Did Jesus Break the Sabbath? The Biblical Truth That Many Overlook.
One of the more common objections I have heard in regard to the Sabbath is the claim that Jesus broke the Sabbath. But is that a Biblical claim? Let’s study and find out.
People will often point to John 5 and claim that Jesus broke the Sabbath. Read the text below:
Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was His Father, making himself equal with God. (John 5:18.)
Have you ever had a situation where someone hated you so much, they twisted what you said and did and claimed things about you that weren’t true? The Pharisees were the ones who accused Jesus, and that is what John is writing about. How do we know that it’s simply an accusation here and that it’s not a true statement?
The Jews had a collection of traditions regarding the Sabbath. You see, they had been effectively broken of worshiping handmade idols because of their various captivities. However, idolatry still had a hold their hearts. It was this that the Pharisees were referencing whenever they accused Jesus of breaking the Sabbath. They placed their traditions above Scripture itself.
Jesus called them on it when He told them:
He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. (Mark 7:6-7.)
Modern Christianity has made the same mistake, in elevating the first day of the week to a level that God never commanded or authorized. According to Daniel 7:24-25, it is the spirit of antichrist to do such a thing.
Read what Jesus Himself said, regarding His own obedience:
If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. (John 15:10.)
Now we have a decision to make: is Jesus telling the truth, or are the Pharisees? This is an extremely important point, because if Jesus was lying, then He is a sinner, unfit to be our Savior.
Now let’s read what God says about His holy day. We need to understand just what the Sabbath allows, and what it forbids. Then we can see whether or not Jesus really broke the Sabbath.
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. (Exodus 20:8-11.)
If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. (Isaiah 58:13-14.)
God’s own definition of what the Sabbath is, is not one of legalism or miserable drudgery. Notice these Scriptures do not say that what Jesus was doing was forbidden by the Sabbath Commandment.
“But Jesus healed on the Sabbath! That’s work!” No, that’s ministry. Carpentry was work, and we never saw Jesus do that during the Sabbath. And again, by Jesus’ own testimony, He kept the Law. Therefore, what He did was not a violation of the Sabbath.
But let’s look at further Scripture.
In the context of John 5:18, Jesus had healed a man who was paralyzed for 38 years. (It is particularly fascinating that this was the same mount of time that Israel was in the desert, but, I digress.) This was the Sabbath day that this man was healed, part of the reason why the Pharisees were so up in arms. Interestingly, it also wasn’t until Jesus healed on the Sabbath they wanted to kill Him.
In Luke 13:10-17, we find the story of where Jesus healed a woman with a back problem at the synagogue. The ruler of the synagogue was angry, and told people to come back after Sabbath to be healed. But notice what Jesus responded to him with:
The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day? And when he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed: and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him. (Luke 13:15-17.)
Jesus Himself lays down the principle that it is ok to heal and do ministry during the Sabbath. He says, if it’s ok to take care of animals during the Sabbath, how much more important is it to take care of people who need healing?
Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens… (Isaiah 58:6–7, 13–14.)
For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. (Hosea 6:6.)
This is a direct call to acts of relief, liberation, and mercy—Sabbath activities that do not violate the Law of God. God desires mercy, ministry, and compassion, especially during the Sabbath.
We also see in Matthew 5:17 that Jesus Himself said He did not come to destroy the Law, He came to fully preach it. And that is exactly what He did. He expanded to the understanding of all who would listen the broadness and depth to the Ten Commandments.
Jesus also tells us in Mark 2:27 that the Sabbath was made specifically for the benefit of mankind. Why? Because we need to take time to rest and seek God, where the full 24 hour period is just for that purpose. We rest from daily labor, and from this sinful world. We seek God, and we help others seek God.
Notice what Jesus also says. This was the story of the man with the withered hand that Jesus healed during the Sabbath.
Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it? (Luke 6:9.)
To heal, then, isn’t a violation of the Sabbath. But, what about when the disciples picked grain while passing through a field during the Sabbath? We find that story in Matthew 12:1-8. This, however, was perfectly acceptable according to Deuteronomy 23:25.
To recap:
1. Healed the Sick (John 5:1–18, Luke 13:10–17, Matthew 12:9–13)
Acts of mercy, not labor
Refuting the Pharisees’ distortion of Sabbath law
2. Allowed His Disciples to Pick Grain (Matthew 12:1–8)
This was permitted in Deuteronomy 23:25
Jesus appeals to David and the priests as precedent—mercy > sacrifice
3. Told a Man to Carry His Bed (John 5:10–11)
Not breaking God’s law, but violating Pharisaic rule
4. Preached and Taught (Luke 4:16–31)
His custom was Sabbath worship
1 John 3:4 says that sin is the transgression of the Law. That Law includes the Sabbath. If Jesus were to break the Sabbath, He would not be the spotless Lamb that we needed. He could not be our faithful and merciful High Priest. Hebrews 4:15 tells us that while Jesus was tempted, He was without sin.
We also see in Isaiah that Jesus did the very work He was prophesied to do. Notice:
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified. (Isaiah 61:1-3.)
You see, keeping the Sabbath isn’t bondage, and it isn’t legalism; it’s liberation. It is the sign being sanctified, according to Ezekiel 20:12. You see, Jesus wasn’t breaking the Sabbath; He was restoring it to its intended glory—a time for freedom, healing, and communion with God.
