DID JESUS BREAK THE SABBATH?!!
Created 08/30/2001; updated 05/30/2003: made easy to print out
Enemies of the truth try to tell us that Jesus broke the Sabbath. One such comments by one posting on the newsgroups with the name "Frank" tells us that there are more than two separate examples where Christ "clearly" did this:
> Hey
John, there are more than two. Remember the lame man healed in John 5. Jesus
> commanded him to pick up his bed on the Sabbath, yet the OT says in Jer
17:21,22 "Thus
> says the Lord: "Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the
Sabbath day, nor
> bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; 22"nor carry a burden out of
your houses on the
> Sabbath day, nor do any work, but hallow the Sabbath day, as I commanded
your
> fathers." [NKJV] Jesus clearly told the healed man to "carry
a burden" on the Sabbath.
> This is just a recorded incident. There are others that are unrecorded
as is born out by
> an examination of John 5:18.
In other words, Frank vouches for the Pharisees again! The Pharisees accused Christ of being a Sabbath breaker. Is that true? It was just that same Jesus who told the world that no work shall be done on the Sabbath, but then reminded us that the priests profane the Sabbath but are blameless?
Matthew 12:1 At
that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples
were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat.
2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold,
thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.
3 But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did,
when he was an hungred, and they that were with him;
4 How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the
showbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were
with him, but only for the priests?
5 Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath
days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?
6 But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater
than the temple.
7 But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy,
and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.
8 For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.
They have to work on the Sabbath. They have to preach, they have to manage the articles in the Sanctuary, etc. So now people tell us that the man who was healed has to stay where he is and leave his bed where it is. The scripture said not to carry a burden. But what happens when a man had no opportunity to prepare for the Sabbath to make sure all his burdens are taken care of because he cannot even walk. He now can walk. What shall he do? I have answered this question before.
Frank:
> 5:18 For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill
Him, because He
> not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father,
making
> Himself equal with God. [NASB]
>
> In the above verse both "breaking" and "calling" are
imperfect tense verbs. This means
> that Jesus was continually and repeatedly breaking the Sabbath and calling
God His own
> Father. It is also interesting to note that John says that Jesus was breaking
the Sabbath,
> not just breaking Jewish rules of the Sabbath. If John under the inspiration
of the Holy
> Spirit said that Jesus continually and repeatedly broke the Sabbath, then
who am I to
> argue.
That is not correct!
Here is that scripture.
It is John 5:15-18:
15
The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole.
16 And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus,
and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.
17 But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto,
and I work.
18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him,
because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father,
making himself equal with God.
We have already
shown the parallel scripture of that. Is it in Matthew 12
11
And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one
sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on
it, and lift it out?
12 How much then is a man better than a sheep?
Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days.
Jesus says IT IS LAWFUL: <<IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAW>> TO DO WELL ON THE SABBATH DAYS!
If Christ therefore says it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days, and then tells us it is lawful to heal a man, why do we have to always suffer from deceivers on this matter? Why must we copy the sentiments of the Pharisees?
That scripture was saying that the Pharisees thought that Jesus had broken the Sabbath. It then showed that they thought Jesus had blasphemed for, being a man, thinking himself God. Again it says:
John 5:18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.
Therefore the scripture here you claim states Jesus broke the Sabbath absolutely. If that is true, the scripture here also says that Jesus claimed to be equal with God while being a mere man. After all, it is telling us why the Pharisees sought to kill Jesus. It is telling us why the Jews sought to kill Christ. Is Christ just a mere man claiming to be God? That is what the scripture is saying here according to you Jesuits.