LORD OF THE SABBATH.
THE SABBATH DISTINCTIVELY SACRED TO ISRAEL.
The observance of the Sabbath as a holy day was prominent among the
Lord's requirements of His people, Israel, from a very early period in
their history as a nation. Indeed, the keeping of the Sabbath as a day
of surcease from ordinary toil was a national characteristic, by which
the Israelites were distinguished from pagan peoples, and rightly so,
for the holiness of the Sabbath was made a mark of the covenant between
the chosen people and their God. The sanctity of the Sabbath had been
prefigured in the account of the creation, antedating the placing of man
upon the earth, as shown by the fact that God rested after the six
periods or days of creative work, and blessed the seventh day and
hallowed it.[430] In the course of Israel's exodus, the seventh day was
set apart as one of rest, upon which it was not allowed to bake, seethe,
or otherwise cook food. A double supply of manna had to be gathered on
the sixth day, while on other days the laying-by of a surplus of this
daily bread sent from heaven was expressly forbidden. The Lord observed
the sacredness of the holy day by giving no manna thereon.[431]
The commandment to celebrate the Sabbath in strictness was made definite
and explicit in the decalog, written by the hand of God amidst the awful
glory of Sinai; and the injunction was kept before the people through
frequent proclamation.[432] It was unlawful to kindle a fire on that
day; and record is made of a man who was put to death for gathering
sticks on the seventh day.[433] Under the administration of later
prophets, the holiness of the Sabbath, the blessings promised to those
who sanctified the day unto themselves, and the sin of Sabbath
desecration were reiterated in words of inspired forcefulness.[434]
Nehemiah admonished and reproved in the matter, and attributed the
affliction of the nation to the forfeiture of Jehovah's favor through
Sabbath violation.[435] By the mouth of Ezekiel the Lord affirmed that
the institution of the Sabbath was a sign of the covenant between
Himself and the people of Israel; and with stern severity He upbraided
those who heeded not the day.[436] To the separate branch of the
Israelitish nation that had been colonized on the western hemisphere,
regard for the sanctity of the Sabbath was no less an imperative
requirement.[437]
The observance demanded, however, was the very opposite of affliction
and burden; the Sabbath was consecrated to rest and righteous enjoyment,
and was to be a day of spiritual feasting before the Lord. It was not
established as a day of abstinence; all might eat, but both mistress and
maid were to be relieved from the work of preparing food; neither master
nor man was to plow, dig or otherwise toil; and the Weekly day of rest
was as much the boon of the cattle as of their owners.
In addition to the weekly Sabbath, the Lord in mercy prescribed also a
sabbatic year; in every seventh year the land was to rest, and thereby
its fertility was enhanced.[438] After seven times seven years had
passed, the fiftieth was to be celebrated throughout as a year of
jubilee, during which the people should live on the accumulated increase
of the preceding seasons of plenty, and rejoice in liberality by
granting to one another redemption from mortgage and bond, forgiveness
of debt, and general relief from burdens--all of which had to be done in
mercy and justice.[439] The Sabbaths established by the Lord, whether of
days, of years, or of weeks of years, were to be times of refreshing,
relief, blessing, bounty, and worship.
To the many who profess to regard the necessity of toil as a part of the
curse evoked through Adam's fall, the Sabbath should appeal as a day of
temporary reprieve, a time of exemption from labor, and as affording
blessed opportunity of closer approach to the Presence from which
mankind has been shut out through sin. And to those who take the higher
view of life, and find in work both happiness and material blessing, the
periodical relief brings refreshment and gives renewed zest for the days
that follow.
But long before the advent of Christ, the original purpose of the
Sabbath had come to be largely ignored in Israel; and the spirit of its
observance had been smothered under the weight of rabbinical injunction
and the formalism of restraint. In the time of the Lord's ministry, the
technicalities prescribed as rules appended to the law were almost
innumerable; and the burden thus forced upon the people had become well
nigh unbearable. Among the many wholesome requirements of the Mosaic
law, which the teachers and spiritual rulers of the Jews had made thus
burdensome, that of Sabbath observance was especially prominent. The
"hedge," which by unwarranted assumption they professedly set about the
law,[440] was particularly thorny in the sections devoted to the Jewish
Sabbath. Even trifling infractions of traditional rules were severely
punished, and the capital penalty was held before the eyes of the people
as a supreme threat for extreme desecration.[441]
THE HEALING OF A CRIPPLE ON THE SABBATH.
In view of these conditions, we are not surprized to find our Lord
confronted with charges of Sabbath violation relatively early in the
course of His public work. An instance attended with many great
developments is recorded by John,[442] whose narrative covers the
incident of a very impressive miracle. Jesus was again in Jerusalem at
the time of one of the Jewish festivals.[443] There was a pool of water,
called Bethesda, near the sheep market in the city. From the recorded
description, we may understand this to have been a natural spring;
possibly the water was rich in dissolved solids or gases, or both,
making it such as we would call today a mineral spring; for we find that
the water was reputed to possess curative virtues, and many afflicted
folk came to bathe therein. The spring was of the pulsating variety; at
intervals its waters rose with bubbling disturbance, and then receded to
the normal level. Mineral springs of this kind are known today in many
parts of the world. Some believed that the periodical upwelling of the
Bethesda waters was the result of supernatural agency; and it was said
that "whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in
was made whole of whatsoever disease he had." The Bethesda pool was
wholly or partly enclosed; and five porches had been built for the
shelter of those who waited at the spring for the intermittent bubbling
up of the water.
On a certain Sabbath day, Jesus visited the pool and saw many afflicted
folk thus waiting. Among them lay a man who for thirty-eight years had
been grievously afflicted. From the man's statement of his helplessness
we may infer that his malady was paralysis, or possibly an extreme form
of rheumatism; whatever his affliction, it was so disabling as to give
him little chance of getting into the pool at the critical time, for
others less crippled crowded him away; and, according to the legends
regarding the curative properties of the spring, only the first to enter
the pool after the agitation of the water might expect to be healed.
Jesus recognized in the man a fit subject for blessing, and said to him:
"Wilt thou be made whole?" The question was so simple as almost to
appear superfluous. Of course the man wanted to be made well, and on the
small chance of being able to reach the water at the right moment was
patiently yet eagerly waiting. There was purpose, however, in these as
in all other words of the Master. The man's attention was drawn to Him,
fixed upon Him; the question aroused in the sufferer's heart renewed
yearning for the health and strength of which he had been bereft since
the days of his youth. His answer was pitiful, and revealed his almost
hopeless state of mind; he thought only of the rumored virtues of
Bethesda pool as he said: "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." Then spake Jesus: "Rise, take up thy bed, and
walk." Immediately strength returned to the man, who for nearly four
decades had been a helpless invalid; he obeyed the Master, and, taking
up the little mattress or pallet on which he had rested, walked away.
He had not gone far, before the Jews, that is to say, some of the
official class, for so the evangelist John employs the term, saw him
carrying his bed; and it was the Sabbath day. To their peremptory
reprimand he replied out of the gratitude and honest simplicity of his
heart, that He who had healed him had told him to take up his bed and
walk. The interest of the inquisitors was instantly turned from the man
toward Him who had wrought the miracle; but the erstwhile cripple could
not name his Benefactor, as he had lost sight of Jesus in the crowd
before he had found opportunity for question or thanks. The man who had
been healed went to the temple, possibly impelled by a desire to express
in prayer his gratitude and joy. There Jesus found him, and said unto
him: "Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come
unto thee."[444] The man had probably brought about his affliction
through his own sinful habits. The Lord decided that he had suffered
enough in body, and terminated his physical suffering with the
subsequent admonition to sin no more.
The man went and told the rulers who it was that had healed him. This he
may have done with a desire to honor and glorify the Giver of his boon;
we are not justified in ascribing to him any unworthy purpose, though by
his act he was instrumental in augmenting the persecution of his Lord.
So intense was the hatred of the priestly faction that the rulers sought
a means of putting Jesus to death, under the specious pretense of His
being a Sabbath-breaker. We may well ask of what act they could possibly
have hoped to convict Him, even under the strictest application of their
rules. There was no proscription against speaking on the Sabbath; and
Jesus had but spoken to heal. He had not carried the man's bed, nor had
He attempted even the lightest physical labor. By their own
interpretation of the law they had no case against Him.
OUR LORD'S REPLY TO THE ACCUSING JEWS.
Nevertheless, the Jewish officials confronted Jesus with accusations.
Whether the interview took place within the temple walls, on the open
street, at the market place, or in the judgment hall, matters not. His
reply to their charges is not confined to the question of Sabbath
observance; it stands as the most comprehensive sermon in scripture on
the vital subject of the relationship between the Eternal Father and His
Son, Jesus Christ.
His first sentence added to the already intense anger of the Jews.
Referring to the work He had done on the holy day, He said: "My Father
worketh hitherto, and I work." This remark they construed to be a
blasphemy.[445] "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." To their spoken or unuttered
protest, Jesus replied, that He, the Son, was not acting independently,
and in fact could do nothing except what was in accordance with the
Father's will, and what He had seen the Father do; that the Father so
loved the Son as to show unto Him the Father's works.
Be it observed that Jesus in no way attempted to explain away their
construction of His words; on the contrary He confirmed their deductions
as correct. He did associate Himself with the Father, even in a closer
and more exalted relationship than they had conceived. The authority
given to Him by the Father was not limited to the healing of bodily
infirmities; He had power even to raise the dead--"For as the Father
raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth
whom he will." Moreover, the judgment of men had been committed unto
Him; and no one could honor the Father except by honoring the Son. Then
followed this incisive declaration: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He
that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath
everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed
from death unto life."
Christ's realm was not bounded by the grave; even the dead were wholly
dependent upon Him for their salvation; and to the terrified ears of His
dumbfounded accusers He proclaimed the solemn truth, that even then the
hour was near in which the dead should hear the voice of the Son of God.
Ponder His profound affirmation: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, The
hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the
Son of God: and they that hear shall live." The murderous rage of the
Jews was rebuffed by the declaration that without His submission they
could not take His life: "For as the Father hath life in himself; so
hath he given to the Son to have life in himself." Another utterance was
equally portentous: "And hath given him authority to execute judgment
also, because he is the Son of man." He, the Son of the exalted and
glorified Man of Holiness and now Himself a mortal Man,[446] was to be
the judge of men.
No wonder they marveled; such doctrine they had never before heard nor
read; it was not of the scribes nor of the rabbis, of neither the
Pharisaic nor Sadducean schools. But He reproved their amazement,
saying: "Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all
that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they
that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have
done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation."[447]
This enunciation of the resurrection, so plainly made that the most
unlettered could understand, must have offended any Sadducees present,
for they emphatically denied the actuality of the resurrection. The
universality of a resurrection is here unquestionably affirmed; not only
the righteous but even those who merit condemnation are to come forth
from their graves in their bodies of flesh and bones.[448]
Then, renewing His solemn asseveration of the unity of His Father's will
and His own, Christ discussed the matter of witnesses to His work. He
admitted what was a recognized tenet of the time, that no man's
unsupported witness of himself was sufficient; but, He added: "There is
another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he
witnesseth of me is true." He cites John the Baptist, and reminds them
that they had sent a delegation to him, and that John had answered them
by bearing testimony of the Messiah; and John had been a burning and a
shining light, in whose illuminating ministry many had temporarily
rejoiced. The hostile Jews were left to see that the witness of John was
valid under their strictest construction of the rules of evidence;
"But," He continued, "I receive not testimony from man ... But I have
greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath
given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that
the Father hath sent me. And the Father himself, which hath sent me,
hath borne witness of me."
Then in terms of unqualified condemnation, He told them they were devoid
of the Father's word, for they refused to accept Himself whom the Father
had sent. With humiliating directness He admonished these learned men of
the law, these interpreters of the prophets, these professional
expounders of sacred writ, to betake themselves to reading and study.
"Search the scriptures," said He, "for in them ye think ye have eternal
life: and they are they which testify of me." Convictingly He
continued--that they who admitted and taught that in the scriptures lay
the way to eternal life, refused to come to Him, of whom those same
scriptures testified, though by coming they might obtain eternal life.
"I receive not honour from men," He added, "But I know you, that ye have
not the love of God in you." They knew that they sought for honor among
men, received honors from one another, were made rabbis and doctors,
scribes and teachers, by the bestowal of titles and degrees--all of men;
but they rejected Him who came in the name of One infinitely greater
than all their schools or societies--He had come in the supreme name of
the Father. The cause of their spiritual ignorance was pointed out--they
relied upon the honors of men, and sought not the honor of real service
in the cause of God.
He had spoken of the authority of judgment that had been committed to
Himself; now He explained that they should not think He would accuse
them before the Father; a lesser one than He would accuse, even Moses,
another of His witnesses in whom they professed such trust--Moses whom
they all were said to believe--and, driving home the full effect of His
powerful arraignment, the Lord continued: "For had ye believed Moses, ye
would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his
writings, how shall ye believe my words?" Such was the illuminating
instruction combined with burning denunciation that these men had called
forth by their futile attempt to convict Jesus on the charge of Sabbath
desecration. This was but one of many evil machinations by which they so
determinedly plotted, and strove to attach the stigma and invoke the
penalty of Sabbath-breaking upon the very One who had ordained the
Sabbath and was in truth and verity the one and only Lord thereof.
THE DISCIPLES CHARGED WITH SABBATH-BREAKING.
We may profitably consider in this connection other instances of good
work done by our Lord on Sabbath days; and this we may do without undue
regard to the order of the events in time. We again find Jesus in
Galilee, whether prior to or after His visit to Jerusalem at the time of
the unidentified feast, on which occasion He wrought the miracle of
healing at the Bethesda pool, matters not. On a certain Sabbath, He and
the disciples walked through a field of grain,[449] and, being hungry,
the disciples began to pluck some of the ripening ears; rubbing out the
kernels between their hands, they ate. There was no element of theft in
what they did, for the Mosaic law provided that in passing through
another's vineyard or corn field one might pluck grapes or corn to
relieve hunger; but it was forbidden to use a sickle in the field, or to
carry away any of the grapes in a vessel.[450] The permission extended
only to the relief of present need. When the disciples of Jesus availed
themselves of this lawful privilege, there were Pharisees on the watch,
and these came at once to the Master, saying: "Behold, thy disciples do
that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day." The accusers
doubtless had in mind the rabbinical dictum that rubbing out an ear of
grain in the hands was a species of threshing; that blowing away the
chaff was winnowing; and that it was unlawful to thresh or winnow on the
Sabbath. Indeed, some learned rabbis had held it to be a sin to walk on
grass during the Sabbath, inasmuch as the grass might be in seed, and
the treading out of the seed would be as the threshing of grain.
Jesus defended the disciples by citing a precedent applicable to the
case, and of much greater import. The instance was that of David, who
with a small company of men had asked bread of the priest Ahimelech; for
they were hungry and in haste. The priest had none but consecrated
bread, the loaves of shewbread which were placed in the sanctuary at
intervals, and which none but the priests were allowed to eat. In view
of the condition of urgent need the priest had given the shewbread to
the hungry men.[451] Jesus also reminded the critical Pharisees that the
priests in the temple regularly did much work on the Sabbath in the
slaughtering of sacrificial victims and in altar service generally, yet
were held blameless because of the higher requirements of worship which
rendered such labor necessary; and added with solemn emphasis: "But I
say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple." He
cited the word of God spoken through Hosea, "I will have mercy, and not
sacrifice,"[452] and reproved at once their ignorance and their
unrighteous zeal by telling them that had they known what that scripture
meant they would not have condemned the guiltless. Be it remembered,
"The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath."[453]
His reproof was followed by the affirmation of His personal supremacy:
"_For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day!_" What can we
gather from that declaration but that He, Jesus, there present in the
flesh, was the Being through whom the Sabbath had been ordained, that it
was He who had given and written in stone the decalog, including
"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy," and, "the seventh day is
the sabbath of the Lord thy God"?
A PHARISAICAL PLOT.
Again on a Sabbath, Jesus went into a synagog, and saw in the
congregation a man whose right hand was withered.[454] There were
Pharisees present, and they watched to see whether Jesus would heal the
man, their purpose being to accuse Him if He did so. The Pharisees
asked: "Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days?" Our Lord countered
their poorly veiled purpose by asking: "Is it lawful to do good on the
sabbath days?" and extended the question, "or to do evil? to save life,
or to kill?" They held their peace, for the question was double-edged.
To reply in the affirmative would have been to justify the work of
healing; a negative answer would have stultified them. He put another
question: "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? How much then is a man better than a sheep?"
As the Pharisees could not or would not reply, He summed up the whole
matter thus: "Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days." He
called upon the man with the withered hand to stand forth before the
congregation. Grief and anger were mingled in His penetrating and
sweeping glance; but, turning with compassion toward the afflicted one,
He commanded him to stretch forth his hand; the man obeyed, and lo! the
hand "was restored whole, like as the other."
The discomfited Pharisees were furious, "filled with madness" Luke says;
and they went out to plot anew against the Lord. So bitter was their
hatred that they allied themselves with the Herodians, a political party
generally unpopular among the Jews.[455] The rulers of the people were
ready to enter into any intrigue or alliance to accomplish their avowed
purpose of bringing about the death of the Lord Jesus. Aware of the
wicked determination against Him, Jesus withdrew Himself from the
locality. Other accusations of Sabbath-breaking, brought against Christ
by Jewish casuists, will be considered later.[456]
NOTES TO CHAPTER 15.
1. Rabbinical Requirements Concerning Sabbath Observance.--"No feature
of the Jewish system was so marked as their extraordinary strictness in
the outward observance of the Sabbath, as a day of entire rest. The
Scribes had elaborated from the command of Moses, a vast array of
prohibitions and injunctions, covering the whole of social, individual,
and public life, and carried it to the extreme of ridiculous caricature.
Lengthened rules were prescribed as to the kinds of knots which might
legally be tied on the Sabbath. The camel-driver's knot and the sailor's
were unlawful, and it was equally illegal to tie or to loose them. A
knot which could be untied with one hand might be undone. A shoe or
sandal, a woman's cup, a wine or oil-skin, or a flesh-pot might be tied.
A pitcher at a spring might be tied to the body-sash, but not with a
cord.... To kindle or extinguish a fire on the Sabbath was a great
desecration of the day, nor was even sickness allowed to violate
Rabbinical rules. It was forbidden to give an emetic on the Sabbath--to
set a broken bone, or put back a dislocated joint, though some Rabbis,
more liberal, held that whatever endangered life made the Sabbath law
void, 'for the commands were given to Israel only that they might live
by them.' One who was buried under ruins on the Sabbath, might be dug
for and taken out, if alive, but, if dead, he was to be left where he
was, till the Sabbath was over."--Geikie, _Life and Words of Christ_,
chap. 38.
2. The Unnamed Feast.--There has been no little discussion as to the
particular festival referred to in John 5:1, at the time of which Jesus
healed the cripple at the pool of Bethesda. Many writers hold that it
was the Passover, others that it was the feast of Purim, or some other
Jewish celebration. The only semblance of importance attaching to the
question is the possibility of learning from the fact, if it could be
proved, something of the chronological order of events at this period of
our Lord's life. We are not told which feast this was, neither the year
nor the time of the year when it occurred. The miracle wrought on the
occasion, and the doctrinal discourse delivered as a result thereof,
depend for their value in no degree on the determination of date.
3. Shewbread.--The name means "bread of the presence," signifying that
it was placed in the presence of Jehovah. The bread so sanctified
consisted of twelve loaves, made without leaven. They were to be
deposited in the Holy Place in two columns of six loaves each. Zenos, in
_Stand. Bible Dict._ writes: "They were allowed to remain there for a
whole week, at the end of which period they were removed, and eaten by
the priest upon holy ground, i.e. within the precincts of the sanctuary.
For other persons than priests to eat of the loaves of the shewbread was
regarded as sacrilegious, for they were 'holy.'" See Exo. 25:30; Lev.
24:5-9; 1 Sam. 21:1-6.
4. The Sabbath Was Made for Man and Not Man for the Sabbath.--Edersheim
(vol. i, pp. 57, 58) says: "When on his flight from Saul, David had,
'when an hungered,' eaten of the shewbread and given it to his
followers, although, by the letter of the Levitical law, it was only to
be eaten by the priests. Jewish tradition vindicated his conduct on the
plea that 'danger to life superseded the Sabbath law,' and hence, all
laws connected with it.... In truth, the reason why David was blameless
in eating the shewbread was the same as that which made the Sabbath
labor of the priests lawful. The Sabbath law was not one merely of rest,
but of rest for worship. The service of the Lord was the object in view.
The priests worked on the Sabbath, because this service was the object
of the Sabbath; and David was allowed to eat of the shewbread, not
[solely] because there was danger to life from starvation, but because
he pleaded that he was on the service of the Lord, and needed this
provision. The disciples, when following the Lord, were similarly on the
service of the Lord; ministering to Him was more than ministering in the
temple, for He was greater than the temple. If the Pharisees had
believed this, they would not have questioned their conduct, nor in so
doing have themselves infringed that higher law which enjoined mercy,
not sacrifice."
FOOTNOTES:
[430] Gen. 2:3.
[431] Exo. 16:16-31.
[432] Exo. 20:8-11; 23:12; 31:13-15; 34:21; Lev. 19:3; 23:3; Deut.
5:12-14.
[433] Exo. 35:3; Numb. 15:32-36.
[434] Isa. 56:2; 58:13; Jer. 17:21-24.
[435] Neh. 8:9-12; 13:15-22.
[436] Ezek. 20:12-24.
[437] B. of M., Jarom 1:5; Mosiah 13:16-19; 18:23.
[438] Lev. 25:1-8; compare 26:34, 35.
[439] Lev. 25:10-55.
[440] Page 64.
[441] Note 1, end of chapter.
[442] John, chapter 5.
[443] Note 2, end of chapter.
[444] See another instance, pages 190-192.
[445] Pages 191 and 201. For further justification of this act of
healing on the Sabbath, see John 7:21-24.
[446] Page 142.
[447] Compare Doc. and Cov. 76:16, 17. See page 24 herein.
[448] Page 25.
[449] Matt. 12:1-8; compare Mark 2:23-28; Luke 6:1-5.
[450] Deut. 23:24, 25.
[451] Note 3, end of chapter.
[452] Hos. 6:6; compare Micah 6:6-9.
[453] Mark 2:27. Note 4, end of chapter.
[454] Matt. 12:10-13; Mark 3:1-6; Luke 6:6-8.
[455] Page 68.
[456] For instances, see Luke 13:14-16; 14:3-6; John 9:14-16.