(Gospel of Mark 2:23 - 3:13)
On the Sabbath Jesus happened to be passing through a field of grain. As his disciples walked along with him, they began to pick some of the heads of grain.
The Pharisees challenged him. “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?"
Jesus replied to them, "Haven't you ever read what King David did when he and his companions were hungry and needy? In the days of Abiathar, high priest, he entered the Tabernacle and ate the sacred showbread, which was lawful only for the priests to eat. He even gave some to the companions who were with him.”
He also said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Therefore, the Son of Man is master of the Sabbath as well.”
On another occasion Jesus entered the synagogue and noticed a man there with a withered hand. Those who were looking for a pretext to bring a charge against him watched Jesus closely to see if he would heal the man on the Sabbath.
Jesus told the man with the withered hand, "Come and stand up in front of us all.” He asked the people, "What is lawful on the Sabbath, to do good, or to do evil, to save a life, or to take one?" But the congregation was silent.
Jesus glared at them in anger, appalled by the hardness of their hearts. Then he said to the man, "Hold out your hand." He held out his hand, and, lo, it was restored!
As soon as the Pharisees left the synagogue, they conferred with those supporters of Herod Antipas who were opposed to Jesus and conspired with them how they might destroy Jesus.
Jesus retreated with his disciples to the Sea of Galilee. A large crowd followed him, people not only from Galilee, but from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, the trans-Jordan, and the area around Tyre and Sidon. Having heard of the great things he was doing, vast numbers of people were coming to see him. Concerned that the crowds might crush him, Jesus ordered his disciples to make ready a boat. He had healed so many on that day that those who were diseased surged forward through the crowd that they might touch him. Whenever those possessed by unholy spirits recognized him, they would prostrate themselves before him and exclaim, "You are the Son of God!" But Jesus sternly commanded them not to reveal his identity.
Notes
1. By picking heads of grain as they passed through the fields, the disciples were engaged in a forbidden activity, harvesting on the Sabbath, so judged the knit-picking Pharisees. Presumably the disciples were picking the heads of grain to eat the kernels. Gee, most folks wait until the kernels are made into flour or bread! We are referring to wheat here, not to what we call corn, which is maize, a strictly New World cereal that would have been unknown to those living in the ancient Middle East. (The word corn was traditionally used to refer to any grain or cereal crop.) Was Jesus so poor at providing for his disciples that they must scavenge for food? This behavior, though, was sanctioned by Deuteronomy. We must ask, though, how the Pharisees knew of this. Were the Pharisees, who seem to dog Jesus' footsteps, really trailing the disciples through the grain field, spying on them and scrutinizing their every move? The Pharisees do give the impression that they will go to any length to try to catch Jesus in a blasphemy or in some violation of religious law, however minor or harmless in order to find an excuse for getting rid of him, a troublemaker and a threat to their authority. Yet, this seems excessively petty -- which is perhaps the very reason this trivial incident was included by the author, to discredit the good sense of the Pharisees who opposed Jesus.
2. Jesus' response to the Pharisees' charge concerning the disciples' questionable conduct, plucking heads of grain on a Sabbath, is somewhat evasive. He compares it to an act of David and his hungry companions when they ate food meant for the priests. The circumstances are not really comparable at all. David was a future king in flight, not a follower of an evangelist. David secured the approval of the priests for what he did. And David and his companions were in distress and genuinely hungry. Were the disciples really that hungry? Did that compel their indiscreet plucking? And if David had acted improperly, how does that excuse the actions of Jesus' disciples? One instance of wrong behavior is not justified by citing another instance of wrong behavior, especially when the latter act is motivated by extenuating circumstances and the former is not. Jesus is very much like a little boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He excuses himself by claiming his older brother filched an extra brownie the week before. He never directly addresses the morality of his own conduct, or rather that of his disciples, he only diverts attention from it by pointing to the conduct of another. This behavior, this response to an accusation, this debating tactic, is as puerile as it common. One would think it beneath someone who claims to be the Son of God.
3. The incident concerning David is mentioned in Samuel. David, feeing from Saul, was alone when he asked the Jehovan priests to feed him with the sacred showbread. But he did bring back 5 loaves for his companions. The high priest at that time was actually Ahimelech, the father of Abiathar, who later succeeded his father when he was murdered by Saul. The presumed mistake is explained away variously by biblical commentators -- Abimelech was also called Abiathar or the phrase is not “in the days when Abiathar was high priest,” but “in the days of Abiathar, the high priest,” not referring to the time when he held the office, but merely when he was active. Reasoning that neither Jesus nor the author of Mark would make so egregious an error, I have accepted the latter rendering and assumed meaning.
4. Jesus, though, presents another alibi for his disciples' conduct. But in saying that the Sabbath was made for man and not vice versa, Jesus is arguably throwing out the whole concept of strict Sabbath observance. One might interpret his remarks as sanctioning any Sabbath violation that serves not only necessity, but practicality and convenience. Moreover, he, as the Son of Man, claims the right to make of the Sabbath whatever he wishes. By advocating that the Sabbath serves the purposes of man (and not God?), Jesus seems to say that he is free to make any rules about it he deems fit and not be bound by the laws concerning it set down in the Mosaic texts. This is surely a repudiation of Judaism, at least traditional Judaism. Indeed the Pharisees thought so and were so outraged by it that they resolved to kill Jesus. (Forgetting, of course, the commandment against murder.)
5. That Jesus chooses to heal the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath in the synagogue is intentionally provocative. The man was not suffering and in need of immediate succor. Jesus could have seen the man the next day and healed him in the privacy of his home. He didn't need to do it on the Sabbath. He didn't need to do it in front of a congregation that might be offended by healing on the Sabbath. Instead, Jesus chose to make the man the object of a spectacle and a means of showing up the congregation -- who were probably less hard-hearted than sheep-like, believing what they were told by the Pharisees.
6. The Pharisees conferred with supporters of Herod Antipas who were opposed to Jesus: in other words, they were seeking the approval of the political establishment and plotting with it to destroy Jesus. Jesus, although he hasn't done or said a great deal at this point in the narrative, has already acquired national, if not international notoriety. A preacher, a healer of populist appeal, he is a threat to the powers that be. The political and religious establishments, no doubt oft at odds, thus form an alliance against Jesus.
7. Jesus is constantly running into people possessed by unholy, or impure spirits. There seems to have been an epidemic at that time of what we would term demonic possession. While there is certainly compelling, contemporary evidence that demonic possession does exist, it must be regarded as rare. Here, it is common. The spirits or demons immediately recognize Jesus and, for whatever reason, wish to expose him as the Son of God. Jesus, at this point, doesn't wish to reveal his true identity. He wants to stay in the closet, so he silences the spirits, who apparently obey his commands and acknowledge his mastery over them. He does not on this occasion exorcise the spirits. Jesus, after healing so many, is now more intent upon getting away from the crowd that want a piece of him.
8. Sidon and Tyre were major cities of Phoenicia, to the north of Galilee. Idumea was the Roman name for Edom or the Negev, south of Judea.
Showing posts with label Sabbath. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sabbath. Show all posts
Thursday, October 8, 2015
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Son of God
(Gospel of John 5:16 - 5:47)
Because Jesus was accomplishing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish religious authorities began to harass and persecute him. Jesus gave them his answer, "My Father ceases not in his labor, nor do I." But the authorities were all the more resolved to destroy him: he was not only guilty of violating the Sabbath, but of claiming that God was his own Father -- exalting himself to be an equal of God!
Jesus explained to them, "Truly I tell you, the Son may do nothing on his own, but only what he has seen his Father do, for whatever the Father does, the son does likewise. The Father loves the Son and teaches him all that he does. Indeed, he will teach him to perform greater wonders than this, such as will astonish you. As the Father raises the dead and restores them to life, so the Son may bring to life whomever he wishes. The Father passes judgment on no one, but has given the right to judge to his Son so all will honor the Son as they do the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son, is not honoring the Father who has sent him.
"Truly I say, those who believe in my message and in the God who sent me will achieve life everlasting. They will never be condemned for their sins, and they have already crossed over from death to life. And I can assure you that the time will come -- has, in fact, now come -- when the dead will be summoned by the voice of God, and, hearing it, will be restored to life. For the Father is the creator of life and has granted to his Son the power to instill life.
“Moreover, the Son has been granted the power to pass judgment, for he is the Son of Man. Do not be surprised at this, for the time is coming that all who are now in their graves will, when they hear his voice, rise out of them. Those who have done good will be resurrected to life, while those who have done evil will be resurrected to damnation.
"As for myself, I can do nothing on my own. I can only judge according to God's instructions. Therefore, my judgments will be fair and impartial, because I execute the will of him who sent me and not my own.
"If I testify on my own behalf, my testimony will be seen as biased. But there is another who testifies in my favor, and I assure you what he says of me is true. You have, in fact, sent men to interrogate John, and he has told them the truth. I, of course, do not require human testimony, but I mention it for the sake of your salvation. John was a burning, shining lamp, and, for a time, you were content to bask in his light. But I present testimony more powerful than John's. The works that the Father has tasked me to accomplish, those that I labor on now, provide the proof that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has also testified on my behalf. You have not heard his voice or seen his face, and his message cannot be within you, for you do not believe in the one he has sent. You study the Scriptures meticulously in the conviction that you will find therein life everlasting. Those very Scriptures speak of me. Yet, you refuse to come to me to be granted that life.
“I crave not the approbation of men. I know you and I know that you do not have the love of God within you. I have come in my Father's name, but you reject me. Others come in their own name, and you readily accept them. You lend credence to one another, but not to the one who alone comes from God. But it will not be I who will accuse you before Father; your accuser will be Moses, upon whom all your hopes are set. If you really believe in Moses, you will believe in me, for he wrote of me. But since you will not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?"
Notes
1. The author of John has Jesus clearly state his mission. Among the points made are these: 1. Jesus is the son of God. 2. He has been tutored by his Father, whom he emulates. 3. Everything he does is authorized by God. 4. God teaches his Son to perform miracles, including raising the dead 5. God the Father has delegated to him the authority to judge man. 6. Jesus, having no self interest, will be an impartial judge. 7. The dead will be resurrected and judged. 8. The evil will be damned, the good and those who believe in Jesus will be granted life everlasting. 9. Those who do not accept Jesus as the Son of God and believe in his message are not true followers of God. 10. Believers will be forgiven their sins and escape punishment for them. 11. The message of Jesus and the miracles he performs are the proofs that he is the Son of God. 12. The scriptures prophecy his coming.
2. Rather shockingly, Jesus more or less does away with the commandment to observe the Sabbath, at least strictly, as is demanded by Moses. He pooh-poohs the idea that God rests on the seventh day, but asserts that he works continuously without taking any sort of regular holiday. He, therefore, is free to follow his example.
3. Jesus here is presumably addressing the Pharisees who dominate the religious establishment. He rips and rebukes them on several grounds, primarily for not believing him to be the Son of God, but also for accepting other evangelical figures (including, for a time, John the Baptist), for not recognizing that their beloved Moses wrote of him, and for not being sincere in their faith.
4. Jesus insists that he is referred to by Moses, but does not specify where in the Torah he is mentioned and in what context. Prophecies that arguably refer to a Messiah come from Isaiah and other later Old Testament books. In Genesis only a vague blessing by a dying Jacob to his son Judah could be so interpreted.
5. Jesus' attitude would surely have been interpreted by those he addressed as insufferable and arrogant to the nth degree. (The term "chutzpah" would surely not be out of place.) Humility, tolerance, forgiveness are nowhere evident here. Jesus, whose feelings are obviously hurt by rejection, is angry and defensive and not very concerned about antagonizing his critics. He is dismissive, even belittling of the Pharisee's religious views, but expects and demands acceptance of his. They must all receive him as the Son of God, which means they must renounce any authority they might have assumed to interpret religious law. It's Jesus’ way or the highway -- Heaven or Hell. They must bow to Jesus not only as their master, but as their God. In spite of any miracles he might have performed, is it really surprising that they would not do so? From their standpoint, Jesus could only be a heretic, even a crazed fanatic, but at any rate, a challenge to their authority, a dangerous man who would have to be discredited or destroyed. One would think claiming to be the Son of God would, if untrue, be the ultimate blasphemy, and one so claiming could only be evil or insane.
6. Jesus tries to turn their own beliefs against the Pharisees by telling them that it will be Moses who will condemn them for not believing in him. He equates believing in him with believing in Moses, whom they regard as an absolute authority. (One feels that Jesus' attitude toward Moses is rather like a 21st Century politician's attitude toward Thomas Jefferson -- yes, a founding father, great man to be revered, but not an unimpeachable authority on contemporary politics and policy.)
7. Jesus makes a very attractive offer to his followers. You may live forever and never be punished for your sins. All you have to do is believe in Jesus and accept him as the Son of God. Nothing else seemed to be demanded. Of course, if you don't believe, you're going to be damned and won’t get in on that life everlasting, whatever it is to be.
Because Jesus was accomplishing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish religious authorities began to harass and persecute him. Jesus gave them his answer, "My Father ceases not in his labor, nor do I." But the authorities were all the more resolved to destroy him: he was not only guilty of violating the Sabbath, but of claiming that God was his own Father -- exalting himself to be an equal of God!
Jesus explained to them, "Truly I tell you, the Son may do nothing on his own, but only what he has seen his Father do, for whatever the Father does, the son does likewise. The Father loves the Son and teaches him all that he does. Indeed, he will teach him to perform greater wonders than this, such as will astonish you. As the Father raises the dead and restores them to life, so the Son may bring to life whomever he wishes. The Father passes judgment on no one, but has given the right to judge to his Son so all will honor the Son as they do the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son, is not honoring the Father who has sent him.
"Truly I say, those who believe in my message and in the God who sent me will achieve life everlasting. They will never be condemned for their sins, and they have already crossed over from death to life. And I can assure you that the time will come -- has, in fact, now come -- when the dead will be summoned by the voice of God, and, hearing it, will be restored to life. For the Father is the creator of life and has granted to his Son the power to instill life.
“Moreover, the Son has been granted the power to pass judgment, for he is the Son of Man. Do not be surprised at this, for the time is coming that all who are now in their graves will, when they hear his voice, rise out of them. Those who have done good will be resurrected to life, while those who have done evil will be resurrected to damnation.
"As for myself, I can do nothing on my own. I can only judge according to God's instructions. Therefore, my judgments will be fair and impartial, because I execute the will of him who sent me and not my own.
"If I testify on my own behalf, my testimony will be seen as biased. But there is another who testifies in my favor, and I assure you what he says of me is true. You have, in fact, sent men to interrogate John, and he has told them the truth. I, of course, do not require human testimony, but I mention it for the sake of your salvation. John was a burning, shining lamp, and, for a time, you were content to bask in his light. But I present testimony more powerful than John's. The works that the Father has tasked me to accomplish, those that I labor on now, provide the proof that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has also testified on my behalf. You have not heard his voice or seen his face, and his message cannot be within you, for you do not believe in the one he has sent. You study the Scriptures meticulously in the conviction that you will find therein life everlasting. Those very Scriptures speak of me. Yet, you refuse to come to me to be granted that life.
“I crave not the approbation of men. I know you and I know that you do not have the love of God within you. I have come in my Father's name, but you reject me. Others come in their own name, and you readily accept them. You lend credence to one another, but not to the one who alone comes from God. But it will not be I who will accuse you before Father; your accuser will be Moses, upon whom all your hopes are set. If you really believe in Moses, you will believe in me, for he wrote of me. But since you will not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?"
Notes
1. The author of John has Jesus clearly state his mission. Among the points made are these: 1. Jesus is the son of God. 2. He has been tutored by his Father, whom he emulates. 3. Everything he does is authorized by God. 4. God teaches his Son to perform miracles, including raising the dead 5. God the Father has delegated to him the authority to judge man. 6. Jesus, having no self interest, will be an impartial judge. 7. The dead will be resurrected and judged. 8. The evil will be damned, the good and those who believe in Jesus will be granted life everlasting. 9. Those who do not accept Jesus as the Son of God and believe in his message are not true followers of God. 10. Believers will be forgiven their sins and escape punishment for them. 11. The message of Jesus and the miracles he performs are the proofs that he is the Son of God. 12. The scriptures prophecy his coming.
2. Rather shockingly, Jesus more or less does away with the commandment to observe the Sabbath, at least strictly, as is demanded by Moses. He pooh-poohs the idea that God rests on the seventh day, but asserts that he works continuously without taking any sort of regular holiday. He, therefore, is free to follow his example.
3. Jesus here is presumably addressing the Pharisees who dominate the religious establishment. He rips and rebukes them on several grounds, primarily for not believing him to be the Son of God, but also for accepting other evangelical figures (including, for a time, John the Baptist), for not recognizing that their beloved Moses wrote of him, and for not being sincere in their faith.
4. Jesus insists that he is referred to by Moses, but does not specify where in the Torah he is mentioned and in what context. Prophecies that arguably refer to a Messiah come from Isaiah and other later Old Testament books. In Genesis only a vague blessing by a dying Jacob to his son Judah could be so interpreted.
5. Jesus' attitude would surely have been interpreted by those he addressed as insufferable and arrogant to the nth degree. (The term "chutzpah" would surely not be out of place.) Humility, tolerance, forgiveness are nowhere evident here. Jesus, whose feelings are obviously hurt by rejection, is angry and defensive and not very concerned about antagonizing his critics. He is dismissive, even belittling of the Pharisee's religious views, but expects and demands acceptance of his. They must all receive him as the Son of God, which means they must renounce any authority they might have assumed to interpret religious law. It's Jesus’ way or the highway -- Heaven or Hell. They must bow to Jesus not only as their master, but as their God. In spite of any miracles he might have performed, is it really surprising that they would not do so? From their standpoint, Jesus could only be a heretic, even a crazed fanatic, but at any rate, a challenge to their authority, a dangerous man who would have to be discredited or destroyed. One would think claiming to be the Son of God would, if untrue, be the ultimate blasphemy, and one so claiming could only be evil or insane.
6. Jesus tries to turn their own beliefs against the Pharisees by telling them that it will be Moses who will condemn them for not believing in him. He equates believing in him with believing in Moses, whom they regard as an absolute authority. (One feels that Jesus' attitude toward Moses is rather like a 21st Century politician's attitude toward Thomas Jefferson -- yes, a founding father, great man to be revered, but not an unimpeachable authority on contemporary politics and policy.)
7. Jesus makes a very attractive offer to his followers. You may live forever and never be punished for your sins. All you have to do is believe in Jesus and accept him as the Son of God. Nothing else seemed to be demanded. Of course, if you don't believe, you're going to be damned and won’t get in on that life everlasting, whatever it is to be.
Healing on the Sabbath at Bethesda
(Gospel of John 5:1- 5:15)
Some time after, Jesus was in Jerusalem during one of the Jewish holy days. There is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a healing pool called, in Aramaic, Bethesda. It is surrounded by five porticoes under which would gather large numbers of ill and disabled people, the blind, the lame, and the crippled. Among them was one poor man had been an invalid for 38 years. When Jesus saw him and learned that he had been ailing for such a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?"
"I'm not able to, sir," the invalid replied. "For you see, whenever the water is stirred up, there is no one to lower me into the pool, and when I try to make it there on my own, someone always gets there ahead of me and blocks the way."
"Rise up!" Jesus bid him. "Pick up your mat and walk."
The man, at once cured, did pick up his mat and walked.
As this occurred on the Sabbath, the Jewish religious authorities reproved the man who had been cured, "This is the Sabbath. It’s against the law to carry a mat!"
"It was the man that cured me who told me to 'pick up your mat and walk,'" the man explained.
"Who then is this man who told you to 'pick up my mat and walk'?'" they demanded.
The man who was cured had no idea who it was, for Jesus had already slipped away into the crowd. Later, though, Jesus ran into the man at the Temple and spoke to him. "Ah, so I see you are well. But you must refrain from sinning, so that nothing worse may befall you."
The man then left and reported to the religious authorities that it was Jesus who had made him well.
Notes
1. The pool at Bethesda possessed healing powers due to some supernatural agency that would, from time to time, stir up the waters. Just afterward, anyone entering the pool would be cured of whatever affliction he suffered from. (Many texts include this explanation.) Bethesda, a name familiar to us as the city in Maryland that is home to the Walter Reed hospital, is also called Bethsaida and Bethzatha. In almost all cultures water manifests healing and restorative powers. Pools and springs are often places where numinous forces manifest themselves. Bethesda reminds one of the most famous modern healing waters, those at Lourdes in France.
2. The narrative does not specific what ailed the soon-to-be-cured man, save that he could not walk. One gets the impression that his disability was due to disease rather than injury. He was, however, well enough over a period of years to come to Bethesda to try his luck at the healing pool. The later remark by Jesus, that he needn't to quit sinning so that no other tragedy might befall him, suggests a cause-and-effect connection between immorality and bad behavior and illness and misfortune. Belief in that connection is something we all wish to hold on to. We wish bad things to happen only to bad people and nothing but good things to good people, yet experience constantly reminds us that such a connection often does not hold true.
3. The cured man, as the story is told, not only shows no gratitude to Jesus, but, when the opportunity presents itself, gets Jesus in trouble by reporting him to the religious authorities. Of course, the man is present at the Temple, so we might concluded he had gone there to give his thanks to God.
4. The religious authorities, zealous in their strict enforcement of Mosaic law, rebuke the healed man merely for carrying a mat on the Sabbath -- carry a mat? After he was healed one supposed the cured man had no choice but to pick up the mat and carry it with him. (If he left it under the portico, he probably would have been guilty of some other offense.) Of course, doing any sort of work during the Sabbath is expressly in violation of the Ten Commandments. Regarding carrying a mat as work is an extremely strict interpretation.
Some time after, Jesus was in Jerusalem during one of the Jewish holy days. There is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a healing pool called, in Aramaic, Bethesda. It is surrounded by five porticoes under which would gather large numbers of ill and disabled people, the blind, the lame, and the crippled. Among them was one poor man had been an invalid for 38 years. When Jesus saw him and learned that he had been ailing for such a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?"
"I'm not able to, sir," the invalid replied. "For you see, whenever the water is stirred up, there is no one to lower me into the pool, and when I try to make it there on my own, someone always gets there ahead of me and blocks the way."
"Rise up!" Jesus bid him. "Pick up your mat and walk."
The man, at once cured, did pick up his mat and walked.
As this occurred on the Sabbath, the Jewish religious authorities reproved the man who had been cured, "This is the Sabbath. It’s against the law to carry a mat!"
"It was the man that cured me who told me to 'pick up your mat and walk,'" the man explained.
"Who then is this man who told you to 'pick up my mat and walk'?'" they demanded.
The man who was cured had no idea who it was, for Jesus had already slipped away into the crowd. Later, though, Jesus ran into the man at the Temple and spoke to him. "Ah, so I see you are well. But you must refrain from sinning, so that nothing worse may befall you."
The man then left and reported to the religious authorities that it was Jesus who had made him well.
Notes
1. The pool at Bethesda possessed healing powers due to some supernatural agency that would, from time to time, stir up the waters. Just afterward, anyone entering the pool would be cured of whatever affliction he suffered from. (Many texts include this explanation.) Bethesda, a name familiar to us as the city in Maryland that is home to the Walter Reed hospital, is also called Bethsaida and Bethzatha. In almost all cultures water manifests healing and restorative powers. Pools and springs are often places where numinous forces manifest themselves. Bethesda reminds one of the most famous modern healing waters, those at Lourdes in France.
2. The narrative does not specific what ailed the soon-to-be-cured man, save that he could not walk. One gets the impression that his disability was due to disease rather than injury. He was, however, well enough over a period of years to come to Bethesda to try his luck at the healing pool. The later remark by Jesus, that he needn't to quit sinning so that no other tragedy might befall him, suggests a cause-and-effect connection between immorality and bad behavior and illness and misfortune. Belief in that connection is something we all wish to hold on to. We wish bad things to happen only to bad people and nothing but good things to good people, yet experience constantly reminds us that such a connection often does not hold true.
3. The cured man, as the story is told, not only shows no gratitude to Jesus, but, when the opportunity presents itself, gets Jesus in trouble by reporting him to the religious authorities. Of course, the man is present at the Temple, so we might concluded he had gone there to give his thanks to God.
4. The religious authorities, zealous in their strict enforcement of Mosaic law, rebuke the healed man merely for carrying a mat on the Sabbath -- carry a mat? After he was healed one supposed the cured man had no choice but to pick up the mat and carry it with him. (If he left it under the portico, he probably would have been guilty of some other offense.) Of course, doing any sort of work during the Sabbath is expressly in violation of the Ten Commandments. Regarding carrying a mat as work is an extremely strict interpretation.
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