ordained service which ajjparently broke its own requirements.
Lk. specifies liiis Sabbatii as hioTipo-rpuroi, (AV ' second Sabbath after tlie lirst'; K\' oiiiils in text, ' secoiid-tirst ' beinfj placed in the margin as the readinif of 'many ancient authorities'). The expression has been variously explained, and no aid is to be derived from the Talmud. The titty days between Passover and I entecost were reckoned from liie second day of the feast (Nisan IC), on which the wave-sheaf was offered (Lv 2311). Hence the Sabbath indicated has been taken as (i.) the first Sabbath after that second day of the feast (Scali<jer, Ewald, de Wette, Edersheim, and others) ; or (ii.) the second Sabbath after the day (Nisan 10) which was the first in counting the time to I'entecost (Uelitzsch). Other explanations are (iii.) the first Sabbath of the second year of the Sabbatical series of seven years (Wieseler) ; aiul (iv.) the first Sabbath of the second month. The reading of the text is doubtful; hiuripoTpuTov is omitted in KBL, 1, 33, 6!) (see Plunimer, 'St. Luke' (ICC), ad loc. ; and Edersheim, LI').
(f) Healing of the man with a ivithered hand (Mt 12»-i^ II Mk 3l-^ Lk 6«-").— On the lawfulness of healing on the Sabbath according to the Mishna, see (6) above. The legitimacy of lifting a sheep out of a pit on the Sabbath is discussed in the Talmud (Shabbath, 117« ; see Edersheim).
(g) The defence ivhich Jesus made against the charge of Sabbath-breaking (Jn 7^3-a-J). — The Mishna (Shabbath, 19) expressly permits all ceremonies relating to circumcision and all preparation for it to be carried out on the Sabbath.
(h) Opening of the eyes of one born blind (Jn 91-16) — This involved the ' making of clay 'on the Sabbath for application to the man's eyes, which would be a breach of the Sabbath \a,\\, in addition to the general question of the legitimacy of healing discus.sed in (b) above.
(i) Healing of the woman who had a, spirit of infirmity (Lk 13^"'^^). — Regulations for the water- ing of cattle on the Sabbath are found in the Mishna (Erubin, ii. ). The Talmud even allows water to be drawn and poured into the trough for the animals to drink.
(k) Herding of the man tvho had the dropsy (Lk 141-6).
(I) The supper at Bethany (Jn 12'). — Jesus reached Bethany on Friday, and the supper was the festive meal (Sdirvov) on the following Sabbath.
(m) The Sabbath between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection (Mt 28^ || Mk W, Lk 23 ^^■^).
3. Teaching of Jesus respecting the Sabbath. — The observance of the Sabbath was one of the most easily apparent points upon whicli the teach- ing of our Lord difiered from the punctilious legalism of His time. Mistaken patriotism had employed itself in elaborating the provisions of the Law and raising a fence around it (Aboth, i. 1). The teaching of Jesus was more akin to that of the ancient prophets than to that of the scribes. He preferred sjiiritual obedience to ceremonial literalism. The traditions of the scribes, which added burdens to the original Law, were regarded by Him as obscuring the underlying truth, and thus hindering true godliness (Mt 153-2" 2313-33). This is illustrated in His treatment of the Sabbath.
(1) The practice of Jesus upholds the general use of the in.stitution. — It was 'his custom' to wor- ship in the synagogue (Lk 41^). He observed the usual requirements of the Law, except in cases where casuistical refinements had brought it into opposition to spiritual service. He seems to have intended this to be the attitude of His Jewish disciples (Mt24-'' possibly supports this), and they certainly understood that this was His Avill, and the.v only dropped Jewish ceremonies as the Church outgrew them. The decision recorded in Ac 1.5-''--'' did not release Jews who became Chris- tians from obedience to the Law. St. Paul him- self kept the Law (Ac 2l2^--«).
(2) Christ a.^scrted that the veil-being of man was more important than the rigid observance of
542 SABEATH DAY'S JOURNEY
SACRIFICE
the Sabbath law as interpreted by the scribes. — This appears in the many instances of miracles of healing on the Sabbath, and the arguments with which He met criticism. He taught that the Sabbath law is to be subordinated to man's good (Mk 2^^). This is in accordance with the reason for the Sabbath in Dt 5''*. The Sabbath was in- tended to afford opportunity for religious worship and the culture of the soul, and we may regard Jesus as teaching that attention to the physical well-being of man on the Sabbath was legitimate in so far as it ministered to spiritual life. In this life spiritual exercises are to a certain degree de- pendent on bodily conditions, just as a sound body is a condition requisite for a sound mind. He taught that physical need supersedes the cere- monial Law, in His illustration from the life of David (Mt 123, ^i- 224--5), and that God prefers mercy, exercised by man towards his fellows, and by Himself towards men, to sacrifices (Mt 12^).
(3) Christ taught that the ceremonial observance of the Sabbath must give way before any higher and more spiritual motive. — Upon this principle the Temple service to which Qhrist refers (Mt 12®) was legitimate, and He did not find fault with it. In this way it is possible to exjilain the verse which in Codex BeziE (D) is inserted after Lk 6® (which may possibly be an instance of a genuine saying of Christ which is not elsewhere recorded) : ' On the same day, seeing one working on the Sabbath, He said unto him, O man, if indeed thou knowest what thou doest, thou art blessed ; but if thou knowest not, thou art accursed and a trans- gressor of the law.' That is, the breaking of the Sabbath in obedience to a higher motive is allowed, and the man is i)ronounced ' blessed ' as being free from the trammels of Jewish tradition ; but if his action lacks such motive, he is guilty of wilful dis- regard of the command.