Friday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time – Year B
Posté par diaconos le 29 octobre 2021
Is it permissible to perform a healing on the Sabbath ?
The Sabbath or Shabbat (Hebrew: שבת) is the weekly day of rest in religions that recognise the Old Testament (or Torah): Judaism, some branches of Christianity, from Friday evening to Saturday evening. It is dedicated to God, in remembrance of creation. Christians following the Church of Jerusalem continue to observe the prescriptions of the Old Testament and in particular the Sabbath. This is known as Judeo-Christianity.
Christianity, divided into three main denominations (Catholicism, Orthodoxy and Protestantism), has shifted this day of rest, often called the « Lord’s Day », to Sunday, the Sunday of rest. However, various Sabbatist Christian religious movements (Adventism, Church of God (Seventh Day), Seventh Day Baptists) continue to keep Saturday instead of Sunday as a « separate day ». The Ethiopian Orthodox Church also has a practice in some areas of « Sabbath », a day of rest that is not the same as Sunday14 . This practice is linked to the ‘double Sabbath’ claim made by the movement led by Ewostatewos in the 13th-14th centuries.
Adventists claim that the Sabbath is the « seal of God ». In the statement of the Fourth Commandment is what they call the « seal of God », that is, its title, name and the space in which it is valid. They contrast this seal with the mark of the beast. They rely on the Gospel according to Matthew 5:17-18 (I have not come to abolish, but to fulfil) to support the idea of the continuity of the Sabbath day. They also claim that the Sabbath will still be in force in the days of the end, referring to Matthew chapter 24.
The Church of God (Seventh Day) is the heir of Sabbatarian congregations from Europe (England, Holland, Moravia, Hungary). The Church traces its history back to the apostles, through various medieval Sabbath-keeping congregations, such as the Waldensians, who appeared with the followers of Peter Waldo, and Paulicianism. The healing of the man with the paralysed hand is a miracle of Jesus Christ. It is told in the three synoptic gospels. It is meant to be proof of the divine. The doctor of the Church John Chrysostom says about this passage of the Bible that by this miracle Jesus wants to fight against the blindness of hearts.
He wants to show his compassion, and also to try to make people understand through this miracle, through this maieutic, that humans must apply themselves to doing good whatever the day. At the time, this was not obvious in the face of strict rules that did not encourage humans to listen to virtues more than to the existing law.
From the Gospel of Luke
01 One Sabbath day Jesus went into the house of a ruler of the Pharisees to eat his meal, and they observed him.02 Now there was a man before him who had dropsy. 03 Jesus spoke up and asked the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees, « Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not? « 04 They were silent. Then Jesus took the sick man and healed him and let him go. 05 Then he said to them, « If one of you has a son or an ox that falls into a well, does he not immediately go and pull it out, even on the Sabbath? » 06 And they were unable to find an answer. (Lk 14, 1-6)
A meal at a Pharisee’s house
Jesus accepted an invitation to a Pharisee’s house on the Sabbath. He was observed by the guests. When he entered the house, he saw a man with dropsy. He asked those present if it was permissible to heal him. They remained silent. Jesus healed and dismissed the sick man; then he justified himself by alleging the practice of his opponents who, despite the Sabbath, pulled their son or their ox out of the well.
The Pharisee who invited him and many other guests was designated as one of the leaders of this party, both political and religious, and was a member of the Sanhedrin. Jesus, as was his custom, accepted the invitation, even on a Sabbath.
The decided hostility of the Pharisees against Jesus at that time gave this acceptance a special character of support and charity. They observed it; and other Pharisees, also invited, spied on Jesus, as did the master of the house, to catch him in some fault against the Sabbath law. Perhaps they had already seen the sick man who was there and thought that Jesus would heal him.
The Pharisees had sent for him on purpose, in order to set a trap for him. The Pharisees should not be made to look worse than they are. As this scene took place before the table was set, it could be placed in one of those inner courtyards which, in the East, precede the flats; and it is conceivable that the sick man timidly approached there, hoping to be healed, but not daring to ask anything, because it was the Sabbath and because of the Pharisees.
Sometimes Jesus was content with a light touch, when he did not heal by his word alone, which he did most frequently. Jesus did not intend to teach his guests a lesson in politeness or modesty. All these men sought the first place, because they were proud before God; and they never became so humble towards each other that one esteemed the other more excellent than himself, until they had humbled themselves before God in deep repentance. This was the commentary that Jesus gave to his parable in the words that ended it: to be exalted before men is to be humbled before God and vice versa.
Links to other Christian sites
◊ Reverend Fr Emmanuel Emenike Onyia : click here to read the paper → Homily for Friday Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time Year B
♥ My little House : click here to read the paper → A Meal with Pharisees – My Little House
♥ Jesus Visits Simon’s House
Publié dans Catéchèse, Histoire, Page jeunesse, Religion, Temps ordinaire | Pas de Commentaire »