Lord of the Sabbath ~
So, Jesus has just answered His accusers in the last two readings concerning the law, but it hasn't sunk in yet. As the disciples are walking along on the Sabbath, they pick some grain & eat it. Stop the presses! They picked grain, rolled it in their hands & ATE it on the Sabbath! The Pharisees immediately point out their sin. (Side bar: why were the Pharisees in the field? Are they just following Jesus around judging His every move? I think so. How sad that in all that following they never really heard what He had to say. They were willfully blind & deaf to the living Word of God. Sad, so very sad.) Ok back to the disciples picking grain on the Sabbath, what sinners! Well actually, it wasn't sin. They weren't breaking God's law, the were breaking the Pharisee"s law. Jesus reminds them once again of the Scriptures: David, the great & revered king, went into the Temple & ate the consecrated bread. Now, that was a sin. That bread was devoted to God & God alone. The penalty for eating that bread was death. But, hmmmm . . . nothing happened to them. Also, the priests work on the Sabbath, so why aren't they guilty of sin?
What's going on here? Jesus once again quotes Hoses 6:6, "I desire mercy, not sacrifice." Then He tells them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of man is Lord even on the Sabbath." Basically, the Sabbath was set aside as a day of rest and restoration for man. Man toils the earth six days and on the seventh day he gets to relax. It's a day of joy, not a day of hardship and struggle. Yet, all these rules - over 1,800 of them, were making it harder and harder to actually rest!
Here is an selection from an article regarding a brief summary of current Jewish law concerning the Sabbath, "In brief, activities which are not permitted include travelling in a motorised vehicle; writing; laundry; using the telephone; any form of business transaction; kindling fire - this includes activities such as cooking, for which a process of producing heat must be instigated, and switching electrical appliances on or off); gardening. These raise certain complexities - for example, while a refrigerator may be used the internal light must be disabled since if it turns on when the fridge is opened you have kindled fire by switching on a device that produces heat and thus "kindled fire."
Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Jewish_law_concerning_th_sabbath_day#ixzz22OYickzW
We need to stop getting so caught up in rules, rules, rules. Stop focusing on what you can & cannot do, stop focusing on what people around you can & cannot do. Instead, get to know Jesus! Now does this mean we just throw out the law & run around doing what we want? No, that is godlessness. God still has rules - every family does. But these rules are for your benefit. They are to keep you happy, healthy, and in good relationship with God & others. God's rules are pretty simple - Love the Lord your God with everything you've got & treat others the way you want to be treated. There you go - start focusing on that simple statement & let God change your heart, your mind, & your attitude!
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