sabbath

The nature of the sabbath is the focus of an argument between Jesus and some Pharisees in the Gospel According to Luke 6:1–5 (NABRE). The central controversy they are debating is whether it is lawful for Jesus’ disciples to pick grain on the sabbath.

The Hebrew word that comes to us as sabbath is related to the Hebrew verb שׁבת (shâbath), which specifically means to rest from work. The sabbath at its root is a day of resting from labor or from work. The later, more abstract meaning of the sabbath as a day of resting in the Lord is a Christian interpretation.

When Jesus argues with the Pharisees, then, from a legal standpoint the question should be whether any actual work was done. Picking heads of grain while walking along a field is not exactly the same as cultivating and preparing a crop. Jesus, however, does not choose to argue the specifics of what his disciples were doing. Rather, Jesus’ argument hinges on the idea that God is what’s important on the sabbath rather than resting from work.

related topics: order & chaos; religious law; rest; stopping

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