John 8
SABBATH ATTITUDE
It was a special Sabbath, the last day of the feast of Tabernacles. From John’s gospel record we can see that this day was a very busy one. But there are two particular events that happened on this Sabbath for us to learn important lessons from.
Firstly, the teachers of the law and Pharisees had a woman caught in adultery brought to Jesus. Their intention was that she should be stoned in accordance with the law of Moses. They were so intent about keeping the purity of the law that they were prepared to break the rules about working on the Sabbath by doing the hard physical work of picking up stones and stoning a woman to death on the Sabbath day.
In the following chapter it was still the Sabbath day. The contrast with the previous event was that it was Jesus who wanted to work. In order to give sight to a man born blind, Jesus made some mud with his saliva and pasted it on the blind man’s eyes. The Pharisees were outraged because Jesus did not keep the Sabbath.
The lesson is one of attitude. The Pharisees were content to work on the Sabbath to kill, but would not allow Jesus to work on the Sabbath to heal.
How do we use the Sabbath? Is it a day of upholding God’s righteousness and our standards at all costs, or is it a day of mercy and healing? Let’s make sure our attitude is the same as that of Jesus.
May our words and actions bring life this week.
With love in our Lord,
Robert
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