Word of Grace

By Rev. Mahlon Nevel

It was the sabbath day, the day that the Jews worshiped the Creator. God created the heaven and the earth in six days, and then on the seventh day he rested.

One of the ten commandments, given by God to Moses is: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8). The sabbath day is a holy day to the Jews.

Jesus and his disciples were in the synagogue in Capernaum on that day. (Mark 1:21) As Jesus taught the Word of God, all who heard him were astonished. (V. 22)

And then, when he cast out, a demon, the people were amazed at the miracle. (V.27) They were asking, “What thing is this? What new doctrine is this?”

The doctrine that Jesus was teaching was not new. It had been around for a long, long time. His doctrine was not his, but as he said, “his that sent me” (John 7:16)

Jesus was referring to his Father, who gave him the words he was teaching. In fact, those words were from the Old Testament scriptures.

It was the Pharisees who were teaching a new doctrine. According to Jesus, “they were teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Mark 7:7). They had laid aside the word of God and replaced it with the word of man. (V.8)

“Give me that old time religion. It’s good enough for me.”