6. Reinterpretation of Sabbath
Regarding the Sabbath, Jesus presents many controversial things that make people, especially the Jewish authorities, become angry and want to arrest him.
These controversial things he does certainly come from his different reinterpretation about Torah. Sabbath itself for the Jewish people is a holy day. It
is written in their Law, Torah that, “Observe the Sabbath and keep it holy. You have six days in which to do work, but he seventh day is a day of rest dedicated to
me” Exodus 20: 8. This means that Sabbath is the seventh day and it should be dedicated to God. „Me‟ in the passage refers to Yahweh or Jewish God. On the
day, no one is allowed to work. Neither someone, his children and slaves, nor the foreigners in the country and even the animals are allowed to work Exodus 20: 8-
10, Deuteronomy 12-14. This is because the Jewish people believe that the Sabbath is a day when their God rested after six-day working on the creation
Exodus 20: 11. The Jewish people also believe that on the Sabbath they have to just rest in
honor God‟s effort to set them free from Egypt as they have been slave in Egypt for a long time Deuteronomy 5:15. As Sabbath is considered as holy,
anyone who breaks it should be punished. He should be put to death Numbers: 15:35. Jesus, on the other hand, has his own reinterpretation of Sabbath. Sabbath,
according to Jesus is different to what the Jewish people understand. It is showed in many cases in the gospels such as when Jesus let his disciples pick heads of
wheat and eat grain Matthew 12:1, Mark 2:23-28, Luke 6: 1-5, when he heals a paralyzed man in synagogue Matthew 12:9-14, Luke 6: 6-11, Mark 3: 1-6, when
he heals a crippled woman Luke 13: 10-17, when he heals a sick man in a home
of a leading Pharisee Luke 14:1-6, when he heals some men at the pool of Bethzatha John 5: 1-18. In all these cases, Jesus plainly does the thing that is
considered to be forbidden by the Law and the people. What Jesus understands about Sabbath is that it is the day where human
beings can still do good deeds. In some occasions when he is asked by the Pharisees why he does the thing, Jesus answers that what he does is not forbidden
because he does the good thing, healing the sick people. Jesus dares challenged the people, especially the Pharisees, whether or not they know the meaning of
Sabbath. He says, “I ask you: What does our Law allow us to do on the Sabbath? To help or to harm? To save someone‟s life or to destroy it?” Mark 3: 4. In
another case, when heals a sick man, he does the same thing, challenging people by asking the same question. As no one answers him, Jesus then continues, “If
any one of you had a child or an ox that happened to fall in a well on a Sabbath, would you not pull it out at once on the Sabbath itself?” Luke 14: 5. Jesus uses
this analogue to make people understand what he means by healing people. From this analogue, Jesus wants people to understand that healing people means to save
someone‟s life. Not just leave it and let it die that way. It is the same when someone has to take his children or ox out of the well. Hence, that should not be
categorized as breaking the Sabbath itself. Here, Jesus shows his understanding about Sabbath and how people should recognize it.
There is also another case about Jesus and Sabbath. It is when Jesus let his disciples eat grain when Sabbath Matthew 12:1-8, Mark 2:23-28, Luke 6:1-5.
When Jesus is asked why his disciples do the thing, Jesus answers that question
Kategori