Jesus and the Sabbath
Last week I mentioned a passage from Luke 13 and how I’d been wondering what it might have been like to be the woman in that narrative. Verses 10-21 have remained on my mind this week, but my focus shifted to the leader of the synagogue.
I began to wonder what the leader in that synagogue must have felt when Jesus reprimanded him and the others publicly.
Here are some thoughts I think I might have had if I were him -
Who does this guy think he is?
Why is he ignoring the rules?
Does he think he is above the rules?
What just happened?
How is he able to heal people?
This is going to cause trouble!
I have to put a stop to this!
Come on Jesus. Just obey.
Wait, am I following the wrong rules?
I have to imagine that the leader in this synagogue was familiar with Scripture, had grown up around it, and was knowledgeable about the rules to follow - especially on the Sabbath. His focus seems to be on protecting what he has been taught and making sure no one, especially this guy Jesus who has been stirring up crowds all over town, steps outside of what he knows to be true.
In Matthew 12, there is another passage quite similar to this one, though not the same narrative. It begins with the Pharisees questioning Jesus while his disciples are picking and eating grain on the Sabbath. Jesus pauses and points out other times in Scripture when people have also broken the rules of the Sabbath; for instance David and the temple priests. Then Jesus references a passage from Hosea 6, "But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire compassion and not a sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
The narrative continues and we find Jesus again in a synagogue. This time there is a man who has a withered hand. The Pharisees, trying to trap Jesus, ask if it is lawful to heal on the Sabbath. Much like the passage in Luke, we see that Jesus mentions their livestock and how they would surely save their sheep from a pit on the Sabbath. Jesus points out to them that a person is surely more important than their sheep. Jesus says, “So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” And he goes on to heal the man’s withered hand.
The Pharisees are angry and they leave determined to bring this man down, to put him in his place, to ruin him.
What might those Pharisees have been thinking?
Why is Jesus trying to get people to ignore the rules?
Doesn’t he understand that he is causing trouble?
We are trying to make sure people obey God.
We don’t want to be exiled again.
He isn’t God, why does he keep acting like he is?
How can we get rid of him?
He is a nuisance.
What if people are more important than animals?
What if we’ve been doing things wrong?
Sometimes I think the Jewish leaders in the Bible get a bad rap. They are often villainized for the way they come against Jesus; for the way they question him and try to trap him. But I wonder if what they thought they were doing was defending their faith, their traditions, and their teachings.
When Jesus encountered them he did not refrain from pointing out when their traditions and teachings were upside down or disordered. I think he was stern with them, not because they were villains, but because they were influencing a nation and they needed to get it right.
I wonder how often we are just like the Pharisees?
In these days leading up to Easter I wonder if we can find space to ask these questions -
In what ways have I been like the Pharisees?
What is disordered that you want me to see?
What am I being invited to do about it?
~ Melissa