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Articles, Bible studies, and sermons that contain John 7:22:
The Sabbath in the Time of ChristJohn 7:21-24
Excerpted from: The Fourth Commandment (Part 3)The Jews considered doing a circumcision on the Sabbath a lawful Sabbath activity. Now, why? Why was it lawful, in their eyes, to do a circumcision on the Sabbath? A direct answer is never given in the Bible. Do you know why? Because Jesus nailed them to the wall! They knew why circumcision was lawful on the Sabbath. The Jews rightly considered circumcision to be a redemptive act. Why? Receiving circumcision was a Jewish, or an Israelite, lad's introduction to being a part of the covenant. So doing a circumcision was a redemptive act, even as today we consider baptism a redemptive act. And we rightly, lawfully, will baptize people on the Sabbath.
The Jews' reasoning was that they considered it lawful and right to cut off a piece of skin from one of the 248 (by their count) parts of the body. Why? Their idea was to save the whole man by making this person a part of the covenant. Christ's reasoning, then, was that the works of salvation are accomplished not only by the Father but also by His servants, or His agents. In this case, who did the circumcising? The priests did. And so the work of circumcision—a work of redemption, a work of salvation—was done by God's agents, the priests; and they [the Jews] considered it lawful.
So Jesus' reasoning is beautiful. "If you can do this act to save a man, why can't I also make a person whole and save their physical life on the Sabbath?" He said, "This is the work of God." This is redeeming somebody. This is setting them free. This is giving them liberty.
The Sabbath is for Christ the day to work for the salvation of the whole person—physically and spiritually. If it is legal to cut off a part of a boy's body on the Sabbath because of the covenant, they have no reason to be angry with Him for mercifully restoring a person to wholeness. But His opponents can't perceive. Somehow or other, it doesn't enter into their minds. And we can understand why. God just was not working with them for salvation yet. And so it was almost like they had blinders on. They cannot perceive the saving nature of His work. To them, the pallet and the clay were more important than the healed man was.
John 7:18-24
Excerpted from: John 7:37 Examined (Part 1)That is why they were so confused. They were using their conception from their worldly tradition rather than from the word of God, and therefore they could not reach a right judgment about who He was and what He was doing.
ArticlesSeeing Is Not Believing
The Fourth Commandment (Part Two): Christ's Attitude Toward the Sabbath
EssaysDid Christ's Resurrection Change the Day of Worship? (Part One)
SermonsJesus and the Feast (Part Two): Belief in the Spirit
Jesus and the Feast (Part One): Alignment With God
Forms vs. Spirituality (Part 6)
Sabbathkeeping (Part 4)
John (Part 13)
Judging in the Church
Elements of Judgment (Part One)
Pentecost - The Beginning - All in All
The Commandments (Part Seven)
<< John 7:21 John 7:23 >>
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