Hey John,
How do the priests profane the temple on the Sabbath?
Margaret
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Hi Margaret.
Good question!
If you are referring to Matthew 12:5, Jesus says there that the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath. I don’t recall a place where Jesus said the priests profane the temple itself on the Sabbath. Here is Matthew 12:5, from our translation:
5. Haven’t you read in the Law that on the Sabbath, the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and yet are innocent?
The priests profaned the Sabbath by doing chores in the temple on the Sabbath. One of God’s Ten Commandments for Israel was that Israel should do no work on the Sabbath day. But the priests were also commanded to make sacrifices twice each day on the altar in front of the temple and to offer incense inside the temple twice each day, including the Sabbath, and to eat the “shewbread” and replace it with new bread in the temple every Sabbath day. So, sometimes, the priests had to choose which of God’s commandments to keep. Should they obey God’s commandment to do no work on the Sabbath, or should they perform on the Sabbath the ceremonies which He commanded the priests to do every day, and cook new bread and eat the old in the temple on the Sabbath? They chose wisely by electing to do the work God told them to do in the temple. That is how the priests profaned the Sabbath and yet, were counted “innocent” before the Lord, as Jesus said.
jdc