Doing Good on the Sabbath

 Mat. 12:12b
…So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 
The Pharisee in Jesus time made many laws based on their scripture interpretation of the Torah. It was clear in the Torah that work was not to be done on the Sabbath. “Six days you shall labor, and do all your work,  but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work..”(Ex 20:9,10). It was one of the Ten Commandments God gave to Moses. From this, the Pharisee broke down the daily tasks that they thought were things that should not be done and things that were allowed on the Sabbath. They were man made rules that were brought about by human interpretation. I don’t claim to know the mind of God in regards to what can and cannot be done on the Lord’s Day (Christian Sabbath), but God did set apart one day of the week and made it special. Jesus did not do away with keeping this day special, but He did correct the mis-interpretation that the Pharisee had. “And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.  So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:37,28) The Sabbath was not made to bring man into bondage, but was made to provide man a day to rest from their labors to focus on the things of God. Jesus said it was a good thing to help others and to minister acts of mercy on this day. Reaching out to help others who are hurting and are in need of God’s touch. What this looks like in today’s world and culture may not look the same for everyone. We should approach the Sabbath with the expectation of doing good. In the spirit of keeping the Sabbath holy, we avoid work that we normally do the other six days. We stay within the spirit of the law to do what is good and right. Let us enter into His house with thanksgiving on Sunday morning, let us put aside those things that distract us from worship and do what is good on the Sabbath. 

The Sabbath Day

 Exodus 16:26, 30, 20:8
 Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none…So the people rested on the seventh day…Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
My Bible journaling is an attempt to read scripture and look for meaning and application to the way I believe we should live as Christians. The sabbath day, its meaning,  implication and observation is a topic that many have written books about. From the OT sabbath to the NT sabbath, there is no question that the sabbath is a vital part of scripture. It is one of the Ten Commandments written by the hand of God on the tablet of stone given to His people. It is set apart from the ceremonial law that foretold the coming of Christ and the shedding of His blood. The law in the OT was clear that man would work 6 days and rest on the 7th day. A day of rest from the labors of the week. Additional laws written by man have been added to detail what was laborious. The coming of Jesus shed new light on the sabbath and its meaning. He is the Lord of the Sabbath. Because Jesus rose on the 1st day of the week, conquering the grave and death, and the disciples soon after practice meeting together on the 1st day of the week it established a new day to worship. This day over time became the Christian Sabbath. For centuries, the laws and practices of the OT in keeping the Sabbath have been made part of the Christian faith. It is argued that Jesus’s death did not do away with the keeping of a day of rest and worship. The coming of Jesus did not do away with the other nine commandments. Why was it important that the keeping of the sabbath be one of the ten commandments? This is not an attempt to tell anyone what can and cannot be done on this special day, but it is an attempt for us to examine our hearts and ask God, how does He want me to keep the Sabbath day holy? It is a special day, how do I honor Him on this day? Examine the scriptures, ask God to reveal His word to you, and how it should be applied. The Holy Spirit is faith to lead you and me into the way He wants us to live. Ultimately, in everything we do, we are doing it for the glory of God.