What Jesus Said
Son of Man-Lord of the Sabbath
Sunday, March 3, 2024
Welcome:
Call to Worship Philippians 2: 5-11 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
The Ten Commandments call us to Honor the Sabbath.
How do you view the Sabbath?
Is it a day you look forward to in your week? Do you see it as a gift and privilege to have a day set aside to rest from all that you do in the week? Do you see it as a joy to be able to worship your King and a time to be refreshed and renewed? A time to gather and be encouraged with the saints?
Or is it one more obligation on your already busy calendar? Is it something you do in action only, but you don’t engage your heart? Your mind isn’t at rest. Your body is here, but your thoughts are on the many other things you need to be doing.
Is it because you were told to go to church that brings you here? Youth are with us today you might be here because your parents said, this is what we do on Sundays-we go to church and we honor the Sabbath. Maybe even some adults still have that carry-over because their parents told you this is what you do on Sundays.
But why did God give us this command? Did He do it just to instill more rules in our lives? Some might believe so. But that’s not the heart of our God. Every command He gives comes from His love for us and His wisdom in knowing what we truly need to live in peace, to live joyfully, and free from the weight of burdens of this world. God’s commands are not to steal our joy, but to fill us with joy; not to create added stress to our lives, but to bring simplicity, order, and peace.
If we only focus on the rules themselves; we miss the gift that lies within when we honor His commands; we miss the love from which these commands were created; and we miss living according to the Spirit of the law, which is God's calling us learn, grow, and mature in holiness so we foster the highest good for humanity, His creation, in this world. He calls us to love Him and to love others and live according to the Spirit of the Law meaning respecting human needs and providing for them. If we don’t love God and allow His love to fill us to overflow so we can love others, we just look at the rules themselves and can be tempted to use them in judgment. We use them as a means to portray the outward appearance of being righteous without any transformation of our hearts.. If we don’t have love as our guide we have no care about the condition of others hearts and the burdens they carry. God through His Spirit, is calling us to repentance or a turning away from sin and seeking His holiness.
This latter part is a huge reason we are called to honor the Sabbath so we can receive mercy and compassion from our Father as He examines the condition of our hearts and reminds us to extend mercy and compassion to others. This is the healing our hearts desperately need that following rules alone will never offer. We need to look at the true condition of our heart that becomes sick from despair, worry, fear, shame, and regret. This is what Jesus was talking about when He said, “It’s not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I haven’t come for the righteous, but the sinner.”
We need the Great Physician, and if you understand that and see the Sabbath as a gift and a remedy to what makes you sick in this world, then you are surely blessed!
This is my hope for all of us, that we are not Christians who merely come to church because we were told to, or because it seems like a good thing to do. Let us be children of God who see the Sabbath as a time of refuge and refreshing and who come to worship not out of obligation, but a seeking heart that longs for the healing touch of the Father and the strength that comes in gathering with the Body.
As we continue in our series of What Jesus Said, let’s take a look at what Jesus says about the Sabbath and heed the Spirit of the Law He was trying to impart to the Pharisees whose hardened hearts would not receive. Let us hear the heart of our Lord this morning.
Mark 2: 23-28 NIV
23 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. 24 The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”
25 He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? 26 In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.”
27 Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
- Uphold the Spirit of the Law.
The Pharisees were all about the rules or the Law, so much so that they added to the 10 commandments hundreds more laws for Israel to follow. They loved to enforce the law so much they failed to remember why the law was created in the first place; which was to bring about the highest good in mankind, not to oppress their fellow brothers and sisters.
We do need structure and a path to show us what is good; to keep order- so having laws and rules is good and necessary not to the extent it becomes the passion of someone to seek out ways to condemn another for breaking the law. This was the Pharisee's heart and they lorded over Israel their righteousness and loved to point out when someone fell short.
In this encounter we see Jesus and His disciples walking along a field. They were hungry so they gleaned some heads of grain and rubbed the grains in their hands so they could eat a snack. Why would this be called unlawful by the Pharisees?
The Pharisees were hunting for something, anything, to call Jesus and His followers on that would be breaking the law. They called the plucking of the grain, “work” and no one was permitted to work on the Sabbath.
However, let’s take a look at what God’s law said about such activity.
Deuteronomy 23:25 If you enter your neighbor’s grainfield, you may pick kernels with your hands, but you must not put a sickle to their standing grain.
The disciples were not harvesting as work; they were merely gathering a snack to satisfy a need they had physical hunger. There was a human need that needed to be met. The act was lawful to do.
Jesus reminded the Pharisees of the time David, on the run from Saul, who wanted him dead, came upon the priest and he and his men were hungry. They needed food and the only thing available was the consecrated bread set before the Lord. Most days, it would not be bread he could eat. In this case, the priest conceded because he understood the Spirit of the Law is more important than the law itself. He understood a servant of the Lord needed nourishment-there was a human need to be met.
Jesus was also calling the Pharisees out by saying “Have you never read…” He was saying in all your study of the Scriptures, you never came across this scroll that talked about this encounter where a need was met out of compassion over holding strictly to the law?
Mark 2: 25-26 25 He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? 26 In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.”
Before we are quick to judge another, let us make sure we know the Word in the full context lest we look foolish like the Pharisees did.
Jesus was questioned more than once about what is lawful to do on the Sabbath or not.
Matthew 12: 9-12 9 Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, 10 and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”
Jesus’ response: tying into last week’s message about seeking out and rescuing the lost sheep-
11 He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”
The Gospel of Luke records this exchange also of Jesus’ healing the man’s hand and Luke expands on Jesus’ response:
Luke 6:9 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?”
This is knowing and upholding the Spirit of the Law. Are we creating burdens for others and keeping them shackled in their sin or suffering, but we justify it by saying we are upholding the law? Or are we showing mercy, and compassion, and truly helping others find their healing and freedom in Christ? I believe the latter is what Jesus wants us to understand and follow.
- Sabbath is Not a Burden, but a Privilege.
We can look at this from two perspectives- our view of the Sabbath and how we honor it and rejoice in it for ourselves; and from how we help and encourage others to find Sabbath rest in Jesus.
Another time Jesus showed mercy on a woman who had been crippled and bent over for 18 years and He called her forward in front of everyone and said you are set free from your infirmity. She was released from that bondage of suffering and immediately straightened up-fully healed. He did this on the Sabbath so the Pharisees were not pleased. Just take that in for a moment religious leaders entrusted to care for the sheep- were not pleased when a woman who suffered for so long- was set free and healed, why? Because of the day it took place.
Luke 13: 14-16 14 Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.”
15 The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? 16 Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”
Jesus was saying, you pride yourselves in saying you are sons of Abraham yet you have no faith to recognize all the prophecies point to Me, the Messiah; and yet you neglect a daughter of Abraham who suffers greatly and instead of rejoicing when she has been set free, you would rather she stay in oppression because you want to appear righteous by upholding the Law.
In the Gospel of Matthew, the same encounter with the plucking of grain to eat was recorded. Matthew captured these additional words from Jesus:
Matthew 12: 6-7 6 I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. 7 If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.
The disciples were hungry and merely filling that physical need. Where is your mercy spiritual leaders? It’s your mercy towards His people God responds to over any sacrifice you can put before Him.
We too must be merciful when we look upon others in their need. We are not to create more burdens for others; the load is far too heavy as it is in this world. It’s mercy that remembers and says, you are loved always; take my hand, and we’ll get through this together. It’s mercy that says, I have been there too friend, you’ll get through this and you’re not alone. It’s mercy that offers no judgment for what is, but instead offers grace and hope and healing for someone’s deeply troubled heart. It’s mercy that says, come to church because you need to know my Jesus and there is a family you can lean on; there is a strength you can’t find on your own and there is eternal hope. Come and sit by me and just rest from all the pressures you are facing.
This is what Jesus was saying to the Pharisees about the Spirit of the Law regarding the Sabbath.
Mark 2: 27 Then he said to them, The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
God did not design the Sabbath to be a burden; let us not make it one for ourselves or anyone else.
We need the Sabbath. We need Jesus.
- Jesus is the Sabbath.
Mark 2:28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.
Jesus is supreme and Lord over all things, including the Sabbath. Jesus is our Sabbath, for in Him we live, and move, and have our being. In Him, we find peace.
John 14:27 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
We come to Jesus and find rest as we gaze upon Him. This is how we rest look upon His face full of love, compassion, and mercy, and we place all our cares in His faithful hands knowing He will never fail us. We rest in the promises of God’s Word and speak them over our trials and fears and we say, I trust You, Jesus. This is how we remain in or come back to His peace and Sabbath rest.
Let us close this message with this truth:
Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Conclusion: The Sabbath was established by our Father as a blessing and privilege to rest from our labors, and to rest in Him. Let us honor this sacred time with thanksgiving in our hearts. Let us live according to the Spirit of the Law, always to the highest good of humanity over ceremonial regulations.
Let’s pray:
Communion: Today on the Sabbath, we have the great privilege of sharing in Holy Communion together. As Christians, we have this gift of releasing our burdens and cares to Jesus, freely repenting of our sins and seeking the forgiveness of our Gracious Father who loves us, and by faith having our hearts cleansed and renewed by faith in the shedding of His blood. If you don’t have Christ as your Savior, you don’t understand what a precious gift He has given us; you don’t understand the depths of love displayed so we can be called children of God-ones who have been redeemed from sin through the spotless blood of the lamb; and because we are God’s children, we have the most precious gift of Sabbath rest truly found in our relationship with Christ our Savior.
But if you have received Christ as your Savior, you know how powerful this sacrament is and why we take time to remember with humility and thanksgiving.
If you’re here today and have never received Jesus as Your Lord and Savior, let’s do that now. Don’t wait any longer. Don’t go through the motions or sit on the sidelines. Drink from the Living Water and know the love of the Father. It is revealed through the sacrifice of His Son, for you.
Sinner’s Prayer: all others take a moment to get your hearts right God-seek forgiveness, and give thanks.
Luke 22: 19-20 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you
Pray
Final Blessing: Romans 15: 5-6 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
