One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and his disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels. 2
Some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” 3
Jesus answered them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4
He entered the house of God, and taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.” 5
Then Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” 6
On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled. 7
The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. 8
But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Get up and stand in front of everyone.” So he got up and stood there. 9
Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” 10
He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was completely restored. 11
But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.
Great amounts of ink have been spilled discussing the ‘real’ problem with the Pharisees and often this passage and others concerning Sabbath Day issues are brought
forward as exhibit A. I think the Jewish world was much more complicated than our reductionistic conclusions allow and there may be much more to it than is often suggested. However, what is interesting is the quick jump in our day to accuse people of legalism.
I must issue a warning as we begin: Legalism is the belief that what I do, my own personal morality is enough to gain favor with God. In essence, I save myself, because I am good enough. Whether or not that was THE issue for the Pharisees I will leave for
another time. What I do think is important is that we are very careful throwing that word around. A legalist is NOT a Christian. To accuse someone of being a legalist is to assign them a place under the wrath and judgment of God. Because such judgments belong
only TO God, perhaps it would be best for us to leave such a “label” alone.
However, it does seem that many Christians have litmus tests as to what constitutes a “real Christian” or a “serious Christian” that are nothing more than personal
preferences treated as though they are God’s law. I have listened to Christian folks make judgments about the spirituality of other believers saying things like or making judgments by the following:
*They drink alcohol, or, they DON’T drink alcohol.
*They only have two children…
*They allow their kids to believe in Santa Claus.
*They don’t home school.
*They use birth control.
*They go trick or treating.
*She has a job outside the home.
*He didn’t vote Republican.
*She is not even Reformed.
*They don’t have daily quiet time every single day.
I am not judging the intentions of these folks. However, it seems that although God has built a fence for us in His Word of protection and blessing, we worry that
God needs our help in such matters and so we build a fence around God’s fence and possibly even a fence around THAT one! Slowly, over time, we begin to treat OUR fence as if it IS God’s fence and we even begin defending it as if it were! But often the more
the rules pile up, the more ridiculous they get and the more oppressive they become in both their number and their content; oppressive to us, to our children and to everyone that we seek to foist them upon. Rules that don’t even make sense. Rules that are
made just to be made, but then embraced as if they are the very heart of the gospel! And the unbeliever or the backslidden believer, or even the Christian seeking to be faithful but who is struggling with life, looks at this and wants nothing to do with it…something
is out of place.
The Pharisees see the disciples plucking heads of grain in someone’s field and all the alarms start going off. To pluck grain in the field of another was not a violation
of God’s law. In fact, in DT 23 there is positive permission to do so. The problem was that they did this on the Sabbath which was considered by the Pharisees, reaping and reaping on the Sabbath was one of the 39 areas of work that the Rabbis had expressly
forbidden. Jesus comes to the defense of His disciples by reminding the questioners of David’s actions with regard to the showbread in the temple. Jesus is telling them that David broke with liturgical provision to provide food for his men and his actions
were not condemned by God or Holy Scripture.
Jesus then declares that He, the Son of Man, is the Lord of the Sabbath. He is the one who rightly interprets the Sabbath. He is the one who has authority
to determine what the purpose and therefore appropriate activities are for the Holy Day. His behavior is THE guide for keeping the Sabbath holy.
It was allowed by the Rabbis to heal on the Sabbath if life were in danger, but if life were not in danger, then it was a violation. The man in our text with the shriveled
hand had obviously been like this for a while and was not in danger of death. Jesus could have easily waited until the next day, but of course He didn’t, and that is the point. Jesus healed the man…He did good…He brought blessing…He brought life and rejoicing
to the man…and they hated him fiercely for it.
We will encounter a number of times Jesus is expressing doing things on the Sabbath that would upset the Jewish leadership. From these Sabbath confrontations we learn
a number of things from Jesus’ example.
First, we often read that Jesus was in the synagogue on the Sabbath Day as was His custom (Luke 4:16) In other words, Jesus was faithful to attend church! The Sabbath
Day is a day of worship with the people of God. The Lord set aside one day a week to meet with His people, to feed His people, to teach His people and to listen to His people. Much more could be said about that but space does not permit but to underscore that
worship is the bedrock of the Sabbath and subsequently the Christian Lord’s Day.
Second, Jesus’ taught that the Sabbath Day was a day for healing, it was a ‘life-giving’ day. The Pharisees spent their time with lists of what “could not be done”
because the day was holy. Jesus spent His time, using the Sabbath as a gift, a blessing to give people hope and joy. The man in our text is a wonderful example of Sabbath purpose.
Third, when the Bible says that we should “rest” on this day, Jesus’ example would lead us to a very different understanding of what it means to “rest”. When we are
called to rest, it doesn’t mean inactivity or doing as little as possible. It means rest from what occupies your other 6 days, work and toil for your livelihood (Exodus 20, Dt. 5) and joyfully give yourself to those activities that picture and bring the reality
of God’s eternal rest, (the New Heavens and the New Earth) into the present day. (Hebrews 4) Eternity will be filled with celebration, good food and drink, great fellowship and rejoicing. Conversations about the mighty works of God and the blessings our Father
has lavished upon us! FILL your day with those things. Worship, celebration, rejoicing, singing, prayer, conversation and good, really good food! There is an exhaustion that may come from good Sabbath rest…a holy exhaustion that is the result of a day well
lived!
Look at the life of Jesus and what He said about and what He did on the Sabbath day. The holy day was filled with fellowship with those who were rejoicing in the
grace of God that Jesus had brought to them. He spent time with sinners speaking to them about the glories of the Kingdom. He was in the homes of people enjoying a good meal and edifying conversation. We find him doing good on the Sabbath day, showing compassion
and love, mercy and kindness.
Do you think that we could find even one Christian who would say that in his or her life there is simply too much compassion, kindness, love and mercy….too much good
conversation with their brothers and sisters…too much edifying fellowship that strengthens their resolve to live for Jesus? Do you think you could find one person that could in all honesty say, “I don’t need a day for this because I have far too much of Jesus
already”? This is what Jesus is driving at. The joy had been lost…It was made to be a burden, instead of a day of rejoicing, a drudgery instead of a celebration, the hardest most difficult day of the week, instead of the best and most anticipated.
The Jews of Jesus’ day did do one thing correctly: they understood that this holy-day was supposed to set them apart from those who did not have the Lord as their
God. It was and is to be an identifying marker for God’s people. But the Pharisees commended the Lord to no one by their actions. The world should look in at the celebrations, the joy, the peace, the rest, the mercy, the fellowship and the love and be overwhelmed
at a people who, regardless of circumstance, are the most happy and joyful people they know!
Prayer: Father, all my days are gifts from You, but especially the Lord’s Day. Help me to see it as a gift and to fill it with the realities of eternity. Help me
to never see it as a burden but to embrace it as a day of hope, celebration and rejoicing. May my Sabbath Days be filled with the Christ and give me nourishment and strength to live all my days for the One who ever lives for me, through Jesus Christ my Lord,
Amen.
Hymn: Lord of the Sabbath, Hear Us Pray (click, show more, for the lyrics. Sing loud so you can drown out those singing in the video!)