For those reading Matt 24:20 and believing it means we are to keep the Sabbath. If we carefully read his words in Matthew 24:20, we find NO command from his lips for Christians to observe a Sabbath rest. He simply advises Christians that for circumstantial reasons, they should pray that the need to flee will not arise on the Sabbath or in winter. Why it would not be prudent to flee in winter is obvious. Adverse weather conditions would hamper flight and put those fleeing at risk from the elements. But why would fleeing on the Sabbath day be a problem? Here is where we have to be aware of Jewish customs and practices regarding the Sabbath. Jesus gave his warning to the disciples because of the possibility that Jewish people in Jerusalem and Judea would have prevented Christians from fleeing on the Sabbath. Please note that the warning was given "to those who are in Judea" (verse 16), NOT to disciples in other parts of the world. The context in which the warning about fleeing is given leads us to conclude that it has nothing to do with any supposed command for Christians to keep the Sabbath rest. Jesus gave his warning not because the church would be keeping the Sabbath but because Christians in Judea and Jerusalem might find it difficult or impossible to flee on this day, The Jews honored Moses’ laws, they believed it was wrong to take long journeys on the Sabbath. They apparently even had a measurement for the distance to be traveled on this day, which was called a "Sabbath day’s walk" or journey (Acts 1:12). This was a short distance. In Luke’s example it was the distance between the Mount of Olives, on the perimeter of Jerusalem, and the city itself. But Jesus’ warning was given in the context of a catastrophe on the city and Judea, which would have required getting much further out of the area than a limited "Sabbath day’s walk" might allow. Further, the gates of Jerusalem were locked on the Sabbath day, which would have prevented people from fleeing the city. The Jews also had authority to police their own people regarding certain religious matters. The zealots especially, no doubt, would have tried to prevent fellow Jews from taking long journeys on the Sabbath. Jesus gave the warning in Matthew 24:20 because he knew that the Jews would not allow the kind of escape in troubling times on the Sabbath that his warning required. His warning was not a command to rest on the Sabbath any more than it was a command to rest in winter. These were simply inconvenient times to flee. gci.org ~JM
Posted on: Sat, 05 Oct 2013 18:59:04 +0000
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