Do Christians really need to keep the sabbath? Isn’t that an Old Testament thing Jesus did away with??

If you ask Google which Bible verses are quoted in support of the position that Jesus did away with observing the sabbath three passages pop up in the AI results. The first is Colossians 2: 16-17. With all due respect to the Apostle Paul, I’m looking for words and actions directly attributed to Jesus. That leaves us with two more passages provided by Google, Mark 2:27-28 and Luke 6:1-11, both of which provide direct attribution of statements concerning the sabbath to Jesus. Because Matthew, Mark, and Luke are synoptic gospels they share many stories, and Jesus’ interaction with the sabbath is one of them. So, in addition to Mark and Luke there is a passage in Matthew that also addresses the sabbath.

The passages we’ll be considering then are Matthew 12: 1-14, Mark 2: 23- 3: 6, Luke 6: 1-11, and Luke 13: 10-17.

The context is the same across the first three passages - a confrontation between Jesus and the Pharisees over Jesus and his disciples gleaning grain in a field they were walking through, followed by a confrontation between Jesus and the leader of the synagogue after Jesus healed a man with a withered hand. In the fourth passage Jesus is again confronted by a leader of the synagogue after healing a crippled woman.

Can we really say Jesus is abolishing the observance of the sabbath in these passages? Is Jesus even breaking the sabbath in these passages? I think the answer is ‘no’, but to arrive at that conclusion we need to look at a legal reference with which both Jesus and the Pharisees would have been familiar – the Talmud, a collection of rabbinic teachings on a variety of subjects, including the sabbath.

To unpack the issue, we’ll begin by unpacking the general rules concerning the keeping of the sabbath, then we’ll consider Jesus’ behavior in each passage against these general rules, and finally we’ll look for any exceptions to the general rule that might justify Jesus’ actions.

Last week we analyzed the fourth commandment, which not only calls for rest, but it also prohibits the doing of any work. But what’s work? That could mean different things to different people. Fortunately, the Talmud gives us some guidance through the thirty-nine categories of prohibited labor on the sabbath. Included in that list are things such as hammering, baking, spinning, dyeing, sowing, ploughing, and yes, reaping.   

So, by the letter of the law generally, it would seem Jesus and his disciples are not keeping the sabbath – they are reaping. But my legal mind makes me ask if there is an exception for this situation. Jesus certainly seems to be implying there is one when he responded

Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests. Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests in the temple break the sabbath and yet are guiltless?

                                                         Matthew 12: 3-5 [NRSV]

There is not a reference in the Talmud that explicitly says, ‘you can reap on the sabbath if you’re really hungry.’ But there is a principle that carries throughout the Talmud called pikuach nefesh. This principle essentially puts the saving or preserving of a life ahead of observing the sabbath. (Imagine that!) I think the examples Jesus gives in his response to the Pharisees is a reference to this principle. So, it would seem Jesus is not only observing the sabbath, but he may know the law better than the Pharisees!

The story that immediately follows this interaction with the Pharisees finds Jesus in the synagogue where he is approached by a man with a withered hand who he heals. The Talmud would also seem to consider healing in a non-life-threatening situation work. A withered hand isn’t life-threatening, so what could be Jesus explanation this time?

Suppose one of you has only one sheep and it falls into a pit on the sabbath; will you not lay hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a human being than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the sabbath.

                                                          Matthew 12: 11-12 [NRSV]

As Jesus is indicating, the Talmud permits leniency on the observance of the sabbath to alleviate the suffering of animals such as moving the animal or giving the animal medicine. Jesus makes an obvious extrapolation, noting that if God cared enough to allow an exception to alleviate the suffering of an animal, surely God cares all the more for humanity. Again, Jesus proves he is superior not only in his understanding of the letter of the law, but also in his understanding of the spirit of the law.

Finally, let’s turn to Luke 13:10-17. Jesus is again the synagogue, this time teaching when the opportunity to heal a woman presents itself. Jesus heals the woman and is confronted by an indignant leader of the synagogue who said the woman should have come on another day to be healed. Jesus responded by reminding those present that each of them unties their ox or donkey on the sabbath to give it water, and he should no less fairly set the woman free, the sabbath notwithstanding. As with the healing of the man with the withered hand, Jesus again shows that the point of the sabbath is not some strict rule that must be obeyed at the cost of suffering. The sabbath is made for man and not man for the sabbath! God gave us the sabbath as a gift for our enjoyment!

When we begin to think of the sabbath in these terms it seems pretty silly to think of it as something that is restricted to the Old Testament. Of course God still wants to give us good things, and nothing about Jesus’ treatment of the sabbath indicates otherwise to me.

Thought for the week: How does thinking of the sabbath as a gift freely given and unearned change your desire to observe it? Does it change what you’re willing to forego to observe it?

Come back next week when I’ll take a look at what observing the sabbath means for those of us in ordained ministry who are required to work on Sundays.

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord!