Luke 14:3

Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?”

From Background Notes [BN] for January 5^th & 6^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

The religious leadership of Second Temple Judaism had their intelligence community which kept tabs on Jesus of Nazareth. “He was being carefully watched,” the text tells us.

The occasion for this story was the Sabbath day. Keeping Sabbath was a marker for Jewish distinctiveness and identity. For centuries, Israel celebrated the liberating departure from slavery in Egypt by working six days, not seven, and trusting Yahweh to provide for their needs on a reduced work week. When other nations required 24/7 labor to maintain an adequate economy, Israel proclaimed the superiority of their God to supply daily bread, even on the one day when they did not work. Guarding the sacredness of Sabbath was at the heart of being Jewish. [BN, 4]

Join us this week in Study, Worship, Praise and Celebration at Chicago First Church of the Nazarene:

* Saturday 6:00pm
* Sunday 8:30am & 11:00am