ACC ~ Matthew 12 v8

THE LAW OF THE SABBATH

CHRYSOSTOM: Doubtless he speaks of himself when he mentions the “Lord of the sabbath.” Mark relates a complementary saying about our common human nature, that “the sabbath was made for humans, not humans for the sabbath. [1]

Why then should someone who gathered sticks on the sabbath be censured? The law that was established earlier could not be scorned without jeopardizing the law to be given later.

The sabbath did confer many benefits, great blessings in the earlier dispensation. It made people more gentle toward those close to them. It guided them toward being more sympathetic. It located them temporally within God’s creation and providence, as Ezekiel knew. [2] The sabbath trained Israel by degrees to abstain from evil and disposed them to listen to the things of the Spirit.

They would have stretched the law out of shape if, when he was giving the law of the sabbath, Jesus had said, “You can work on the sabbath, but just do good works, do nothing evil.” This would have brought out the worst in them. So he restrained them from doing any works at all on the sabbath. And even this stricter prohibition did not keep them in line. But he himself, in the very act of giving the law of the sabbath, gave them a veiled sign of things to come. For by saying, “You must do no work, except what shall be done for your life,” [3] he indicated that the intent of the law was to have them refrain from evil works only, not all works. Even in the temple, much went on during the sabbath, and with great diligence and double toil. Thus even by this very shadowy saying Jesus was secretly opening the truth to them.

Did Christ then attempt to repeal a law so beneficial as the sabbath law? Far from it. Rather, he greatly magnified the sabbath. For with Christ came the time for everyone to be trained by a higher requirement. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 39.3. [4]

[1] Mk 2:27.

[2] Ezek 20:19-20.

[3] Ex 12:16.

[4] PG 57:436-37; NPNF 1 10:257**.

WHY THE SABBATH WAS GIVEN

THEODORE OF HERACLEA: You will also thus observe that knowing God is more necessary than resting on the sabbath. The sabbath was given to the Jews when, in Egypt, they were turned toward idolatry. And the sabbath was given for this reason: so that they would not call the world uncreated and outside the sphere of providence, but that they would acknowledge that God is both the One who planned it and that it is he himself who made the world in six days and on the seventh day rested. When God commanded them to do no work on the sabbath, it was to remind them of this. Subsequently, the fact that God is the Maker of the universe has become known to all, and so much of the detailed sabbath law has become superficial. If these extreme arguments about the sabbath were truly useful, they would have been applied not only to human beings but even to the sun and moon. Imagine that the very sun would cease working its benefits to us on the sabbath day. No. This commandment has been given to human beings, even from the foundation of the world. FRAGMENT 84. [1]

[1] MKGK 79-80.