Healing & the Sabbath

When my family and I visit Cape Town - we spend a bunch of our time in the quant little suburbs of Muizenberg and Kalk Bay. Now, if you’ve spent any amount of time in either of those locations, you’ll know - the place is rife with traffic officers. Lurking the street corners, ready to pounce on any traffic grievances.

You step outta line, chances are you’ll return to your car post-surf with a freshly laid down fine posted to your car window.

I recall, while living in Muizenberg how everyone parked on the curb so larger vehicles could squeeze through. One day, in December, a hungry officer came searching for new grazing pastures deep in the suburban heart of the Muizenberg.

To her utter delight, she encountered a school of cars happily mounted on the curb. The officer whipped out her notepad and pen like a mighty sword and began striking us down with fines. I caught her mid-act! And proceeded to lay before her my defence: We need to mount the curb so trucks can pass through.

My plea fell on deaf ears. Pen had hit paper and there was no turning back.

In contrast, I remember one day rolling with my dad in Singapore. He parked atop a bold yellow cross painted on the street. I gently inquired of him, “Are you sure you want to park here?”

“Don’t worry,” he said, “we won’t be long.”

Low and behold, upon our return - we waltzed straight into an officer writing my dad up. My father jumped into action, pleading with the cop: “Please, I was only gone for a second!”

I thought his defence was a house of cards - an absolute waste of time. Best to just cop it on the chin and move on.

But the traffic officer, annoyed, wagged her finger at him and said, “I don’t want to see you do this again,” and walked off.

I couldn’t believe it! In a city known for it harsh application of the law - my father found mercy.

If you read through the gospels you’ll know that Jesus LOVED to heal on the Sabbath. In fact in John’s Gospel two of his four recorded healings were done on the Sabbath.

AND THIS ENRAGED THE RELIGIOUS ELITE. THEY HATED IT!

Much like the municipality of Cape Town who use traffic grievances as an opportunity to tax it’s citizens secondary to providing order. The religious leaders had turned the Sabbath into a set of detailed rules, adding extra-biblical traditions about what could and could not be done.

This legalistic interpretation made the Sabbath about rules rather than rest, mercy, and compassion.

They missed God’s heart behind the Sabbath: A day of restoration and healing.

In Matthew Jesus said: “God made the sabbath for man and not man for the sabbath.”

The reason why you do (and say) things is just as important as the thing you do. You can easily do the right things for the wrong reasons.

And that’s why it’s important to keep close tabs on your heart. To make certain your motives line up with God’s.

Jeremiah writes:

The heart is deceitful above all things

and beyond cure.

Who can understand it?

How easy it is to con yourself (and the people around you) into believing what you do and say is in line with truth. When really it’s a means to your own ends.

So may God refine our hearts so all we do and say is in obedience to Him!