1 And it came to pass on the second sabbath after the first, that he went through the com fields ; and his dis- ciples plucked the ears of com, and did eat, rubbing them in their hands.
2 Ajid certain of the Pharisees said unto them. Why do ye that which is not lawful to do on the sabbath days }
3 And Jesus answering them said. Have ye not read so much as this, what Jjayid did, when himself was
an hungred, and ibej which were with him;
4 How he went into the house of God, and did take and eat the shew- bread, and gave also to them that were with him : which it is not lawful to eat but for the Priests alone ?
6 And he said unto them. That the Son of man is Lord also of the sab- bath.
We should notice in this passage, what eoccemve import" once hypocrites attach to trifles. We are told that on a certain Sabbath day our Lord was passing " through the cornfields/^ His disciples, as they followed Him, '' plucked the ears of com, and did eat, rubbing them in their hands/' At once the hypocritical Pharisees found fault, and charged them with committing a sin. They said, " Why do ye that which is not lawful to do on the Sabbath days P '^ The mere act of plucking the ears of com of course they did not find fault with. It was an action sanctioned by the Mosaic law. (Deut. xxiii. 25.) The supposed fault with which they charged the disciples, was the breach of the fourth commandment. They had done work on the Sabbath, by taking and eating a handful of food.
This exaggerated zeal of the Pharisees about the Sab- bath, we must remember, did not extend to other plain commandments of God. It is evident from many expres- sions in the Gospels, that these very men, who pretended such strictness on one little point, were more than lax and indifferent about other points of infinitely greater import- ance. While they stretched the commandment about the Sabbath beyond its true meaning, they openly trampled on
162 EXFOeiTOBY THOUGHTS.
Sabbath, both here and in other places. We most not allow ourselves to be carried away by the common notion that the Sabbath is a mere Jewish ordinance, and that it was abolished and done away by Christ. There is not a single passage of the Gospels which proves this. In every case where we find our Lord speaking upon it, He speaks against the &lse views of it, which were taught by the Pharisees, but not against the day itself. He cleanses and purifies the fourth commandment from the man-made additions by which the Jews had defiled it, but never declares that it was not to bind Christians. He shews that the seventh day's rest was not meant to prevent works of necessity and mercy, but He says nothing to imply that it was to pass away, as a part of the ceremonial law.
We live in days when anything like strict Sabbath observance is loudly denounced, in some quarters, as a remnant of Jewish superstition. We are boldly told by some persons, that to keep the Sabbath holy is legal, and that to enforce the fourth commandment on Christians, is going back to bondage. Let it suffice us to remember, when we hear such things, that assertions are not proo&, and that vague talk like this has no confirmation in the word of God. Let us settie it in our minds, that the fourth commandment has never been repealed by Christ, and that we have no more right to break the Sabbath day, under the Gospel^ than we have to murder and to steal. The architect who repairs a building, and restores it to its proper use, is not the destroyer of it, but the preserver. The Saviour who redeemed the Sabbath from Jewish traditions, and so frequentiy explained its true