Mercy Not Sacrifice

The Book of Genesis Day 15 Ge 2:2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. The observance of the Sabbath was a huge bone of contention between Jesus and the Pharisees. The Pharisees had become the self-appointed guardians of the Israelites and had taken it upon themselves to see that the Israelites would never suffer a Babylonian style captivity again. That captivity was due in large part to the Israelites ignoring God’s prescribed Sabbath year for the land. So the Pharisees sought to guard the Sabbath zealously. So zealously that they created a myriad of prohibitions against any kind of lifting of a finger on the Sabbath Day. By obeying these little nit-picking rules, they felt that the larger rules about the Sabbath would be adhered to. They underestimated the power of legalism to snuff out grace and mercy. (Don’t we all!) For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. (2 Cor 3:6) Let’s look at an incident of this collision between the Pharisees and Jesus as found in Mt 12: It was the Sabbath and Jesus’ disciples were going through a grain field and picking grain and eating it. The Pharisees charged His disciples with breaking the Law of the Sabbath. Jesus in essence replied that there was more at stake here. His disciples were hungry, and while it may be against the Law to work on the Sabbath, it is never against the law to engage in mercy. He then told the Pharisees to figure out the meaning of this Scripture! “I desire mercy and not sacrifice,” (Mt 12:6) Then Jesus went into a synagogue and healed a man with a withered hand and of course this upset the Pharisees even more, but Jesus said to them, It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” In Mk 2:27,28, Jesus reminds us all that “the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath, therefore the Son of Man is also the Lord of the Sabbath.” In other words, the Sabbath was meant to benefit man, not for man to lord it over others with man-made rules and regulations. God’s only rule concerning the Sabbath is that it is to be a day set aside, it is not to be a common day like the others. It is a day to be remembered. What better way to remember God than to worship Him and engage in acts of mercy and goodness to others as the need arises. Every instance of Jesus being charged with working on the Sabbath involved an act of mercy on His part. In all other ways He observed the Sabbath. Mercy ought to be our only exception as well. We ought to strive to observe this day as God originally intended. It should be a day of resting in Him except on those occasions when compassion is needed. Think of the man with the withered hand. Jesus lifted His finger on the Sabbath, that the man would henceforth be able to lift his! Reflect: Think about a time when someone extended an act of mercy to you in a time of need. Have you ever helped someone in need? How did that feel? Is there anyone in need in your church family? Natural family? Neighborhood? How might you be able to help? Pray: Lord, it is so easy to walk on the other side of the street while my neighbor lies in the ditch. Help me to keep my eyes open for opportunities to extend mercy to others through Jesus. Amen