LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
Strain the Gnat
"Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the Sabbath day… Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel" (John 9:16; Matt. 23:24, KJV).
The Pharisees had the enormous ability to tend to small things (strain the gnat) and neglect the big ones (swallow the camel). In this case, to warn of the Saturday's violation was to strain the gnat (Even if the Pharisees of that time and those of today do not agree).
It happens that the Lord Himself took care (in the eyes of the Jews) of violating that observance on several occasions. On Saturday, He healed the man with the withered hand (Matthew 12:9-13), the man who had an unclean spirit (Luke 4:31-37), the hunched woman (Luke 13:1 0-17), the man who had dropsy (Luke 14:1-6), the lame man of Bethesda (John 5:1-18), and the blind man since birth (John 9). In addition, on the Sabbath the Lord allowed his disciples to pluck grain (Luke 6:1-5).
The Lord used various arguments to show the Jews the legitimacy of his miracles on the Sabbath, but they did not want to understand. Was it not legitimate to pull a sheep out of a hole, or an ox from a well on a Saturday? Does a man not untie his ox or his donkey and take him to drink? Was it not legitimate to do good and not evil on that day? Did the Jews not circumcise their children on Saturday so that the law would not be broken? Was it less pleasing in God's eyes to heal one man than to circumcise another? Did David not do something illicit on the Sabbath and was blameless? Was the Lord less than David was?
The Lord said, "The Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath" (Mark 2:28)." He also said, "My Father is always at his work…and I too am working" (John 5:17). After healing the blind man, he said, "For judgment I have come into this world; so that the blind will see and those who see, will become blind" (John 9:39). Straining the mosquito is the rare ability of those who have the veil of the old covenant placed upon their hearts, which is taken away only by Christ (2 Corinthians 3:14-16).