Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1912-04-12

hand that he was able to control the
evil Of Sabbath breaking which was man
ifested more by the merchants than by
others.
No wonder, therefore, that the Jews
guarded this institution sacredly, when
il had been woven into the warp and
woof of their national life, when keep
ing it had brought blessing to them,
and disregarding it had brought such
dire results. Had they stopped here all
would have been well, but they had
overlaid the institution with so many
restrictions that it had become bur-
den to keep IL. In fact. they were not
keeping it, for they were all guilty Of
the practices which circumvented their
very law. For example. they drew up
a catalogue of thirty-nine works.
which were forbidden and which if done
might cause death to the offender by
stoning. Those thirty-nine works were
primitive or. in Rabbinical phase, faith
ers," and each had its subsection Of
derivative works or descendants" Thus,
ploughing was one of the thirty-nine
and under it was classed digging. And
digging included much. For example,
il was forbidden to draw a chair along
the ground lest II should make rut;
and, though it was permissible to spit
on the pavement and rub the expectora-
ton with the foot, il was debatable
whether it were permissible to perform
the operation on the earth, for as much
as the foot would scratch the surface
Another of the fathers" was carrying
a burden, and ii had a large brood of
descendants" To walk with a crutch
or a wooden leg was permissible; but
to go on stills was forbidden since 1t
was not the stills that carried the man..
but the man that carried the stills.
Neither was it permissible to wear false
teeth or a superfiuous garment A
tailor must not go abroad with his
needle nor scribe with his pen to-
ward sunset on Friday. lest the Sab
bath should begin ere his return and
find him abroad with his burden. An
other father" OF work was reaping, and
this included the plucking of an ear or
a blade. A woman must not look into
her mirror on the Sabbath day, lest she
should discover a gray hair and be
tempted 70 pluck it out. This would be a
sort of reaping.
The keeping of these laws had become
great burden, so that the day was no
longer a day Of rest. One of the ways
in which they circumvented the law
was IN the matter OF intention" For
example, it was unlawful TO eat an
egg which had been laid on the Sab
bath. but just let it be understood that
the hen was for the table and as the
egg was not a part which had fallen
from the hen it might then be eaten.
THE NAZARINE A SABBATH
BREAKER.
Now Jesus had no sympathy whatever
with this method of dealing with Gods
word. He entirely disregarded all Of
the catalogue with which they had bur-
dened the day Of rest, and this was
one OF the things which antagonized
them so greatly. The idea that this
upstart Of a teacher, as they regarded
Him, should so neglect the traditions
Of the elders angered them to the point
of fury, and from this largely devel-
oped the growing opposition which final
~ eliminated in His death. 1t had
started in Jerusalem when He healed a
man at the Pool of Bethesda, and now,
short while after this. as His disci-
Piles were going through a corn field
early in April, they plucked some of
the barley corn which was right along
the path. rubbing it in their hands to
get rid of the husks and ate it. They
did this because they were so hungry
that they could not stand the pangs of
hunger longer. Their hunger was not
{
breakfast to dinner, but which comes
when he has been a long time without
food, or without a sufficient quantity of
it, We do not appreciate the poverty
Of Jesus and His disciples as we should.
They had left all and followed Him,
and often they were in great want, so
that in this instance there was necessity
in grim form for the act.
They did not steal the corn; the
Mosaic law gave them the privilege OF
taking what corn they could use as
they passed through the field if they
needed it; but the objection which
they raised to this was that they had
done IL on the Sabbath day. For was
not plucking corn a-species Of gather
ing, and was not rubbing IT in their
hands a species Of threshing?
But when they came to Jesus COM
planning Of the act of His disciples,
He defended them as guiltless. He
called the Pharisees' attention to the
fact that. under the stress or necessity,
David, their great hero. and hts mea
had eaten shewbread which IL was not
lawful for any other than the priests
TO eat. He also showed them that.
under a strict Interpretation of their
law. the priests would be guilty, since
kEhgE had-e, srsaz deal 90 Sergils sEprG