True Sabbath Worship

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The Law of Moses required that the Sabbath be kept holy (Exodus 20:8-11). The Pharisees held a long list of actions (about thirty-nine) that were forbidden on the Sabbath. These taboos of the Sabbath forced the people to observe rest.

In Matthew 12:1-14, some Pharisees confronted Jesus. He had ‘worked’ on the Sabbath Day which was against their law.

"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. 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."

"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. 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?  How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days’. Then saith he to the man, ‘stretch forth thine hand’. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other. 

Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him." 

Matthew 12:1-2; 10-14.

Jesus was no radical revolutionist fighting the law of Sabbath. He did not come to turn the people against God. He did not come to disprove and replace the law. He came to fulfil the law. He stated: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil"(Matthew 5:17). Jesus demonstrated the intent of the law - the original purpose of the law.

The Pharisees protected laws they did not understand either. Jesus is greater than the law and the temple because "the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath." He came to fulfil the law, yet they did not learn from Him.

In this account we notice that there was a necessity to meet on the Sabbath day. His disciples were hungry, and they needed food. The man had his hand withered, so he needed healing. Someone needed relief; someone needed bread, someone needed a miracle. Jesus saw this, and He was interested in responding to those needs. The Pharisees only saw a religion to practice; a law to protect. You are interested in religion; God is interested in people.

For us today, we won’t be any different from these Pharisees if all we do is attend mass, sing, clap and dance, without love for people in need. It would be wrong to ignore meeting someone’s need because you are on your way to worship. Jesus did not ignore the needy even on His way to worship in the synagogue. On His way to the synagogue, His disciples had their need met. He did not stop them. Jesus, in the synagogue, amidst the Pharisees healed this man with a withered hand. He met his need.

John, in John 5:1-18 accounts that by the sheep market in Jerusalem a pool with five porches laid. The pool was called in the Hebrew tongue, Bethesda. A great multitude of impotent folks desperately waited for the moving of the water. The first to step in is healed. Then on a Sabbath day came Jesus, noticing this helpless folk who had given up on receiving his miracle. He had lain there, with his infirmity, helpless for thirty-eight years.

Jesus had come to worship also in the temple yet being moved with compassion met a need. He healed this man. And for the first time in thirty-eight years this man could walk again. He carried his bed praising God for his healing. There was no other better way to observe the Sabbath than this true worship. This man worshiped God! The Pharisees saw him defiling the Sabbath. Jesus saw him worshiping God.

God cannot be caged! He is far more important than the laws, instruments, or means of worship. We sure cannot get it all together for God when concentrate on the means of worship than the One we worship.

Jesus was free from the bondage of rules and traditions. That explains why He could heal even on a Sabbath day. He is the ‘Lord of the Sabbath’. Seven times, He performs miracles on the Sabbath day; He sends a demon out of a man (Mark 1:21-28), He heals Peter’s mother-in-law (Mark 1:29-31), He heals a lame man by the pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-18), He heals a man a deformed hand (Mark 3:1-6), He restores a crippled woman (Luke 13:10-17), He heals a man with swollen arms and legs (Luke 14:1-6), He heals a man born blind (John 9:1-16).

God is a God of people, not of rules, customs, traditions, and religious taboos. Christianity is not a long list of ‘don’ts’ as many think. The best time to help or reach out to someone is when he or she needs help. Do not say to your neighbour, go and come tomorrow when you can help him today. "Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it. Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and tomorrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee"  (Proverbs 3:27-28).

Religious norms or rules should not keep you blind to human need. God sees both actions and motives―we are accountable to God, not rules. God desires a true Sabbath worship!