Explain how Mark shows the difference in attitude between Jesus and the Pharisees over the Sabbath.
Explain how Mark shows the difference in attitude between Jesus and the Pharisees over the Sabbath.
Mark shows Jesus to be more liberal than the Pharisees over the Sabbath. Jesus' emphasis on moral honesty rather than strict obedience to Jewish rituals didn't go down well with the Pharisees. They feared that his teachings might lead to disregard for the authority of the Law, or Torah. The problem came to confrontation many times when Jesus healed people on the Sabbath. Two examples of this include the 'Question of the Sabbath' (Mark 2: 23-28) and 'The man with the paralysed hand' (Mark 3: 1-16), which I will look at.
The Sabbath
The Sabbath is considered to be the most important of all Jewish religious festivals. It observes both the creation of the world and the escape of the people of Israel from Egypt. It has played a significant role in the preservation of Judaism. It is a day of worship and rest lasting from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset.
The origination of Jewish rules on the Sabbath
The rules of the Sabbath can be traced back to the 'Story of Creation' (2:2,3) in the Book of Genesis. God created the universe in six days and rested on the seventh. He blessed it and set it apart as a special day, because he had completed his creation and had stopped working.
God, by keeping the day holy, established the divine order that Israel will observe it as well. The day is holy because God made it so.
In the Book of Exodus (31: 14-17), God gave his people the laws of the Sabbath. He told them, through Moses, to keep the Sabbath holy in the 3rd commandment, "Keep Holy the Sabbath." Whoever did not keep it and worked on the Sabbath was to be put to death.
God tells his people to refrain from work on the Sabbath in the 'Affirmation of the Sabbath'. He warns them what will happen to them if they break his laws.
In the Book of Deuteronomy (5:12-15), God again tells his people, through Moses, to observe the Sabbath and to make holy it. God's people were also reminded of how he led them out of Egypt and into the Promised Land.
In the Book of Exodus (16: 23-29), Moses tells God's people that any work that needed done should be carried out before the Sabbath. They did as he told them and carried out jobs such as the dressing of meat. When the Sabbath came, some people went out to collect food and found, just Moses had told them, that there was none. This violation of the Sabbath Law by the people leads to a reprimand from God.
In the Book of Isaiah (58:13-14), God says, through the prophet Isaiah, that you should not pursue your own interests on the Sabbath. He told his people to value his Holy day and honour it by not travelling, working or talking idly. If they did this, they would be rewarded.
Religious Background
The Pharisees
We hear a great deal about the Pharisees in the Gospel of Mark. We find that they are in conflict and opposition with Jesus on many occasions. The name Pharisee means 'separated one', they were called so because their aim in life is to separate themselves from anything that will make them unclean or lead them into sin. This is one reason why they will not mix with pagans or Romans. They follow the rules and laws from the Old Testament. They also keep the unwritten laws, teaching passed down orally which became known as the 'oral tradition'.
They keep to the rules and rituals of the Jewish religion; attend services in the Temple and fast. Unlike the Sadducees they believe in a life after death, in angels or spirits.
They are not Priests, but devout people with a great deal of influence and power. Many are members of the Sanhedrin
Some are religious teachers and they are called Rabbi. Jesus is called Rabbi meaning 'teacher'. Jesus finds that they have lost sight of their aim to be holy and serve God. This is because they keep to rigidly to rules, such as how ...
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They keep to the rules and rituals of the Jewish religion; attend services in the Temple and fast. Unlike the Sadducees they believe in a life after death, in angels or spirits.
They are not Priests, but devout people with a great deal of influence and power. Many are members of the Sanhedrin
Some are religious teachers and they are called Rabbi. Jesus is called Rabbi meaning 'teacher'. Jesus finds that they have lost sight of their aim to be holy and serve God. This is because they keep to rigidly to rules, such as how to wash and what to eat, which resulted in great conflict. Their religion has become far too legalistic.
The Sadducees
The Sadducees, by comparison were smaller and more separated from the Jewish people than the Pharisees. However, they were more influential. The Sadducees were wealthy, upper class and powerful people. Many of them were officials who acted under the authority of Rome. The Sadducees followed the Law of Moses in the Pentateuch exactly. They were very Conservative and did not accept the authority of the oral tradition. They often came into conflict with the Pharisees. They rejected the idea of resurrection and other advances in Jewish theology.
The Council of the Sanhedrin
The High Priest and seventy elders led the Council of the Sanhedrin. The Council included Pharisees and Sadducees. The Sanhedrin was a court of law for the Jews but the Romans did not allow it to issue the death penalty. Only Roman authorities could do this.
The Zealots
The Zealots were a Jewish nationalistic party in Roman times. They refused to pay taxes to the Romans and held themselves ready for the war that world brings in God's kingdom. They organised several revolts. One of these led to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 by the Romans. At least one of Jesus' disciples, Simon, was known to have been a Zealot.
The Scribes
The Scribes were not a faction or political party. They were the experts in the Law and were also know as lawyers or teachers. They interpreted the Law and applied it to everyday life. Jesus has not been to one of the schools for rabbis, but his own disciples called him 'teacher' (rabbi). Many of the professional rabbis were impressed by Jesus' understanding of the Law and also called him by this title.
The Oral Tradition
Some Jewish leaders took the Ten Commandments very seriously. They saw them as a solemn covenant between God and his people. They wanted to protect the Commandments by putting 'a hedge around the Law'.
Out of the original Ten Commandments, 613 regulations were produced. About 40 of these were rules of the Sabbath.
These rules that Pharisees devised were handed down by tradition and work of mouth. They became known as the 'oral tradition'. An example of one of these rules is the regulation of walking on the Sabbath day. More than two thousand paces was work. Another example was if you reached into a field to pluck food more than an arms length, then this was work.
The Pharisees also has more extreme rules: If a hen laid and egg on the Sabbath, this was work and the egg should not be eaten. The usual punishment for breaking the Sabbath Law was death by stoning
Opposition and Conflict
Jesus came into conflict regularly with the Pharisees, Sadducees and Scribes. These people were afraid of and angry over Jesus' teaching, which they thought threatened the Oral Tradition and even the Torah (or Law of Moses).
Why did the Pharisees and Jesus argue over the Sabbath?
Fasting
Fasting was a regular duty. The Pharisees in particular were very strict about it and questioned Jesus why his disciples were not fasting. Jesus told them it wouldn't be appropriate.
Religious Purity
Jewish people had many religious duties such as the washing of hands. Jews were also not allowed to mix with outcasts or foreigners. Jesus saw these rituals, part of the Oral Tradition, as unnecessary. He tackled the Pharisees over their traditional and perhaps even hypocritical attitude.
Jewish Faith and Practice
The Jewish Religious leaders often called on Jesus to make known his views on the Jewish religion. An example of this is his teaching on the two greatest commandments. In this, he also shows that not all of the Jewish leaders were out of touch with God.
Sabbath Laws and Customs
Two incidents in which Jesus broke the Sabbath law led to plans being made by the Pharisees and Herodians to murder Jesus to stop his breaches of their 'law'.
(a) The Sabbath Corn (Mark 2:23-28)-
One day Jesus was walking through the cornfields, where his disciples picked ears of corn as they walked along. The teachers of the law asked Jesus why they were breaking the law of the Sabbath. Jesus replied by asking had they never read what David did in his time of need when his followers were hungry - how he went into the house of God when Abiathar was High Pries and ate the loaves of offering which only the priests are allowed to eat and how he also gave some to the men with him? He told the Pharisees, "The Sabbath was made for man, not for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."
>The Pharisees were claiming that Jesus' disciples were working by preparing a meal on the Sabbath (but it was alright for travellers on any other day to help themselves to corn in a field but they could only take what they could carry in their hands). Jesus defended them by reminding the Pharisees of an incident that concerned the greatest figure in Jewish history, King David. He broke the law in a time of need when he and his men ate bread set aside for religious purposes. The Jesus trapped the teachers with this statement, they couldn't question the authority of King David, nor could they say that the law was flexible because they taught that it was unbreakable. This point was made by Jesus to show the Pharisees that the Sabbath laws are there for the good of man. Jesus then goes on to tell them that the son of Man has authority from God and is not bound by man made laws. This would have confused, angered and frightened the Pharisees.
The second incident occurred when Jesus healed a man with a paralysed hand on the Sabbath day. Jesus criticised the Oral Tradition Law, which only permitted healing on the Sabbath if the person was in danger.
The Man with the paralysed hand (Mark3: 1-6)
Jesus went back to the synagogue and found a man who had a paralysed hand. The Pharisees were watching Jesus closely to see if he would break the Sabbath Law by healing him. Jesus told the man to come over to him. Jesus then asked the people 'What does our Law allow us to do on the Sabbath? To help or to harm? To save a man's life or to destroy it?' There was no answer. Jesus was angry with them, but he also pitied their stubbornness. Jesus then told the man to 'Stretch out his hand'. The man did as Jesus told him and was healed. The Pharisees left the synagogue and with the Herodians, made plans to kill Jesus.
>When Jesus heals the man, the Pharisees cannot see any good in it and accuse Jesus of doing wrong. They believed that because it was not on urgent case, Jesus should have healed the man after the Sabbath was over. Jesus believed that an act of healing is God's work and takes priority over man-made regulations. As well as being angry with the Pharisees, Jesus also pities them because of their stubborn, wrong attitude.
Healing the man was the last straw for the Pharisees and Jesus' other enemies. After this incident, they left the synagogue and immediately made plans to kill Jesus.
As one can see, the opinions of the Pharisees and Jesus were very different especially over the Sabbath Law. The Pharisees were too traditional and could not see that the law was there to help and not hinder people. Jesus pitied their selfish behaviour but also, on many occasions, he was angered by them (e.g. in The Man with the paralysed hand 3.1-6). He also criticised the Oral Tradition Law, which only permitted healing on the Sabbath if the person was in danger. This conflict eventually led to the death of Jesus.
"Christians should not take part in sporting events or go shopping on a Sunday".
Do you agree or disagree?
I disagree with this statement, because I believe that people should have the freedom to decide how they want to spend the Sabbath day.
Gradually over this century, people have untied themselves from the many rules and regulations, which relate to our culture, tradition and religion. The Catholic Church has relaxed many of its traditional observances, e.g. the Friday abstinence and the length of the fast before communion. Rules and restrictions on the Sabbath have also been relaxed. Once people experience this freedom, they wouldn't readily accept other restrictions being imposed.
Sunday has long been considered as a family day. Many people work for most of the week and Sunday is a day on which families can do something special together. Shopping and taking part in sporting activities (e.g. Gaelic is a traditional Sunday sport) are enjoyable and help make Sunday a day to look forward to: in fact many working people rely on Sunday to do their weekly shopping.
Sunday is also one of the few days in which people can get together to enjoy or play sport because of other commitments such as work and school.
People tend to forget that reintroducing laws restricting Sunday trading and sporting events will effect the non-Christian people of our community. Jewish people, for example, have their Sabbath day on a Saturday and therefore Christian restrictions on a Sunday would further interrupt their weekend freedom. Those in favour of Sunday restrictions should appreciate this and be aware that we live in a place with many different races in the same country, which might not gladly accept the obligation of restrictive Sunday practices. Indeed, many Christians would believe Sunday observances to be out dated in the modern world.
Many people in this day and age need to work on Sundays to support themselves. Sometimes employers pay extra money to people willing to work on a Sunday. Introducing restrictions on Sunday trading would affect these people badly and would in many cases reduce their earnings.
The emergency services have to work 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Doctors and nurses have to work on a Sunday to look after the sick and dying. The jobs of firemen and policemen require the terms of 24-hour cover daily (use New York as an example, no one dared saying the rescue teams should stop searching for people because they worked on the Sabbath). It is also necessary for buses, trains and taxis to run on Sunday as people depend on public transport. Limitations on transport provision could cause great inconvenience to people, especially the elderly and people who can't drive.
However, there are a number of people who believe that the Sabbath is a special, sacred day which every on should respect. These people are quite traditional and protective of the Ten Commandments and believe that it is not necessary to go shopping or take part in sporting activities on a Sunday. In view of the fact that some shops are open late during the week (in some shops 24 hours a day), many people could do their shopping in the evening or in the morning before they go to work.
Many employees are lured into working on a Sunday by their employers by extra money. Others are needed to supply the general public with leisure services such as cinemas and leisure centres, which would be popular places on a Sunday.
Many people are obliged to take on extra weekend work to supplement low wages. This has meant that parents may spend less time with their children on Sundays. Employers should enable these people to work fewer hours or should be more flexible with weekend shifts in order to solve this problem. Fathers and mothers could also work on different shifts if possible; so at least one of them can spend time with their children at any one time.
I believe that Christians and people of other religions should have the freedom to decide how they want of spend their Sunday. Introducing laws restricting Sunday activities would have more negative than positive effects. If people want to shop or to play sport on the Sabbath day, they should be allowed to. People who want to devote the whole of their Sunday to God should also have the freedom to do this. They could be seen as discriminating by ethnic minorities and unfair to the people who don't want to devote their whole Sunday to God. Jesus himself said that 'The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath' in Mark 2: 23-28.
It is highly unlikely that people would readily accept other restrictions being imposed. Despite oppositions from some of the churches, many traditional rules and restrictions have been relaxed, as they are no longer practical in modern society. There are still a number of Christian churches, which take the biblical laws very seriously. However, this has made many feel that the Churches' role everyday life has no meaning.
