Jesus again shows himself to be God

(One Perfect Life Chapters 44-49) Jesus taught that He was God in human form. He then demonstrated His deity by performing miracles, forgiving sins and exercising His authority over the law. Jesus never violated God’s written law – the Torah. Jesus did violate the man-made rules of the religious leaders. These rules were created by men as guidelines to help people keep the written law. They did not have the authority of God’s Word.

Seven times Jesus healed on the Sabbath – two of these healings are included in this week’s readings. The religious authorities considered acts of healing to be violations of the Sabbath because they were a form of “work.” By healing on the Sabbath, Jesus was not violating the written law — only the traditions of men.

Jesus points out that the law permits some form of work on the Sabbath. He give examples of how it is lawful to help an animal or person that falls into a pit on the Sabbath. More importantly He indicates that the priests were permitted to work on the Sabbath and that is not considered to be a sin (Matthew 12:5).

Jesus explains that all of His teachings were words the Father told Him to speak. Further, all of His actions were things He was instructed to do by His Father. By teaching and healing on the Sabbath Jesus was showing that “the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:8). Therefore He concludes, “…it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:12).

He further points out that “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27). The law was given to teach us how to love God “with all are heart, soul and strength” (Deuteronomy 6:4) and how to love our neighbors as ourselves (Leviticus 19:18, 34). Yes, the Sabbath is a time for us to rest from our daily work. More importantly it is the day each week we were to honor God through worship, prayer and studying His Word.

The Sabbath is the “tithe of our time,” We are instructed to honor God by giving a portion of our income (a tithe) to promote the advancing of His Kingdom on earth (e.g. Matthew 6:2-4). We are also asked to honor God by dedicating a portion of our time (one day each week) to Him. As noted above, the Sabbath is the time we set aside to worship God and deepen our understanding of Him and our relationship with Him.

The discourse in John 5 explains the relationship between the Father and the Son and their interactions on our behalf. Jesus came to speak God’s words and accomplish God’s deeds (John 5:19-20). He is our means of salvation and will someday be our judge (John 5:21-30). Truly, truly, I say to you, the one who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life (John 5:24).