Luke 14:1-6 One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. There in front of him was a man suffering from dropsy. Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him away. Then he asked them, “If one of you has a son or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull him out?” And they had nothing to say.

Numbers 15:32-36 While the Israelites were in the desert, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day. Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole assembly, and they kept him in custody, because it was not clear what should be done to him. Then the LORD said to Moses, “The man must die. The whole assembly must stone him outside the camp.” So the assembly took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the LORD commanded Moses.

Jesus did not attack the Sabbath, He did not desecrate the Sabbath, He fulfilled the Sabbath. He was the ultimate man of faith; He lived by faith. He said I do nothing but what I hear from God. His whole walk was living for God; therefore, He could heal on the Sabbath because He knew He was doing God's will. He did not doubt of fear what the world might do to him, for He lived to do the will of his Father.

For the Jews, the ultimate testimony that God exists and that He will take care of man was keeping the Sabbath. In the desert, the children of Israel had to believe in God and his provisions so much they could not even gather manna on the Sabbath, a day of faith, a day of rest consecrated to God. This day of demonstrating trust, faith and belief in the one true God came only every seventh day. By living IN CHRIST, we who are saved, constantly live in the day of rest, the completed work at the cross. For believers, Jesus is the Lord, the Master, of the Sabbath. We abide in the one who pleases God, who is holy because He is the day of rest, the finished work. We cease from our own works, placing our trust in his perfect work. We know nothing makes us more holy than living in Christ; we cannot add one thing to make us better or more acceptable to God. Our works or goodness cannot affect Christ's completed work. Everything we do in the flesh to better ourselves is like dressing a pig in a beautiful gown. No matter what we do, how humble we get, or how repentant we are, we are still working with a pig, a fleshly entity lacking God's righteousness. Jesus said, "You must be born again, have another nature, another likeness." IN CHRIST we do. As his family members, we desire to display his nature, the wonderful Holy Spirit's attributes, in all we do.

Jesus healed the man with dropsy on the Sabbath. He was doing God's will, keeping the Sabbath holy by fulfilling God's plan. In the final analysis, holiness is not obeying a law but ALWAYS DOING THE WILL OF GOD. If in our natural, earthly walk, we always thought God's thoughts and did his will and not our own, we would be holy, perfect. We would not be found lacking trust in God by gathering wood on the Sabbath for our own good, our own needs, for we would be people of faith. Only faith pleases God, not our works or efforts. The Sabbath epitomizes a life of faith: a person who trusts God to take care of every need. That is what is meant by entering into his Sabbath, his day of rest. The Bible says, do not fail to enter into his rest because of unbelief. Do not place your life into your own hands, but place it in his hands. Since we cannot live a perfect life, we enter by accepting God's work of grace for us: Jesus Christ's death and resurrection. By placing our trust in Christ's work and not our own, we enter into that rest. IN CHRIST, we are always living in the Sabbath, the day of rest, for we now are in the Lord of the Sabbath, who always pleases God, for He always does God's will. Even in the garden of Gethsemane, He said, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42) Jesus fulfilled the day of rest, the Sabbath, by trusting God, placing his life in God's hands. Therefore, children of God, enter into God's rest by yielding completely to him, placing your full trust in the one who is the Lord of the Sabbath.