00:00The double blast of the Sabbath trumpet sounded.
00:16In Jesus' time, that meant that the holy day of the week was about to begin.
00:21For now the sun was set, and this was the start of the Sabbath.
00:26It was a day of rest and worship, and to honor it, the Sabbath lamp was lighted.
00:33Each house was adorned, festive garments were put on, and the table was provided with the best.
00:41Everything possible was done to make the Sabbath a delight.
00:45Even the pious poor, by the purchase of expensive dishes, hoped to gain special merit and honor.
00:52Yes, in Jesus' day there were very strict laws about the Sabbath.
00:57Throughout all Israel it was the same.
01:01No man could work on this holy day, and with the sound of the Sabbath horn, all work must stop.
01:08A writer could not even carry his pen.
01:15Yes, you even broke the Sabbath law if you looked for moths in your clothes.
01:22The laws were often hard to understand and to remember.
01:25But though you might forget the law now and then, you never forgot the Sabbath.
01:36It was on a certain Sabbath in Jerusalem, at a place called the Pool of Bethesda,
01:42that Jesus came and saw the sick, the lame, and the afflicted,
01:46waiting hopefully to be cured by the waters.
01:49They watched the water in the pool intently, for at certain times the water bubbled.
01:58The people believed that, at such a moment, the first person to step into the pool would be healed.
02:03Jesus was saddened by the pitiful sight that surrounded him.
02:24Of all who tried in vain to reach the water,
02:28Jesus saw one man who had been crippled for 38 years.
02:49Do you want to be healed?
02:51Sir, I have no man to put me in the pool when the water is stirring,
02:56and while I am going another steps down before me.
03:07Rise, take up your bed and walk.
03:26No!
03:29No!
03:30It is a Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.
03:56Oh, the man that healed me said to me to take up my bed and walk.
04:03Who is this man who told you to take up your bed and walk?
04:07I do not know.
04:08He disappeared among the crowd when I turned around to speak with him.
04:12You cannot carry your bed, but hasten to the temple and cleanse yourself of this sin.
04:18Oh, I shall, I shall.
04:26The man whom Jesus had healed at the pool of Bethesda did go to the temple, where he
04:35again saw the Savior.
04:41Behold, you are well.
04:54Sin no more that nothing worse happens to you.
05:00Is this the man who told you to take up your bed?
05:19Yes.
05:21That is the man that healed me.
05:25The scribes did not care that the cripple had been healed.
05:30They were only concerned that Jesus had commanded the man to break the law of the Sabbath.
05:35And they demanded to know why he had done this.
05:38My father is working still, and I am working.
05:43This was why the Jews sought all the more to kill him.
05:46Because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also called God his father, making himself equal
05:52with God.
05:53Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he
05:58sees the Father doing.
06:01For whatever he does, that the Son does likewise.
06:05The answers Jesus gave to the scribes and Pharisees always sent them away in confusion.
06:10However, when the religious rulers found a person guilty of a serious Sabbath offense,
06:15the people readily inflicted a violent punishment upon the offender in fulfillment of the religious
06:20laws.
06:23But Jesus was not at all concerned about these man-made laws.
06:28His great concern was to save those who had sinned against God.
06:32And so it was that on another Sabbath, he and his disciples were passing through a field
06:38of grain.
06:39Being hungry, the disciples plucked some of the grain to eat.
06:43But according to tradition, plucking the grain and removing the husks was threshing.
06:48The threshing on the Sabbath was breaking the law.
06:51This was the opportunity for which the scribes and Pharisees had been waiting.
06:55They instantly challenged Jesus.
06:56Look!
06:57Your disciples are doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath.
07:01Have you not read what David did when he was hungry and they that were with him?
07:06How he entered the house of God and ate the bread, which was not lawful for him to eat,
07:10nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?
07:13Or have you not read in the law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath
07:18and are guiltless?
07:19I tell you something greater than the temple is here.
07:23And if you had known what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice, you would not have
07:29condemned the guiltless.
07:31The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath, so that the Son of Man is Lord,
07:36even of the Sabbath.
07:40When the Pharisees realized that their plan to catch Jesus and his followers in the act
07:48of breaking the Sabbath law had failed, they were greatly angered.
07:53Moreover, his rebuke made them all the more determined to bring about his downfall.
08:02As another Sabbath day arrived, the devout and pious left their homes and started for
08:07the synagogue.
08:08From all parts of town and all walks of life, their friends and neighbors were on their way
08:13to the place of worship, where they would hear again the law of Israel.
08:18There was a certain eagerness among the people that made their way to the synagogue this Sabbath,
08:23for it was rumored that a visiting rabbi would speak to them.
08:27They had heard that this man could perform miracles, also that he had broken the law of the Sabbath
08:33in defiance of the scribes and Pharisees.
08:36It was rumored that the Pharisees would attempt to trap Jesus into some act of blasphemy or
08:42Sabbath law breaking right in the synagogue.
08:52However before any such action could be taken, the regular Sabbath ritual must be observed.
08:58To begin the service, the synagogue ruler went to the sacred ark to select that portion of
09:03the law to be read on this Sabbath day.
09:10The long ritual was concluded by the final reading of the law.
09:28And then the scroll was returned to the synagogue ruler who put it back in its velvet covering
09:32before he replaced it in the sacred ark.
09:49Jesus was ready to speak to the congregation.
09:51Rabbi, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day?
09:55What man of you, if he has one sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not
10:00lay hold of it and lift it out?
10:03But how much more value is a man than a sheep?
10:11So I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath, to do good or to do hard, to save a life or
10:18to destroy it?
10:19Then he saw the man with the withered hand sitting among them.
10:38Come and stand here.
11:04I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm?
11:08To save a life or to destroy it?
11:16Stretch out your hand.
11:38It was a miracle which showed that Jesus possessed the same divine power by which the world had been created.
11:53And yet as Jesus had performed the miracle, he had been filled with sadness because he knew his deed would arouse the Pharisees and fill them with madness.
12:05In their eyes, Jesus had violated their sacred laws of the Sabbath, and he must be punished.
12:11Therefore, they went out to plot against Jesus, to plot how to destroy him.
12:17They were agreed that Jesus was taking too much authority upon himself.
12:22Moreover, he had succeeded again in getting the better of them in front of the people.
12:27It was bad enough to have him going about preaching and healing during the week.
12:32But if the ancient laws were to be protected, Jesus must be silenced or the people too would begin to disregard the Sabbath and the power of the Pharisees would be threatened.
12:42But Jesus, knowing their evil intentions, withdrew from there with his disciples to continue his father's work, leaving many who would always remember the correct interpretation he gave regarding the Sabbath when he said,
12:57The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath, so that the Son of Man is Lord, even of the Sabbath.
Be the first to comment