The King of Sabbath and the Heart Message of Sabbath

7 January, 2011

Read Luke 6:1-11

The Jews have rules and laws regarding the Sabbath. The Sabbath is the outward sign to others that the Jews were a special people belonging to God. To ensure the sanctity of the Sabbath day, the leaders of the law came up with a super-long ‘do’s’ and ‘don’ts’ that they imposed on the population.

According to the religious leaders' list, picking heads of grains and eating the kernels on Sabbath would be defined as‘work’ and therefore deemed unlawful.

Jesus answered them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?” (Luke 6:3)

Jesus turned their attention to the Scriptures. The Scriptures laid out principles but there were always exceptions to the rules and the David’s episode was one of it. (I Sam 21:1-5).

Normally only the priests in the sanctuary would eat the consecrated bread which is the ‘bread of the Presence. It is bread set aside to symbolize God’s presence in fellowship with his people.

Yet David ate the consecrated bread and gave it to his men. He was not condemned for it. Why? This was because David was the coming rightful king of Israel, even though Saul was still on the throne. David was able to do so because he was the rightful king. So in quoting this story, Jesus was implying that he was the rightful expectant king of Israel; just like David.

Question: The Spirit often uses Scriptures to teach, clarify, confirm a truth – how many of us have enough Biblical knowledge for God to work with for our growth? What can we do about it?

The next incident was Jesus healing on the Sabbath. The man’s withered hand was healed simply when he stretched out his hand in obedience. Technically, Jesus did not violate any Sabbath law because he did not even lift a finger.

Luke 6:9
Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?”

According to Jesus, the heart message of the kingdom is redemption, healing and freedom. The keeping of Sabbath is for the sake of God's glory and man's freedom. If keeping the Sabbath is so that some could appear more 'righteous' than others, it has gone totally wrong.

The kingdom is about a new way of doing things, not bound by the old order of traditions and rules (the new wine in the new wineskin teaching again). It is to get to the heart of the King's purpose for implementing certain commands and not blind submission to the ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’to categorize man.

Question: Do i focus more on the list of 'do's' and 'don'ts' that i often miss the heart of why the command is given in the first place? Am I alert not to become like the Pharisees with spiritual pride?