In the synoptic gospels, Jesus defends His actions by pointing out that He was Lord of the Sabbath and could thus do what He willed on the Sabbath #Mark 2:28, but John records another defense which Jesus had given; Jesus points to the unceasing activity of the Father, even on the Sabbath.  The basic reason God instilled the Sabbath was because on the seventh day He rested from His creative actions and His people must also rest one day of the week.  But God’s rest is not idleness.  If God were idle, we would all perish.  God continues to work to sustain us with all that we need for life: even on the Sabbath.

What implications does this have for Christian service?  Plummer says that, “to cease to do good is not to keep the Sabbath but to sin.” (qt’d in Morris p. 309)  God is working even to this very day and due to His intimate relationship with God, Jesus is doing the same.

John 5:11 (again) But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”

There is an implication in this verse which we didn’t investigate the first time around, and that is that Jesus has the authority to tell the man to pick up his mat because Jesus had healed him. Jesus has the right to tell this man to disobey the Law because Jesus has just shown Himself to be the Healer and thus the Lawgiver.

Jesus also has the right and authority to command us because of what He has done for us – He has saved us! His authority over us is greater than the Law because of what He has done for us and because of Who He is. He can tell us what to do with our new life because He is the One Who gave it to us. “His dominion is built upon His benefits. He is the King because He is the Saviour. He rules because He has redeemed.” (Maclaren) Paul says it this way in Philippians:

Php 2:5-11 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (emphasis added)

We humans generally don’t like to be told what to do. It starts as a child and continues on through our entire lives. We follow the orders of others, but we don’t like it. There is an exception, however. We don’t mind following the orders of someone we love or of someone who has done something wonderful for us and for which we are grateful. It’s easy to follow the commands of Jesus because we love Him and are grateful for the great things He has done for us. With a smile of love on His lips, Jesus gently tells us “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” (John 14:15) How right He is! If we love Him, we actually want to do what He says.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 11:30 that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. This is not, however, because less is required of Christians than of those under the Law. In fact, our code of conduct is much higher than the Law demanded. Jesus pointed this out in Matthew 5:21-48) where He started several references to the Law with “You have heard it was said . . .” and then follows with “but I say to you . . .” and then tells us something even more difficult to keep than the previous command. So how can He say that His yoke is “easy” and His burden is “light?” Maclaren phrases the answer to this question by saying that “the yoke is padded with the softest velvet of love.”

Jesus holds us to a higher standard than even under the Old Testament Law, but this standard is “easy” to attain, because we love Him and appreciate all he has done for us and our desire is to please Him and make Him happy by obeying Him. His commands are also easy and light because as we start to obey them in faith, He provides us with the ability to do so. He gives us the motivation and the ability. What more could we ask? What a great and wonderful Lord we serve!! Amen.