As Jesus and his followers upon a Sabbath morn
Were walking by a wheat field they plucked the ears of corn.
They plucked it, they rubbed it, they blew the husks away,
Which grieved the pious pharisees upon the Sabbath day.
And Jesus said, “A riddle…answer if you can,
Was man made for the Sabbath or Sabbath made for man?”
Robert Graves – written over 100 years ago
BIG QUESTION – “Am I doing it right?”
- Fear – Keeps us off the dance floor, mess created fixing the mortar on my steps
- Confidence – “I am doing it right!” – load dishwasher, right way to drive
- Confident to Critical “Are they doing it right?”
The Setting:
Mark 2:23–24 23 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. (Deut. 23:25) 24 The Pharisees said to him, “Look, WHY are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”
Pharisees: In Matthew – hypocritical (15x) In Mark – hypercritical
- (Mk. 2:7) Critical of Jesus – Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
- (Mk. 2:16) Critical of Jesus’ Company – Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
- (Mk. 2:18) Critical of Jesus’ Disciples – How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?”
- (Mk. 2:24) Critical again… – The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”
The Source:
Why are the Pharisees acting like this? – they knew their Bible & were devoted to God…
5x in Leviticus – “be holy, because I am holy”
I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. –Leviticus 11:44
Holy – unique, pure, having superior moral qualities, sacred, set apart, dedicated in service to God
This led them to ruthlessly pursue moral purity and abstain from anything (or anyone) impure…and this would especially apply to the Sabbath…why?
God made the Sabbath holy…
3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. -Genesis 2:3
God commanded that it be kept holy…
8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” -Exodus 20:8 (4th Commandment)
Is there anything you are protective of? They were protective of the Sabbath!
The actions of Jesus’ disciples were a legitimate shock to their system! It was wrong!
The Pharisees were so good at being good, they knew their bible and were devoted to God…but they were hypercritical…and not so good towards others…Me too!
Story: Yelling at my daughter Harper when she was filling out the Yahtzee score wrong
Understanding the source of their critical attitudes, Jesus’ response comes to life:
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.” – Mark 2:25–26
Jesus doesn’t say…
- the Pharisees got the commandment wrong
- What David did was lawful
…but hints at something greater than the law/Sabbath for those hungry and in need
What if there is something greater than just “getting it right”?
The Solution:
Mark 2:27 27 Then he said to them… (3 things)
1. The Sabbath was made for man… (v.27)
God made the Sabbath for you! It’s a gift! But what is it?
Sabbath (Shabbat – שָׁבָּת) meaning – to rest, to cease, to stop
Exodus talks about this in the command God gave to the Israelites about the Sabbath…
On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. Exodus 20:10-11
I love this picture of who it benefits. So why is this a gift?
Story: Practicing the Sabbath (The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry)
“[on Sabbath] …something happens about halfway through the day, something hard to put language to. It’s like my soul catches up to my body.” -John Mark Comer
“I like the family we are when we practice Sabbath.” -Amanda
Have you noticed a longing inside of you that the rhythms of the world don’t satisfy?
Through the Sabbath we learn to move from:
- Striving to Ceasing
- Achieving to Receiving
- Stress to Rest
- Compulsion to Communion
Could you use more of that in your life? The Sabbath was made for man (you)…
2. Not man for the Sabbath… (v.27)
In Jesus’ day the practice of the sabbath was very religious.
Only a few commands in the Bible (keep the Sabbath, don’t work, don’t kindle a fire)
But a mountain of rabbinic restrictions were created to help one get closer to God
Their context vs. our context (opposite today)
Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. -Col. 2:16
Did you know…as a Christian you are under no obligation to observe the Sabbath. (Rom 14, Gal 4:10, Col. 2:16, Heb 4)
“But this is what we are most at a loss about: that you professing to be pious, and supposing yourselves better than others, are not in any particular separated from them, and do not alter your mode of living from the nations, in that you observe no festivals or sabbaths, and do not have the rite of circumcision.” – Justin Martyr’s Dialogue with Trypho the Jew (mid 2nd century)
These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. -Col. 2:17
This applies beyond the Sabbath…
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. -Romans 8:1-4
The old way is spelled…DO The new way is spelled…DONE
You were not made to serve the Sabbath…you were made for Jesus Christ!
3. The Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath. (v.28)
Lord – the one over all (> greater than symbol)
Hebrews – Jesus > Angels, Moses, is the greater High Priest, brought the greater covenant between man and God, is the greater sacrifice
Hebrews 4 – Jesus is the greater rest
Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith. Now we who have believed enter that rest… –Hebrews 4:1-3
There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest… Hebrews 4:9-11
Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath…
Have you found your rest in Jesus? (yoke is easy…burden is light Mt. 11:30)
The poem from the beginning of the sermon, there is more to it…
I do not love the Sabbath, the soapsuds and the starch,
The troops of solemn people who to Salvation march.
I take my book, I take my stick on the Sabbath day,
In woody nooks and valleys I hide myself away.
To ponder there in quiet God’s Universal Plan,
Resolved that church and Sabbath were never made for man.
Robert Graves – The Boy Out of Church
June 1918 from The Patchwork Flag (when he was 23)
Story: Harper
- Song “At the Cross, Love Ran Red” Harper started crying
- Pastor Matt Rampey spoke of our sin
- H articulated how this was the first time she connected with God on a heart level.
- Saying she knew what he did for her with her head but not her heart, until tonight.
- Felt like during last song “is he worthy” she understood why people raise their hands and really praise.
- She was overwhelmed with gratitude and with sorrow over her sin.
- Said it felt different and was so beautiful.
The Pharisees approach to sin was preventative…Jesus’ approach to sin was redemptive.
The Pharisees looked down on sinners…Jesus looked for them.
The Pharisees gave themselves fully to getting it right…Jesus gave himself fully so we could rest in His righteousness.
Am I getting it right? Is Jesus Lord of your Sabbath today?