We now get the first of the Sabbath confrontations. The Sabbath was a central part of the Jewish religion, and we are wrong if we think it no longer has any significance. It appears in one of the Ten Commandments, appears in many parts of the Law and is referred to by numerous prophets. Yet the Pharisees had it all wrong. Today we tend to fall into one of two extreme camps. There are a few who adopt a very religious attitude towards the Sabbath (though of course it is actually they apply it all to Sunday now). The majority think it has no real importance, except perhaps being the day we go to church. Both of these views are mistaken. So let's see how Jesus viewed the Sabbath.
First there is the argument over the disciples eating grain. There was nothing wrong with this in itself. The Law allowed people to take the wheat from the edges of fields. The problem was that they were doing this on the Sabbath. Jesus pointed them to an incident from David's life (1 Sam 21:6) where the Law had been broken. Jesus seems to be pointing against an over legalistic interpretation of the Law. Moreover, the Old Testament itself pointed towards the truth that would be revealed in Christ.
Jesus then declares Himself to be Lord of the Sabbath. This is quite an amazing claim, and makes Him equal to God. So the attention is placed firmly on Christ Himself. When we have an excessive focus on a particular ritual or aspect of religion it is often a sign that we are avoiding God Himself. The Pharisees needed to realise who Jesus was, there concern about the Sabbath was all part of their ploy to avoid confronting their own sin and who God really is. We need to beware of the same tendency in ourselves, for it is a very human tendency.
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