July 10, 2000
GREAT QUESTIONS OF THE BIBLE:
"Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"___
MIKE TOBY
Pastor, First Baptist Church of Woodway in Waco
By D. Michael Toby,
___ Pastor, First Baptist Church of Woodway in Waco
___ What a strange question for our secular 21st century. There was a time not too very long ago when Sunday was treated as a very different day. The Christian community saw Sunday as the Lord's Day and viewed it as the Sabbath day of rest. We believed it was truly a special day of worship, rest and renewal. Most businesses were closed, and few activities were scheduled to conflict with church services.
___ Well, not any more. Sundays still are a day off for most people, but the retail and entertainment world open their doors wide for the Sunday customers. It's ironic, but perhaps the hardest service to find on a Sunday is that of a doctor, a healer. At any rate, it's safe to say that most people see Sunday as a day when anything goes, so why the question, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"
___ Matthew, Luke and John all record instances in the life of Jesus when this issue was raised. In each case, it was the Pharisees who asked the question and felt that Jesus, by healing on the Sabbath, had seriously broken the holy law. The fact is that God had declared the Sabbath as a day of rest in which no work was to be done (Deuteronomy 5:12-15). Herschel Hobbs points out that to the Jew of Jesus' day, the three most sacred things were the Temple, ceremonial law and the institution of the Sabbath. The Pharisee viewed healing as work, and it was, therefore, a clear violation of the Sabbath. For the pious, sincere Pharisee, Jesus' actions created a serious dilemma: "How can this be the Messiah when he is a lawbreaker?" For the Pharisee who was looking for "just cause" against Jesus, he saw this as evidence.
___ Was Jesus a lawbreaker? Did he violate his own commandment? Or was he lawful in his actions and true to his character as God? Consider these seven reasons why it was lawful for Jesus to heal on the Sabbath:
___ First, in Matthew 12:8, Jesus reminds us he is Lord of the Sabbath. It was his creation to serve his purposes.
___ Second, he is Lord not only of the Sabbath, but Lord of all. In Matthew 12:11, Jesus asks who would not rescue one of his own sheep which falls into a pit on the Sabbath. G. Campbell Morgan declares that the inference is that Jesus is the owner of all men and women and feels compelled to rescue them (and heal them) when in need.
___ Third, and most direct, it is lawful for Jesus to heal on the Sabbath because he said it was. In Matthew 12:12, Jesus declares, "So then it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."
___ Fourth, it is lawful because, according to James 4:17, "Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin." In other words, to fail to do good (heal) when you have the opportunity and do not do it would be tantamount to doing evil.
___ Fifth, it just makes good common sense. Jesus argues that it is reasonable to respond to need, whether it's the ox in the ditch or one of his children who is in trouble.
___ Sixth, Christ's actions are appropriate because of the value he places on us as his children. In Matthew 12:12, Jesus states, "How much more valuable then is a man than a sheep!"
___ Seventh, because what Jesus did in healing was consistent with the second-greatest commandment (Matthew 22:39) of loving your neighbor as yourself. Christ's actions were consistent with the spirit of the law, and he refused to surrender to the deadness of the legalism of the Pharisees.
___
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