Key Verse: Surely he took up our iniquities and carried our
sorrows.
Isaiah 53:4a
When evening came, or, when the Sabbath had ended so that
the people could move about freely again, the sick and the hurting were brought
to Jesus, and Jesus cared for them. Jesus
was willing to heal on the Sabbath. He
had healed Peter's mother-in-law on the Sabbath, but the people had too much
fear of man. Their lack of understanding
of God, prevented them from throwing off restraint, no matter how severe the
need, to come to Jesus before the sun set, signaling the end of the Sabbath.
In Judaism, a 24 hour day is measured from sunset to sunset. Sabbath begins on Friday evening and
continues until sun down of, what we would call Saturday evening. In the past history of Judah, the people had
not done a very good job of keeping the Sabbath. After the Babylonian exile, however, in which
the people had been punished for not obeying God's commands, the priests
created many rules to instruct the people about what would keep God's laws and
what would break them. These became
known as the hedge around the law. They
were intended to keep the people far from breaking the Ten Commandments so that
Judah would never be punished again.
Unfortunately, this meant that the people became intent on
following the law, especially man's new hedge around it, and once again, missed
God's heart altogether. So, the law said,
limited walking, no work, no carrying on the Sabbath, and the people obeyed. No matter how badly they wished to see a
loved one healed, they waited until sundown to come to Jesus.
Jesus was there when they arrived. God himself witnessed His hurting creation
and brought a bit of heaven to earth for those who believed. In grace and love, he removed their sorrows
and burdens. He did part of what He had
come to do, walk among men and share in our burdens. How sad that man's religion held the people back from God's
grace, if only for a time.
Unfortunately,
it still happens today. We let rules
determine with whom we will associate, or how we will act and pray. While some of this may be helpful guidance,
too often, we let man's rules keep us away from experiencing the heart of God
Himself. So often, we miss the
relationship that He is seeking with us, preferring the rules that show us
whether we are, "GOOD," or not.
God is our Father. What loving
Father would only want a house of rules and regulations for relating to His
children? May we seek His heart, first,
today, and obey the rules because we love Him.
beautiful! : Come, Ye Disconsolate
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