To timberdoodle
Matthew 12
King James Version (KJV)
12 At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn and to eat.
2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.
3 But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him;
4 How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?
5 Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?
6 But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.
7 But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.
8 For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.
9 And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue:
10 And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him.
11 And he said unto them, 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?
12 How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days. or good wORKS
13 Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other
the Pharasees had taken away the true meaning of the sabbath . It was aday of Joy and gladness but the Pharasees had imposed aot of their own teachings and law. Like How many miles yoi could walk , one cannot carry their bed on the sabbath , If someone was hungry eg the poor they cannot go get something to eat
Jesus came to shew that their ideologies were traditional and man made nt from God
Jesus said my father works and he must works , that is we can do good works on the sabbath and not evil
god is comnig to reward every man according to his works whaeather they be bad or good
What does the Old Testament say about the Sabbath (s) ?
Here is an interesting link From Gordon College that might help
http://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/ted.../02-exodus/text/articles/meek-sabbath-jbl.pdf
One comment that I find quite interesting is :
All our evidence would seem to indicate that the Sabbath in
early Israel had nothing whatever to do with the seventh day
of the week (Page 204)
What Sabbath did Abraham Keep?
The prophets were great social reformers and little interested
in the ritual. With them the element of rest, that was attached
to the Sabbath, was given first place, that of worship was made
secondary, evidently because of its heathen association. In this
probably is to be found the beginning of a movement whereby
the Sabbath was separated altogether from the moon and iden-
tified with the seventh day and complete rest prescribed for its
observance (cf. Dt. 5:13ff.). )Page 209)
Yahweh and his people (Ez. 20:12, 20, Ex. 31:13) It was-to be observed as a holy day (Ez. 44:24, Ex. 31:14)
Was not to be desecrated as it had been by former generations (Ez. 20:13-24; 22:8, 26; 23:38);
It was to be strictly observed (Lev. 19:3b, 30; 26:2) and to that end sacrifices were prescribed for it
(Ez. 44:24; 45:17; 46:1-5, 12).
It was altogether a day of abstinence.
I think that there has been an over simplification of the Old Testament Sabbath. How does the Full Moon Sabbath differ from the seventh day Sabbath? Are we to follow both? What about the Sabbath Year? Do we need to follow this as was prescribed to the Jews? What about the Week of Sabbath? The year of Jubilee was also a Sabbath. Where does our Sabbath responsibility begin and end? To think that we can follow the Sabbath in the New Testament is to place Burdens on the Christian community.
The reality of it is this, "The Old Testament Sabbath was very exacting". we do not even begin to comprehend the meaning of Sabbath and if we believe that by following it we are somehow justified before the Lord then we are all in a lot of trouble.
I am familiar with the Mishnah and the requirements places on the regular people by the Pharisees but yet the Old Testament Sabbath was only understood by those who lived it.
Blessings in Christ
Timberdoodle