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Wednesday in the Word

Christmas Glassics: Wednesday in the Word

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Today’s Glassics post focuses on the Biblical interpretations I do every Wednesday. Since the production of my first Wednesday in the Word Glassics post, I have selected verses discussing living as a Christian, the nature of God, and even the difficulties that all Christians face.

Christian Living

As Christians, we do have to learn to lead with God first, being the type of Godly leader that others can truly trust in and depend on. We have to learn how to depend on God’s security, trust God in risky situations, be gracious rather than vindictive, and be proactive rather than passive Christians.

Our constant prayer should remind us of how we still sin and still have difficulty following what God has said.

The Nature of God

Though no human can truly comprehend the full being of God, we know a lot about His nature by what His Word says. God brings justice to our lives, as well as salvation, unconditional love, and renewal; Jesus’ sacrifice makes us clean in God’s sight.

God does have to remind us sometimes Who’s in charge, even speaking straight to us sometimes. No matter what, though, He is there, and He has done all He can to reconnect with us.

Non-Christian Living

If we call ourselves Christians, that’s one thing. If we are truly trying to live as Christians, it’s quite another matter. We deal with wondering if God is even there, as well as people who pretend to be pious; we worry a whole lot about getting our due of worldly ideas, objects, and praise, and whether our good works will save us. These worries and fears are discussed and dealt with in the Bible, which is one reason I chose them to write about–they are still prevalent today, and our concerns now aren’t very different from those whom the Bible describes.

Our worries and fears hold us back, as do our sufferings that lead to humility. We stress about the times when we try to witness to others and fail, or fail to keep a commitment to the church like we think we should. (Sometimes, we even have questions for God about what is going to happen.)

We cannot forget that these frailties are normal, and thousands of people before us have suffered them. What is important is that we keep trusting God while we struggle with our frailty, and not give up because we didn’t worship perfectly.

Read, Think, and Comment

I invite you to read these weekly interpretations and think about them, understand them according to your own worldview. I am no preacher and I do not seek to convert; rather, I challenge myself weekly to understand more and more of the Bible, so that I can be more informed and more able to lead if ever called upon. By reading these, I hope you gain a little bit of insight into what makes up Christianity, and what the belief system stands for.

Wednesday in the Word

Have Security Even in The Scary Times

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Matthew 24:5-8; 36
5 For many will come in my name, claiming, “I am the Messiah,” and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains. […] 36 No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the son, but only the Father.

Signs of the End…Kinda Sounds like Today

Here, Jesus is speaking about the “signs of the end of the age,” as noted in my NIV translation. His words are duly frightening–what He’s describing sounds a lot like today, with all the earthquakes, violence, world economies faltering, etc. No wonder that many people worldwide, including many Christians, are looking heavenward for signs of the End.

…But Kinda Sounds like Yesterday, Too

But here is something else to consider: Jesus’ words do seem to reflect our current condition, but His speech also sounds a lot like many points in past history. Humans have made war against each other for millennia, and history shows us a periodic swing of ups and downs in war and peace, prosperity and poverty, abundance and want.

This same stuff was going on during Jesus’ time, and He knew this would continue until the end of the age…but it would only intensify closer to the End Times.

Jesus Says, Beware the Fake-Messiah Scam Artists

Jesus knows the character of humanity. He may not know the “day or hour” of the End Times, but He sure understands that we’re going to be actively seeking patterns and reflections of His word. He also knows that some humans are going to try to capitalize on “real End Times” prophecies, squeezing money out of gullible people who truly believe they’re paying homage (and their hard-earned cash) to Jesus Himself, or to a prophet who is heralding the true Messiah. (Many of the doomsday cults’ “end time prophecies” of the last 20 or 30 years have really hammered this point home, like Heaven’s Gate in the late ’90s.)

This is why Jesus warns the disciples right at the beginning to watch out, and not fall for fake prophecies and false Messiahs. As soon as Jesus ascended, false Messiahs began to spring up, and they’ve been doing so ever since. In this warning to His disciples, Jesus is preparing them to stay strong, keep living as Christians, and not worry about the End. We should not worry, either.

It’s Hard Not to Be Frightened, but We Have Security

Sadly, I’m a worrier by nature. I have to say, reading this excerpt and the larger passage speaking of the “Signs of the End of the Age” frightens me. I don’t want to know about the “end of the world” or the “end time,” and I don’t want it to come in my lifetime–I got stuff I want to do! (I’m fairly confident I’m not the only one who thinks so, either.) And I’ve long been ashamed of my reaction to Scriptures relating to the End Times–shouldn’t I WANT to be in Heaven, be with God and Jesus and all the angels? The truth is, I do, but I still have an elemental, almost primal fear of the unknown.

This fear and worry, too, is covered by Jesus’ words. “See to it that you are not alarmed.” Jesus speaks of the “end of the age” in a matter-of-fact tone–as all this stuff comes to pass, just know for certain that you still believe in God, and you’ll be okay. Don’t fool with false prophets; rely on what you know to be true, your personal relationship with God. This is our security, and it wraps around our lives like a blanket. (I’m hugging mine a little closer around me even as I write this.) 🙂

Wednesday in the Word

The Gospel Message, Retold Again For Emphasis

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1 Corinthians 15:3-6
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.

Paul is retelling the gospel message in a nutshell here: Jesus’ actions on Earth, which proved His identity and His purpose while here with us. And Jesus’ identity, purpose, and actions are all in perfect accord with centuries and centuries of prophetic Scriptures and religious writings (much of which are contained in the Old Testament). When Paul says “Scriptures,” he’s making reference to both Isaiah 53 and to the many notations earlier in the Old Testament concerning sin offerings, of which Jesus was the final and most spectacular.

The Gospel Message, Doubted

Jesus’ death on that Friday afternoon, subsequent burial, and then resurrection on that Sunday morning have been widely disputed, down to the measurement of “days”–how is less than 72 hours equal to 3 days? (But this was how the Jews of the day told time; parts of days, according to my NIV translation notes, were usually thought of as “days” anyway.) And moreover, how does a human survive a crucifixion and disappear from his burial site days later? These were fantastic and outlandish claims.

And yet, these claims were substantiated not just by the Twelve (the original apostles, though they were minus Judas at this point), but the Roman officials who physically observed Jesus’ death, and the hundreds of “brothers in Christ” who witnessed Him visit after the crucifixion and resurrection. So many people substantiated it at so many various times that it couldn’t be put off as a case of mass hysteria or hallucination. And no one could have faked moving the huge tombstone, nor could anyone have been allowed in to do it, with guards standing by the tomb at all times. Last of all, Jesus having been so publicly crucified and buried, yet reappearing in flesh several days later to various groups of people, was well-documented. If Jesus was not the Son of God, then he was uncannily capable of doing some strange things, like, oh, surviving horrific torture and death, resurrecting the dead, and ascending into the sky.

Nonetheless, many people doubt the truth of what Paul retells in 1 Corinthians, just as they doubt the truth of the rest of the Bible. How can we prove something that happened so long ago? How can we prove anything about accounts that could have been tampered with for thousands of years?

The Corinthians doubted, too, and that’s why Paul felt compelled to tell them again. He is not telling them anything that they haven’t heard already, but perhaps the retelling will help it sink in. There was a significant amount of eyewitness testimony from hundreds of different sources–in different places!–that all told of the same experience. Jesus continued to change lives even after the Roman government considered Him dispensed with; His life, death and resurrection proved His identity and His purpose on earth.

Our Society: Modern-Day Corinth All Over Again

In many ways, we modern humans are simply modern-day Corinthians, needing to hear the “facts” and the “truth”, having been surrounded with many people’s variations on what “truth” even means. This gospel message, of salvation through Jesus Christ, has been brushed aside as untruth, as lies and manipulation, and as even part of the banner of political candidates.

Corinth, like today’s global society, was a hotbed of trade and political activity as well as religion, and so many religions changed hands within Corinth’s walls that it was no wonder the people were thoroughly confused. This is why Paul writes to them to reaffirm the truth of what Christianity is about. In much the same way, today’s Christians must reaffirm what Christianity is about in a society that believes it no longer needs Jesus.

The Truth of Jesus: the Difference in Our Lives

Jesus does continue to change lives even today. I have seen it happen to others, and I have felt it happen within me. There is nothing like the particular glow that descends on the face of a person who has experienced that unconditional love firsthand; there is nothing like the feeling of peace in your own heart, when you know for certain something wonderfully Other than yourself, Someone Who loves without conditions and Who has loved you before you existed, has welcomed you back home.

Life is much, MUCH better, much more stable and much more fulfilling, when you have a relationship with Jesus, when you know He’ll always have your back. I’ve lived the alternative, the dim, faded life with an okay level of accomplishment and acceptance, always with a feeling of “I’m missing SOMETHING, but I don’t know what it is.” I wouldn’t go back to that doubting, searching life for a moment.

Wednesday in the Word

Don’t Worry So Much about Worldly Things!

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Luke 10:38-42
38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

In the village of Bethany, 2 miles from Jerusalem, Jesus and the disciples stopped, and Martha offered him hospitality. But while Martha’s bustling about the house, getting things ready (probably airing out rooms, beating out rugs and bedding), Mary is just sitting with Jesus and listening to Him talk.

Can you imagine what Martha feels like? All this preparation for all these houseguests to do, and her sister’s just off in another world, acting like she doesn’t need to help! That’s why she’s prompted to ask Jesus Himself in verse 40 to TELL Mary to get up and help.

But Jesus answers, in His serene fashion, that all Martha’s worries are needless. Yes, things like getting the house ready for guests and preparing food needs taking care of, but she shouldn’t agonize about it. What she should worry about is faith, and maintaining it, which is what Mary is doing. Mary’s absorbing all the spiritual lessons Jesus is giving, and becoming stronger as a result.

This is a lesson that is quite appropriate going into holiday season. So often we get tied up buying gifts, decorating, and cleaning house for guests, and we end up so stressed out, just like Martha. But when we’re overly focused on these more worldly concerns, we forget the REASON for the decorating, for the guests, for the celebration.

When we celebrate this season, especially as Christians, we are celebrating the day our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, came into this world as an infant, fully God and fully Man. We are celebrating His birth because of Who He is and what He represents: God and salvation, and a closer relationship with our God than we could have ever hoped for otherwise. This is how we build our faith up–by gathering together and worshipping as a family, and as a community.

Let’s take Mary’s example this Christmas, and just spend some time with God instead of with Walmart; after all, Walmart will take care of itself, but our faith won’t.

Wednesday in the Word

Be Gracious, Not Vindictive

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Proverbs 24:17-18
17 Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice, 18 for the Lord will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from him.

“Now wait a minute,” you might be thinking. “Aren’t we allowed a little laugh at our enemy’s expense, especially when they are justly punished for things they’ve done wrong to me?” We like to rejoice in our enemy’s misfortunes–after all, they’re our enemies and we don’t like them, thus, it’s good when something horrible happens to them, because they deserve it.

Is that right? Certainly I’ve laughed behind the wheel when I see that a police officer has stopped the guy who harassed me on the highway for 10 miles straight, all because I wouldn’t go 80 miles an hour like he wanted me to. It feels GOOD to laugh at that guy, and anybody else who crosses us and gets his or her comeuppance.

But while that feels good to us emotionally, it is decidedly not Christian. These two verses, which advise us not to gloat about an enemy’s fall, are part of the “Sayings of the Wise” in Proverbs, which instruct us about Christian and non-Christian living. As hard as it is (and believe me, it can be VERY difficult), if we are going to be Christians, we have to express sympathy and empathy for those who are suffering, even if they are or have been our enemies.

Take the example of the nations of Edom and Israel–Edom rejoiced over Israel’s destruction, and was soon transformed into a desert as punishment. God saw that the nation of Edom gloated about its good fortune and Israel’s ill fate, and Edom soon found out that Israel’s misfortune had nothing funny about it. We, too, may come to understand an enemy’s suffering all too well after we’ve laughed at them. This is not God doing evil acts to us, but instead reminding us that we are no higher or better a person than our enemies.

When we are gracious to our enemies rather than vindictive toward them, we are living more as Christ asked us to live when He said in Matthew 5:39, “If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.” Instead of retaliating in anger and then laughing over our enemy’s defeat, we should continue to treat them with the same serene grace and love that God has given us so freely. THAT is what sets Christians apart from others in the real world outside our churches–acting as Christ taught, showing what Christian love and forgiveness looks like, regardless of how much we want to rejoice in our enemy’s failures.

Wednesday in the Word

Jesus Has Made Us Clean

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Leviticus 11:24-25
24 You will make yourselves unclean by these; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean till evening. 25 Whoever picks up one of their carcasses must wash their clothes, and they will be unclean till evening.

Mark 15:37-39
37 With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. 38 The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”

Being “unclean” is a common state of being in the Old Testament, especially Leviticus. As a book of holiness and cleanliness laws for the Israelites, Leviticus is full of these rules, covering everything from appropriate dress for all of the different social groups to appropriate foods for them to consume, and everything in between. This particular set of verses ends off a section discussing which insects and birds are clean and unclean to eat.

As Christians, we do not necessarily follow all the traditions laid down in Leviticus anymore, mainly because we believe that Jesus was the ultimate and final sacrifice for our sins. We no longer have to follow these restrictive codes to be “pure” or “good” enough for God, because Jesus has made us good enough when we believe in Him. The symbolic tearing of the veil at Jesus’ death, described in Mark, shows us that no longer do we have to be separate from God because of our sin.

Believing in Jesus’ sacrifice does not exempt us from ever sinning again, of course, but it is the first and most important part of declaring our faith. Accepting Jesus’ sacrifice, the final and everlasting sin offering, as a gift meant for you means that you accept Him as Savior, as indeed He was and is. Leviticus served its purpose of maintaining holiness for those who lived before the Messiah came…and Jesus now serves the same purpose, as the way to Heaven.

Wednesday in the Word

Calling God’s Bluff, Moses-Style

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Exodus 32:7-10
7 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. 8 They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.'” 9 “I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people. 10 Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”
11 But Moses sought the favor of the LORD his God. “LORD,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.'” 14 Then the LORD relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

To people who do not know much of God, this seems like a very harsh and unforgiving God speaking. Indeed, even to many Christians, this is an odd characterization of God. Why is God speaking of “destroying” the people He saved from Egypt? Why isn’t He just forgiving them and letting them come back to Him? And why is He speaking to Moses like a confidant?

One reason: there is much more going on here.

Moses has been up on Mount Sinai receiving word from the Lord for so long that the people waiting for him have all but given up; they need something tangible to worship, something physical and real. The Israelites pressure Moses’ brother Aaron into making a “substitute” god–they take a page from the ancient Canaanite religions of the region, and end up making a calf-shaped idol to worship instead.

God is angered by this, this blatant breaking of the covenant He had cemented with Abraham, but not so much that He is in a killing rage. In fact, that is against the nature of God, to want to kill His creation.

“But He just said–” you might be thinking. “Look at that, in verse 10–He JUST told Moses He wants him to leave Him alone so that He can destroy the Israelites!”

Exactly. He’s telling Moses all this. This isn’t a statement of what God is INTENDING to do–it is a test for Moses’s faith and leadership. What God is doing is allowing Moses to respond and to stand up for the salvation of his people. Though we do not know the mind of God fully, we can surmise that God tests three things about Moses:

  1. Moses’ faithfulness to the Lord, even to not leave him alone as God asks in verse 10;
  2. Moses’ knowledge of the covenant and of the graces which God has bestowed on Israel before now;
  3. Moses’ ability to lead the people of Israel back to God.

God knows that Moses is capable of this–after all, He created Moses. What remains now is for Moses to rise to this test. In effect, God is bluffing, and Moses calls Him on it in verses 11-14, showing that he knows all about the covenant struck with his ancestors, and all about God’s loving grace towards His people when he rescued them from Egyptian slavery. Not to mention that he actually pleads with God on behalf of the Israelites.

Here, Moses is being a true spiritual leader for the Israelites, even if he himself doesn’t realize it yet. God wants Moses to see that he IS capable of leading God’s people, and that he IS fit to teach them about the will of God. Moses had been reluctant to accept God’s call to work in this capacity before, citing his lack of eloquence and other faults. But God knows him better–knows that this man is fully capable, if he will accept the duty. This ultimatum which God delivers only to Moses’ ears is a challenge to bring Moses’ bravery out of hiding for the last time.

God challenges us to accept the calls He’s made to each one of us, every day. After all, He made us; He knows what we’re capable of. Sometimes, however, it takes a grave threat to make us actually step up and become the people God made us to be. God knew this about Moses, and made the exact threat He knew would spur Moses into action. Is God spurring you toward something new and better?

Wednesday in the Word

“Follow Directions” Isn’t Just for Elementary School

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James 1:22-24
22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word and does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.

James doesn’t mess around in these verses–he tells us to “follow directions,” and he means business!

Now, as a fairly rebellious kid, always wanting to know WHY a rule existed rather than just following it, this passage gets to me. And I think a lot of modern Christians and people who might be curious about Christianity wonder about the Bible in the same way. Why do we, as Christians, follow the rules and codes listed–and why should we?

To be truthful, some of the Old Testament rules, like the rules about what to eat and how to prepare sacrifices to God, are not really part of our modern Christian livee anymore. We don’t, for example, consider pigs “unclean” meat anymore (if we did, barbecue places in the South would go out of business very quickly!). Thus, many nonbelievers might wonder: “Well, if you’re not following some of it, why bother following any of it?”

The answer to that lies in the New Testament. Jesus elaborates on the “new” (but really old) rules with His disciples and everyone else He speaks to. No longer does God seem concerned with the ritualistic practices of food consumption, dress, living spaces, construction of the Ark of the Covenant, etc. Now, God is concerned with the more spiritual, life-lesson rules–how to treat others, how to conduct your life in a Christian fashion, how to be faithful, how to forgive, and so on.

These, I believe, are the parts of the “word” James refers to in this blunt-force passage. We may not be following Leviticus to the letter, but we do have a responsibility to live as Jesus taught (which is just like God taught in the Old Testament). When we forget to live as Christians (and I’m just as guilty of this), we are like the guy who looks in the mirror and walks away, forgetting our identity as Christians for that moment.

We can’t just listen to Jesus’ teachings about life and think, “Oh, that’s a nice way to live,” and not do it. We must ACT as Christ told us, as indeed God told us. When we are faithful, forgive and help others, do things for God’s glory rather than our own, we are following directions. Gratitude for our salvation is but one reason why.

Wednesday in the Word

The Christian’s Constant Prayer

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Psalm 51:2-3
2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.

One of the psalms of David, this was written right after the prophet Nathan confronts David about his adultery with Bathsheba. David, now king of Israel, has been “walking with God” for a while, always stopping his work to “inquire of the Lord” (pray) about his decisions and his problems. In this instance, however, David reveals himself to be utterly human, available to temptation; now, as he writes this psalm, he is contrite and vulnerable.

David can’t stop thinking about how he’s failed God throughout the whole of Psalm 51, but especially in verses 2 and 3, he is calling out to God to help him feel clean again, to help him get over this. He feels terrible about betraying God in this way, and he seeks the closeness he once felt with God. I would guess (and be fairly confident in guessing) that every Christian who’s honest with himself or herself can remember a time like this in their lives, when they felt far from God because of sin, and sought that closeness again.

Personally, I think this small bit of Scripture should be part of my daily prayer–or even my constant prayer, whenever I find myself thinking terrible thoughts or about to do something not-so-awesome. Whenever I find myself cussing at the driver ahead of me who didn’t even bother looking before cutting me off, I should think of this Scripture. Whenever I’m angry about what somebody posted on a website or what somebody said on TV, I should think of this. Would what I’m about to say or do really honor God, or will I just feel terribly guilty about it later?

Stopping and thinking before speaking or acting is generally a good practice, but this adds the necessary Christian dimension to it. If we call ourselves Christians, we have to become habited to acting and speaking as Christians, and this is a daily struggle, a constant process. David’s story reminds us that even the most holy-acting humans among us still have to pray about temptations and failures of their own, and it makes us stronger Christians when we can come back to God rather than running away from Him because we failed Him one time.

Wednesday in the Word

God Knows that Sometimes We Just Got Stuff to Do

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Mark 2:23-28
23 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. 24 The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” 25 He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? 26 In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.” 27 Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

The disciples in this passage were very hungry and passing through foreign lands, and so they were picking some leftover heads of grain to eat, not having anything else to eat. In Deuteronomy 23:25, God allows for this kind of manual harvest, and in other parts of the Old Testament, God allows for people to harvest from others’ fields as an emergency food supply. So the disciples weren’t doing anything wrong by God’s standards.

However, the observing Pharisees, who have spent their whole lives mired in the letters of each and every Law, are scandalized. Their complaint is that the disciples are reaping grain (i.e., doing work) on the Sabbath, which is strictly not allowed according to the Law. (I read their complaint in verse 24 in the same voice as “Oohhhh! I’m TELLING!” They sound like a bunch of kids whining!)

But Jesus is ready for this criticism with a calm response. He cites the example of David and his companions, who were hungry and in need of emergency supplies, so they ate the holy bread in the temple. This probably scandalizes the Pharisees even more, but Jesus is making an example: when desperate times come, drastic measures have to be taken, and God realizes that. Even if it is holy bread, even if it is the Sabbath, God understands that we gotta eat–He created us, after all. He does not see providing for yourself in the direst of circumstances as a sin, because He knows your individual situation. (He does, however, see senseless robbery and other forms of needless victimization as sins, because those who rob and kill without absolutely needing to are needlessly hurting others.)

Established Christians often worry about “holiness” and acting in “reverent ways,” often to a fault. We can sometimes get so hung up in TRYING to worship and TRYING to stay holy that we forget to worship, or we hold ourselves back from something we really need. God established the Sabbath as a day to recuperate and get back in touch with Him, knowing that we humans need at least some downtime–He didn’t mean for us to stop ourselves from doing things we absolutely have to do. Working on a Sunday morning, for instance, feels especially isolating for a practicing Christian; we feel we’re torn from our worship. But if we’re pulling in a paycheck that our family cannot live without, then God understands that, and we are no less Christian for doing what we have to do to save and preserve our lives and the lives of our family.

It’s not up to us to judge each other for what we choose to do on the Sabbath. God will ultimately deal with us for everything we have chosen to do in our lifetimes. What is important is using the Sabbath for what you need most: worship, rest, and whatever else your life demands of you. The rest of the week is enough of a pain without putting so many regulations on Sunday–which is what Jesus is saying in the last two verses of this passage.