Yes, But...
What's the law for?
One sabbath while Jesus was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked some heads of grain, rubbed them in their hands, and ate them. But some of the Pharisees said, "Why are you doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?" Jesus answered, "Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and gave some to his companions?" Then he said to them, "The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath." On another sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught, and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees watched him to see whether he would cure on the sabbath, so that they might find an accusation against him. Even though he knew what they were thinking, he said to the man who had the withered hand, "Come and stand here." He got up and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, "I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to destroy it?" After looking around at all of them, he said to him, "Stretch out your hand." He did so, and his hand was restored. But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus. - Luke 6:1-11
Jesus did what he does best. He challenged the thinking of the time.
He knows it is the Sabbath, and he knows people should eat on the Sabbath. So, what do you do if food is not already prepared for you on the Sabbath?
Do you not eat?
Do you not feed or water your animals?
Jesus believes the Sabbath is a gift from God to his people. It is a day when we are to rest, so that we have a brief time for ourselves.
In our modern times, we can have robots, schedulers, and computers do things for us. We do the "work" in advance, so they will do their work on the Sabbath.
Isn't that the same thing as doing the work on that day?
What we are reminded of here is the intent of the law. Why is it unlawful to do work, and what constitutes work?
Is compassion work? Is responsibility work? Is care for another work?
The answer to all these things is Yes, but...
If we are caring for a sick relative in our home, do we not bring him water? Do we not feed her?
Of course we do these things, even on the Sabbath.
So, maybe we should clarify the laws, or open up our eyes to avoid poor judgment.
More to come...