Posted on 11/23/2025 9:46:18 PM PST by metmom
“At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat. But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, ‘Look, Your disciples do what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath’” (Matthew 12:1–2).
Keeping the Sabbath was still a binding ceremonial duty for the Jews of Jesus’ day, but most of them had little idea of God’s original purpose for the day. Instead of being a day of rest, it had become a day of burden with thousands of man-made restrictions. Ironically it became harder to “rest” than to work the other six days.
The Sabbath had ceased being a delight for people but had become oppressive and frustrating. They were undoubtedly tired of the unscriptural system imposed on the day and welcomed any proper teaching about the Sabbath.
It’s difficult to know what the Pharisees were doing in the fields this day, other than to be watchdogs over the human traditions of the Sabbath. Their accusation that Jesus’ disciples had broken the Sabbath law was simply wrong because it elevated human tradition to the level of God’s Word. Centuries of observing rabbinic ritual had given it the status of legitimate law in the legalistic minds of the Pharisees. They gave only lip service to Scripture and merely used it to justify their traditions, many of which “invalidated the word of God” (Matt. 15:6).
The Jewish leaders’ indictment of Jesus and His disciples on this occasion illustrates a desire to merely protect their distorted, man-made conventions. In that way it perverted God’s original purpose for the Sabbath, which was to give humanity a special day to rest and serve Him, not to deal with an exasperating list of regulations.
Ask Yourself
How do you deal with others’ expectations, even when you know they’re forcing unreasonable requirements on you?
Do you fulfill them out of a need to be thought highly of?
How does a person balance freedom with proper responsibility?
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[[Ironically it became harder to “rest” than to work the other six days. ]]
Whenever i used to take a vacztion to rest, id come back more exhausted lol
The pharisees created a god in THEIR own image. Their religion was a purely works-based religion that could save noone. They became strict legalists, counting on their self-pious rules,and regulations to earn them their way into heaven.
Lots of religions like that around today even. They are “religious” but as far from God as one can be. I think this is why Paul’s message about religioua freedoms in Christ was so important. Too many jews were walking around depr3ssed and defeated beczuse they couldnt stand up to the rigid constructs of the godless phariesees demands. I imagine there were quite a few gasps when Paul said that buying meat sacrifeiced to false gods wasnt a sin. Probably hard for th3 jews and eaely christians to wrap tbeir minds around such freedom.
It's my understanding that Jews are not allowed to drive or even ride in motor vehicles on the Sabbath. Don't know where that's in the Bible, but it's one reason that I'm glad I'm a Methodist.
I would imagine considering how hard I see it for some today to even wrap their minds around.
Good grief.
What do they do if a woman gives birth on the sabbath?????
It’s called *labor* and it IS work.
I live very close to a large SDA church. Several years back on Saturday two little kids had gone for a hike, got lost in a rain storm and showed up at our house wet and cold.
They said they had stopped at EVERY HOUSE between the SDA church and our house and were rebuffed by the people in those houses till they got to ours. We got them in, dried off and I took them to their homes about two miles away.
I posted about it on FR but the post disappeared because it was BRUTAL toward the people who would not help lost children on a Sabbath.
When I hear people talking about observing the Sabbath I keep reminding how they treated these kids.
I go to a Baptist church, on SUNDAY.
As a former SDA, I can attest that not all SDAs are like this and would not shun anyone from needing help on the Sabbath. However, I fully believe your account as I knew of many SDAs who would behave in such a way. When I was young, I recalled an elder in the church who testified during Sabbath School (Sunday School) that he saw a lady stranded on the side of the road with a flat tire and she was waving for help. He said he stopped and told her he could not help her because it was the Sabbath, but when he got to church he would call someone for her.
I recall then having very confused feelings about this—first, I thought Christ would want us to help someone in need regardless of the day of the week, and second, *I* need to keep the Sabbath by not helping but it’s ok to call a “non-believer” and have them “break the Sabbath” by helping this lady?
The sabbath is ordained as a day of REST, not mandated as a day of worship.
And even Jesus had this to say about helping people.....
Luke 14:1-6 One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?”
But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?”
And they could not reply to these things.
Those people WILL have to answer for that some day because Jesus had a lot to say about offending children.
And the account of the Good Samaritan condemns those folks as well.
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