One Year Bible, Thursday, February 17th -What Happens to the Person who Unintentionally Sins, Jesus Calls Matthew and Teaches the True Nature of Fasting and the Sabbath Day!
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1. Even though someone sinned unintentionally it was still sin. It offended God's holiness, therefore it needed to be atoned/paid for. This applied to both the individual, the community, or a leader/priest. The requirements were very similar to the burnt offering. An unblemished lamb, goat, or sometimes a bull had to be sacrificed. The priest would lay his hand on the innocent animal, slaughter it, and take the blood and apply it with his finger to the horns of the altar. The rest of the blood was to be poured out at the base of the altar.
"The idea of laying the hand on the head of the sacrifice is repeated five times in the chapter – at 4:4, 4:15, 4:24, 4:29, and 4:33. It is an important part of the idea of the sacrifice of a substitute." (Guzik)
One might wonder what the writer means by "sinned unintentionally".
"The idea is not so much of an accidental sin, but of a sin committed by a person whose life is lived in general obedience and surrender to God. The contrast is between sins of human frailty, and sins of outright rebellion." (Guzik)
2. Secondly, a person who saw something was wrong and did not say anything about it, was guilty as well.
"It wasn’t enough to merely not tell lies. God also required His people to make the truth known, so even if one merely knew about a lie, they were responsible to make the truth known." (Guzik)
1. As Jesus walked along he saw, Levi the tax collector, and told him to come and follow him. Though Levi, also known as Matthew, was a hated tax collector, Jesus invited him to be his follower. Levi shows his gratitude toward Jesus by inviting all his friends over to his house to meet Jesus. There were likely other tax collectors and other sordid characters that joined in at the meal.
The religious leaders ask why Jesus eats with such "scum". But Jesus tells them that it is those who know they are sick, who call on the doctor. Others though who think they are well, are the ones who really need the doctor. Of course, Jesus is referring to a different type of sickness, sin. It is the deadliest kind of sickeness, because it has eternal effects on both the body and the soul.
2. "Fasting" was a well known discipline among the Israelites, patterned after Moses in the wildnerness. It was meant to be a deliberate time to seek God's presence by disassociating with the things of the world. The Pharisees complained that Jesus' disciples weren't fasting enough. But Jesus replied to them that it was not necessary to fast when he was right in their midst. They needed to celebrate his presence, just like with the bridegroom at a wedding. There would be a time to fast when he was gone, but not now.
3. Similarly, the Pharisees and teachers of the Law had completely missed the spirit of the law regarding honoring the Sabbath day. They had turned this day into a bunch of rules and regulations, when originally God gave the Israelites the Sabbath Day as a day of rest from their work. As they rested from their work they could enjoy both God and their family and friends. It was also a way of showing that it was okay to take a day off, because God is the One who provides for all of our needs.
The Sabbath was meant for man to be rejuvenated and freed from the grind of work. The Pharisees established so many rules about the Sabbath that it lost its purpose completely.
4. To prove his point, Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath, which was considered breaking the Sabbath. Consider the absurdity of not healing someone who is in need because of the day of the week. Jesus saw a man with a deformed hand and turned it into an opportunity to expose the great hypocrisy of the Pharisees. He healed the man's hand, and the Pharisees looked for a way to kill him. Their true motives were revealed.
"According to their Sabbath traditions, if you cut your finger, you could stop the bleeding – but you could not put ointment on the cut. You could stop it from getting worse, but you weren’t allowed to make it better."
"According to their Sabbath traditions, if you cut your finger, you could stop the bleeding – but you could not put ointment on the cut. You could stop it from getting worse, but you weren’t allowed to make it better." (Guzik)
"What Now" Study Questions:
'The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.' (Mark 2:27) God desires a relationship over ritual. Is your faith focused on ritual or on a relationship with God?
In their zeal to protect their religion from impurity the Pharisees rejected Jesus. Ironically He was not 'pure' enough for them. Are there ways in which you protect the purity of your religion at the expense of a relationship with Jesus?
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