One of the strange things among those who follow Jesus Christ is that they do not know much about God. That is a strange thing because God is the central character of the Bible. Yet, the typical believer in Jesus Christ does not turn to the Bible to determine God's nature, character, or values. Most people are more likely to entrust their convictions about God to an authority figure, or to form convictions about God based on what "my family always has believed," or to form concepts and understandings on deductions they individually make.
Make this causal in presentation, not harsh and accusatory. As the teacher, you want the person to discover his or her deficiencies rather than accusing him or her of having them. With discovery, often is the desire to learn. Accusation frequently causes a person to seek to justify or to defend.
A common view of God is to have no view of God. It is not unusual for a person's view of God to be helter-skelter, disorganized, and inconsistent. The result: we often find ourselves contradicting ourselves and never noticing the contradictions. We impose our disorganized views on God as we assume He is as disorganized in action as we are in our views. We expect little of God--just the right to fuss at Him when we are confused or unhappy or to dismiss Him when we regard Him to be "in our way." To many, God is easily rationalized and more easily dismissed. Basically we want God to be on call when we perceive we need Him but out of our way when we perceive we do not need Him.
There is a vast difference in committing to God's rule of our lives and placing God "on call" when we think we need Him. We are quite pitiful when we only appeal to God in moments of distress. It is much more natural to submit to God when we correctly see Him for Who He is than it is when we try to manipulate and use God by a misunderstanding of Who He is and what He is about.
Is God an easy topic to study? NO! Is He an important being to understand? YES!
One of the enormous difficulties in seeing God's character and values is found in clearing away all our misconceptions of God. Many of our views of God (at best) consider only part of what scripture says. Too often some of our views of God are not based on scripture but on social convictions.
Let Matthew 12:1-8 illustrate the above statements. Begin by understanding the context between Jesus' encounter with the Pharisee's and Sabbath day regulations. Jesus often was criticized by religious leaders for violating Sabbath day regulations (see Matthew 12:9-14; Mark 3:1-6; Luke 13:10-17; 14:1-6; John 5:1-13; 7:14-24; 9:13-16).
Have the class turn to Matthew 12:1-8 and read the text in class. Note that one of the most common criticisms of Jesus was the accusation that he violated or encouraged the violation of Sabbath rules. As an example, Jesus' critics were not opposed to his miracles. The Jewish people came from a consciousness of the miraculous. Their objection was that he did miracles that could have waited until the Sabbath was over. He often healed people of problems on a Sabbath day that were not life threatening. To heal a person on the Sabbath of a problem that threatened his or her life was "okay." However, to heal a person on the Sabbath of a condition that did not threaten his or her life was not "okay." Such healings should be postponed until the Sabbath day was over.
The Pharisees' criticism was based on their understanding of Exodus 20:8-11. The injunction is on keeping the Sabbath day (Saturday) holy by not working. The devout Jew was not permitted to allow his children, his servants, or his animals to perform acts of work on the Sabbath. The reason: God created for six days and rested. Later, the Jewish people were considered lazy because they would not work on Saturday. (The Jews measured a day from evening to evening. A Sabbath began at 6 p.m. on Friday and continued to 6 p.m. on Saturday.)
It will be easy to let the class pursue tangent questions that are interesting to us today, but were not the concern of Jesus and the Pharisees. This is not to suggest that tangent questions do not have merit, but it is to suggest that we can discuss issues that have nothing to do with Jesus' concern.
The crux of the disagreement on keeping the Sabbath by refusing to work can be represented by two questions. (1) Is everything scripture says included in the discussion/answer? (2) What is God's intent? First, to ignor evidence from scripture is to guarantee an inaccurate conclusion. Second, to fail to understand God's intent is to miss God's purpose in the commandment.
The problem existed because work is not defined in the command. For example: is it work to tie your shoes? Is it work to cook? Is it work to saw a board? At the heart of the matter is this: what makes work work?
A definition of work was not included in the original injunction. What constituted an act of work? The Mishna is commonly regarded to reflect or be based on accepted Jewish practices in the first century. In the second division called Moed, in the section called Shabbath, in chapter 7, verse 2, thirty-nine main classes of work are listed. Shabbath interpreted Exodus 20:8-11 so devout Jews could know what should and should not be done on a Sabbath. The intent was to make the Sabbath law obeyable.
If possible, get a copy of The Mishna (it usually is a one-volume book, and any issue is fine), go to the section Shabbath, and note the detailed manner in which work is defined.
The intent of defining work so the commandment is obeyable is fine (we often do the same thing). However, human judgment must never be confused with divine declaration. When human judgment becomes equated with God's voice, the practices that become traditional acts makes one's acts a matter of human compliance instead of faith in God.
The problem: the definition reflects accepted human judgment, not divine judgment. People's faith in God was determined by human judgment. While the original intent was good, the traditions that occurred years later did not reflect God's intent. Technical compliance with human values replaced a devotion to God's purposes.
A person's faith in God cannot be determined by his or her willingness to submit to human control.
According to The Mishna classification of main classes of work, Jesus likely was accused of violating the Sabbath by permitting the 12 disciples to "reap." What the disciples did was strip raw, ripe grain from wheat or barley stalks growing by the path. They ate the raw grain.
The 12 disciples were not harvesting as a person toiling in the field to reap a crop. They were not seeking to defy God or His command.
Jesus responded to the Pharisees' criticism with two illustrations. The first involved King David's life (prior to his being king) found in 1 Samuel 21. As David fled from King Saul, he asked Ahimelech the priest for bread. The only bread available was the consecrated bread which Ahimelech gave David. The instructions for making and the use of this bread are found in Leviticus 24:5-9. Only the priests were to eat it. Yet, David ate it and was not condemned.
To understand Jesus' point, people today need to understand the core of his examples. How did David do something specifically prohibited him in the Leviticus instruction and not be condemned? Was the intent to defy God?
The second illustration involved offering sacrifices. Sacrifices involved a lot of work! Yet, the priests offered sacrifices every Sabbath day and were regarded as innocent of Sabbath violations. The priests preparing and offering sacrifices worked on the Sabbath, but the Pharisees did not condemn them.
How could the priests on the Sabbath exert themselves in ways that everyone considered work, and yet they be innocent? Was it the intent of what they did?
Jesus said (1) they were inconsistent in applying God's injunction against work, and (2) they did not take into consideration everything revealed in scripture.
A failure to consider all the testimony of scripture led to an incorrect conclusion. The Pharisees were not consistent in their conclusions.
Jesus then appealed directly to scripture to focus on God's values. He quoted Hosea 6:6. Jesus did not say sacrifice was unimportant to God. It clearly was (consider Leviticus chapters 1-7 as an example). Jesus said, in God's value system, showing mercy (which we all depend on) is more important than offering sacrifices. Because the Pharisees did not understand this, they condemned the innocent.
Jesus declared understanding the meaning of Hosea 6:6 was to be considered in their conclusion. Determining God's will is not as simple, as black and white, as many think. To see that is a fact, consider Romans 14. The Jewish convert and the gentile convert could do contrasting acts, and both obey God. The response of the person's conscience is significant to God.
Would we use a quotation from a minor prophet to verify the value system of God? Perhaps a statement from Exodus. Perhaps a Deuteronomy statement. But from Hosea? Jesus taught we should take into account all revealed about God, not just scriptures that defend our human point of view.
Most Christians would not place the significance on Hosea's statement that Jesus placed.
Lastly, Jesus asked and answered a question that most humans never mention. Are God's commands for human benefit, or do humans exist to benefit God's commands? Jesus said he was greater than the Sabbath. He was and is the ultimate fulfillment of God's intent and purposes.
The intent of God's commandments is not a simple consideration. Consider Matthew 6:14, 15. Receiving forgiveness is dependent on giving forgiveness.
God has values. He expresses those values in the way He treats us. We must focus on His values rather than human desires.
We must understand God's values to understand God's intent.
For Thought and Discussion
They do not know much about God, who is the Bible's central character.
A common view of God is to have no view of God.
The Pharisees' criticism was based on the understanding of Exodus 20:8-11.
A definition of "work" was not included in the original injunction.
The definition reflected accepted human judgment, not divine judgment.
Jesus used (1) David eating the bread of presence and (2) the priests offering sacrifices on the Sabbath.
He appealed to Hosea 6:6.
Did people exist for the command, or the command exist for the benefit of people?
God expresses His values in the way He treats us.
Link to Student Guide
Lesson 2