Wise Advice?
- Stephen Bolton
- Aug 27
- 3 min read
Todays Passage for Thought
Luke 6: 6 - 11
Focus
9 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?”
The birth of our first child brought with it complications for my wife. For 24 hours she was quite poorly causing her medical team and myself considerable worry. Thankfully, the Doctor’s and nurses soon restored her to health and she was able to enjoy the realisation of the new child she had carried and brought into the world.
Why am I writing this?
Well, our first child was born in the early hours of a Sunday morning.
In our reading, Jesus is being watched by the scribes and the Pharisee’s as He has been healing (or working) on the Sabbath, which they believed went against religious law. On this particular Sabbath He see’s that a man with a withered hand is in the synagogue. The mans hand is deformed and He knows He can heal it. This is potentially problematic though. For, when we look at the earlier verses of Luke 6, Jesus had been questioned by the scribes and Pharisees about working on the Sabbath ( Luke 6: 1 - 5). So, before this could happen again, He addresses them, with the words of verse 9 which are the focus of this thought. He then heals the man. The man has a health issue, it not urgent - his condition isn't life threatening, but it is life limiting. So, Jesus still heals him immediately. We are told that this makes the scribes and Pharisees furious.
Sunday working, (Sabbath observance), has always been a contentious subject and when the Sunday Trading Act for large shops came into law in the UK in 1994, there was great disquiet from individuals and organisations. Within Europe, Sunday trading laws vary, with some countries adopting a similar relaxed attitude to the UK, whilst others, like Germany and France remain stricter. Having travelled to Germany and France, I must say that there is something to be said for this.
As the title of this thought suggests, Getting More Rest is important. This is easy to say, but it may be difficult to achieve for many. Our society seems to travel at full speed, with little break and each day being much the same as any other. Without that important opportunity to take rest, have some relief from the day to day pressures, we can become stressed and anxious. This can affect both our physical and mental health. The commerciality of Sunday’s (the day of rest), adds to this.
Whilst I realise that this isn’t an option for everyone, taking an opportunity to rest when we can, to have 'time out' will help us cope with the stresses and stains of everyday life. For those of us who have the opportunities do this, we should take it, but it shouldn’t lead us to laziness or inactivity. In His words and by His actions Jesus is pointing us to something important. By speaking out, I don’t think He’s disregarding the importance of the Sabbath, rather the way it’s being interpreted by the scribes and Pharisees. Rather, He's trying to say that regardless of the day, we should seek to do good and help others. When we see unmet need, (even if it is on the Sabbath), we should try to respond to that need, just as Jesus did. This will bring a two fold benefit. Firstly, to those we help, who will receive practical support. And secondly to ourselves, because we’ll know that we are making a positive contribution to others and the community around us. So, even when taking the opportunities to GET MORE REST, we can still seek out ways to do good and save lives.
Thats what happened when our first child was born and I know that my wife and I remain exceedingly grateful to those medical staff who worked on the Sabbath and did this for her all those years ago.
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