THE GOSPELS: LESSON 30:
MORE SABBATH CONTROVERSIES
TEXT: MATT. 12: 1 - 21; MARK 2: 23 - 28 & 3: 1 - 13; LUKE 6: 1 - 19
WE WILL FOCUS ON THE ACCOUNT GIVEN IN MARK 2 AND 3.
MARK 2: 23 - 28: JESUS IS LORD OF THE SABBATH.
Verse 23: The “corn” spoken of here is either barley or wheat. The corn we know is properly called maize, and was unknown in the Roman world. Maize was discovered in 1492 when Columbus visited Cuba on his first voyage. The “corn” here in Mark 3 was probably barley, which ripens in May or early June (in the Middle East). They began to “rub” the heads of grain they had plucked so they might eat the kernels of barley.
Verse 24: The Jews forbade all kinds of work on the Sabbath. Their rule was “he that reaps (on the Sabbath day) ever so little, is guilty (of stoning),” and "plucking of ears of corn is a derivative of reaping." (Taken from Gill’s Commentary.)
Verses 25, 27: The story of David is recorded in I Sam. 21: 1 - 6.
Verse 27:As Gill’s Commentary says, “[The Sabbath was instituted] for his [man’s] good, and not for his hurt; both for the good of his soul, that he might have an opportunity of attending divine worship, both in public and private; and for the good of his body, that he might have rest from his labour; and this was the end of the original institution and appointment of it; and therefore works of necessity are not forbidden on this day; such as are for the necessary comfort, support, and preservation of life; or otherwise it would be apparent, that the sabbath was not appointed for the good, but for the hurt of men.”
Verse 28: What does it mean that Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath? What does this claim say of his true identity? Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath in that he, being with God in the beginning, helped to create all things – even the Sabbath. He, as part of God, has “all authority given him” and therefore has the power to change or dismiss the Sabbath as he so chooses. This claim of being Lord of the Sabbath is a clear claim of his divinity and the scribes and Pharisees clearly understood it as such, for they accused him of blasphemy.
MARK 3: 1 - 13: SABBATH HEALING OF THE MAN WITH A WITHERED HAND.
Verse 1: As Luke 6: 6 says “On another Sabbath . . .” meaning that these two events happened on different days. This is most likely on the Sabbath following the “grain controversy.”
Withered hand – Likely a case of polio or some birth defect. This man might have come specifically to be healed by Jesus, or merely as a regular attendant of the Sabbath service in the synagogue.
Verse 2: The scribes, rulers of the synagogue, and Pharisees are now watching Jesus carefully. Why? To catch him in some “breaking” of the Law of Moses, so they can accuse him and perhaps justify killing him.
Verse 3: “Come here.” Very like what Jesus said when he raised Lazarus. Since Jesus taught as one with great authority, his word was hard to ignore.
Verse 4: This is the crux of the Sabbath controversy: Is the Sabbath for the good of man or for his hurt? Is is better to heal or to kill? Was this man being killed by the Jews? In what sense?
Verse 5: Jesus is angry with the hard-hearted men of the synagogue. Yes, Jesus got angry. It is no sin to get angry. See Ephesians 4: 26. No matter how the rulers of the synagogue glare at him, however, he heals the man. We cannot stop doing good just because someone is upset with us.
Verse 6: The Pharisees and Herodians took counsel TOGETHER to kill Jesus.
Herodians – either men of the house of Herod who were Sadducees, or a Sadducee sect that was dedicated to the appeasement of Rome by making sure the Herod family remained in control of Judea and Samaria. At any rate, the Herodians were surely Sadducees. So, we see that the Pharisees combine with their hated enemies, the Sadducees, to conspire against Jesus, their common enemy.
Jesus healed seven different times on the Sabbath. These incidents are:
1. Casting out an unclean spirit (demon) at Capernaum. Mark 1: 21 - 27
2. Healing of Peter’s mother-in-law at Capernaum. Mark 1: 29 - 31
3. Healing of the lame man at Bethesda (Jerusalem). John 5: 1 - 9
4. Man with a withered hand is healed (Capernaum). Mark 3: 1 - 5
5. Straightening the bent-over woman (Jerusalem). Luke 13: 10 - 13
6. Healing the man with “dropsy” (Samaria?). Luke 14: 1 - 4
7. Healing the man who was born blind (Jerusalem). John 9: 1 - 14
Verses 7, 8: Jesus gets out of Capernaum for a while. It is getting too “hot” for him to remain. People come out to him from Galilee, Judea. Tyre, Sidon, Idumea, and Jerusalem. Why did the multitudes come out to see him? For the miracles. Before, it was to hear his words. Now they come to get a miracle. A disappointing trend.
Verses 9, 10: Jesus calls for a boat (a rowboat, not a large sailing craft) to be made ready so Jesus can get away if the crowds become too much for him. The crowds were so great he was literally in danger of being crushed to death by them. They all “pressed on him to touch him,” so they might be healed.
Verses 11, 12: Jesus casts out more demons and charges them not to reveal his identity. The demons knew who Jesus was, and would cry aloud, “You are the Son of God!” This phrase “straitly charged” means that Jesus strictly ordered them (the demons), with the threat of punishment if they did not do exactly as he commanded.
Why would he charge the demons to remain silent? It wouldn’t do to receive testimony from demons, or the Pharisees and Sadducees would use their testimonies as evidence that Jesus consorted with demons. They did this on at least three occasions: Matt. 10: 25; Matt. 12: 24 - 27; and Mark 3: 22 .
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