The Lord of the Sabbath

and Biblical Law

. The fldee oj Biblical Law in '.
the Kingdom of Christ ..
With these words, Jesus is not
criticizing or abrogating the Law
of God. He is criticizing the
traditions of the rabbis and, as the
Lord Who gave the Law, showing
us how to interpret and apply His
Law. The Biblical Law of the
Sabbath stills S\a.nds in the
Kingdom of Christ, although the
day has been changed from the
seventh to the first by the Lord of
demand in the light of the
ORIGINAL meaning of THE
.WHOLE of the divine
commandments. It is always the
law that Jesus claims to maintain
and fulfill. And every time it
appears that the interpretation of
the law, i.e, the knowledge of the
divine will from the law, must
satisfy higher demands than those
made by the current interpretation
of the Jewish teachers of the law.
The issue is not the law as such
but its interpretation."-
(Ridderbos, THE COMING OF
THE KINGDOM, pg. 312).
commitment to the law but
against their refusal to be really
committed to the law, Mat. 15:6;
9:13. No doubt the most basic .
cause of this refusal of ]tidaism's'
was the fact that it )lad divorced '
the law from the living Cod,and
had made the law merely a subject
for formal and scholarly learning.
In contrast to thiS Jesus leads tiis
disciples back to God llimselffo.r
the knowledge of the Divine will.
They must show that they are the
children of their heavenly Father . .
But this encounter only takes '
place in: the the Sabbath
through His
Spirit-endowed
Apostles, and
its ceremonial
trappings have
reached a
climax in
Christ.
law,
We cannot
agree with
those who
deny the
abiding
authOrity of
God's Law in
the kingd9t!)
of Christ. "The theonomy of the
gospel is subjection to the law,
and any attempt to eliminate the
category oflaw from the gospel is
frustrated by the continuous and
undeniable ms.interiance of the
law by andin thegospel."-
(Riddetbos, THE COMING OF
THE KINGDOM, pg. 307).
"So):Ileti.mes the ful(illment of the
law formulated by Jesus in His
commandments consists in a
deepening, a refinement, a
qualitative reduction of a
particular sin to its roOI and
origin; at others it contains the
rejection of the atomistic
conception of sin and
ar:d sets God's
The Main Flaw of Pharisaism
with Reference to Biblical Law
"For Pharisaism was not put in
default because it thought it could
' grasp' God and His will in the
law, or because it inferred
consequences from particular
principles or general precepts of
the law. But it was blamed
because it did so in such a way
that the real and profound sense
of the law was deprived of its
force. --- ... the whole of His
teaching is dominated by the
thought of the living reality of
God's revealed will IN His law.
--- His frequently recurring
reproach is not directed against
4 THE of Chalcedon September, 1996
conceived
however, as .
the
translation .. '
and wording
of Cod's will,
as the
personal
address by
the living and
holy
Rldderbos, .
pgs. 313-314.
The Demand
of Biblital
Law According to Jesus
"If the question is asked as to
what is special and characteristic
in Jesus' fulfillment of the law, the
answer must be that it is certainly
not to be found in the pointing .
out of the limited importance of .
the law as a source of knowledge
about the divine will, but much .
rather, in Jesus' vindicationofthe
totalitarian and all-embracing
nature of the demand of the laW,
This, and nothing else, is the
meaning of the radicalization of
the law's demand in the ..
applications given by Jesus in His
commandments. This is also the'
starting-poim of the antithesis,
, .
,.\;
'unless your righteousness shall
exceed the righteousness of the
scribes and Pharisees.' This
'excess' demanded by Jesus is not
meant in a quantitative sense",but
in a qualitative sense (the demand
of the law goes deeper and reaches
further than the velY elaborate
interpretation of the law which
the scribes would suggest), The
dimension in which such
fulfillment moves is not one of
width but of depth, --- This is the
'perfection' required by Jesus, viz"
the holding of nothing back, the
unconditional surrender to the
will of God with all that one is
and has, This, and nothing else, is
the meaning of the reduction of
the content of the law to the duty
ofloving God above all and one's
neighbor as oneself: - Ridderbos,
pgs, 314-315,
Jesus made clear that THE
lAW DEMANDS LOVE, which is
only possible if the heart has been
converted to God, "It is the
obedience that will perform any
service which God demands from
His children, and that
presupposes the total,
unhampered surrender of heart
and wilL --- To put it in one
statement, we can therefore say
that the fulfillment of the law by
Jesus consists in his setting in the
light in a matchless way the
character of love of the obedience
demanded by the law, In this
statement love is conceived of as
the totalitarian, all-embracing,
self-surrender." - Ridderbos,
317-318,
THE SON OF MAN IS LORD
OF THE SABBATH, He was
humiliated in suffering and death
to secure the blessings of the
Sabbath for us; and He arose from
the dead with unlimited
sovereignty to guard the Sabbath
and to administer blessings on its .
observance and curses on its lack
of observance.
(6:6-11) The Sovereignty
of jesus Over His Enemies
The Sovereign jesus
"Setting Up" His Enemies
The Control of the
Situation By jesus
Jesus is in full control of this
situation, 6:6-11, which
eventually led to His crucifixion,
He faced his enemies, who were
looking for a "legal" excuse to kill
Him, called the man with the
withered arm to stand right in the
middle of His enemies so they
would not miss the miracle, chose
a Sabbath day to heal the man,
and then embarrassed His
enemies with a question that
exposed the failure of their
religion, thus discrediting them,
Luke tells us that Jesus healed the
man on the Sabbath on purpose in
front of those who were looking
for some excuse to dispose of
Jesus, because "He knew what
they were thinking."
The Reason jesus Did What He
Did in FJ"Ont of His Enemies
The Conspiracy of the Scribes &
Pharisees Against jesus
Luke informs us that, by this
time in Jesus' minisny, the scribes
and Pharisees were already so "fed
up" with Jesus and so intimidated
by His ministry and theology, that
they were "keeping an eye on
him" to see if they could find
something, anything, of which
they could accuse Him in a court
oflaw, so as to silence Him by
imprisonment or death, vs, 7,
Most particularly, if they could
catch Him in a violation of the
Sabbath, they had Him, because
Sabbath desecration was a capital
crime, Exodus 31: 14-1 7,
The Work of the
Prophesied "Cornerstone" &
"Stumbling Block"
Centuries earlier Isaiah had
prophesied of the MeSSiah, that
God would lay "in Zion C! stone, a
tested stone, (a stone that would test
men by their response to it), a costly .
cornerstone for the foundation,
firmly placed, He who believes in it
will not be disturbed," 28:16,
Earlier he had prophesied of this
stone that it would also be "a
stone to strike and a rock to
stumble over, and a snare and a
trap for the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, And many will
stumble over them, then they will
fall and be broken; they will even
be snared and caught," 8)4-15,
The Apostle Peter identifies Jesus
Christ as this cornerstone, a solid
foundation for life for all who
come to Him in faith, I Pet 2:4-7,
Peter also informs us that Christ
will also become "a stone of
stumbling and a rock of offense to
all those who reject Him----"This
stone which the builders rejected,
this became the very

people stumble over Christ in
unbelief, it is "because they are
disobedient to the Word, and to this
they were also appOinted (by God),"
2:8,
Jesus is in this incident acting
as "The Stone of stumbling," i.e"
the stone laid for the purpose of
causing those who disbelieve to be
offended and to stumble over Him
into helL He appears to be
September, 1996 l THE COUNSEL of Cbalcedon l S
maneuvering His enemies,
hardened in their unbelief, to
commit an act that would seal
their eternal doom. In seeking to
kill Christ, these Pharisees were
destroying themselves. In trying
to "break" Him,:they were
breaking themselves to pieces
upon Him. Their decision "points
forward to the Passion, but it also
contains the'seed of .
self-destruction. The rejection of
Jesus entails the rejection of life
and redemption and leaves men
prey to distress and death. This is
the bitter fruit of that
that Sabbath were scribes and
Pharisees, who were there for the
purpose of "watching Him closely,
to see if He healed on the Sabbath; in
order that they might find reason to
accuse Him: vs. 7. Jesus knew
that they were present, AND,
more importantly, as Christ the
LORD, He knew their hearts and
minds, and knew exactly what
they were up to, Lk. 6:8; jn.
2:24-25. Yet He in no way was
intimidated by their presence.
The Legalistic Traditions
of the Pharisees
was an accepted prinCiple that
'any danger to life takes
precedence over .the Sabbath.;
scribes, however, ha<j. detennined
precisely in whiCh cases it
proper to speak'of immediate '
danger to life, and to what extent
aid could be granted. In none of
the recorded whiCh jesus
performed on the Sabbath would
the scribes have agreed that there
was any immediate threafio liTe."-
Lane
The InitiactveofJesus
In this tense situation,
hardness of heart which
provoked in Jesus both anger
and. godly sorrow." - Lane in
MARK.

Jesus takes the initiative and

sovereignly precipitates ,a
crisis. Because He knew
what was in their thoughts,
"He said to the man with the
.......... ,., .., y .... ., '-' _>3.' .., .. .:;:;
The Public Healing of the
Man With the Withered
Hand
1,0I'd.lI('< kll(,<w .heil' h(,<'II"t. ..
'llulminds. ;1Iull .. l('<w eXCI.tty
",h:,t th.oy wel'e ul' '0:'
withered hana, 'Arise and
come forward!' And he arose
and came forward." He called
The Order ofJesusto the
Handicapped Man
The Attendance of the Man
With the Withered Hand
As was His custom on the
Sabbath, Lk. 4:16,jesus came to
the synagogue to teach. This
Sabbath, a man was in attendance
"whose right hand was withered. "
"Luke notes that it was the right
hand because its atrophied
condition meant a greater loss to
the man than if it had been his left
hand. This should be noted: a
hand that was withered, whose
muscles. and nerves were dried up,
implied some injury of long
standing which had gradually
produced this sad and hopeless
result. It is beyond human skill to
restore such a hand." - Lenski
The Attendance of the Conspiring
Scribes & Pharisees'
The Deceitful Scheming of the
Scribes & Pharisees
Also attending the sy'nagogue .
A distinctive mark of Pharisaic
religion was their zeal for their
own man-made supplementations
to Biblical Law, to their own
traditions and interpretations,
which instead of clarifying God's
Law, misinterpreted it, abused it,
perverted it and encumbered it.
This legalism of the Pharisees is
never more dearly seen than in
their traditions concerning
Sabbath observance.
jesus' critics were convinced
that Jesus was a violator of the
Sabbath,6:1-5. "Their attitude
was well expressed by a
synagogue-ruler who was
exasperated with the people who
came to Jesus for healing on the
Sabbath: 'There are six days on
which work ought to be done; come
on those days and be healed, and not
on the Sabbath day,' Luke 13: 14.
Uke other aspects of jewish life,
the practice of medicine and
healing on the Sabbath was
regulated by legal tradition. It
6 'I THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon 'I September, 1996
the man to stand right in the
middle of the congregation where
everybody could not help but see
what was going to happen, so all
present would know that no
trickery was involved. The Lord
jesus ordered the man to sta';'d up
publicly ind he immediately
obeyed the sovereign authority of
jesus' word.
Notice three things about this
man with the withered hand: (1).
"Conflict erupted over the healing
of a man with a Withered hand in
which the man himself was little
more than a silent partiCipant in
the unfolding situation."- Lane.
(2). He was an ordinary man with
one difference. He had a withered
arm. (3) . He appears passive
throughout this incident, not even
asking to be healed. jesus is in
charge of the whole incident,
determining Himself what will
happen next!
The Penetrating Question of
Jesus to the Pharisees .
After the man stood up before
everybody, and before Jesus
healed him, Jesus said to the
scribes and Pharisees present: "I
ask YOL(, is it lawful 011 the Sabbath
to do good, or to do evil, to save a
life, or to destroy it?"
Tlte Nature of tlte Question
In the passage, we leam that
Jesus is verbally addressing a
specific question to thoughts in
the minds of his enemies before
they expressed those thoughts.
His point is like a dagger to their
hearts.
The Two-Edged Point
of the Question
The Only Two Kinds of
Behavior: Good or Evil
"Good" in Greek denotes moral
excellence and moral superiOii ty.
Behavior that is morally excellent
and morally superior adorn and
honor the Sabbath. "Evil"
behavior, i.e., base and immoral
thoughts and behavior disgraces
the Sabbath. Evil behavior is the
only altemative to good behavior.
Jesus knew there was no other
choice, no neutral ground;
therefore, if good behavior, such
as healing the man with the
divinely-revealed, and therefore
inerrant, Standard of good and
evil is so perfect and so sufficient,
that it has never needed and Will
never need supplementation,
Deut. 4:1; 12: 32. God
commands us in Proverbs
30:6---"Do not add to His words lest
He reprove you, and you be p1"Dved a
liar. "
The Relation of Good and
Life & Evil and Death
Tlte Powerful Logic
ofJesus' Word
Tlte "Lawfulness" of DOing
Good 011 the Sabbath
Jesus' question was
reasonable and penetrating.
After all, the scribes and
Pharisees were the very
'''Only the Creator,
may define what is good .
and what is evil in His
In Moses-like fashion, Jesus
asks His audience, "1 ask
you, is it lawful on the
Sabbath to do good, or to
do evil, to save a life, or to
destroy it?'" Remember
the challenge of Moses to
his audience, centuries
earlier: "See, I have set
ereation;and He has done
.
people who were always
claiming that THEY knew
what was lawful and what was not
in every instance, according to
their traditions. Let them now
give their expert opinion with
reference to this question. The
answer should be obvious to any
child. Is it lawful to do good, to
be generous, kind and helpful to
other people on the Sabbath? Or
is the .Sabbath a day for doing evil
things, such as being stingy,
selfish, unkind, hateful and
murderous? Does not the Law of
the Ole! Testament require doing
good everyday of the week, both
With reference to God---in loving,
serving, worshipping and pleasing
Him, and With reference to other
human beings---in delivering
them from slavery, loving, feeding
and clothing them? What about
the specific commands of Isaiah
56:6 and 58:6-14?
Tlte "Doing of Good"
On tlte Sabbath
Withered hand, was forbidden on
the Sabbath, then only evil
behavior, such as alloWing the
man to continue to suffer when
you have the power to heal him, is
possible. Not to do a morally
excellent deed is ALREADY to do
an immoral deed.
Tlte Standard By W1,ich Good
and Evil are Detennined
Only God, the Creator, may
define what is good and what is
evil in His creation; and He has
done so in His Law-Word, Psalm
19, 119. Without that revealed
Word, (the Bible), man has no
way or means of determining the
difference between good and evil,
Rom. 3:20; 7:7f. Imagine what a
dark, dangerous and degenerate
world this would be if God had
not revealed the difference
between good and evil to us in the
Bible! In fact, the Bible as the
.
before you today life and
prospeli ty, and deatlt and
adversity; in that I command you
today to love the Lord your God to
walk in His ways and to keep His
commandments and His statutes and
His judgments, that you may live
and multiply... But if your heart
turns away and you wi/lnot obey .. .1
declare to you today that you shall
surely pelish. --- ... r have set before
you life and death, the blessing and
the curse. So choose life in order
that you may live, you and your
descendants, by loving the Lord your
God, by obeying His voice, and by
holdingfast to Him; for this is your
life ... , "- Deuteronomy 30: 15-20.
The logic of Jesus' statement is
powerful---healing on the Sabbath
is doing good and doing good is
saving a life; therefore, healing On
the Sabbath is lawful, right and
pleasing to God. But it is more
than that. would heal
people, not just because He
wanted them to feel better, but in
September, 1996 t THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon t 7
order to manifest the meaning of
His saving miSsion to earth: to
transfer people from the sphere of
death to the sphere of life.
The Devastating Indictment
of Pharisaic Religion
The Life-Destroying NatUre of
Pharisaic
The Failure o/the Religion of the
Pharisees Manifested In Their
View of th", Sabbath
The Manufacture of Man"Made
Law In Addition to the Bible
The Pharisees' big mistake was
their refusal to boW to total ,
exclusive, inclusive and final
authority of Biblical Law. They
added thousands of man-made
laws to Biblical LaW, zealously
counting obedience to their laws
as important as obeyirtg Biblical
Law. In fact , they believed that
The Failure of the Pharisees to
UnderstaniUhe Purpose
of God's Law
As we have seen above, the
original purpose of God's law is to
guard, promote arid enhance life.
The laws of the scribes and
Pharisees restric.ted and perverted
life. They were impediments to
the full joy ofliving and to full
usefulness, as the prohibition to
heal the man with the withered
hand would be had it been obeyed
by Jesus.
Not healing the man on the
Sabbath was doing evil and doing
evil is destroyirtg life; ' therefore,
Pharisaic religion, which forbids
obedience to God's Law and
which divorces the Uving God
from His Law, is evil and "In their concern for legal
destl"\1ctive to life. It separates detail, (to their
man from God and from life in "", The original p. urpose of traditions--JCMIII), they had
Him .. "There i$ a way that seems forgotten the mercy and grace
right to a man, but the end . God's law is to guard, shown by God to man when
thereofis the way of death. " promote and enhance life," He made provision for the
Proverbs 8:36 makes dear that Sabbath. In the name of piety
disobedience to God's law not I!;;; ____________________________ .!.I . they had become insensitive
only manifests hatred for God, it unless a person obeyed Biblical both to the purposes of God and
is self-injuring and suicidal. Law according to scribal tradition, to the sufferings of men. jesus'
The Expose By Jesus of the he was not obeying God at all. anger was tempered by a godly
Blood-Thirstiness oj . Scribal tradition was the final sorrow for men who could no
the Pharisees interpreter of the Bible. It was for longer rejoice itl the tbkens of
them the standard by which the God's goodness to men. When
Jesus' question pierced His bl Jesus restored the man's hand He
. Bi e is to be understood and
enemies to the heart. "He exposed demonstrated what it means 'to do
h f h
applied. They refused to believe
t e perversity 0 t e critics even good' and 'to preserve lle'on the
. the fundamental truth of the
more uneqUivocally; for not only Sabbath. Moreover, He provided
did He ask whether it was Bible: there is no Law above God a sign of. the true observance and
d h bb h d
and His Word. All human
permitte on t e sa at to 0 joy of the Sabbath. As Lord of the
d
. d t " r but h Is traditions are to be tested and
goo an 0 save we, e a 0 Sabbath Jesus delivers both the
added, 'or to do harm and to weighed by the Word of God, not Sabbath and man from a state of
destroy it?' --- Nevertheless this vice versa. To place the religious
doing harm and destroying was traditions of men on par with the
exactly what these enemies were infallible Word of God is the
right now engaged in!"- idolatrous attempt of man to set
Hendriksen. The scribes and himself up as God.
Pharisees who were spyirtg on
Jesus not only rejects all
jesus in order to find a "legal" way
to kill Him, were particularly the man-made Sabbath regulations,
destroyers of life, i.e., Jesus' life. (and all man-made laws not
"What is indeed unlawful on the rooted in His Word), He goes
Sabbath is to attempt to slay an even farther and says that holding
innocent person, as the Pharisees to such traditions amounts to
and scribes were engaged in doing "neglecting the commandment of
by watching jesus with murderous God" and "invalidating the word of
intent."- Geldenhuys God," Mark 7:8-13.
8 COUNSEL of Chalcedon September, 1996
distress." - Lane
The Failure of the Pharisees to
Recognize the Dignity of Man
In the Image of God
According to Matthew
12:11-12, Jesus enforced His
point with an illustration of a
sheep that had fallen into a pit on
the Sabbath, 'lYhieh the owner
would certainly rescue although it
was the Sabbath, and he would do
so "legally." Then He asked, 'Of
how much more value then is a man
than a sheep!"
By this question, Jesus was
exposing the fallacy of Pharisaism
that "they thus knew of no work
of mercy for suffering man on the
Sabbath although they would
inconsistently work to save a
sheep on the Sabbath, for they did
not like to lose a sheep. But some
other MAN they would treat
heartlessly; his suffering meant no
Joss to them."- Lenski. They had
forgotten, inexcusably, that "the
Sabbath was made for man, and
not man for the Sabbath."
The Failure of the Pharisees
to Believe In the True
Identity ofJesus
,"From the Pharisaic point.of
v ~ w Jesus' word and action totally
undennined their interpretation of
the Law, their piety and their
actions. Jesus was not merely
another scribe who advocated an
independent opinion; He
constituted a threat to true
religion and ancestral tradition."-
Lane. But, their most fatal failure
was their failure to submit to the
sovereign authority of the One
before them, "the Lord of the
Sabbath," Who was Jehovah
incarnate visiting earth to give
Sabbath-rest and true Sabbath-life
to all who believed in Him and
submiued to His authoritative
Word. He is Wisdom Incarnate
who says: "Counsel is mine and
sound wisdom; I am understanding,
power is mine. By me kings reign ....
--- I love those who love me; and
those who diligently seel< me will find
me. --- Blessed is the man. who
listens to me.... For he who finds ME
finds LIFE, and obtains favor from
the Lord. But he who sins against
Me injures himself; all those who
hate Me love death," Provo 8:12-36.
The Actual Healing of the Man
With the Withered Hand
After ordering the man to
stand up in sight of the entire
audience, and after cutting the
Pharisees to the quick by a
question, Jesus proceeds to heal
the man: "And after looking around
at t1wn all, He said to him, 'Stretch
out your hand!' And he did so; and
his hand was completely restored."
Notice several things about this
healirig:
Tlte Gaze of Jesus
Jesus healed him "after looking
around at them all." He passed His
eyes over all the scribes and
Pharisees who had come to "eye"
Him. He looked deep into their
eyes into their dark souls and
hard hearts. As He looked at them
so penetratingly, the seconds
became tenser and tenseL
Tlte Anger and Grief of Jesus
Mark adds that He looked
around at them "with anger,
grieved at their hard1leSS of heart,"
Mark 3:5. "Jesus did nol mistake
the silence of His .opponents for
consent that the man should be
healed. He regarded them with an
anger which expressed the anger
of God. -- Jesus' anger was
tempered by a godly sorrow for
men who could no longer rej oice
in the tokens of God's goodness to
men. "- Lane. Jesus was intensely
angry at their sin and deeply
glieved at their condition.
The Healing of the Mall With
tlte Witllered Hand
The healing of this man was
instantaneous and complete.
Jesus commands the man, "Stretch
out your hand!" "That is all,
nothing more. The miracle was
done. --- It was, indeed, a shining
deed of omnipotence. Let modem
healing cults equal it. The notable
thing is that Jesus did nothing.
He did not touch the hand; He
did not even say that it should be
healed. All He did was to tell the
man to stretch out his hand; and
not even the most rabid Pharisee
could call that a work that was
forbidden on the Sabbath. The
man was healed by the almighry
volition, (the sovereign
will-JCMIII), ofJesus, and by that
alone." - Lenski
The Response of the Pharisees
to This Incident
"But they themselves were filled
with rage, and discussed together
what they might do with Jesus." (See
also Mark 3:6.) "Rage," which is
ANOIA in Greek, means far more
than anger. It is derived from A,
meaning not, and NOUS, meaning
mind. They had lost all sense and
reason and were thinking and
acting like raving maniacs. ''The
more senSibly, rationally, lUcidly
Jesus spoke, the more crazy these
fools became. This is one of the
mysteries in the human heart and
will, that the truth, goodness, and
salvation of Christ have the very
. opposite effect in some hearts
from what they ought to have.
But where this occurs as it did
here, the fault is wholly with the
hean and the will and brings on
the most terrible ruin."- Lenski.
"Instead of seeing in His
revelation of Divine power the
genuineness of His claims and
believing in Him, His persecutors
now became more fanatical than
ever in their determination to
compass His death."- Geldenhuys
"The decision to destroy Jesus
climaxes the conflicts in Galilee.
God's grace toward Israel,
proclaimed and demonstrated
through Jesus, will be rejected by
the responsible leaders of the
people. "- Lane. This will be an
ominous sign for Jesus and
Israel--ominous for Jesus for it
September, 1996 l THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon l 9
points to liis suffering .
and death; ominous for Israel for
it points forward to their
self-destruction, as they,tum,[rom
the Gjver of !i.fe and redemption.
Cimcluswn:
The Lawfulness oj Works of
Mercy On the Sabbath
"The fourth commandment .
was never meant to be so
'1i.to inflict injury on
man's body. Ii was not meant
to forbid showing kindness on the
Sabbath to the afflicted, or
att<!nding to the needSdf the s\ek
--- One thing;, however, we must
carefully remember. --- Let us
beware of makin'g God's day a day
for vIsiting, feasti'ti.g, journeying'"
and pleasure parties. These are'
not works of necessity' or mercy,
whatever a and
unbelieVing woild maysay." - j. C.
Ryle on LUKE.
The PedICet Jesus
Possesses o/Our: .
Only God can read hearts, and
Jesus can read hearts!
Rememqering the ;LorQ's perfeGt
knowledge of qurhearl$ wiU '. ,.
always have a humbling on
us. "How many vain thoughts,
and worldly
through our. minds eVery 1:1011r,
which man's eye neVer .sees?
What are OUT Qwn.thoughts.at this
moment? Wopld tl:ley bear pl,l1;1lic
examination? Should we like
others to know ,all that passes in
our inner man? These are se.rious
questions, and deserve serious
answers. whatever we may think
about them, it is a certain fact that
Jesus Christ is hourly reading our
hearts."- J,c. Ryle .
The Powerful Word of the
S,qvereign Christ: Ife Gives
What He Commands .
"GQd'scomiIlandments are
grants. When He enjoins us,
Repenl,;or Believe, it is only to
draw from us a free .
acknowledgment of our
impotence to perform His
commands. rhis confession being
made, what He enjoins, He wilt
enable Us to do. Man:$ owning his
weakness is the only stock for
God to engtaft thereon the grace
of His assistance. "- Fuller in Ryle
on LUKE. (TO BE CONTrNUED)
,
IMark.informs' 11$ that the
conspiracy against JesU$ included
not only scribes and Pharisees; but
also ".Herodians," Mk. 3:6, Ina,
country wheJ;e large numbers of
people chafed under Herod's
tyrannical rule, Herodians were
the sympathizers and supporters
of the, evil Herod, . They were
probably infb.ientlal people of
high standing who were loyal to
Herod Antipas;andtherefore
"loyal ti:> the Rotnan controlcif
upon which the
Herodian dynasty depended:
Undoubtedly they lent their
support to the Pharisees because
they saw Jesus as a threat to the
peace and stability of the
tetrarchy. "- Lane
2"Save" is SODZO in Greek,
and it include$ everything
conducive to true life, gOQliness
and happjp.ess. , ,"Life" is PSUCHE
in Greek: whiCh denotes the .
whole mari, physically
spiritually. "Destroy"is
APOLESAI, which includes
eVerything that obstructs and
destroys true life, true godliness
and true happiness.
10 l THE CQVJIISEL of Chalc.edon-l Sept<;mber, 1996 '