Worship and Sunday
(1) Explain how the events of Jesus and his disciples in the cornfield and the healing of the man with the withered arm show the differences in attitude between Jesus and the Pharisees over the observance of the Sabbath. What is the difference between the "Spirit" and the "Letter" of the law?
The Sabbath, or Shabbat, is one of the oldest of Jewish traditions going back to the times of Moses. It is a weekly day of rest observed from sunset Friday until sunset Saturday. Two reasons for the Sabbath are that God rested on the seventh day of creation and it is the only festival to be mentioned in the 10 commandments, which were received by Moses during the Jewish Exodus. The Sabbath can therefore be linked to the two greatest events in Jewish history. A day of neither creation nor work it is to be spent in the family worship of God and reflection. Worship being to show religious admiration and honour of greatness.
The law of no work was interpreted literally by the Pharisees, which means separate from others. They were fundamentalists and extremely orthodox, so if something was commanded in the Torah, which was central to Jewish belief, then that is how they practised it. So, ensure that the rule of the Sabbath was protected a 'fence around the law' was created. This being 513 points of law, 39 of which specifically defined work in relation to the Sabbath. These laws included things like how many words could be written, how far a person could walk, whether a person could be assisted when in need. The rules were made extremely rigid with no room for interpretation, and so no room for error. By interpreting this commandment in this way the Pharisees were more concerned with the letter of the law, i.e. what was said, rather than its true meaning. However when Jesus arrived their well-established ways of worship were threatened. He contradicted many of their practises and even claimed that the teachers of the law were like a block between God and his people in the parable of the lamp and the bowl. Jesus believed all the Pharisees rules were preventing people from enjoying the Sabbath. He was more concerned with the using the day to become closer to God, by doing His work and spreading the Gospel. Jesus believed in the spirit of law, in the sense of using it to help rather than restrict. Mark highlighted this opposition of views in the stories of Jesus and his disciples in the cornfields and the healing of the man with the withered arm. In both stories Jesus is said to have broken the Sabbath by the Pharisees.
(1) Explain how the events of Jesus and his disciples in the cornfield and the healing of the man with the withered arm show the differences in attitude between Jesus and the Pharisees over the observance of the Sabbath. What is the difference between the "Spirit" and the "Letter" of the law?
The Sabbath, or Shabbat, is one of the oldest of Jewish traditions going back to the times of Moses. It is a weekly day of rest observed from sunset Friday until sunset Saturday. Two reasons for the Sabbath are that God rested on the seventh day of creation and it is the only festival to be mentioned in the 10 commandments, which were received by Moses during the Jewish Exodus. The Sabbath can therefore be linked to the two greatest events in Jewish history. A day of neither creation nor work it is to be spent in the family worship of God and reflection. Worship being to show religious admiration and honour of greatness.
The law of no work was interpreted literally by the Pharisees, which means separate from others. They were fundamentalists and extremely orthodox, so if something was commanded in the Torah, which was central to Jewish belief, then that is how they practised it. So, ensure that the rule of the Sabbath was protected a 'fence around the law' was created. This being 513 points of law, 39 of which specifically defined work in relation to the Sabbath. These laws included things like how many words could be written, how far a person could walk, whether a person could be assisted when in need. The rules were made extremely rigid with no room for interpretation, and so no room for error. By interpreting this commandment in this way the Pharisees were more concerned with the letter of the law, i.e. what was said, rather than its true meaning. However when Jesus arrived their well-established ways of worship were threatened. He contradicted many of their practises and even claimed that the teachers of the law were like a block between God and his people in the parable of the lamp and the bowl. Jesus believed all the Pharisees rules were preventing people from enjoying the Sabbath. He was more concerned with the using the day to become closer to God, by doing His work and spreading the Gospel. Jesus believed in the spirit of law, in the sense of using it to help rather than restrict. Mark highlighted this opposition of views in the stories of Jesus and his disciples in the cornfields and the healing of the man with the withered arm. In both stories Jesus is said to have broken the Sabbath by the Pharisees.
