Ask Out Loud | Bible Question

Archives

• Current Questions
• May 2008
• April 2008
• March 2008
• February 2008
• January 2008
• December 2007
• November 2007
• October 2007
• September 2007
• August 2007
• July 2007
• June 2007
• May 2007
• April 2007
• March 2007

Ask Out Loud

Search:

Have a question for the myCCM community? Ask it here and get answers fast. Have advice for those seeking answers? Answer them here!

Last Published: 5/15/2008 5:06:54 PM

<< Prev | All Questions | Next >>

Bible Question

Asked by: Christen on January 11, 2008 at 11:35PM EST

Ok, so I made a habit about a month ago of reading my bible for at least 15 minutes every night, and i've done a REALLY good job at keeping to it. Anyway,I finished Luke and I was left with one question: In many of the books in the old testiment, it says that on the Sabbath no work shall be done, it is to be kept holy, and it is a sin for any work to be done because it is a day of rest. Well, in Luke, it says how Jesus heals a man on the Sabbath in front of the Pharisees, and when they point out that he can't do that because it is a day of rest, he says that they are hypocrites because they have done work on the Sabbath too. My question is, isn't it still a sin to do work on the Sabbath, dispite the fact that the Pharisees did it too? It's not causing me to doubt my faith in any way, but I'd just like to know. I have a brother who is VERY against Christianity, and he is studying the bible, so it's only a matter of time before he asks me this and I want to be ready when he does. Thanks and God Bless

Christen

(4) Answers

Answered by: Josh DeJong on January 12, 2008 12:28AM EST

I don't think it is a sin to work on the Sabbath. Jesus saying those things to the Pharisees was only a way of Him to get the Pharisees to realize that their religious ways aren't good but doing what God does is the right thing to do. I know I have had to work on Sunday and I have missed church because of that but still places are busy on Sundays so people have to work on Sunday but they are always go to a Saturday night service if their church does that. I also think you need to find a interpertation of what Luke was saying in that passage you were reading. You could misunderstating the whole passage by itself. Study the passage in Luke and pray to God about it as He will show you the true meaning of it through the Holy Spirit. Also ask God to give you guidance on what to say to your brother when he asks you about working on a Sunday. God is there for you and He can help you. That is my advice to you.

Answered by: RockitD on January 16, 2008 6:50PM EST

Jesus states that the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. His purpose is that we don't become so busy that we forget to get the rest our bodies and spirits need. We're to glorify Him everyday, but especially to take a day of rest and worship...be that Saturday or Sunday. Romans 14 is a good passage for you to check out. It may answer alot of what's on your mind.

Answered by: Fred Alberti on January 18, 2008 9:33AM EST

That is a really interesting question. I have this Bible at home that explains the answer wonderfully. I will post about it later.

Answered by: J Lee Harshbarger on January 21, 2008 5:34PM EST

As I understand it, Jesus was challenging the Pharisees because over time, as specific questions came up regarding how to deal with the Sabbath, rules were made that became traditions, to the point that the rules had superseded the meaning of the Sabbath. His healing on the Sabbath was a way of highlighting how they had lost the meaning of the Sabbath and were more concerned about their rules.

From that, I gather that we should not let observance of the Sabbath become a cumbersome set of rules. Jesus said, "The Sabbath was made for man," and what the Sabbath was made for was for man to rest and reconnect with God. If we don't take a day to rest, we get more and more stressed out. But if we start making rules for everybody about what can and cannot be done, the spirit of the day can be lost.

In the Old Testament, the penalty for breaking the Sabbath was the same as that for murder and adultery: death. I think this shows that God is quite serious about the Sabbath. Since we do not live in a one-religion culture, working on Sundays is sometimes necessary, but it's important to at least have one day per week that you will not work, in order to honor God's command to rest.