"For the Son of man is lord of the
Sabbath" (Matt. 12:8); therefore he is Lord of God's commandment.
This puts him on an equality with God; this proves his divinity.
The primary purpose of the first four
books of the New Testament is to prove that Jesus of Nazareth is the
Son of God and the Savior of men. John states the main objective of
all four of these books when he says, "These are written, that ye
may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that
believing ye may have life in his name" (Jno. 20:31).
Many kinds of proof were presented, the
testimony of many witnesses was given, and many arguments were made
by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John to establish the divine sonship of
Jesus. One argument was used by all four of these writers to prove
that Jesus was "equal with God" (Jno. 5:18), and therefore
was everything he claimed to be; namely, that he was Lord of the
Sabbath. To prove that he could set aside or abolish the Sabbath
law, is to prove that he is Lord of the Sabbath. If he is Lord of
the Sabbath, he is Lord of a commandment of God. If he is Lord of
God's commandment, he is divine. If he is divine, he is everything
he claimed to be.
In their zeal to prove that the Sabbath
law is still binding, Sabbatarians do not seem to realize they are
attacking an argument used by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John to
establish the divinity of Jesus.
That the significance of the statement,
"The Son of man is lord even of the Sabbath" (Mk. 2:28), may
be more fully appreciated, attention is directed first to
THE SABBATH LAW
UNDER THE OLD COVENANT
1. To whom, when, and why given.
The word Sabbath, meaning cessation from
labor, was first applied to the seventh day of the week in Ex. 16,
about 2500 years after creation, when the Israelites were forbidden
to gather manna on that day. "Tomorrow is a solemn rest, a holy
Sabbath unto Jehovah." God's purpose in this first Sabbath
commandment was, "That I may prove them, whether they will walk in
my law, or not" (Ex. 16:4).
The sanctity and the significance of the
Sabbath was not revealed to any man until the law was given on
Sinai, when it became the fourth commandment of the Decalogue. "Thou
camest down also upon mount Sinai. . . and madest known unto them
thy holy Sabbath" (Neh. 9:13, 14). God had rested on the
seventh day of creation week, and some time later (we know not
when), he "blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that
in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made"
(Gen. 2:3). The Sabbath is not a "memorial of creation, God
created any thing at any time, but because "he had rested" on that
day.
The law given at Sinai revealed the
sanctity of the Sabbath to the Israelites, and made known unto them
its meaning as a memorial of their deliverance from Egypt. There
they were told, "Thou shalt remember that thou wast a servant in the
land of Egypt, and Jehovah thy God brought thee out thence by a
mighty hand and by an outstretched arm: therefore Jehovah thy God
commanded thee to keep the Sabbath day" (Deut. 5:15). It
could not be observed as a memorial of the deliverance of the
Israelites from bondage until that event had occurred; therefore the
covenant containing the Sabbath was not made with the fathers before
the exodus from Egypt (see Deut. 5:2, 3). The Sabbath was a
"sign" between God and the Israelites (Ezk. 20:12), and
nobody else, because they were the only people delivered from Egypt.
2. How Kept.
Work on the Sabbath was forbidden for
both man and beast. "In it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy
son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant,
nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger
that is within thy gates; that thy man-servant and thy maid-servant
may rest as well as thou" (Deut. 5:14).
They were forbidden to carry so much as
an arm load through the gates of Jerusalem or out of their houses.
"Take heed to yourselves and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor
bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; neither carry forth a burden
out of your houses on the Sabbath day, neither do ye any work"
(Jer. 17:21, 22).
They could not kindle a fire on that
day. "Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the
Sabbath day" (Ex. 35:3). It is well to observe just here that
"the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath" (Mk.
2:27) ; therefore it was never made for men who live in the
coldest climates. A commandment that forbids a man's kindling a fire
in a cold climate could not be for man's good. That would make man
the servant of the commandment rather than the commandment the
servant of man. No fire was to be kindled "throughout your
habitations" the Israelites' habitations. They never lived in a real
cold climate.
They were forbidden to buy or sell on
the Sabbath. "And if the peoples of the land bring wares or any
grain on the Sabbath day to sell, that we would not buy of them on
the Sabbath" (Neh. 10:31).
3. Penalty for Violation
Death was the penalty for violating the
Sabbath law. "Whosoever doeth any work on the Sabbath day, he shall
surely be put to death" (Ex. 31:15). "And while the children
of Israel were in the wilderness they found a man gathering sticks
upon the Sabbath day... And Jehovah said unto Moses, The man shall
surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with
stones without the camp. And all the congregation brought him
without the camp, and stoned him to death with stones; as Jehovah
commanded Moses" (Num. '15:32-36).
No law can be of any force unless there
be a penalty for violation of that Law. To abolish the penalty for
violation of a law is to abolish that law itself. If the Old
Testament penalty—death—has been abolished for violating the fourth
commandment of the Decalogue, then that Old Testament commandment
has been abolished. The New Testament fails to give any penalty for
violating the Old Testament law; therefore we conclude that the law
of Moses has been "blotted out," even as Paul said (Col. 2:14).
Jesus And The Sabbath
Jesus intended all the time to abolish
the Sabbath law, which he did in his death (Col. 2:14-16).
Nine of the ten commandments were to be included in changed form in
the New Covenant, but the Sabbath law was not to be included in any
form; therefore Jesus must prepare his disciples for its removal.
Then he can serve a twofold purpose in proving himself to be Lord of
the Sabbath: it will establish his divinity; it will prepare the
disciples for the abolition of the Sabbath law. This aroused, the
hatred and bitter opposition of many of the Jews. Their hostility
and their persecution of Jesus can be traced in all the first four
books of the New Testament to his apparent disregard for the
sanctity of the Sabbath law.
1. At the Pool of Bethesda.
On the Sabbath day at the Bethesda pool
(Jno. 5:1-18), Jesus commanded an impotent man: "Arise, take up
thy bed, and walk." It was unlawful for this man to carry his bed on
the Sabbath day (Jer. 17:21), and the Jews told him so (Jno.
5:10). When they learned it was Jesus who had told the man to
take up his bed and walk, they persecuted Jesus because he did these
things on the Sabbath (Jno. 5:16).
On this occasion Jesus made no denial of
a breach of the Sabbath law. He did not try to explain that the law
provided for what he had done, for it did not. The law said "thou
shalt not do any work;" Jesus answered his persecutors with a bold
confession that he had worked (Jno. 5:17), and a public
assertion of his equality with God (Jno. 5:18). This
demonstration of his lordship over the Sabbath has an important
bearing on the discourse of his claim of equality with God, which
immediately followed (Jno. 5:19-47). Modern Sabbatarians do
not understand the fifth chapter of John. Jesus later referred to
the events of this chapter and gave circumcision precedence over the
Sabbath law (Jno. 7:21-23).
2. In the Grainfields.
While passing through the grainfields on
the Sabbath the disciples of Jesus plucked ears, "and did eat,
rubbing them in their hands" (Lk. 6:1). Again the Pharisees
charged them with violating the Sabbath law. Jesus justified what
his disciples had done, not by denying that it was contrary to the
Sabbath law, but by two illustrations:
(1) David and his men entered the house
of God and ate the showbread, which it was not lawful for them to
eat, but only for the priests (Matt. 12:4). The need of David
and his men was more important than the sacredness of the showbread,
and this justified their unlawful procedure. Then the need of the
disciples of Jesus who is Lord of the Sabbath (v. 8) is more
important than the sacredness of the Sabbath, and this justified
their unlawful procedure in gathering and rubbing out the grain.
(2) The priests profaned the Sabbath in
performing their duties in the temple, and were guiltless because
the temple service was greater than the Sabbath (Matt. 12:5).
Then the disciples of Jesus, who is Lord of the Sabbath and greater
than the temple, can profane the Sabbath and remain guiltless
(Matt. 12:6-8).
In the two illustrations of Matt.
12:1-8 Jesus teaches that human needs are superior to the
sanctity of the Sabbath; that the burnt offerings of the temple
service justify profaning the Sabbath; that he is greater than the
temple, therefore greater than the Sabbath which is inferior to the
temple service and sacrifices.
3. The Woman Healed.
Because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath
a woman who had been afflicted for eighteen years, a ruler of one of
the synagogues was moved with indignation and ordered such work to
cease on the Sabbath day (Lk. 13:10-17). In his reply Jesus
told these opposing Jews that they themselves gave the thirst of an
ox or an ass greater importance than they gave the sanctity of the
Sabbath. Then he reasoned that surely the health of this woman was
of greater import than any Sabbath law.
We conclude from the teaching of Jesus
concerning the Sabbath that it was never "the great" commandment of
the law. Jesus taught that it was inferior to everything in the law
of Moses with which he compared it: the hunger of men (Matt,
12;1-4), the law of mercy to an ox or an ass (Lk. 13:15),
the law of circumcision (Jno. 7:21-23), the burnt offerings
of the temple service (Matt. 12:5), the health of an afflicted woman
(Lk. 13:16) the recovery of a sick man (Jno. 5:2-18);
all were more important than the sacredness of the Sabbath, and for
them the Sabbath could be and was set aside. This proves that the
Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath; that Jesus is
Lord of the Sabbath, and therefore can remove it when the good of
man requires; that being Lord of the Sabbath—Lord of a commandment
of God—he is equal with God who gave the commandment, and therefore
divine. It also prepares his disciples for the final abolition of
the Sabbath law which was accomplished in his death on the cross
(Col. 2:14-16).
The End Of The Law
A new covenant was necessary because the
old covenant was weak, faulty, against us, and contrary to us. The
old covenant had to be removed before a new covenant could be given.
Sabbatarians seem unwilling to accept the fact that the old covenant
was weak and faulty, even though God himself did say so. "For there
is a disannulling of a foregoing commandment because of its weakness
and unprofitableness" (Heb. 7:18). "For if that first
covenant had been faultless, then would no place have been sought
for a second. For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the
days come, saith the Lord, That I will make a new covenant with the
house of Israel and with the house of Judah" (Heb. 8:7, 8).
To say that the law of Moses is faulty
is no reflection on God. The trouble was with man, not God. God
could have given man a perfect law at Sinai; but man was "not able
to bear it." Jehovah gave man a weak law because of the weakness of
the man to whom the law was given. Jesus said (Matt. 19:7, 8)
that was the reason why the law of divorce and remarriage (Deut.
24:1-4) was included in the old covenant. For this same reason
God said nothing in the ten commandments or the rest of the law of
Moses to prohibit polygamy. Because of their faulty spiritual nature
God gave the Israelites a law that tolerated polygamy (II Sam.
5:13; 12:8), until man could be made ready for a law that would
not tolerate polygamy, nor divorce and re-marriage for every cause.
A new born babe is given a very weak food, not because a stronger
food cannot be supplied, but because the weakness of the child
requires a weak food.
No law is perfect which permits
polygamy, divorce and remarriage for every cause. These things were
permitted under the old covenant. Therefore the old covenant was not
perfect.
The Sabbath law was one of those
"ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us: and he
hath taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross... Let no man
therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a feast
day or a new moon or a Sabbath day: which are a shadow of the things
to come" (Col. 2:14-17). This is the only reference to the
seventh day Sabbath, which was made by Paul in any of the books
written by him. And here he listed it with the meats and drinks and
feast days and new moons and the other shadows of the law.
But how could the Sabbath law be against
us and contrary to us? Much in every way. First, it made no
provision for the kind of work which Jesus did (Jno. 5:8, 16, 17;
Matt. 12:1-8); if so, where? Second, because it made no
provision for the operation of the law of mercy to man and beast
(Lk. 13:10-17) ; if so, where? Third, because the people of the
extreme northern regions would freeze to death, if they were bound
by it (Ex. 35:3). Therefore when Jesus challenged the law of
Moses in Matt. 5, he challenged the whole system, Decalogue
and all.
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