And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.  (Mark 3:4 KJV)

What a simple question it was, and yet those hapless Pharisees could return no answer. Not that they had no answer, for they had many. When the disciples plucked grain on the sabbath, the indictment came rigidly.

And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?  (Mark 2:24 KJV)

But Jesus used scripture to refute their accusation.

But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him; How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?  (Matthew 12:3-5 KJV)

And another time, when they were at a synagogue, the ruler proudly stated his conviction.

And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day. The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day? And when he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed: and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him.  (Luke 13:14-17 KJV)

In that instance Jesus used simple logic to show the truth.

Let’s go back to the first question. Why could not the Pharisees bring an answer to Christ? They knew that they were in the presence of someone who would not blindly accept the tenets of men, and who would hold their feet to the fire if their answer were not of God.

What a simple question it was, and we could have easily returned an answer. Yes Lord, it is lawful to do good on the sabbath days.

But what is good on the sabbath? Now there is a question!

Is it good to work at the electric company so that homes and churches may have light?
Is it good to work at the gas company so that hospitals and nursing homes may have heat?
Is it good to work at the nursing home, so that the infirm may have care?
Is it good to work at the fire department, the police department, the water department, the sewer department?
Is it good even if you’re the janitor?
Is it good to drive a plow so that the streets may be cleared of snow?
Is it good to plow the snow off of the church parking lot?
Is it good for a doctor to spend the day in the hospital emergency room?
Is it good even if he gets paid very well?
Should there be a secretary to take information for the medical records?
Should there be maintenance men to run emergency equipment in case of a power failure?
Is it good to work in the kitchen so that our family and the guests may eat dinner?
Is it good to shop for groceries?
Is it good to work at the grocery store?
Is it good to work at the gas station, the motel, the restaurant?
Is it good to buy gas, stay at a motel, or eat out?

What a simple question it was, but perhaps the answer isn’t so simple! Christians of this age have embroiled ourselves into same situation that the Pharisees found themselves, an ever changing set of rules that have no authority from the Bible even to exist.

We could return an answer to our fellow Christian friends, in accordance to our own understanding, but what if it were Jesus asking us these questions?

Standing there before the throne of Christ, answering his questions, self-assurance would not come quite so easily!

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