Father, and the nature of Jesus’ authority. In Actuality, Jesus wanted to re-emphasize that Sabbath was created (made) for restoration with both God and man. The Jewish leaders wanted to have a debate with the one who created the Sabbath (ironic don't you think). He humbly open their eyes with regards to the Authority He with the Father and it went passed them like a shadow.
Balance has never been so important as nowdays. Firstly, our faith has to be based on the love of God for us. Limits are important too, but if they are the goal, then we are probably more prone to failure. In our "road" to perfection, may our actions result from the contemplation/closeness with the Divine. May our heart-relationship with the Master of the Law lead us into the observation of His limits/rules, not the opposite.
Keeping of the Sabbath, as well as the Sabbath itself has provided much food for thought. I did not have a pre-conceived/ pre-formed understanding of Sabbath when joining the fellowship of Sabbath keepers; all I believed was it to be the day the Lord has set aside on which to worship Him.
This week’s lessons focused on ‘Experiencing and living the Character of God’. Studying the Sabbath is my first deep study of the LORD'S Sabbath and the Sabbath-'day of rest' given to man to remember Him by.
Studying with this online class has helped greatly deepen my understanding of Scripture – 'sola Scriptura' using the KJVersion! Tuesday’s lesson was about ‘Setting Priorities’; today’s lesson-focus is ‘Finding Balance’ - all related to Sabbath. The picture of today’s lesson gives the areas in life which clamor for our attention - Where can we find rest?
Isaiah 58:1-14 is an incredibly valuable passage of Scripture to focus on when studying to find out what is important to God for the sake of man engaged in *observing* Sabbath – to find the balance between ‘works’ of the flesh and ‘works’ by the Spirit; I think Sabbath to be ultimately a *state of being* at all times.
I believe that the directive to observe Sabbath-*Rest* is given to us to first and foremost reflect/know/love and appreciate the Father who created all things; that He has designed a plan for our Salvation from this mortal flesh; that it is He (not us) from whom come all good things needed for life – spiritual and physical -; and that we can find true balance in life only when we seek Him in all we do first, not leaning on our own understanding.
When the first parents sinned, they sinned chosing the act of self-determination, they leaned on their own understanding instead of trusting the Father “to know best”. With this act, the gates of Eden opened and man started to *toil in the sweat of his brow* in all things he touched pertaining to life. They lost their position where they could rest their lives in God’s completed, perfect work – they lost resting in God’s rest and the inherent balance of Paradies.
Now, God provides for man a way back to enter into His Rest again. Because we have a body of flesh with the Father’s Spirit indwelling us, the Father seeks to remind us with His Sabbath of Rest that it is paramount for our Salvation to again rest in His Rest - trust Him, rely on Him for all our needs; just as is was in the time of Paradies of the Garden in Eden.
We find His Rest in the faithfully, deeply held and acted upon believe/understanding that God the Father has given His children all they need to know about HIM, how to live their life by the Way of Truth and Light, how to be assured of their Salvation and to know that they have entered HIS REST when they deeply love Him.
As I understand it, our Sabbath is the *Type of God's Rest* we enter when we receive the new life in Christ Jesus; it is for us to retain it in our hearts and minds by loving God with all our being.
Worshiping Him on His Holy Day provides the living soul the refreshing shower of Grace and Mercy from the Throne of God.
Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. Mal 3:18
Time for Finding Balance
'What about your own Sabbath keeping? Have you turned it into a day of just don’t-do-this and don’t-do that'....rather than a time to truly rest in the Lord and know Him better?
Yesterday I decided to do some extra work at home, my spouse also did some and he had some rest time. During that time he was calling me to look at things on the TV. It was about nature and how some people interact with animals. e.g a man and a geese, a couple and a hippo, a woman and lions, a man and a buffalo. etc. I was so amazed about the interaction I can personally spend hrs watching at nature.
As I lay in my bed the thought came to me that on the sabbath day we can spend hrs looking at nature; animals, sea creatures, land creatures, birds, natural disasters, mountains etc. While those are great things to look at and things to be involved with, are we putting creation before the Creator? Are we allowing the things of this world to occupy our time away from the Creator? Ex 20:8 Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy? All the things we can do on the six should not take away our time from the Creator on the Sabbath. Malachi 4:4 Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel...
If I see the sabbath as a do this and do that, or dont do this or dont do that it becomes a burden. But as I put the Lord first in my life, Sabbath keeping becomes a delight. It becomes like a Christmas to the Christians, or a birthday. A time we look forward to, a time to interact with family and friends. So the sabbath is a time for interaction with our Creator.
When Jesus arrived among men, He exposed their departure from the Truth, and the Sabbath was one of the most obvious departures as His manner of observing the Sabbath was in opposition to that of the nation's leaders. Jesus came to restore the truth and to rescue it from the error that had been attached to it. Jesus was revealing the true purpose and meaning of Rest from whatever robs us of God's peace. This is usually due to our own sin.
If our Sabbath is structured around do's and don'ts, haven't we broken our union with the Lord of the Sabbath and have constructed a covering of fig leaves?
Do we understand the Sabbath from our union with Christ, or from our union with men? From personal study of God's Word or someone's interpretation of it?
An excellent question, Robert. Sabbath and indeed our entire relationship with God should not be based on our perception and understanding of other people's standards, but God's.
Hi my Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Here's my thoughts and opinions about "Time of finding Balance" on the Sabbath:
Many of the Religious Leaders in Jesus’ time, as well as many SDA Christians today, strive to be strict, hard-core Sabbath-keepers, and are unapologetic if they see you doing things they feel is breaking the Sabbath. I have heard many Sabbath-keepers say, “Why do they let their children play on church grounds after church on the Sabbath?” Logically, because they are children, and they have a lot of energy. It is lawful for us to take our children on Nature walk, and other creative things, on the Sabbath.
Many of our children have left the Seventh-day Adventist church, when they leave their parent's home, because of their parent’s strict beliefs about the Sabbath and Sabbath observance. Where do we get all of these rules and regulations about the Sabbath? From my Bible, and my point of view, the Sabbath commandment specifically prohibits working on the Sabbath, “all work” should be stopped on the Sabbath day; however, I don’t see in my Bible a list of do’s and don’ts beyond that. Many Sabbath-keepers have come up with this extreme list of rules and restrictions for our children to not do on the Sabbath. Where is this list of rules and regulations about Sabbath keeping found in the Bible? This list of Don'ts of things not to do on the Sabbath has made the Sabbath a Burden instead of a Delight. Is this the Character of God that Jesus wants us to show (model) to our children and the rest of the world? Many of our children do not look forward to the Sabbath, instead they look forward to the close of the Sabbath day, so they can have fun again. With a little effort from the adults, our children can look forward to the Sabbath, and even invite their little friends over to their homes to join them in the celebration of the Sabbath. This is what it means to make the Sabbath a delight, in Isaiah 58:13-14.
Jesus was trying to teach (educate) the people of His time, and us today, that just as you have to find a Balance between your work life and family life, we must also have a healthy balance when it comes to Sabbath-keeping. The people that he healed on the Sabbath had been suffering with their illnesses for a very long time; the woman in Luke 13 had been suffering with her illness for 18 years. Think about that 18 years of pain, and now you tell me that you can’t heal me because it the Sabbath day. In Luke 13:14-16, it says “14 But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he [the religious leader] said to the crowd, “There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.” 15 The Lord then answered him and said, “Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? 16 So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound —think of it— for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?” Jesus is saying, “No matter whether it’s the Sabbath day or not, animals need to drink water. As you would not deny your animals to drink water on the Sabbath day, I can’t deny this woman from being loose from this bond (or to not be healed), which she has been bound in by Satan for 18 years, because it is the Sabbath day.
I have meet so many adults that have had bad childhood experiences because of unfounded Sabbath restrictions laid out by parents or other relatives, so much so that they are solidly turn off by our church. We have to find that Balance in Sabbath observance. Also, for those people that have been offended or harmed by our strict Sabbath observances, we have to go back and apologize to them, because that is the only way that we will be able to heal them from their hurt.
We must remember, as the memory verse says "‘The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath’ ” ( Mark 2.27-28, NKJV). Let us remember this as we strive to find Balance in worshipping God on the Sabbath.