In today’s reading in Tyndale’s OYCSB (with featured content written by the CBT team),
Jesus confronts the Pharisees’ distortion of God’s word. He does this by healing on the Sabbath and allowing His disciples to gather grain for immediate consumption on the Sabbath.
The introductory commentary for today’s reading written by the CBT team explains that the Pharisees’ Sabbath theology is the perfect area to confront and expose their rejection of Jesus because their Sabbath theology distorts the character of God. Their stewardship of Scripture in this area teaches people that God’s law is not for the good of His people, but rather a burden for them to dread.
But Jesus wants all people to know that He is the Lord of the Sabbath.
Scripture should have ensured the Pharisees believed Jesus because of His teaching and His miracles. However, because the Pharisees viewed themselves to be the rulers of the Sabbath and misused the Scripture, that very Scripture would indict them on the Day of Judgment.
