Sabbath Ministry

What did the disciples think about their Sabbath day? Jesus had called them to follow Him, and so they did. They were in the spiritual training camp of Jesus Christ that day. They were His disciples. He was their master teacher. What did Jesus want them to learn from this experience? What do you think they learned from hearing and watching Jesus?

What did they talk about that afternoon? Did they ask Jesus about His morning message, or the demon-possessed man? What was the lesson Jesus wanted them to learn, or was it just an afternoon focused on people? What have you learned?

The Evening. Our next verse indicates that Jesus had spent the entire day with these four men. When evening came, people started coming to Peter’s house.

When evening came, after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all who were ill and those who were demon-possessed. (NASB) Mark 1:32

While the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and laying His hands on each one of them, He was healing them. (NASB) Luke 4:40

Do Mark and Luke disagree? Were people coming when the evening came or were they coming while the sun was setting? At first, the two passages seem to be a contradiction. But, as usual, the problem is solved either by a careful review of the original language or by investigating the cultural background of Jesus’ time. A hint at the solution is even found in some English dictionaries where we find multiple definitions for “sunset.” So it should not be surprising that the Jews had multiple definitions for a sunset too!

In fact, the Jewish rabbis held to two different definitions for a sunset. The first Jewish definition says that sunset occurs when the orb of the sun completely disappears below the horizon and the sky is mostly dark. The second definition says that the sunset has occurred when the whole sky is totally dark (Talmud Shabbat 34b-35a and Talmud in Pesahim 94a). Therefore, it appears that Mark used the first definition and Luke used the second definition. That is, the people start coming when the orb of the sun was below the horizon and continued coming before the sky became completely dark.

Healing Ministry. But why did the people wait until the sunset? They waited because the Jewish leaders taught that the Sabbath day ended when the sun has set. The Jews were not allowed to help anyone on the Sabbath until sunset, including those who were sick. However, the religious leaders allowed an exception for someone who was near death. Their man-made rules were more focused on laws than on loving people. The Jewish leaders were not people focused.