The purpose of this section of Luke, beginning with the previous passage and continuing on for a few chapters, is to show how the New Covenant is radically different in every way from the Old Covenant. This passage continues in that vein, with two incidents recorded that are related to the Sabbath. It's important to remember that these incidents were collected to teach certain points; they are not necessarily in chronological order.
What is the main teaching here? Jesus Christ is our Sabbath in the New Covenant. We are resting in Him, resting from our works. This is covered more directly in Hebrews.
Note Jesus' response in Verse 5: "The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath" Jesus frequently described Himself as the Son of Man to indicate that He was a Savior, not just for the Jews, but for people from all of mankind. This Sabbath of the New Covenant was a rest, not just for the Jewish people, but a rest for all.
We have examples of the sabbath in the era before Moses -- After God created the world, He rested. But Adam was not able to abide in that rest; he still had things to do. Is it too much of a reach to suggest it was on the Sabbath that Adam walked with God in the cool of the day? The Sabbath was instituted as a time to rest from labor and to enjoy God fully without distraction.
The Sabbath was commanded before Moses -- God told the people to rest from collecting manna on the seventh day in Exodus 16:28,29.
In Exodus 20, Moses was given the Ten Commandments, including the Fourth Commandment: "Remember the Sabbath". This "remember" meant to remember the past and to keep as a remembrance, to observe the Sabbath in time. We should remember Adam's communion in innocence and remember our rest in Christ.
The Jews turned the Sabbath into a thing of ceremony -- a list of explicit rules for refraining from labor that had to be kept. But Isaiah 58:11-14 explained what God meant for the Sabbath to be: a time not just to turn away from work, but to turn towards Him.
The Pharisee's interpretation of the law was wrong, because they had turned the Sabbath into a ceremonial thing. The disciples eating of the grain was an act of necessity; it was not wrong. Likewise, healing the man's hand was not wrong. The Pharisees had made their ceremonial, legalistic interpretation of the Sabbath more important than this man's hand.
Finally, we should note that the priests still did work on the Sabbath. The fact of the Christian's sabbath rest in Christ does not eliminate the work that we have to do. Although we are resting in Christ's merit, we still have sin to conquer and good news to spread.
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