‘Īsā al-Masīh ^(hpbuu)and the Sabbath

6One Sabbath ‘Īsā was walking through some cornfields, and his disciples were plucking grains of corn, rubbing them in their hands and eating them. ² Some of the Pharisees said, ‘Why are you doing what is not permitted on the Sabbath?’[1]

³ ‘Īsā answered them, ‘Haven’t you read what Dāwūd did when he and his companions were hungry?  ⁴ He went into the house of Allah and took and ate the holy bread, and he gave some to his companions, even though no one is permitted to eat this bread, except the Jewish priests.’[2]⁵ Then ‘Īsā said to them, ‘The Son of Man[3]is Lord of the Sabbath.’[4]

‘Īsā al-Masīh ^(hpbuu)heals a man on the Sabbath

⁶On another Sabbath, ‘Īsā went into a synagogue to teach. A man was there whose right hand was paralysed. ⁷ The ulemā and Pharisees were watching closely to see if he healed on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse him. ⁸But ‘Īsā knew their thoughts. He said to the man whose hand was paralysed, ‘Get up and stand here in our midst.’

The man got up and stood there. ⁹‘Īsā said to them, ‘I’m asking you; is it permitted on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?’[5]

¹⁰Then, looking round at all of them, he said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ The man did this, and his hand was restored to health.

¹¹But the ulemā and the Pharisees were filled with rage and began to discuss together what they might do to ‘Īsā.

‘Īsā al-Masīh ^(hpbuu)chooses twelve Companions

¹² At that time ‘Īsā went out to a mountain to pray, and spent the whole night in du’ā to Allah. ¹³ When day came, he called his disciples to him, and he chose twelve of them, whom he also named apostles:[6]¹⁴ Simon, whom he called Peter, Andrew his brother, Ya’qūb, John, Philip, Bartholomew, ¹⁵ Matthew, Thomas, Ya’qūb bin Alphaios, Simon called the Zealot,[7]¹⁶ Judas bin Ya’qūb and Judas Iskariot, who became a betrayer.

‘Īsā al-Masīh ^(hpbuu)heals many

¹⁷ Then ‘Īsā came down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there, as well as a huge gathering of people from all Judea, Jerusalem and the sea coast of Tyre and Saydā.[8]¹⁸ They had come to hear him and to be healed from their diseases. Those who were afflicted by evil jinn[9]were cured. ¹⁹ The whole crowd was trying to touch him, because power was coming out from him and healing everyone.

‘Īsā al-Masīh ^(hpbuu)teaches his disciples

²⁰ Then ‘Īsā looked round at his disciples and said,

‘Blessed are you who are poor,

            for yours is the kingdom of Allah.[10]

²¹Blessed are you who are hungry now,

            for you will eat your fill.

Blessed are you who weep now,

            for you will laugh.

²² ‘Blessed are you when people hate you,

            and when they exclude you

            and revile you and disown your name as evil,

            because of the Son of Man.

²³ Rejoice in that day and leap for joy,

            for your reward in heaven is great.

            For their ancestors used to do the same to the prophets.

²⁴ ‘But woe to you who are rich,

            for you have received your comfort.

²⁵Woe to you who have had your fill now,

            for you will be hungry.

Woe to you who are laughing now,

            for you will mourn and weep.

²⁶ Woe to you when all people speak well of you,

            for their ancestors used to do the same to the false prophets.

Love your enemies

²⁷ ‘But I say this to you who are listening: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸ bless those who curse you, pray for those who ill-treat you. ²⁹ To the one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other cheek, and if someone takes your coat, don’t refuse them your shirt. ³⁰Give to everyone who asks you for something, and if someone takes what is yours, don’t demand it back. ³¹Do to others what you would like them to do to you.

³² ‘If you love those who love you, how is that to your credit? For even sinners[11]love those who love them. ³³And if you do good to those who do good to you, how is that to your credit? Even sinners do the same thing. ³⁴And if you lend to those who you expect will repay you, how is that to your credit? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to get back the same amount. ³⁵But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend without expecting anything in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be spiritualchildren of al-Muta’āli,[12]for he is kind to those who are ungrateful and evil. ³⁶Be merciful, just as your heavenly Father is merciful.

Judging others

³⁷ ‘Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. ³⁸ Give, and it will be given to you – a good measure, packed down, shaken and overflowing will be poured into the fold of your garment. For the measure you give out will be the measure you receive back.’

³⁹ Then he told them a parable. ‘Can a blind person lead another blind person? Won’t they both fall into a hole? ⁴⁰ A disciple is not above their teacher. But every disciple who is thoroughly trained will be like their teacher.

⁴¹ ‘Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye but don’t notice the log in your own eye? ⁴²How can you say to your brother, “Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,” when you yourself don’t see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite! First take out the log from your own eye, and then you’ll see clearly to take out the speck in your brother’s eye.

A tree is known by its fruit

⁴³‘A good tree does not produce bad fruit, nor does a bad tree produce good fruit. ⁴⁴ Each tree is known by its own fruit. People don’t gather figs from thorn bushes nor do they pick grapes from briars. ⁴⁵ The good person produces what is good from the store of good in their heart. And the evil person produces what is evil from the store of evil in their heart. For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.

Two kinds of building

⁴⁶‘Why do you call me, “Master, master,” and not do what I say?

⁴⁷ ‘All those who come to me and hear my words and do them – I’ll show you what they are like. ⁴⁸ They are like a person building a house, who dug, going down deep, and set the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the river pounded against that house but it could not shake it,because it had been built well. ⁴⁹But anyone who hears my words and does not do them is like a person building a house on the ground with no foundation. The river pounded against it, and it collapsed immediately, and that house was left a total ruin.’

[1]According to the Taurāt, picking ears of corn with your hands from someone else’s field was not stealing (see Taurāt, Deuteronomy 23:25).

The Sabbath law was the fourth of the Ten Commandments given to the Banī Isrā’īl through Prophet Mūsā ^(pbuh), see Taurāt, Exodus 20:8-11, Deuteronomy 5:12-15. The Jewish Rabbis had made a list of 39 categories of work prohibited on the Sabbath, but this list was not in the Taurāt.

[2]See 1^stBook of the Prophet Samuel 21:1-6.

[3]‘The Son of Man’ is a title al-Masīh ‘Īsā ^(hpbuu)often used for himself. Also in v22. For more details, see Appendix E, The Son of Man.

[4]In other words, al-Masīh ‘Īsā ^(hpbuu)is saying here, “If Prophet Dāwūd ^(pbuh)had authority to make this kind of judgement (fiqh) – how much more do I, as the Son of Man? Prophet Dāwūd ^(pbuh)is a faqīh, but I am Lord of the Sabbath.”

[5]‘Īsā al-Masīh ^(hpbuu)may have been thinking of passages such as the following from the Book of Proverbs 3:27-28:

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,
    when you are able to do something.
 Do not say to your neighbour,
    ‘Go away and come back; tomorrow I’ll give it to you’–
    when you already have it with you.

[6]‘Apostles’ literally means ‘sent ones.’

[7]The ‘Zealots’ were a radical Jewish group who advocated violent revolution against the Roman Empire. This Simon ^(pbuh)may have come from a Zealot background, or may simply have been a person characterised by zeal.

[8]Tyre and Saydā were non-Jewish areas.

[9]Or ‘unclean spirits’.

[10]See Appendix D, The Kingdom of Allah.

[11]In this context, ‘sinners’ refers to people who practice things that are harām. Also in v33, 34.

[12]Or, ‘children of the Most High.’ When al-Masīh ‘Īsā ^(hpbuu)speaks of people as ‘children of al-Muta’āli,’ and of Allah as ‘Father’ (v36), he does not mean a physical or biological relationship. Aramaic was ‘Īsā al-Masīh’s mother tongue, and in that language, ‘son of someone or something’ can mean one with a characteristic of that person or thing. That is the meaning here. When we are merciful we reflect in a small way the mercy of Allah who is ar-Rahman, ar-Rahīm. So when the Qur’an says of Allah, ‘He begets not, nor was he begotten’ (al-Ikhlās 112:3), it can be understood to be in agreement with the Injīl, because the Injīl does not teach that Allah SWT physically begets or is begotten. To highlight this, we have translated into English as, ‘heavenlyFather’ and ‘spiritualchildren’. For more detail, see Appendix B, The Translation: ‘spiritual Son of God‘.