This blog post is the last of my commentary on the ninth chapter of the Gospel of John. Jesus made it clear that it is never sin to do good – even on the Sabbath. He did many of his healing miracles on the Sabbath to the consternation of the Pharisees, who were dogmatic about their definition of work or labor on the Sabbath and they called He who is without sin a sinner because he ignored their man-made restrictions.
Most Christians worship and celebrate the “day of rest” on Sunday. I’ve heard it said that the most important step in the history of mankind was when Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon. Christians believe it was Jesus’ first step out of the tomb on that first Easter Sunday morning. That is why we celebrate our new birth into eternal life on that day of the week.
Are there still dogmatic religious leaders today? I don’t believe they would consider it a sin to heal a blind man on Sunday, but I’m sure there are some elders, deacons and even pastors who might question Jesus about where He gets the authority to do such things (as the Pharisees also did). They might ask, “Who ordained you?” or “What seminary did you graduate from?” Some might even call Jesus a wino, because he turned water into wine at a wedding and drank wine with his disciples at the “last supper”. They might even label Him a sinner, because of His association with known sinners even though He never sinned Himself. There will always be some people who love to “play church” instead of forming a personal relationship with our Lord. Those people didn’t stop Jesus and their labels will not stop us.
One last thing. I am writing this blog post on Sunday. I don’t consider it labor; to me it is an act of obedience and love for my Lord. I thank God for my caregiver today and all those others who serve the needs of other people on their day of rest.