"The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed” (John 5:10).
In this passage we encounter the first major conflict recorded in John’s gospel between Jesus and the Pharisees. Jesus had healed on the Sabbath day and had commanded the man to take up his mat and walk. The Pharisees had added to the law of God, forbidding people to do any kind of work—even the mundane activities of preparing food and carrying a reclining mat from one place to another.
This addition to the law was in contrast to the spirit and particulars of God’s law. God had forbidden work to be performed on the Sabbath. He commanded a stop to the ordinary labor characterizing the previous six days of the week. The Pharisees—in their zeal for works-righteousness—had created so many laws that a person could barely move on the Sabbath without breaking the law.
How did the Pharisees defend their position? No doubt they based their laws on Exodus 20:10 where God commands us to refrain from work on the Sabbath. But more specifically, they based their conclusions on Jeremiah 17:19–21: “Thus said Jehovah, take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day …” and Nehemiah 13:15: “In those days I saw in Judah some men treading winepresses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and lading asses therewith; as also wine, grape, and figs, and all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day: and I testified against them in the day wherein they sold victuals.”
Obviously, the passages are talking about the labor of trade and marketing, vocational activity that was supposed to cease on Sunday—activity that is comparable to unnecessary trade that goes on today.
The lesson we must take from this passage is to faithfully keep God’s law as He has revealed it, not as men have added to it. It is just as dishonoring to God when we make additions to His law as when we fail to keep it altogether.
God has commanded that we keep the Sabbath day holy Do you disregard this command? Do you try to keep it faithfully, or have you been overly scrupulous like the Pharisees? Examine your life. Prayerfully consider changes you need to make to keep this integral part of God’s Holy Law.
