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the Sabbath from the strait-laced formal conception of the Pharisees. Out of this
controversy comes the first great truth, that we do well ever to keep in mind. "The Son of
man is the Lord of the Sabbath day."
The next truth to emerge from the crafty questioning of the Pharisees is that it is
lawful "to do good on the Sabbath". Mark in his Gospel adds one item that must not be
omitted here:--
"The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath; therefore the Son of
man is Lord also of the Sabbath" (Mark 2: 27, 28).
If we glance back again to Matt. 12: we shall see that this latter sentence is there
connected with "mercy and not sacrifice"; in other words, the Sabbath is the day of
healing, of mercy, of the beneficial effect of the redemption made by Christ. It is fitting
therefore that the impotent man should be healed at the "House of Mercy". We shall see
also how fitting the pool of Siloam was when we come to the sixth sign. Luke while
recording the incident of Matt. 12: gives a further illustration of the importance of the
Sabbath.
A woman bound by Satan for eighteen years is loosed from her bond on the Sabbath
day. The Lord gives special emphasis to the fact that the woman who was "made
straight" was a "daughter of Abraham". The Millennium is the day in which the seed of
Abraham shall be delivered from the long-standing bondage of Satan, when they shall be
healed, when their blindness shall give place to sight, when they that are in their graves
shall hear the voice that awoke Lazarus (the seventh sign), when the marriage feast shall
be set, and the "new wine in the Father's Kingdom" shall be tasted with joy, when the
153 fishes shall all be gathered to the shore with net unbroken.
In John 5: 17 the Lord refers to the Father's works, "My Father worketh hitherto and
I work". The meaning of this statement is that up till the ministry of Christ the Father
had wrought for Israel, "hitherto" meaning "until now". From the commencement of the
ministry of the Son the Father wrought through Him. This truth comes out again in
John 9: 4, "I must work the works of Him that sent Me, while it is day". The testimony
of Moses is also referred to in both signs.
"There is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. For had ye believed
Moses, ye would have believed Me, for he wrote of Me. But if ye believe not his
writings, how shall ye believe My words?" (John 5: 45-47).
The Pharisees confess in chapter 9: 29:--
"We know that God spake unto Moses: as for this fellow, we know not from whence
He is."
Had Israel really believed Moses, they would have known when Christ presented
Himself "whence He is", and their thirty-eight years of wilderness wandering would have
ended, and the Sabbath of blessing, the kingdom of heaven which "is at hand", would
have dawned. As it was, blindness total and complete is found in the parallel sign. Thus
all these signs testify. "No wine" is echoed by the absolute "nothing" (21:). "The point