Overreacting to Correction from God

“And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.” (Mr 3:4 AV)

Looking at this from the Pharisees’ point of view, perhaps in the back of their minds they are considering the Babylonian captivity.  It was neglect of the sabbath that led God to judge them.  They neglected the Sabbath for the better part of 400 years.  God allowed Assyria and Babylon to invade Israel and Judah, respectively.  Israel spent hundreds of years in captivity, and Judah spent 70 years under the dictatorship of Babylon.  They were removed from their home, lands, and inheritance.  They were carried away.  Two generations passed away before a third was allowed to return.  They came to Jerusalem, rebuilt the temple and wall, and began to repopulate the land of Israel.  There were consequences that remained.  The Gentiles had come in the interim and populated portions of Canaan.  Specially the northern part of Palestine.  Galilee was split equally between the Jewish people and Gentile descendants.  Perhaps those who questioned Jesus on His understanding of the Sabbath had these thoughts in the back of their minds.  If an influential leader set the example of working on the Sabbath, then maybe God will come down and destroy Israel forever.  If this were the case, they were overreacting to the chastening of God.  Their overreaction created the atmosphere of self-righteousness.

God’s laws are absolute.  We are not advocating creating exceptions to rules.  The Sabbath was to be observed faithfully.  For religious people to have concern over the Sabbath was understandable.  The last thing they wanted was to go off again and perhaps lose the promises once and for all.  Where they erred was in an overreaction, which manifested itself in additional laws that God never gave.  The question above went right to the heart of the Sabbath.  If one were to study the Pharisaical law, they would discover the definition of work included all unnecessary exertion of force.  They even went so far as to limit how much someone could lift to their mouth while eating.  Too much, and it would be work.  The Old Testament did not forbid all forms of work on the Sabbath.  Only those forms that were for pleasure or profit.  To serve in ministry or to help someone is dire need was not considered work.  To offer medical assistance was not considered work.  The Pharisees went so far as to limit the degree of medical assistance one could offer.  It had to be life and death, or it wouldn’t be allowed.

We are right to be concerned with obedience following correction.  That is the right thing to do.  The last thing we need is another spanking.  But overreacting to the correction can miss the point of the correction.  If all we see is a rule that was broken, we miss the principle of the law.  The Pharisees were trapped in their self-righteousness and accused Jesus sin. They did this numerous times.  They tried to find fault because they were afraid of Rome.  They didn’t want the wrath of God to come again, so they overcompensated by creating circumstances that made obedience more difficult; not less.  We are not advocating the wrapped belief of Christian liberty from Old Testament law and principles.  The Sabbath is still in force.  Telling the truth is still required.  Purity is still the law of God.  What Jesus is trying to show them is that overreacting to the correction of God can keep the soul from walking in obedience.