Great, thanks.
I think the only thing we really disagree on is which book was thrown at him.
Oh, and the man was "collecting" fire wood as I understand it.
On the gathering of wood... before Christ was born, the Targum Jonathon was written. It is basically a paraphrase/commentary type writing and again, was done about 30 years before Christ. This is significant, as an aside, because of how they treat the word "word" (memra). It is often used in place of God's very name name. Seeing this supports the Christian doctrine of Yeshua being God in the flesh, you can understand why the Targumim (targums) are not often used in open Jewish circles. Anyway... so the Targum Jonathon has this for the passage you question:
"And while the sons of Israel were dwelling in the wilderness, the decree of the Sabbath was known to them, but the punishment (for the profanation) of the Sabbath was not known. And there arose a man of the house of Joseph, and said with himself: I will go and pull up wood on the Sabbath day; and witnesses saw it, and told Mosheh; and Mosheh sought instructtion from the presence of the Lord, that he might teach me judgment, and make known the discipline of all the house of Israel. And the witnesses of the man who pulled up and collected wood came, and, after they had monished him, and he had wounded the witnesses who had found him pulling up wood"
Notice it isn't just gathering, which itself is really not to be done on Sabbath, it should be done on the preparation day (Friday), but in this case, the Targum is making the point that he was actually pulling up the wood... i.e. from the ground. Meaning, this wasn't a simple gathering, he was either pulling it up by the roots or cutting it down and either is more than just carrying a handful and throwing it on an existing fire to keep your family warm. The Jerusalem Targum (there are a number of them) suggests he was actually stealing the wood. In any event... Moses went to the LORD and asked what to do and it was the LORD who handed out the punishment which means it was a righteous act, because God is incapable of anything else!!!
So when it comes to the guy with the firewood, this was God's decision and God's rule which means it was holy, righteous, and good whether we can understand that as we look at it today through our modern perspective, or not.
As for the healing and the mat... again, there are 7 Sabbath commandments in the Torah from God. Not one of them was broken by Yeshua for healing or for the man who picked up his mat and took it home (revealing the miracle God performed in the process). If there is a commandment that was broken, share it... the Jeremiah verse is not conclusive because a load can mean anything. And, ALL TRUTH comes with more than one witness so even if Jeremiah was valid, where is the second witness? There is none... I know all the Sabbath commandments, not one was broken then. Again, what WAS broken was the addition to God's commandments. God says, "don't take my name in vain" and the Pharisees decided, "let's not say it at all just to make sure." So, when somebody says His name it is a sin according to THEM... but God never said such a thing. That is what we are dealing here and in the other thread about picking and eating.
Blessings.
Ken
