One of the recurring storylines of Jesus’ ministry is the discussion of the Sabbath. The rulers of the religious groups all believe Jesus is breaking this commandment and this is part of the reason they decide to have Him killed – He claims to be God but breaks God’s law. How can this be? We don’t have room to completely delve into this, so allow me to keep it short.

If Jesus is God, He is perfect.

He cannot be perfect (sinless) if He broke God’s laws.

Either He did not break the laws or He is not God.

I think this is a simple one, but if you are wrestling with it, here’s a quick rundown.

In Exodus 20, God blesses the Sabbath and sets it apart (makes it holy). This day would be different, because the nation would choose not to work and instead would follow God (worship) and keep it free. It was special and still is. Most Christians don’t even know that they don’t “keep the Sabbath” by not working on Sunday. Further, a weekend would have been a foreign concept to ancient workers. Jews still take sundown Friday night to sundown Saturday night as Sabbath – the 6th day. We do ours on Sunday to remember His resurrection which occurred on Sunday.

So, on the Sabbath we do not work and worship the Creator who made all in 6 days.

The Jewish leaders in Jesus’ day questioned His working on the Sabbath. There is a flaw in this: did Jesus have to “work” to heal or was it just a reality of His being who He was/is? For example, I can’t stop being charming, even while at rest (eye roll accepted). It is who I am. They thought He was working when healing, but I would suspect that healing is natural for Him and just in His nature. Further, Jesus fulfills the law and is the perfect worshipper. His healing is an act of worship – thus keeping Sabbath. Finally, Jesus uses none of these arguments and just states, “I am the Lord of the Sabbath.” He wrote it and gets it. He knows what keeping Sabbath and should not be questioned on it. There is a suggestion there that we missed it and are more focused on the manmade understanding of these laws as opposed to doing things God’s way. What a surprise!

Jesus did not break Sabbath. He was perfect and perfectly understood the law as He wrote it. It likely took no work for Him to heal someone. Even if it did, it is an act of worship to draw someone closer to Himself. In this sense, healing on Sabbath is more an act of worship than watching football and screaming at the refs. Perhaps that is a little too close for comfort.