Two quotations, Matthew 12:8 and Mark 2:27, have drawn me into the debate led by Seventh-day Adventist, Dr Stephen Chang, on the 'sacredness' of the Sabbath.

There is an abundance of biblical evidence where Jesus took issue with some of the Mosaic laws. The woman caught in the act of adultery was spared the death penalty as prescribed by the Mosaic law by an admonition from Jesus (John 8:1-11). The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) has a raft of reviews on a number of the Mosaic laws. Divorce would be facilitated only on ground of fornication which, at that time, would mean today's prostitution. Otherwise, Jesus emphasised reconciliation. Reconciliation also replaced anger and killing.

Review of the sabbath

The Sabbath did not escape review. Jesus turns it on its head. He stoutly defended his disciples plucking and eating corn on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:1). Healing was commonplace to Jesus' ministry and was done without any regard for the Sabbath (Luke 14 and John 5). Interestingly, Jesus silenced his critics on an occasion when accused of breaking the Sabbath with the response: "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." When that statement is compared with Moses' assertion that God "rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made", it should be obvious that Jesus had transcended the Mosaic strictures.

Dr Chang has not, apparently, captured the essence and significance of Jesus' perspective on the Sabbath. In his letter on page A8 of The Gleaner of October 9, he quoted Matthew 12:8: "For the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath." The context in which that statement was made weakens Dr Chang's claim to the 'sacredness' of the Sabbath. Jesus was simply stating that the Sabbath did not take precedence over what he had chosen to do.

Ample clarification

Nor has Dr Chang's partial quotation of Mark 2:27 in his letter, 'Only the Sabbath is sacred', (The Gleaner, October 13, page A8) argued his case well of Sabbath sacredness. Both the Matthew and Mark quotations speak to the same incident - the plucking and eating of corn by the disciples on the Sabbath. Consequently, if there were any ambiguity in the Matthew perspective, then Mark has provided ample clarification.

The partial quotation of Mark 2:27 does not provide Jesus' full rebuttal to the charge of breaking the Sabbath. The repudiation in its entirety makes clear Jesus' liberal view of the Sabbath: "The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath," a resonance of Matthew 12:8. In fact, verse 28 of Mark 2, is essentially a reiteration of Matthew 12:8.

Jesus' perspective on the Sabbath is not one of orthodox Judaism. It has removed the albatross from around the neck. In Jamaican parlance, "the law is not a shackle".

I am, etc.,

LIONEL RUSSELL

Ensom City

St Catherine