Saviour and the Sabbath Miracles

Exodus 20:  Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God, on which you must not do any work—neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant or livestock, nor the foreigner within your gates.  For in six days, the LORD made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, but on the seventh day, He rested. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.          

You will see  there is no distinct mention of the Sabbath in Genesis, though a 7-day  period is referred to several times. The first express mention of the Sabbath is found in Exodus 16:21-30, in connection with the giving of the manna. A little later the Ten Commandments were spoken by Yahweh from Sinai and were afterward written on the two tables of stone. The Fourth Commandment enjoins upon Israel the observance of the 7th day of the week as a holy day on which no work shall be done by man or beast. Children and servants are to desist from all work, and even the stranger within the gates is required to keep the day holy. Moses’ law declared Sabbath a day of rest employed to worship and honor God and also to encourage discipline and obedience.

By the first century AD, the Sabbath Law had been mutilated by the Jews beyond recognition and had become an instrument in the hands of Pharisees and priests to control and oppress the common man. Buried in traditions, customs, and rules, the original purpose of the Fourth Commandment has been almost forgotten. They made rules that controlled eating, riding, dressing, make-up, charity, travel, marriage, healing (even getting healed!). Matthew 12 describes an incident  when one Sabbath morning Jesus and His disciples were passing through a green field. The men were hungry, they picked a few heads of grains crushed them, and ate them. This little matter was reported to the Temple (they had Pharisee spies everywhere, to control people’s civil practices). If not for Jesus' intervention, they would have been taken to the Temple, charged with the offense of violating the Sabbath law and scourged. They had ‘harvested’ on Sabbath... unpardonable!

Jesus told them emphatically Sabbaths are for men and man is not for Sabbath. He quoted incidents from the Old Testament where saintly men who had apparently violated Sabbath laws in an emergency and they were not considered to have sinned. This kind of response threatened the Pharisee watchdogs and made them feel their authority was being undermined. There are at least seven incidents  in the gospels when Jesus was involved in “unlawful” acts of healing people on Sabbath, five resulting in scuffles with the establishment. Jesus had confirmed that he had not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill, and He did. Jesus looked beyond the rules to their real purpose of honoring God by helping people in need.

(1) Jesus was speaking at the Capernaum synagogue on a Sabbath. Day. There was pin-drop silence as people listened to His authoritative voice and novelty of teaching when a shrill voice tore across the room. “What do You want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”. But Jesus rebuked the spirit. “Be silent!” He said. “Come out of him!”  At this, the unclean spirit threw the man into convulsions and came out with a loud shriek. People were wonderstruck. (Mark 1:21-27). It is surprising how this matter escaped the hawk-eyed Pharisees’ notice because there were no repercussions.

(2) The same evening (it was still Sabbath) Jesus and His disciples visited Peter’s mother-in-law who had been struck by high fever. All the synoptic gospels mention this healing. Matthew says Jesus touched her, Mark says He helped her sit up and Luke says He “rebuked” her fever! Apparently, He did all the three! Whatever it is, the fever left her immediately; she got up and started serving them. No one else saw this. But from this point onwards the confrontation would start.

(3) Jesus was inside another synagogue. By this time Jesus was well known and the religious leaders had seen His miracles, heard His scholarly oration and didn’t know what to make of Him. They were waiting for a chance to ‘catch’ Him doing something wrong. They were a number of them present at the synagogue. In order to accuse Jesus, they were watching to see if He would heal on the Sabbath. This time Jesus pre-empted them. He had noticed a man with a withered hand there. Jesus had him brought to the center, then addressed the leaders “Is Sabbath. for performing a good deed or evil deed? For saving life or destroying it?”. By this time the Lord’s anger was rising. Deeply hurt He looked around; waited for an answer. There was none. He healed the sick man and sent him away. His dumbfounded accusers also slipped quietly away. (Mark 3:1-6).   

                     

(4) On another Sabbath inside the synagogue, Jesus noticed an old woman crippled by evil spirits and unable to stand up. Jesus called her and healed her by His touch. She thanked Him and she praised God. But the synagogue leader was upset at this development.  Ironically, the Pharisee’s ire was directed at the patient this time. “There are six days a week for healing, is it right to get healed on Sabbath?”, the man rebuked her!  “You hypocrites!” the Lord replied, “Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it to water?  Then should not this daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound for eighteen long years, be released from her bondage on the Sabbath day?”. On hearing this, all His adversaries were ashamed. And the whole crowd rejoiced at all the glorious things He was doing. (Luke 13: 10-17)

(5)  On this occasion, Jesus was invited home by a senior Pharisee. Probably the idea was to trap Him for certain for once. The presence of many Pharisees and law experts watching Him closely and a man with dropsy right in front of the Lord make the scene suspicious. Jesus was not unaware of their plans and was never afraid to take them on. Whatever their plans, the need for the sick man was genuine.  This time Jesus initiated the debate-- “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?”.  No one said anything.  Then Jesus took hold of the man, healed him, and sent him on his way. And He asked them, “Which of you whose son or ox falls into a pit on the Sabbath day will not immediately pull him out?”. And they were unable to answer these questions (Luke 14:1- 6).

(6)  Jesus found a man bed-ridden for 38 years next to the Siloam Pool. This man was lying there, hoping against hope, that someday he will be healed. Jesus commanded him ‘Rise, pick up your mat and walk”. Now, picking a mat and walking was in contravention of the pharisee’s Sabbath rule! The man walked. This became a big issue. Carrying your mat and walking on Sabbath was considered ‘work’, working on Sabbath. was against the law, was it not? The poor man was not left alone. The ubiquitous Pharisees wanted to know who healed him. He met Jesus again, found out who He is and reported at the temple. We don’t know if there was another 'Sabbath encounter' between the temple authorities and Jesus.

(7)  What started as a leisurely Sabbath stroll by Jesus and His disciples turned out to be a mercy mission when they met on the street a man born blind. Jesus applied clay on the man’s eyes and sent him to wash himself up at the pool of Siloam. He came back with his sight restored!

What should have passed off as another mighty deed of the Master turned out into controversy and threatened into becoming a scandal. St. John narrates the story in 41 verses(chapter 9). Soon the Pharisees got involved and in their opaque vision, they could see this only as a breach of Sabbath laws. Once they were sure a healing had really taken place after questioning the parents and the neighbors, they hounded the ex-blind man, subjected him to exhaustive investigations.

The man who was healed had not seen his benefactor, nor knew His name. The identity of Jesus was important for the authorities so that they can drag Him over the coal. The victim told the authorities the healer was a prophet. The Pharisees maintained he was a sinner and liable to punishment.  The healed man replied “Never before has anyone heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind.  If this man were not from God, He could do no such thing.” They replied, “You were born in utter sin, and you are instructing us?” And they threw him out. (vv 32, 33).

But his strong faith didn’t go unrewarded. Jesus paid him a visit and introduced Himself as the Son of Man; with alacrity he realized the Healer was more than a prophet, but was the Lord, and worshipped Him.

He had told the Pharisees, “Whether He is a sinner I do not know. There is one thing I do know: I was blind, but now I see!” ( v.25). He didn’t know how, why, or by whom he was healed, but was ready to share his witness. You don’t need to know all the answers, be an expert of law, to share Jesus with others; you must only know how Jesus changed your life, then tell others about it, trust God will change their lives.

The blind man’s new faith was severely tested by authorities – cursed, thrown out of the temple. Persecution often follows when you decide to accept Jesus. You may lose friends, job, may lose your life. But no one can take away your eternal life Jesus gives. When Jesus touches you, you change; when you continue to walk with Him, you grow, you know who He is. You are justified, sanctified, glorified and presented to God as a saint.

Grow in the grace and knowledge in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ

(2Peter 3:18).

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