Today’s Gospel
For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day. — Matthew 12:8
Reflection
When I read Jesus’ these words, I only knew that observing the Sabbath was God’s requirement of man during the Old Testament age, but when Jesus came, He brought the Age of Grace and made new requirement of man. As long as we follow Him, we don’t need to keep the Sabbath because the Lord Jesus has freed mankind from the constraints of the law. As we all know, God’s word is the truth, and is not as simple as its literal meaning. What else has the Lord Jesus conveyed to us in His these words? God says, “The sentence ‘the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day’ tells people that God’s everything is immaterial, and although God can provide all of your material needs, once all of your material needs have been met, can the satisfaction from these things replace your pursuit of truth? That is clearly not possible! God’s disposition and what He has and is that we have fellowshiped about are both the truth. It cannot be measured with the heavy price of material objects nor can its value be quantified with money, because it is not a material object, and it supplies the needs of each and every person’s heart. For every person, the value of these intangible truths should be greater than the value of any material things you think are nice, right? This statement is something you need to linger over. The key point of what I’ve said is that what God has and is and God’s everything are the most important things for every single person and they cannot be replaced by any material object. I’ll give you an example: When you’re hungry, you need food. This food can be relatively good or relatively lacking, but as long as you have your fill, that unpleasant feeling of being hungry will no longer be there—it will be gone. You can sit there in peace, and your body will be at rest. People’s hunger can be resolved with food, but when you’re following God and feel that you have no understanding of Him, how can you resolve the emptiness in your heart? Can it be resolved with food? Or when you’re following God and don’t understand His will, what can you use to make up for that hunger in your heart? In the process of your experience of salvation through God, while pursuing a change in your disposition, if you don’t understand His will or don’t know what the truth is, if you don’t understand God’s disposition, don’t you feel very uneasy? Don’t you feel a strong hunger and thirst in your heart? Don’t these feelings prevent you from feeling peace in your heart? So how can you make up for that hunger in your heart—is there a way to resolve it? Some people go shopping, some find their friends to confide in, some people sleep their fill, others read more of God’s words, or they work harder and expend more effort to fulfill their duties. Can these things resolve your actual difficulties? All of you fully understand these kinds of practices. When you feel powerless, when you feel a strong desire to gain enlightenment from God to allow you to know the reality of truth and His will, what do you need most? What you need isn’t a full meal, and it’s not a few kind words. More than that, it’s not the transient comfort and satisfaction of the flesh—what you need is for God to directly, clearly tell you what you should do and how you should do it, to clearly tell you what the truth is. After you’ve understood this, even if it’s just a tiny bit, don’t you feel more satisfied in your heart than if you had eaten a good meal? When your heart is satisfied, doesn’t your heart, your whole person, gain true peace?” God’s words tell us the practical meaning of the sentence “the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.” No matter how much of the material things we have, including money, fame and fortune, and status, they cannot satisfy our spiritual needs. Only if we understand God’s will and requirements, know the value of the truth, invite God into our heart, submit to His orchestrations and arrangements in all things without individual choice, no longer strive or scheme for ourselves, and can entrust everything to Him, obey, fear, and love God, can we have true peace in our spirits.
