Messianic Musings ~ The Joy of Shabbat

As chapter 12 of Matthew opens, Jesus is once again confronted by the Pharisees because of His activities on the Sabbath, or Shabbat, as the Jewish people would call it. Have you ever wondered why this was such an issue for the Pharisees? What was driving their intense reaction?

We are all familiar with one of the earliest commands that God gave His people, the Israelites:

"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.  Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work....Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy." (Ex. 30:8-9a, 11b.)

As I studied the Jewish perspective on this commandment I began to see the Sabbath in a new light. The observance of Shabbat has been one of the most revered of all the commandments in historical Judaism. Even today, two candles are lit on the evening of Shabbat to symbolize both the remembrance and the observance of this holy day.  We (as 21st century Christians ) may have the impression that this was a solemn and oppressive day, a day marked by "do not's".  It was anything but. In Isaiah 58 God calls the Sabbath a delight and a blessing.  For those who observe this holy day, God promises, "then you will find joy in the LORD. and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob" (Isaiah 58:14).

From our perspective, we may see the restrictions that the Jewish people were under as a burden. They saw these restrictions as a gift. They were a safeguard on their day of rest. It was a remembrance that they could rejoice that they were no longer slaves to anyone - not the Egyptians and not the demands of modern society.

When Jesus was confronted by the Pharisees concerning His observance of the Sabbath, He did not deny the celebration of this special day. He did speak against the religious practices that followed the letter of the law at the cost of overlooking the spirit and intent of the law.

This year in our homework we have been striving to apply the lessons we are learning in Matthew to our own lives. Each week we look at what we have specifically learned in the Bible passage we have studied. Next, we look at how God would want us to realign our hearts based on what we have learned. Lastly, we must ask ourselves how we can implement these truths in our lives practically.

I asked myself these questions as I studied the Sabbath. What did I learn? I learned that the Jews desired to safeguard the observance of the Sabbath because it was a gift to them. How does God want to realign my heart? God wants me to realize that I can take the Sabbath for granted, forgetting that He wants it to be a day of joy and a blessing. And lastly, what will I do about it? Well, that's between me and the LORD!!