15 March 2011 (Shleshi/Bikkurim) Day #364, 5934 AM
Did Yah'shua Break the Sabbath?
Refuting an Antinomian Charge
"And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. And He said to the man who had the withered hand, 'Step forward.' Then He said to them, 'Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?' But they kept silent. And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, 'Stretch out your hand.' And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other. Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him" (Mark 3:1-6, NKJV).
There are, unfortunately, many non-Messianic Christians who are of the belief that Yah'shua (Jesus) broke the Sabbath simply because His enemies are recorded in Scripture of accusing Him of this. These same antinomian (lawless) believers accordingly argue that it doesn't matter whether you keep the Sabbath or not and justify themselves for ignoring it.
Yah'shua (Jesus) never once broke His Father's Sabbath Law. If He had, He would have been guilty of sin and in consequence would have invalidated Himself as the sinless Messiah come into the world to take away the sins of mankind. The Pharisees only believed He broke the Sabbath because of the lies of their man-made traditions which would later become compiled into the Talmud and form the legal basis of modern Judaism.
Had Yah'shua (Jesus) broken the Sabbath He could not have become our Pesach (Passover) Lamb. He would have been blemished and therefore an unacceptable sacrifice. The very fact that He was received as the Paschal Lamb and the fact that we are saved through Him is proof that He never broke the Sabbath.
As talmidim (disciples) called to imitate the Saviour of the World we too are required not to break the Sabbath. We have not been given any licence to do what we want simply because some wicked Pharisees accused Him of something He was not guilty of. We may not live the Sabbath Law perfectly as He did but we can do our best, repent when we fail, receive remission for our sin, and continue onwards in His grace until we have become perfect in obedience and ahavah (love).
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