5 Then he asked them, "If one of you has a son or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull him out?" 6 And they had nothing to say.
Jesus can certainly be a conversation stopper! When confronted face to face with one’s own hypocrisy, one rarely has much to say. These guys were willing to get their son or ox out of a well on the Sabbath yet not willing to agree that someone could be healed on God’s day of rest. Rules, rules, rules!!! It reminds me of a verse found in Isaiah:
13 So then, the word of the LORD to them will become: Do and do, do and do, rule on rule, rule on rule; a little here, a little there-- so that they will go and fall backward, be injured and snared and captured. Isaiah 28:13 (NIV)
The Israelites lack of obedience and indifference to God’s Word through His prophet Isaiah resulted in God giving them over to foreign captivity. God had offered them rest and repose but they had refused to listen opening themselves up to being ensnared and injured. God is serious about His Word to us and He has no desire for us to add to it or take away from it rather pay attention and heed! This, by the way, is for our own good and the good of our children. It is a lie from Satan to believe that God’s commands are burdensome and not beneficial. Scripture tells us:
1 Hear now, O Israel, the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. 2 Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God that I give you. Deut 4:1-2 (NIV)
32 See that you do all I command you; do not add to it or take away from it. Deut 12:32 (NIV)
The last few verses in Revelation echo this same command:
18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. 19 And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. Rev 22:18-19 (NIV)
When we disregard God’s rules we tend to make up our own. This is exactly what the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were doing regarding the Sabbath Day. They were turning it into a giant list of “Do not’s” making it impossible to adhere to and taking it upon themselves to define the meaning of the Sabbath. God made the Sabbath a day of rest. It was and is to be a day that draws us closer to Him through private and corporate worship, through prayer and praise, through song and thanksgiving. It was and is to be a day of reflection and more of a day to “be” with God rather than “do” for God. It was and is a day that required advance preparation and joyful anticipation. It was and is a gift given for man’s benefit and pleasure. As I reflected on Scripture with an eye towards the proper “use” of this precious day a few years ago I came up with a few points. While certainly not exhaustive, you perhaps may find some of these gleanings helpful or enlightening:
What Should a Sabbath Day Look Like?
Rest is a beautiful gift from God. He desires for His children to come away with Him to a quiet place of rest. The writer of Hebrews states:
9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience. Heb 4:9-11 (NIV)