Posts Tagged ‘Sabbath’

Mercy Rather Than Sacrifice

Posted: August 31, 2014 in Uncategorized
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Another post in my “Amazing Meetings” series: It’s about a meeting Jesus had with a Pharisee.

Sir, you had an interesting meeting with Jesus. I get the impression that you weren’t actually expecting it to be a good meeting.  You’ve been described as a Pharisee. Can you please tell us what a Pharisee is?

Some people would call us a political party, others a religious sect. We see ourselves as the protectors and upholders of the Rabbinic law. Judaism as you know it depends on our faithfulness over the years to upholding the law.

In my reading of the Bible I get the impression the Pharisees weren’t too supportive of Jesus.  Is that right?

You’re right there. The religious law was given to us by Moses and when people break that law or come up with their own forms of morality or religion our whole society is in danger of collapse.

So this meeting you had with Jesus was because you and your friends wanted to challenge him about the way he seemed to be a little loose in his interpretation of the law?

Loose? Man, we figured this guy was an out and out libertarian.   The fourth commandment in the law Moses gave us was to observe the Sabbath Day and keep it holy.  We developed all sorts of rules and regulations to make sure that this commandment was kept. But this day we spotted Jesus and his disciples walking through this paddock on the Sabbath Day plucking off the heads of grain and eating them.

So this was considered by you to be breaking the Sabbath law?

Well, not so much the rabbinic law, but we had very clear oral laws about the Sabbath. We considered what they were doing as harvesting. They were working on the Sabbath and we didn’t appreciate the way they seemed to be flaunting our authority.

It sounds like it wasn’t the breaking of the law that upset you. It was more to do with your authority being questioned?

Come on, let’s get on with this interview.

OK, what did Jesus say to you when you challenged him and his disciples for plucking grain and eating it on the Sabbath?

He mentioned the story we knew about King David, and how we went into the house of God and ate the holy bread  . He even said it wasn’t lawful for David to do that, but he still used it as an example for why he and his disciples were breaking the Sabbath law.

Did you understand the significance of the story about David?

Yes, I did. He made sense.  He didn’t excuse David for what he did. He still said it was unlawful, but he pointed out that David was hungry and I think what he was getting at was that there was another law at work here that was probably greater than Moses’ law.

What do you mean? did he explain himself?

Well, then he talked about the priests who work on the Sabbath.  He had a point. Someone has to work on the Sabbath, and that’s what the priests did.  We were able to get around the law for that one, so I guess we weren’t all that consistent. I suppose that’s the problem with being so fixed on law. If you’re not consistent on everything, you end up getting yourself pretty mixed up.

And was that all Jesus had to say?

He added that something greater than the temple was here. He said he desired mercy not sacrifice.

It sounds to me he was saying that the teachings of Jesus represented a new way of looking at the old law. The emphasis of the new approach was more about mercy than about following rules and regulations? Is that how you understand it?

Listen mate, I’m a Pharisee and my job is to uphold the law. Unfortunately, what Jesus said actually makes sense. It’s left me pretty confused. There’s no freedom or hope in the approach that I take, whereas Jesus and his friends seem to be so happy. Maybe there is something in Jesus teachings…

I agree, it’s worth investigating further.

To read the account for yourself in the Bible see Matthew 12:1-8  ; Mark 2:23-28  ; Luke 6:1-5.

Is Monday the New Weekend?

Posted: August 25, 2013 in Uncategorized
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Image“Monday now the weekend” is the headline in The West Online today. The advent of Sunday trading in Western Australia and the possible extension of Sunday trading hours in the not-too-distant future means that for many Saturday and Sunday are the busiest days of the weekend and the relaxation time is Monday and Tuesday.

The article says: “Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show that the number of Australians working on weekends has been on the rise, with almost one-third of working people doing some form of weekend work.

Of course, this is not really a new situation. In my research into early Baptists in Western Australia I recall the efforts of great Baptist preachers like William Kennedy and FJ Miles in the Goldfields over a hundred years ago carrying out a very public campaign against Sunday sport.

The Biblical commandment to remember the Sabbath Day has a very practical basis. I have no doubt that many of the health problems, and particularly mental health problems, that we experience today are compounded because we have not been taking the time that we need to rest, and in that time of rest, to reflect on our Creator and his goodness.

But let’s put that to one side for a moment, and consider how the church, which traditionally carries out the majority of its public activities on a weekend, should think about the changes that are occurring in our society. How do we address the issues of corporate worship in a society where traditional time patterns are now impacted by a fly-in fly-out lifestyle?

I don’t think those societal changes necessarily  require us to stop meeting on Sunday and instead to call the faithful to worship on Monday, but perhaps there is a time and a place for considering some alternative and additional opportunities for people to seek solace from the rush and bustle of life in order to meditate on their Creator.

We’ve been studying Hebrews on Sunday morning and next week we are coming to a verse that says: “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another.”

If the world in which we lives makes the meeting together of Jesus’ followers too hard, perhaps we need to think of ways that we can make it possible. Any ideas of how we can encourage each other in this?