Psalm 97, 99; Jer. 17:19-27; Rom. 7:13-25; John 6:16-27
Why is bearing burdens through the gates on the Sabbath the one thing that will avert the judgment of the Lord? What it signifies is commerce. Bringing things in through the gates on the Sabbath is indicative of commercial interests, what is being brought in are things to sell in Jerusalem the following day. The Sabbath has become nothing more than a preparation day for commerce when literally nothing is to be brought into the city on that day and nothing is to be carried about. The Sabbath is to be holy, set apart, unlike the other days of the week, the same as the Sabbath year was to be a time when they allowed the land to rest but it was also for them, to remind them this is a life of faith. The Sabbath was something that set them apart from the rest of the world and they had allowed themselves to compromise in this regard. Sabbath is an important concept for us to think through as Christians.
The ;question the crowds should have asked of Jesus was “How did you come here?” That was the real story, as the disciples well knew. Some modern commentators on this story have suggested that Jesus was walking near the water in this episode and simply encouraged the disciples. If that is true, they were near enough to hear Him through a storm against which a dozen men were fighting. If they were close enough to hear Him, they could just get out of the boat themselves. Clearly something more than that happened, Jesus walked on the water in the midst of a fierce storm, just as John tells us, otherwise there is no reason for him to record the story at all. John says that there are so many other stories he could tell that they would fill volumes of books, so we know that there is much he left out of his account. This story only makes sense in its plain literal sense. Jesus shows that He knows what is in the hearts of men as he identifies the motives of those who have followed Him here, they are interested not in seeking after God, but more food.
Is it possible to know the good and choose the evil? Paul says that is what the law does, it defines good and evil and that allows us to know the difference but it doesn’t allow us to choose the good always. We remain in this body that has participated in the fall of the human race and because of this we remain unable to always do the good. The law tells me what God’s will for my life is and in the light of God’s word I see not only my sins of the past but also my heart’s desires as wrongfully ordered, I see the need for change in my heart. These three lessons tell us how insidious and prevalent sin is in human hearts and lives and how God’s standards for holiness are far out of step with human standards. We don’t know good and evil in our hearts since we chose wrong to start with. For others, non-Jews to bear burdens on the Sabbath isn’t sinful because they don’t have the law but in Jerusalem it should be prohibited even by others, God told them that there is one law for Jews and sojourners alike. Is it sinful to eat and to have hunger? No, but when God has done something extraordinary in your midst and you come only for the result, a full belly, then clearly your desire for either food or novelty has overcome your ability to see God. Paul here is telling us sin is more serious and pervasive than we think when we focus on only things like murder, adultery, etc. He has accepted Jesus’ definition of those sins from the Sermon on the Mount and finds himself wanting.
You are King of the Heavens and King of my life
King of the land and the sea
You were King of Creation before there was time
And King of all Kings You will be
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