马太福音12:1-8
那时，耶稣在安息日从麦地经过。他的门徒饿了，就掐起麦穗来吃。 2 法利赛人看见，就对耶稣说：「看哪，你的门徒做安息日不可做的事了。」 3 耶稣对他们说：「经上记着大卫和跟从他的人饥饿之时所做的事，你们没有念过吗？ 4 他怎么进了神的殿，吃了陈设饼？这饼不是他和跟从他的人可以吃的，唯独祭司才可以吃。 5 再者，律法上所记的，当安息日祭司在殿里犯了安息日还是没有罪，你们没有念过吗？ 6 但我告诉你们：在这里有一人比殿更大。 7 『我喜爱怜恤，不喜爱祭祀』，你们若明白这话的意思，就不将无罪的当做有罪的了。 8 因为人子是安息日的主。」
Matthew 12:1-8
At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. 2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”
3 He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. 5 Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? 6 I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. 7 If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the innocent. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” (NIV)
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1-2 One Sabbath, Jesus was strolling with his disciples through a field of ripe grain. Hungry, the disciples were pulling off the heads of grain and munching on them. Some Pharisees reported them to Jesus: “Your disciples are breaking the Sabbath rules!”
3-5 Jesus said, “Really? Didn’t you ever read what David and his companions did when they were hungry, how they entered the sanctuary and ate fresh bread off the altar, bread that no one but priests were allowed to eat? And didn’t you ever read in God’s Law that priests carrying out their Temple duties break Sabbath rules all the time and it’s not held against them?
6-8 “There is far more at stake here than religion. If you had any idea what this Scripture meant—‘I prefer a flexible heart to an inflexible ritual’—you wouldn’t be nitpicking like this. The Son of Man is no yes-man to the Sabbath; he’s in charge.” (MSG)
「安息日(Sabbath)」这词来自希伯来文Shabbat，有止住、停止、止息的意思，安息日是犹太历法一个星期的第七天，从星期五的日落到星期六的日落前。
有些学者推测安息日可能源自古巴比伦，来自亚喀得(Akkadian)语的「清除节(Sabattu)」。清除节指的是月圆时，亦即每月的十四或十五日。古巴比伦在每月的初七、十四、廿一和廿八、或其接近的日子（依月亮运行日程作计算）当作「不祥日」或「凶日」，在这些日子，先知、祭司、君王和医生要避免做某些事，跟华人农民历中「诸事不宜」的忌日类似。
巴比伦文化中Sabattu规定：在这日子什么都不能作，要休息，因为是「凶日」。这显然和以色列人的安息日截然不同，以色列人的安息日是立约的记号（结20:12），被称为「圣日」（出20:8，申5:6）或「圣安息日」，原文意思是「分别为圣、把…奉献给神」，是歇下工作，为欢喜敬拜神而设立的日子。
「守安息日」是立约的记号，代表以色列人和神的关系，为了确保这层关系与众不同，新约时代的法利赛人和文士就制定出很多规矩和守则，需全都遵守才算守安息日。有个文献记载39样在安息日不能做的事情，不能栽种、挖土、收割、播种、煮食、纺织、解开东西、点火…。这就是为甚么今天严谨的正统犹太人在安息日是不开车的，因为开车需要点燃引擎。
「安息日」的重点不在于休息，而是「分别为圣」。当法利赛人质疑耶稣的门徒在安息日经过麦地，掐起麦穗来吃，耶稣对他们说：「…但我告诉你们，在这里有一人比殿更大。『我喜爱怜恤，不喜爱祭祀。』你们若明白这话的意思，就不将无罪的当作有罪的了。因为人子是安息日的主。」（太12:1-8）
耶稣当然比以色列人崇拜的圣殿为大，祂本身就被「分别为圣」，祂是安息日的主；耶稣说：「我父做事直到如今，我也做事。」（约5:17），祂给我们留下榜样，在安息日做事，掐麦穗吃、医病、赶鬼、赦罪…，为的是带出神的恩典。
守「安息日」不在于做不做事，而在于「分别为圣」，不做事是为了专心亲近神，做事是为了带出神的恩典，做不做事皆是记念我们的归属，把安息日奉献给神。
分别为圣 Sanctify Me（新心音乐事工国语专辑-牵我的手）
求祢真理洗涤，洗我身心灵的罪孽。
但愿圣灵自由运行，使我成为圣洁。
愿祢真理光照，看见我心中的幽暗。
无法靠着品格善行，得到上帝的喜悦。
天父，我愿分别为圣！恳求圣灵洗净，使我得以称义，生命更像祢。
哦！耶稣，我愿分别为圣！
祢曾为我流血，生命为我重写，我要永永远远献上我的感谢。
@林大惠教授
