Lord of the Sabbath
Notes
Transcript
On a Sabbath, he passed through the grainfields. His disciples were picking heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them. But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”
Jesus answered them, “Haven’t you read what David and those who were with him did when he was hungry—how he entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat? He even gave some to those who were with him.” Then he told them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
On another Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. A man was there whose right hand was shriveled. The scribes and Pharisees were watching him closely, to see if he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they could find a charge against him. But he knew their thoughts and told the man with the shriveled hand, “Get up and stand here.” So he got up and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you: Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” After looking around at them all, he told him, “Stretch out your hand.” He did, and his hand was restored. They, however, were filled with rage and started discussing with one another what they might do to Jesus.
On a Sabbath, he passed through the grainfields. His disciples were picking heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them. But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”
These Pharisees sure do show up a lot around those special religious times, especially the Sabbath. Always working, watching. So here we have Jesus and His disciples walking among the grain stalks, and at the same time being STALKED by the Pharisees.
They were walking and just pulling off while they were walking.
take the grain, rub it around in their hands to get the stalk and all that off, and then eating.
The Pharisees: Why are you doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?
Sabbath Law! This is serious stuff here!
Observe the Sabbath, for it is holy to you. Whoever profanes it must be put to death. If anyone does work on it, that person must be cut off from his people.
The Sabbath is a special day. The Sabbath rest is modeled after the creation account. God worked for 6 days and rested on the 7th. Later when God established His covenant with Israel, he commanded the Sabbath rest, as we just read there in Exodus.
We are to have a Sabbath rest as well.
Now. If you noticed that scripture, what was the penalty for WORKING on the Sabbath?
Death Penalty at worse, excommunicated at best.
So if you were a faithful Israelite, you would want to know a good, solid definition of WORK!
So they devised rules and lists for defining “work” on the Sabbath. You could not walk very far or it was considered work. You could not cook on the Sabbath. You could not light a fire. And on it went. Pretty soon, according to the Pharisees’ rules, it became almost impossible to keep the Sabbath.
Were they stealing? No. The law actually said this was perfectly legal!
Similar to a process of gleaning. Workers would purposefully leave stalk alone for those who were less fortunate. It was a way to care for the neighbor.
So if it was not theft, then why the fuss?
Because they were picking grain while walking. See the Pharisees had become so legalistic in their view of the religion, that the words LAW really became LAW. You must obey the LAW given by Moses, or you were doomed. The problem is that there actually isn’t a Scriptural LAW regarding the activity. Instead there was man made law, oral law, law that they decided to enact, so that maybe by stricter laws, the people wouldn’t break God’s law.
To the Pharisees, maintaining the legalistic view on things became more important than the needs of the people. They held laws as higher than people, so they became indifferent to the needs of the people.
Jesus answered them, “Haven’t you read what David and those who were with him did when he was hungry—how he entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat? He even gave some to those who were with him.” Then he told them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
So here Jesus recounts an event recorded in 1 Sam 21. David was fleeing King Saul and heading to Nob. He enters the House of God. SO let’s put everything into perspective so we understand what is happening.
House of God - The TEMPLE - we get this understanding from Ex 25, where God gives the instructions on how to build the Tabernacle, where His presence would be amongst the people in the wilderness. Within the Tabernacle was special acacia wood table overlayed in pure gold. The Bread of the Presence was to always be sitting out on the table.
The Bread of the Presence (some translations will say Showbread) was laid out in 2 stacks of 6 loaves, representing the 12 tribes of Israel.
This bread had to be made a special way, using fine flower, specific measurements, and then covered in frankincense. The only people allowed to eat this bread, according to Leviticus 24, was the priests.
So David enters into the House of God and eats the bread, he even gives the bread to those who were with him.
So Jesus recounts this story to the Pharisees. David is NOT YET king when this happens. But David was God’s chosen king to replace Saul.
So David shows up, and gets the Priests blessing to eat the bread. And NO WHERE in the Scripture is David ever rebuked or condemned for doing so.
If you jump over the Gospel of Matthew, we get another connection that Jesus makes which is powerful.
Or haven’t you read in the law that on Sabbath days the priests in the temple violate the Sabbath and are innocent? I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. If you had known what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the innocent.
For I desire faithful love and not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
The Pharisees desired the opposite. They wanted obedient Sacrifice, not faithful love.
Jesus says, you would not have condemned the innocent.
See Jesus connects this to the reality that the Pharisees live every sabbath. Priests, always work on the Sabbath, and yet there is no condemnation. Jesus was viewed just as any religious teacher - so their standard of judgment was skewed against Him.
But notice the Words: something greater than the temple is here.
The Temple was where people went to be with God. God’s presence among His people. Jesus, God in FLESH, literally tabernacled with His people everywhere He went.
Then he told them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
AMEN!
Such a powerful statement! Why?
Because Jesus says flatly: I AM THE LORD OF THE SABBATH! As Lord of the Sabbath, HE RULES the Sabbath. He can only RULE the Sabbath if He owns the Sabbath. He can only OWN the Sabbath, a DAY OF THE WEEK, if He made the Sabbath.
Jesus says plainly: I am the Lord of the Sabbath, I am not a servant to the Sabbath, and therefore I am innocent.
To the Pharisees the greatest part of the Sabbath was that everyone went to the Temple, or local synagogue. But Jesus is telling them: There is something great here, AND IT IS ME! I am Lord of the Sabbath!
Jump over to the Gospel of Mark, same account:
Then he told them, “The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath.
The Pharisees were all about swing the law like a hammer and trying to nail anyone whom they could strike.
That misses the point completely. Jesus says that the Sabbath was made for man! The Law was in place to serve man. To give man a mandated, holy, day of rest!
The Sabbath rest was intended to protect man from overwork and the idolatry of work!
God gave the sabbath to refresh our souls spiritually and our bodies physically.
An entire day dedicated to do nothing but know Him, meet with Him, enjoy Him, be refreshed by Him.
This is why true worship never exhausts; but FILLS, ENERGIZES, and RECHARGES us for the days ahead!
Which is why you can come to church feeling wore out and leave feeling better!
Brothers and Sisters listen to me, because this is such an important truth:
Neglecting the Lord’s Day = SELF-HARM!
We harm ourselves when we busy ourselves with the world’s pursuits.
We harm ourselves with the work we bring home.
We harm ourselves by starving ourselves spiritually.
We harm ourselves by running our batteries so low.
We harm ourselves by saying _____________ is more important than God.
Instead of harming ourselves, we need to take a lesson from Mary.
She had a sister named Mary, who also sat at the Lord’s feet and was listening to what he said.
We need to spend time RESTING at the feet of Jesus, listening to His word, and partaking in TRUE WORSHIP.
Brothers and sisters, we cannot become hardened to the suffering and the people around us.
God desires FAITHFUL LOVE!
