# 91 Get Serious About the Sabbath

Joh 5:16 For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath. 17 But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working." 18 Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.

The death penalty for working on the Sabbath? That puts it on par with murder, adultery, and blasphemy! But we can’t dodge what the Scripture says. “Whoever does any work on the Sabbath Day, He shall surely be put to death.” (Ex 31:15)

Wow that seems strong to you and I, but one man that we read of in Scripture paid the price for doing work on the Sabbath. We read of it in  Nu 15:32-35, “Now while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. 33 And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation. 34 They put him under guard, because it had not been explained what should be done to him. 35 Then the LORD said to Moses, "The man must surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp."

Sounds extreme doesn’t it? But listen, it’s not like this was some kind of a secret commandment. The people knew it. The man gathering sticks knew it. He just didn’t believe it and he paid the price.

Now before you start picking up rocks to throw at grocery store workers or fast food employees or anyone else who punches a clock on Sundays, hear this: When Jesus arrived on the scene, everything changed! We no longer stone people to death for breaking the commandments! Excommunication through the proper channels of church discipline is how these offenses are handled today.

Further, Jesus became our Sabbath, (our rest) He is our “no work!” He did all the work for us on the cross! The reverence of the Sabbath Day found in the Old Testament was a foreshadowing of this spiritual truth.

The truth it was meant to portray is this: Those who put their trust in good works for salvation will be cut off because they profane the Sabbath, that is, they make common the finished work of Jesus on the cross. They add to it, and though it seems a little thing like “gathering sticks,” to reject God’s grace for the sake of our works, is a damnable offense.

The “stick gatherer” of the Old Testament, was in effect saying, “I don’t need Your rest (Jesus) God, and I really don’t believe You are serious about my rejection of Your rest.”  (Son)  

That is the spiritual equivalent of you and I saying. “I don’t believe You are serious about Jesus alone for my salvation.” But Jesus tells us differently in   Joh 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”