The Life of Christ

DID JESUS BREAK THE OLD TESTAMENT SABBATH LAW?

John 5; Mt. 12:1-14; Mk. 2:23-28; 3:1-6; Lk. 6:1-11 all deal with the question of whether or not Jesus broke the Sabbath .

• It is a critical question, particularly in the light of Jesus’ responsibility to keep the Law.

• Gal. 4:4-5 indicates that Jesus had the responsibility to keep the Old Testament Law, or else jeopardize the final atonement.

But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons (Gal. 4:4-5).

Keeping the Sabbath:

• The Sabbath concept began when God, Himself, rested on the seventh day of creation.

• Moses later received the Sabbath Law as the fourth commandment (Ex. 20:10-11).

• Lev. 23:3 opens up a wide range of possibilities to what the Sabbath may have meant: "...you shall do no work therein: it is the Sabbath of the Lord...." The question has always remained, “What does God mean by ‘no work therein’” ? No other section of Mosaic Law was argued over more than what could be legally done on the Sabbath. Here are the few additional guidelines given from the Old Testament which add a rough framework to the issue:

• You could not gather sticks to start a fire (Num. 15:32). • Cattle couldn't be worked (Lev. 25:7). • Fields couldn't be worked (Lev. 25:4). • Animals and servants were not to work (Deut. 5:14). • You couldn't carry a burden (Neh. 13:19). • Failure to keep the Sabbath would result in death (Num. 15:32-36).

The Rabbis took their liberty to expand upon this list by extending it deep into the absurd, as well as developing crafty systems to get past their own laws.

• If a man wished to move a sheaf (a bundle of harvested grain stalks) on his field, which of course implied labor, all he had to do was drop his spoon (that was allowed to be used on the Sabbath) next to the sheaf. When he went to pick up his spoon, he would also in the same motion with his other hand remove the sheaf.

One of the more glaring problems with the Rabbi’s view of the Sabbath is how they used this law, intended to be helpful, and turned it into something destructive.

• If a 30-gallon cask of precious olive oil developed a leak at the bottom of the barrel, it was forbidden to stop the leak by plugging the hole with a little piece of wax. It was also illegal to wipe or clean a wound. 14

Jesus performed numerous miracles on the Sabbath, as well as sanction His disciples to pick grain on that day. He was accused of breaking the Mosaic Sabbath Law, but did He really do so?

• In response to this question, we read from Mt. 5:17 that Jesus came to fulfill the Law. To fulfill carries the original Greek meaning of ‟ adding the last so that it is now full.”

14 Alfred Edersheim, Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1971), Second Book, p.56.

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