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Jesus-The Sabbath and the Pharisees
April 4, 2020

Last week, as we continued the study of Jesus Christ, we saw how the religious elite rejected Jesus, how those who knew Jesus and his family, could not believe that a son of Joseph would amount to anything, even when Samaritans heard the message of Jesus and asked him to stay a few more days with them. The religious elite and Jesus would continue to clash throughout His ministry because Jesus knew they were hypocrites.

Jesus knew the religious elite were hypocrites in their observance of the Sabbath day. Going beyond what was written in scripture, they made the Sabbath a burden for the people instead of allowing it to be a day of rest and religious worship. One day, Jesus came across a man with leprosy, a feared diseased during the time, and He healed the man of leprosy. Even though he told the man to tell nobody, word got out about the healing powers of Jesus.

Luke 5:12-16
And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And he put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him. And he charged him to tell no man: but go, and shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing, according as Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him: and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities. And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.

Later, during one of the feasts on the Sabbath, Jesus came across a man laying in a bed next to a healing pool at Bethesda. Eeryone knew to look at the water and the moment it moved, to be the first one into the water to be healed. Behind the scenes, an angel was making this happen. This man however, had no chance to get into the water because he had an infirmity of thirty-eight years that made it impossible for him to move himself from his bed to the water, even though his bed was right next to the water. Sadly, nobody was with him. Jesus asked the man if he wanted to be healed and the man was willing, but acknowledged nobody was there to help him get to the water. Jesus had compassion and healed the man telling him to stand up, take his bed, and go home. Because it was the Sabbath day, the Jews had a problem with that because carrying the bed was considered “work”, and work wasn’t allowed on the Sabbath day. The confronted the man about what had happened, and then they got angry to the point where they wanted to kill Jesus. For those in the healing professions, the nurses, the doctors, the EMT’s, the first-responders, there is mercy in their work and service on the Sabbath day. So, for people who work in any of those fields on the Sabbath so that people can be made well, their lives can be protected, that’s not going to be an issue with the example given by Jesus.

John 5:1-16
After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? The impotent man answered him, 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. Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath. The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed. He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk. Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk? And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place. Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole. And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.

The next situation on the Sabbath day came when Jesus was walking with his disciples in a grain field. They became hungry, picked some grain and ate. The Pharisees faulted Jesus and the disciples for “working” on the Sabbath day because in their mind, the disciples had harvested on the Sabbath. Jesus had to remind them that even David did what was not allowed by eating the shewbread, and explained that He, Jesus, was Lord of the Sabbath. It’s not work to feed yourself or your family, so never be worried that Jesus will fault you for this on the Sabbath Day.

Luke 6:1-5
And it came to pass on the second sabbath after the first, that he went through the corn fields; and his disciples plucked the ears of corn, and did eat, rubbing them in their hands. And certain of the Pharisees said unto them, Why do ye that which is not lawful to do on the sabbath days? And Jesus answering them said, Have ye not read so much as this, what David did, when himself was an hungred, and they which were with him; How he went into the house of God, and did take and eat the shewbread, and gave also to them that were with him; which it is not lawful to eat but for the priests alone? And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.

Jesus had to challenge the religious elite on their stance with the scriptures, and Jesus proved them wrong with hypocrisy. The Sabbath became a burden under their rules when the Sabbath was meant to be a day of rest from our physical work to focus attention and devotion to God.

All verses are from the King James Version.
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