The Lord Jesus performed five major miracles of healing on the Jewish Sabbath. Why? He must have known that the religious leaders would hate him for doing so. The Sabbath was God-given and the day that marked Israel as different from all other peoples.
Moreover, Jesus performed two of those five Sabbath day miracles inside synagogues, one just outside the Temple, and one inside the home of a Pharisee! (Matthew 12; Luke 13; John 9; Luke 14) Christ’s healing of the man at the pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath angered the Jews for a long time afterward! (John 5:2-16; 7:23)
But Jesus no more broke the Sabbath than David did when he ate the priest’s holy bread. No more than those who circumcised babies on the Sabbath did in order to obey the Law of Moses. Nor those who rescued their distressed farm animals from pits into which they had fallen. Jesus said, “The Son of man is lord of the Sabbath.” He also said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”
Jesus enjoyed living without the restrictions those in his time saw as necessary for them to please God. Christians live with spontaneity in the Spirit of God (Romans 8:2-4). The cause of much church friction is restrictive legalism, and joy is its first casualty.
A well-known author from the USA told me that he hadn’t realized that he had lost his freedom until one day, while reversing his car out of his garage, he suddenly asked the Lord: “Where did this bondage come from?” In trying so very hard to ‘get it right’ he had got it wrong. The “joy of the Lord” had withered up without him realizing it.
Joy can wither under condemnation (Joel 1:11-12) but in an unproductive season joy can be a great encouragement (Habakkuk 3:17-18). ‘The joy of the LORD is Your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10)
Legalism is demanding. The Lord once said to me: “Good mental health is the ability and willingness to live with the imperfections in others.” The Pharisees were unable to do that because they were strict legalists.
The Greek word translated “perfect” in the NT means “mature — not perfect as in answering every question correctly in a religious exam.” A green apple is not imperfect, it is just immature. Young people are often criticized for being “green” — especially so-called “preachers’ kids” who “should know better”! But left alone, in time they will ripen into ‘red apples’; they will grow to maturity.
Christianity is a spiritual way of life, not a list of religious rites and wrongs. “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things that God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9)
The five senses, which enable us to hear, see, smell, taste and touch, allow religious people to enjoy their religion. This is why so many religions incorporate “bells and smells” and “touchy feely” furnishings. Such worship is tactile and sensual. But God’s Spirit has revealed to us things that are invisible, inaudible and inconceivable (1 Corinthians 2:10). The apostle Paul speaks of “things that are freely given to us of God” — “deep things” of the Spirit of God that are beyond physical and sensual perception.
Most Jews in the time of Jesus were unable to see with their eyes, hear with their ears, or understand with their hearts (Matthew 13:15). This lack of spirituality continued in the time of the first apostles (Acts 28:27). But those who had their spiritual eyes and ears opened and who understood with their hearts welcomed the message of salvation through Jesus Christ!
Entering into God’s spiritual rest is one way that believers can live better. My late mother used to say that the anachronism J.O.Y. stood for “Jesus first, Yourself last and Others in between.” She was right! If you are a Christian whose love for Jesus has somehow grown cold, ask God to restore to you the joy of your salvation, so you can again enjoy being a believer as much as you did when you first found Jesus as your Saviour!
Pray This Prayer: “Father God, my eyes have been dry and my heart has grown cold. I ask you to forgive me, and to restore to me the joy of knowing and loving you through Jesus. Father God, you know well the lukewarm condition of my heart. You also know that I desire above all things to love you as much as I possibly can. Melt my heart with your love and lift me spiritually into your presence. Restore the joy that I once had, Father! In Jesus’ Name. Amen.”