Jesus and the Sabbath

Chapter 12
Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath
1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “ Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” 3 He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5 Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? 6 I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. 7 And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice, ’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

9 He went on from there and entered their synagogue. 10 And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”— so that they might accuse him. 11 He said to them, “ Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then he said to the man, “ Stretch out your hand.” And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other. 14 But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.

In reading through Matt 12 this morning, I am confronted with Jesus' view of the Sabbath. It is interesting to me that Jesus does not nullify the Sabbath, he interprets it. He says that his disciples are justified in taking grain and eating it on the Sabbath, which the Pharisees had prohibited with their legalistic regulations. This would be classified as a "work of necessity."

Also Jesus then takes a man with a withered hand and heals him on the Sabbath. Again the Pharisees would prohibit this by saying Jesus was doing work, and it should not be done on the Sabbath. This would classify as a "work of mercy."

Commentators disagree over whether Colossians 2:16 says "let no one pass judgement on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath." Or whether is says "or with regard to a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths." Evidently this is a big deal. Sabbaths would speak to special Jewish Sabbaths that their festival calendar had. If it says, "sabbaths," then Colossians is not nullifying the Sabbath.

Are there other texts that speak of the nullifying of the Sabbath, or is this the only one? I asked in an earlier post what your hermeneutic was. Does Jesus interpret the Old Testament for us by giving us the spirit behind the written words in the Old Testament? Again, like a previous post, I am actually wondering. I am not a man that has all the answers. I know that the answers are in the Scriptures, but sometimes they are not so clear to interpret.

God intended the Sabbath, which was made for man, to be a day set aside for rest and worship. A day for works of necessity, and works or mercy. The Pharisees were making all kinds of judgements about Jesus over the Sabbath. They were wrong judgements which missed the spirit of the Sabbath, behind the letter.