Nothing like the good old writers!
April 19, 2012
Last Lord's Day in preaching consecutively through the gospel of Matthew, I came to chapter 12 verses 1 to 14, where our Lord Jesus had an encounter with the Pharisees concerning the Sabbath. As I read the various modern commentators on the text, I was amazed at how few supported the idea that the fourth commandment is still in effect for today. J. C. Ryle (1816-1900) however, hit the nail on the head. He writes:
The plain truth is, that our Lord did not abolish the law of the weekly Sabbath. He only freed it from incorrect interpretations, and purified it from man-made additions. He did not tear out of the Decalogue the fourth commandment. He only stripped off the miserable traditions with which the Pharisees had incrusted the day, and by which they had made it, not a blessing, but a burden. He left the fourth commandment where he found it, a part of the eternal law of God, of which no jot or tittle was ever to pass away. May we never forget this!-J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts On The Gospels Vol.1 (Baker), 122.
