Jesus Disputations with Various Opponents Concerning Sabbath - Research Paper Example

Jesus’ Disputations with Various Opponents Concerning Sabbath Observance Holy Sabbath in the Bible means a moment in which individuals cease from all secular activities. At this moment, people should be generous to the needy in order to receive blessings of the Almighty God, the creator. However, this phenomenon has undergone so many radical changes due to the various misconceptions about this day. Many Christians in the society view Sabbath day as an hour of worship as opposed to holy day meant for the Lord. After fulfilling their worship obligations, many embark to their daily activities. There are several controversies concerning this day. Moreover, there are individuals interested in widespread profanation of Sabbath day. They advocate for a civil legislation outlawing all activities undertaken during the holy day. It is, however, quite disheartening that, in as much as they are advocating for a one day total rest for humans and machines, and they rarely induce the worship attitude. The debate on the issue of Sabbath began so many years ago and has never ended. People are still left wondering whether Sabbath should be observed as an hour of worship or rather should be perceived as a holy day of the Lord. There were so many differences on how the Pharisees and Jesus Christ perceived the Sabbath day. The Pharisees were the spiritual fathers of Judaism. They believed mostly in the oral law alongside Torah that Moses was given by God on Mount Sinai. This group of people also had a strong belief that God did not only give Moses the laws, but He also gave him an ability to explain the contents and how they were to be put into use. Pharisees also believed in an afterlife, and that, there was a reward kept for the righteous in the life to come. As for that case, they believed on total rest on Sabbath day as Moses’ laws had it. Jesus Christ on the other side of the story, proclaimed himself as the Lord of Sabbath. He did this in order to liberate people from burdens of Sabbath (Kittel & Friedrich 22). According to Torah, people were like the subjects to Sabbath day, which was never to be the case according to Jesus. In Mark 2:28, Jesus made everything plain. He said that people were not created to be servants of the Sabbath but rather, Sabbath was made in order to be the servant of the people. In this case, He was addressing specifically the Jewish teachers of the law. The best way to find Christ perception about the Sabbath is on the fourth chapter of Luke. This chapter contains excerpts for the chapters that Jesus preached in Nazareth on one of the Sabbaths. This was after the inauguration of Jesus’ public ministry. It is vital to note that Christ’s ministry did not only begin on a Sabbath day, but it also ended on the preparation day for the Sabbath. Sabbatical ministries of Christ which earned Him several rejections tend to result into His final rejection and sacrifice (Asiedu-Peprah 58). In the opening sermon Jesus referred to the book of Isaiah. He said that the spirit of the Lord was upon him, because he had anointed him to preach good news to the poor. He had sent him to set the captives free, recover sight to those who were blind, and proclaim the acceptable year of God. All commentators are in agreement that the acceptable year that Jesus was ordained to proclaim was the Sabbatical year or the seventh year (Jubilee year). During these annual functions, Sabbath played a crucial role in that it became a day in which the oppressed got an opportunity to get liberation. Moreover, lands were left fallow to enable the poor to get something to feed on. Jubilee year encouraged people to return various properties to their actual owners. The scriptures came into reality on a Sabbatical year. This means that Sabbatical year had become a reality to those who were sinners. Some scholars believe that Sabbath debates and the various healing activities that Christ did on these days, which were somehow meant to be intentionally provocative, showed that the Sabbath commandment was no longer observed (Borg 159). When arguing with the Pharisees, Jesus asked them whether they had not read about David together with his companions who ate the showbread that was meant for the priests only. In the book of Mark, Jesus tried to limit his healing activities to only special scenarios. He was aware of the explosive reaction that would emerge from his proclamation on message and usage of the Sabbath. However, during the fulfillment of his mission, he performed two healing episodes. The first one occurred in the city of Galilee during a Sabbath, which resulted into the healing of a man who was possessed by a demon. The second one took place immediately after the sermon. It took place in Simon’s house where Simon’s mother-in law got a physical restoration. In both two situations, Christ acted due to the love that he had for both individuals. Because of what Christ did, Sabbath day turned to be a rejoicing day for the two families. The next healing episode on a Sabbath is that of a man with withered hand. Jesus found himself in the synagogue before Pharisees and Scribes with a man who had a withered hand in their midst. The Pharisees and their counterparts had come to the synagogue with a different agenda apart from worshipping. They wanted to scrutinize Jesus and to find out whether he would heal on a Sabbath day in order for them to get an opportunity to accuse him. Christ knew what the Pharisees were after and so, He invited the man to the front. He then posed a question to both the Scribes and the Pharisees if it was right to perform healings on a Sabbath day. To bring the question rather into sharper focus, He asked them if there was someone in their midst who would not come to the aid of his one drowning sheep on a Sabbath. He then told them that, man is more valuable than a sheep and, therefore, he healed the man. By doing this, Christ did not abrogate radically Moses’ commandments on Sabbath but He just restored the institution to its divine function and value. This proves that, the utmost spiritual purpose of the Sabbath is to save life. In conclusion, just the same way Christ said that man was not made for Sabbath but Sabbath was made for man, Jesus Christ had it that it is lawful to do right on the Sabbath day. Work Cited Kittel Gerhard, Bromiley Geoffrey and Friedrich Gerhard. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Volume 7. London Wm B.: Eerdmans Publishing. 1971. Print. Borg, Marcus. Conflict, Holiness, and Politics in the Teachings of Jesus. New York, NY: Continuum International Publishing Group. 1998. Print. Asiedu-Peprah, Martin. Johannine Sabbath Conflicts As Juridical Controversy. London: Moh- Siebeck Publishers. 2000. Print. Read More