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The Spirit of the Sabbath

The biblical book of Matthew records a significant event during Christ’s earthly ministry in chapter 12 verses 10 to15. In this account, Christ heals a man’s deformed hand – on the Sabbath – a miraculous act that immediately caused the religious elite to accuse Him of a violation of the point of law that prohibited work on the Sabbath under the Law of Moses. However, the Pharisees and other religios authorities were mistaken in their understanding of the letter and spirit of the Law.

Christ immediately points out that the Law allowed a man to rescue a farm animal that had fallen into a pit on the sacred day: “And He said to them, What man is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable then is a man than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” (verses 11 and 12).The Jews of that time clung so closely to the letter of the law that they had forgotten the spirit of the same. They regarded the life and health of an animal to be greater than the health of another human being.

Today, believers are not subject to the demands of Old Testament Jewish Law, but we sometimes choose financial discipline and prudence to be more important than meeting the needs of those around us.

Sometimes I get caught up in the daily demands of life to the point that I forget to act with compassion first and then allow God to show himself strong in meeting our daily needs.