Speaking to the people, Jesus continually tries to bring His listeners back to the foundations, to the spiritual core of the Yahwist and Jewish tradition. As we know, He was accused more than once of breaking Shabbat by healing people on the day of Shabbat. And He reminds them...
Speaking to the people, Jesus continually tries to bring His listeners back to the foundations, to the spiritual core of the Yahwist and Jewish tradition. As we know, He was accused more than once of breaking Shabbat by healing people on the day of Shabbat. And He reminds them of circumcision, which is performed on the appointed day even when that day happens to be Shabbat. And He adds: what, then, are you accusing Me of?
The logic is clear: circumcision is only a sign of the Covenant, a sign of faithfulness to the Torah. And so, in order to mark a person's faithfulness to the Torah, it is possible to set aside the rest of Shabbat; such neglect is not considered a violation of Shabbat.
Can the One who heals a person on the day of Shabbat, bringing him into the life of the Kingdom, be considered a violator of Shabbat? This is not about medicine, not about treatment, which in some cases Jewish tradition does indeed regard as a violation of Shabbat. It is about opening the Kingdom of God to a person in all its fullness. Is this not, in the end, the true meaning of Shabbat? After all, all the prohibitions and restrictions surrounding the Sabbath day ultimately have only one purpose: to shift a person's attention completely from everyday life to the presence of God, without which no spiritual life is possible.
Faithfulness to the Torah is an essential condition of communion with God; that is why circumcision, as a sign of such faithfulness, is performed even on Shabbat. And is the manifestation of the Kingdom of God not even a sign or symbol, but a vivid manifestation of that same faithfulness? If it is, why must people seize stones when the One appears who manifests the Kingdom, and manifests it in all its fullness?
In this way Jesus tries to convey to His listeners the true meaning both of Shabbat and of spiritual life itself. Yet many of them, remaining more attached to their tradition than to the Kingdom, are still ready to grab stones.
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7:27 When Christ cometh, none knoweth whence he is - This Jewish tradition was true, with regard to his Divine nature: in that respect none could declare his generation. But it was not true with regard to his human nature, for both his family and the place of his birth were plainly foretold.
7:28 Then cried Jesus - With a loud and earnest voice. Do ye both know me, and know whence I am ? - Ye do indeed know whence I am as a man. But ye know not my Divine nature, nor that I am sent from God.