|
IX.
Sabbath
Chapter 95
:
Christ and the Sabbath
1. OF what did Christ
say the Son of man is Lord?
"The Son of man is Lord even of
the Sabbath day." Matt. 12:8. See also Mark
2:28.
2. Who made the
Sabbath?
"All things were made by Him,
[Christ, the Word]; and without Him was not
anything made that was made." John 1:3.
3. Did Christ, while on
earth, keep the Sabbath?
"As His custom was, He went into
the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up
for to read." Luke 4:16.
4. Although Lord,
Maker, and an observer of the Sabbath, how was
He watched and spied upon by the scribes and
Pharisees on this day?
"And the scribes and Pharisees
watched Him, whether He would heal on the
Sabbath day; that they might find an
accusation against Him." Luke 6:7.
5. With what question
did Christ meet their false ideas and
reasoning's regarding Sabbath-keeping?
"Then said Jesus unto them, I will
ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the
Sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save
life, or to destroy it?" Verse 9.
6. How did they
manifest their displeasure at His healing the
man with the withered hand on the Sabbath?
"And they were filled with
madness; and communed one with another what they
might do to Jesus." Verse 11. "And the
Pharisees went forth, and straightway took
counsel with the Herodians against Him, how they
might destroy Him." Mark 3:6.
NOTE.-They were angry because,
notwithstanding the fact that by the miracle
performed Christ had given evidence that He
was from God, He had shown no respect for
their views of Sabbath-keeping, but, on
the contrary, had shown these to be
wrong. Wounded pride, obstinacy, and
malice, therefore, combined to fill them
with madness; and they went out
immediately and held council with the
Herodians,- their political enemies with
whom they disagreed in the matter of paying
tribute to a foreign power,- for the purpose
of accomplishing His death.
7. Because Jesus healed
a man on the Sabbath day, and bold him to take
up his bed and walk, what did the Jews do?
"Therefore did the Jews persecute
Jesus, and sought to slay Him,
because He had done these things on the Sabbath
day." John 5:16.
NOTE.-It is a fact worthy of note that over
the question of proper Sabbath observance
the Jews not only persecuted Jesus, but
first took counsel to kill Him. Not the
least of the malice which finally culminated
in His crucifixion, was engendered over this
very question of Sabbath observance. Christ
did not keep the Sabbath according to their
ideas of Sabbath-keeping, and so they sought
to kill Him. And they are not alone. Many
today are cherishing this same spirit.
Because some do not agree with their ideas
regarding the Sabbath, or Sabbath
observance, they seek to persecute and
oppress them,-seek laws, and alliances with
political powers, to compel respect for
their views.
8. How did Jesus answer
them?
"But Jesus answered them, My
Father worketh hitherto, and I work." Verse
17.
NOTE.-The ordinary operations of nature, as
manifested in God's almighty, upholding,
beneficent, and healing power, go on on the
Sabbath the same as on other days; and to
cooperate with God and nature in the work of
healing, relieving, and restoring on the
Sabbath, cannot, therefore, be out of
harmony with God's will, nor a violation of
His Sabbath law.
9. What effect did this
answer have upon the Jews?
"Therefore the Jews sought the
more to kill Him, because He not only had
broken the Sabbath [i. e., in their estimation],
but said also that God was His Father, making
Himself equal with God." Verse 18.
10. Because the
disciples plucked a few ears of corn on the
Sabbath day to satisfy hunger, what accusation
did the Pharisee make against them to Christ?
"And the Pharisees said unto Him,
Behold, why do they on the Sabbath day that
which is not lawful?" Mark 2:24.
11. What was Christ's
reply?
"And He said unto them, Have ye never
read what David did, when he had, need, and was
an hungered, he, and they that were with him?
how he went into the house of God in the days of
Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the
showbread, which is not lawful to eat but for
the priests, and gave also to them which were
with him? And He said unto them, The Sabbath
was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath."
Verses 25-27.
12. Because of Christ's
healing a woman of an infirmity on the Sabbath,
what did the ruler of a certain synagogue say?
"And the ruler of the synagogue
answered with indignation, because that Jesus
had healed on the Sabbath day, and said unto the
people, There are six days in which men ought
to work: in them therefore come and be healed,
and not on the Sabbath day." Luke 13:14.
13. How did Christ
answer him?
"The Lord then answered him, and
said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you
on the Sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the
stall, and lead him away to watering? and ought
not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham,
whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years,
be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?"
Verses 15,16.
14. What effect did
Christ's answers have upon the people?
"And when He had said these things,
all His adversaries
were ashamed: and all the people rejoiced for
all the glorious things that were done by Him."
Verse 17.
15. By what method of
reasoning did Christ justify acts of mercy on
the Sabbath day?
"Which of you shall have an ass or an
ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway
pull him out on the Sabbath day? And they could
not answer Him again to these things." Luke
14:5,6. "What man shall there be among you, that
shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit
on the Sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it,
and lift it out? How much then is a man better
than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well
on the Sabbath days." Matt. 12:11,12.
16. Into what
perplexity did Christ's working of miracles on
the Sabbath throw the Pharisees?
"Therefore said some of the
Pharisees, This man is not of God, because He
keepeth not the Sabbath day. Others said,
How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles?
And there was a division among them."
John 9:16.
NOTE.-The working of these wonderful,
beneficent, and gracious miracles on the
Sabbath was an evidence that Christ was from
God, and that His views of Sabbath-keeping
were right. By these miracles God was
setting the seal of His approval to Christ's
views and teachings respecting the Sabbath,
and to His manner of of observing it, and
thus condemning the narrow and false views
of the Pharisees. Hence the division.
17. According to
Isaiah, what was Christ to do with the law?
"He will magnify the law, and
make it honorable." Isa. 42:21.
NOTES.-In nothing, perhaps, was this more
strikingly fulfilled than in the matter of
Sabbath observance. By their traditions,
numerous regulations, and senseless
restrictions the Jews had made the Sabbath a
burden, and anything but a delight. Christ
removed all these, and by His life and
teachings put the Sabbath back in its proper
place and setting, as a day of worship and
beneficence, a day for doing acts of charity
and mercy, as well as engaging in
contemplation of God and in acts of
devotion. Thus He magnified it and made it
honorable. One of the most prominent
features of Christ's whole ministry was this
great work of Sabbath reform. Christ
did not abolish the Sabbath, nor
change the Sabbath; but He did rescue it
from the rubbish of tradition, the false
ideas, and the superstitions with which it
had been buried, and by which it had been
degraded and turned aside from the channel
of blessing and practical service to man
designed by its Maker. The Pharisees had
placed the institution above man, and
against man. Christ reversed the
order, and said, "The Sabbath was made
for man, and not man for the
Sabbath." He showed that it was to
minister to the happiness, the comfort, and
the well-being of both man and beast.
Because of the false ideas which the Jews
held concerning the Sabbath and its
observance, and the conflict which Christ
had with them in consequence, many of the
professed followers of Christ a little later
were led into the error of rejecting the
Sabbath itself as Jewish, and, without any
divine command or Scripture warrant, to
substitute another day in its place.
18. Knowing that the
unbelieving Jews would still cling to their
false ideas respecting the Sabbath, and that
flight from Jerusalem and Judea on that day
would be attended with difficulty, for what, in
view of the coming destruction and desolation of
the city and people, did Christ tell His
disciples to pray?
"But pray ye that your flight be not in the
winter, neither on the Sabbath day."
Matt. 24:20.
NOTE.-Christ's experience with the Jews, the
chosen and professed people of God at that
time, respecting the Sabbath is but a type
of what, according to prophecy, is to occur
in the last days. Already it is beginning to
find its parallel in the movement to enforce
Sunday observance by law. See readings in
Chapters 61., 106. and 107. in this book.
|
