"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. And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful? And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him? How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him? And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath."
Today's lesson is another example of how, Jesus' Apostles and those who place their faith in Him, were/are exempt from traditional Jewish law. (The Law of Moses).
This concept appears to be difficult to grasp for many today who contend that every word that came out of Jesus' mouth was meant for and was to be applied to, not only those who were in His presence at the time, but also to everyone of us who today read them in the New Testament. We must remember that Jesus was bound by the Mosaic law until His testament and sacrifice was complete. There were times when He said things that only applied to His own Jewish people, and there were times when He spoke to the ages.
Many of the things Jesus said related only to those to whom He was directly speaking and has no meaning to those of us who were never required to live by the rules of traditional Mosiac law.
Mosiac law defined what was, to the Jews at the time, considered "sin". Today however, true born again Christians are not bound by the rules of Mosiac law. In order for a true born again Christian to have committed a "sin" he/she must have actually done something that caused some kind of offense or harm to someone else.
Jesus made that clear when he gave the two "great" commandments, "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." (Matt. 22:37-40)
Jesus said that if we obey just those two simple and clearly defined commandments we will have obeyed the entire Law of Moses.
Jesus said that if we obey just those two simple and clearly defined commandments we will have obeyed the entire Law of Moses.
Jesus and His Apostles having eaten the corn on the sabbath, harmed no one, and therefore it was not a "sin" unto them.
This is a difficult lesson to explain because there are so many elements all mixed together. If anyone has a particular question that might help clarify this lesson, please don't hesitate to ask.~
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