Silly Rabbi
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Scripture
One sabbath he was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain.
The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?”
And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food?
He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.”
Then he said to them, “The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath;
so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”
Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand.
They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him.
And he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come forward.”
Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent.
He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.
The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.
Introduction
Introduction
Over the next 8 weeks or so, we will be taking a look at Rabbi Jesus. The reason for this is most of us have no idea about the culture Jesus lived and taught in. Years ago when I started teaching senior high Sunday school, I made the statement to my class on communion Sunday like today, they should have had bagels at the last supper. A few of the kids laughed but the majority looked at me like I had 3 eyes. I said you know bagels, Jesus was Jewish. In total shock one young lady exclaimed, “Jesus was Jewish!?”
Much of what Jesus taught was not that much different than what the other rabbi’s were teaching. All Rabbis had a Halakah, or their own legal interpretations of Torah. The sermon on the mount is a great example of Halakah and we are dealing with Jesus’ Halakah on the sabbath this morning. Every Rabbi had his own Halakah or way or path.
Jesus lived in a time where there was very little unity in Halakah. You had the Pharisees, The Sadducees and the Essenes who all supported their own Halakah.
None of these Halakoth were written down until the second century AD. This is the oral law, and it was written down in the Mishnah. Jesus argued matters of Halakah, but never deviated form the Torah.
Tradition was that the oral law was given to Moses along with the written law. So, most of the Rabbis considered it equal to torah!
Also, Rabbi was not an official office in jesus day. Rabbi literally means great one. You were given this title by your disciples. All rabbis had Disciples. For example Paul followed Gamaliel who is mentioned in the Mishnah. After the destruction of the Temple, Rabbi became an ordained person of the clergy, in what we have today. Ok now with that background out of the way, let’s take a look at Rabbi Jesus Halakah on the sabbath.
Exegesis
Exegesis
We have two different stories here, that both concern working on the sabbath. As I said earlier jesus never violated the law of Torah, but he always walked a fine line with the oral tradition.
In the first story, (and you can see here how Jesus was scrutinized on everything) Jesus and his disciples are going through a grainfield, on the sabbath, plucking ripe heads of grain and eating them. Let’s take a look at what Torah says about the sabbath.
Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy.
Six days you shall labor and do all your work.
But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns.
Of course the question here is, what is work exactly? Well in the oral tradition there are 40 laws that are very specific about work on the sabbath. it was OK for Jesus and his disciples to glean if they are impoverished,
Deut
If you go into your neighbor’s standing grain, you may pluck the ears with your hand, but you shall not put a sickle to your neighbor’s standing grain.
So the question is are these men breaking the law by reaping the field? Obviously this is what the Pharisees thought.
Mishnah 7.2
The Mishnah Shabbat
The generative categories of acts of labor [prohibited on the Sabbath] are forty less one:
B (1) he who sews, (2) ploughs, (3) reaps, (4) binds sheaves, (5) threshes, (6) winnows, (7) selects [fit from unfit produce or crops], (8) grinds, (9) sifts, (10) kneads
Now, Jesus in so many words tells them that human needs come before the sabbath. By using David and his companions eating bread consecrated to God and the Priests because he was hungry. The need superseded the law of the Tabernacle just as the human need supersedes this law. Beside he says, the sabbath was created for man, not man for the sabbath, and I am lord even of the sabbath! A new halakah, a new way.
Next we find Jesus at the synagogue on the sabbath. Maybe the same day as the incident in the grain field. Many think this is the synagogue in Capernaum. Jesus challenges the pharisees who are once again keeping a close eye on Jesus. he asks them whether it is lawful to do good on the sabbath or to do harm on the sabbath to save life or to kill. Well, it might not always sound like it, but many of these laws are based on common sense. Any Rabbi would tell you that yes it is lawful to do good and to save life. If this man’s life was in danger, then Jesus would not have been breaking the law. Obviously through, the man’s withered hand is not life threatening. Jesus healing his hand could have waited until the sabbath was over after sundown. But Jesus is making a point. In fact in the MIshnah, the Rabbi Shammai is recorded to have said that praying for a sick person was work!
It is interesting that when you go to The Holy Land and if you stay in a Kosher Hotel starting at Sundown on Friday till sundown on Saturday, The Sabbath, the elevators stop at every floor. This is because if you push an elevator button it is considered work
So Jesus is in the Pharisees face with what he does. It enrages them so much so that conspired with the Herodians to kill Jesus. But Jesus has made his point. Human need supersedes the oral law. Once again we have Rabbi Jesus’ Halakah on the sabbath. First it was created for man, not man for it. Second the Sabbath is for doing good. Third, he declares the oral law void on this issue because he is lord of the Sabbath. Fourth, human need supersedes the Sabbath law.
Torah, the law, was supposed to be liberating to the people in telling them what they could do. It was also God’s gift to his chosen people to set them apart form the cultures surrounding them, it was to be counter cultural. But, in wanting to be good stewards and practitioners of the law, the Rabbis turned it into a heavy burden. This is really what Jesus is refering to here:
Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Jesus is referring to his Halakoth versus the other Rabbis. The “yoke” was a common metaphor by the rabbis for their Halakoth.
No wonder he looked at the Pharisees with anger. The sabbath which was supposed to enhance life becomes a burden to bear, even to the point of observance of it becomes a heavy death affirming yoke.
Application
Application
Ok, so what can we take away form this for the 21st century. Well, first would be human need is greater than any religious rule!
So a Sabbath should not be a time of just spiritual introspection. Sabbath should be a time of service, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick, etc. For the Pharisee religion is about obeying the rules. For Jesus religion is about service. I like the way Barclay puts it:
But the sacred things are only truly sacred when they are used for human benefit. The shewbread was never so sacred as when it was used to feed a starving man. The Sabbath was never so sacred as when it was used to help those who needed help. The decisive factor in the use of all things is love and not law.
In other words for Jesus the most important thing in the world was not the correct performance of a ritual, but a spontaneous answer to the cry of human need. When Jesus told the woman that true worship is spirit and truth, could he have meant that when we serve other people that is the best act of worship we could perform? Frankly, I think so.
So, should Christians practice a sabbath? Yes absolutely. We all need time away from our daily drudgery, a day of rest. Everyone knows the health benefits of a day off. But since it was made for us, we can take a Sabbath whenever we want. And the best way to do that is in service!
The sabbath, according to Jesus’ halakah is they day we do good, rather than just simply refrain from work.
I am not one that wishes for the good ol days. Because frankly, that’s a little maudlin to me. I am not saying that people shouldn’t long for that, unless it becomes an obsession or unreasonable. I say this because it is easy to say what this newspaper reporter said:
"For many people, blue Monday is merely the follow-up to blah Sunday." Although it might be difficult to pin down one specific reason for this strange phenomenon, "Sundays just aren't the same as they used to be. And the change from a tightly structured day, focused on the family and religious observance, to a wide-open day of leisure and languor is what may be causing the anxiety attacks." Jack Nachbar of Ohio's Bowling Green State University writes: "It used to be that Sunday was devoted, in a religious sense, to a day of rest. Family units were a lot closer. You'd go to church, visit relatives, have a big Sunday dinner, go on outings, and then go back to church."
Yes, we could go back to Mayberry and sit on the front porch with Aunt Bea, Barney, Opie and listen to Andy play the guitar. of course we all know that Mayberry was a fictional place, and although doing that every once in a while might be nice, I would find it boring.
However, I think it makes the point that we do need a sabbath. it doesn’t have to look like Mayberry, probably cant look like Mayberry. Doesn’t have to be on Sunday. But I think Jesus teaching and example of putting human needs first is really what a sabbath is all about.
But let’s not be like the silly Rabbis, the Pharisees and rob our gift from God of the sabbath by saying we have to do this or that or we’re not honoring the sabbath. For sabbath is in the heart. it is of God’s heart.
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