The Pharisees
The Pharisees
The Pharisees are the ruling spiritual leaders of Jesus’ day. Second and very similar is the Sadducees. The major difference between the two is the Sadducees do not believe in any resurrection. Often the Pharisees would complain about Jesus doing something on the Sabbath, the seventh day.
“By the seventh day God completed His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done. God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it He rested from His work of creation.”
Genesis 2:2-3 HCSB
“Observe the Sabbath, for it is holy to you. Whoever profanes it must be put to death. If anyone does work on it, that person must be cut off from his people.”
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy: You are to labor six days and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work — you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the foreigner who is within your gates.”
Exodus 20:8-10 HCSB
“Do not light a fire in any of your homes on the Sabbath day.”
The Sabbath is a big deal for God. It is one of the Ten Commandments. It is a day of eating leftovers and not working to light a cooking fire.
But here the Pharisees are complaining that the disciples are walking through a grain field and they began picking grain to eat. The Pharisees would have wanted the disciples to “fast” until they could get to the nearest village to eat, but they were not cooking so they might have to wait till Sunday to eat.
But in typical Jesus fashion, He pointed them to their own bible to show where the Sabbath is made for man to live and not a rule to live by.
“David answered Ahimelech the priest, “The king gave me a mission, but he told me, ‘Don’t let anyone know anything about the mission I’m sending you on or what I have ordered you to do.’ I have stationed my young men at a certain place. Now what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread or whatever can be found.”
The priest told him, “There is no ordinary bread on hand. However, there is consecrated bread, but the young men may eat it only if they have kept themselves from women.”
David answered him, “I swear that women are being kept from us, as always when I go out to battle. The young men’s bodies are consecrated even on an ordinary mission, so of course their bodies are consecrated today.” So the priest gave him the consecrated bread, for there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence that had been removed from the presence of the Lord. When the bread was removed, it had been replaced with warm bread.”
1 Samuel 21:2-6 HCSB
So what does this bread and the sabbath have in common? Both are consecrated as holy. As long as David’s men were consecrated they could eat the holy bread. The disciples were also consecrated as having been with Jesus.
We must not be overbearing about the Sabbath where we can’t do anything but what should not be done is work: house, yard, and job. But rather we should take the day to spend it as a family. Getting out for Church. Spending time doing what your family wants to do.
Jesus was often in trouble with the Pharisees for healing on the Sabbath. So do what you need to do to be healed and rested for the next week.
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