Lord Of The Sabbath

Many people around the world use the English language to write or read official documents. The Bible is commonly read in the English language. Knowing the scriptures were translated into the first English Bible by the order of King James of England in 1611, the original Hebrew (Old Testament language) and the Greek (New Testament language) were translated using the old British (English) language. Time has changed the usage of some of the terms to a more modern English slang. Other cultures adopting English as a language have their own dialects modifying the term’s definitions from common understanding for the masses. This causes a harsh reality; hateful behaviors erupting from a lack of understanding of the old British translated terms. Time and forgetfulness add to the ill behavior of many.

Very often people’s actions come under strict scrutiny. Someone does not approve of what is said or done. If it is an absolute wrong or violation of a rule, they have a right to disagree. If it is a marginal error, they may disapprove but should keep the matter to themselves. Without knowing all the facts, a Christian should operate with caution. Obtaining the facts or a proper verifiable ruling with good understanding should be explained to the one in believed error. Only God knows all the facts behind one’s judgment of all his commands. With scripture’s consistencies, a righteous person can with certainty know absolute rights and wrongs. However, they may not know all the absolutes from grey rules. In this they get too many assumptions wrong. This cultivates strife and anger among many religious believers. This leads to separations and the development of other religious assemblies. God is not the author of confusion; mankind is.

Who becomes an individual’s boss? Who is their judge? When one tries to do right, mistakes will still happen because of ignorance, error in judgment, etc. Perhaps the intentions were good. Only their Master has the authority to judge their speech or deeds.

Who is their Master? Who is their Lord? Who has the right to judge another’s actions? Romans 14:4. 4 Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Let’s investigate.

Biblical terms of authority are not used regularly in our culture as once used in the past. They often need clarification for our understanding. Humans need reminders of things of which we think we are absolutely correct in our understanding and that we feel we properly remember. Once we understand them more readily, scripture becomes more clear as to the meaning and usage of the terms. It either stands to confirm our understanding or it corrects our misunderstanding.

With clarity, a righteous person can understand who is in authority over another’s decisions. A righteous person can read and comprehend these old translated terms and of whom it speaks. The Pharisees thought they were Israel’s authority over all commandments from God. We know, however, in scripture, they did not do as they might have commanded others. Jesus called them hypocrites, often. They, like humans today, could be wrong in their judgments and commands of mankind. They may have not remembered the commandments of God correctly.

Let us notice a common behavior of humans. Then, as today, humans want everything to happen without much effort. We call this efficiency. Perhaps they made a list of common do’s and don’ts to help remember the laws. The Sabbath, for instance: A list of do’s would help remind the people of what they could do on the Sabbath, a very holy day. Perhaps a longer list of things a Jew could not do also existed. This simplified the remembrance of the command to keep the Sabbath Holy. It could help in remembering to do no servile work of any kind on the Sabbath. It could even help the most righteous to properly judge a wrongdoer. Did they over time forget the true meaning of the Law? Had it been skewed from the original understanding when it was given? Were their lists in error?

These Pharisees put themselves in a position of authority over the whole nation of Hebrews. They became the ruling class because they believed they were given it by their occupation or birth right. It became men judging men. A stark contrast from God judging men.

Let us look at a story in Mark 2:23-28, a story where people are behaving as they do today, judging the actions of another when they feel they are on the moral high ground or feel they have the right to make judgments upon a violator. We will encounter a few old British terms in which we may have difficulty remembering their proper definitions as translated. Let us read. Mark 2:23, 24. 23 And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn. 24 And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful? Many holy convocation days the Jews were commanded not to do any servile work. These days were remembered as Sabbath Days–the seventh day.