Lord of the Sabbath

All right, as we come to the Word of God this morning, we're continuing on.

The story of Jesus is told by Luke.

If you have your Bible with you, you can open it up to Luke.

And we are just getting into chapter 6.

Last Sunday we heard about how the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were accusing Jesus and his disciples of being immoral, gluttons, and drunkards.

After they went to a party hosted by Levi, the self-righteous Pharisees asked Jesus,

How come you and your disciples are not fasting like we are?

And we heard Jesus explain how fasting was inappropriate because this was a time for feasting and celebration.

God is doing something new and wonderful.

The bridegroom is here. He used a wedding analogy.

And so the old way of things, which routine fasting was part of, must give way to the new way of things,

to the celebration, to the feast which Jesus is bringing in.

Well, next Luke wants to tell us about another issue where Jesus found himself at odds with the Pharisees.

And it's the challenging issue of the Sabbath and keeping the Sabbath.

Luke starts by telling us about a memorable incident.

In chapter 6, verse 1,

One Sabbath, Jesus was going through the grain fields,

and his disciples began to pick some heads of grain,

rub them in their hands, and eat the kernels.

Some of the Pharisees asked,

Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?

Now, some of you might be quite familiar with the whole idea of the Sabbath,

if you've read through the Bible or heard sermons or teaching on it.

But for some of you, this may be altogether unfamiliar.

It may be new.

So we're going to just unpack it a little bit.

What is the Sabbath?

The word Sabbath comes from the Hebrew word meaning to rest or to cease.

And it's first mentioned in the Bible all the way back in the days of Moses.

And the Exodus.

God instructed the children of Israel in those days to cease from their work

and rest on the seventh day of every week.

And so the seventh day of the week came to be called the Sabbath day.

It's also worth mentioning that there were some other Sabbath days

that were connected with some of the annual festivals and remembrances.

So it's not just the weekly Sabbath,

but the weekly one is the main one that's in view in our passage today.

Keeping the Sabbath day holy or special was one of the ten commandments

that God gave the Israelites at Mount Sinai.

Back in Exodus chapter 20, God said this.

Exodus 20 · chapter mention

He said,

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.

Six days you shall labor and do all your work.

But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.

On it you shall not do any work,

neither you nor your son or daughter,

nor your male or female servant,

nor your animals,

nor any foreigner residing in your towns.

For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth,

the sea and all that is in them,

but he rested on the seventh day.

Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day

and made it holy.

And so for thousands of years since then,

it was the practice of faithful Jews to abstain from work

and rest on the seventh day of the week.

And for Jews back then,

days were counted from sunset to sunset.

And so for the purpose of the Sabbath,

Jews even still today in Israel

mark it from sunset to sunset.

And so technically speaking,

the seventh day of the week,

the Sabbath goes from Friday at sundown

to Saturday at sundown.

It was commanded by God to be a full 24 hours

of ceasing from regular work

and of resting to the Lord.

It's also worth mentioning here

that it's the only ceremonial or ritual commandment

of the Ten Commandments.

The other nine have to do with

how they were to relate to God,

how they were to relate to one another,

to their fellow man.

But this one has to do with

how they were to live differently

on a particular day of the week.

As we go through the story of Israel

in the Old Testament,

there's a number of notable instances

in which the Israelites blatantly

disregarded God's commandment

regarding the Sabbath.

And as you can imagine,

that angered God.

I mean, how do you feel

when, for those of you who are parents,

your child knows full well

what you ask them to do,

and yet they do the very opposite

in defiance.

Much later in the story of Israel,

this blatant defiance

is cited as one of the reasons

for why God brought punishment

on the people of Israel.

They ignored the commandment

regarding the Sabbath,

and they treated it

like it was just

one of all the other days

among many of the other wicked things

that they did.

And so God brought disaster

on them

and sent them into captivity

to Babylon.

But now,

centuries later,

the Jews are back in their land.

The cities have been rebuilt.

The temple of God

has been rebuilt

in Jerusalem.

And now,

many of the Jews

have gone too far

the other way.

Instead of blatant disregard

for the Sabbath,

there's now this

hyper-legalistic obsession

with rule-keeping

regarding the Sabbath.

It's almost as if

they wanted to ensure

that they never went back

to profaning the Sabbath

like their forefathers did.

And so they incorporated

all these

extra-religious rules

that in a sense

erect a fence

around the commandment

so that you can't even

get close

to breaking

the commandment.

We want to ensure

nobody ever breaks it

again.

John MacArthur,

a preacher from the States

and pastor,

in one of his commentaries

has described really well

what this kind of

Sabbath-keeping

had become

in the days of Jesus.

and so I'm just going

to actually quote

a longer passage

from one of his sermons

because it's just

so well-written.

He writes,

over the ensuing

15 centuries

from the time of Moses

to the ministry

of Jesus,

the Sabbath

accumulated

a vast number

of additional

rabbinic rules

and restrictions

which made observing

the seventh day

an overpowering burden.

No less than

24 chapters

of the Talmud

the central text

of rabbinic Judaism

focus on

Sabbath regulations

meticulously

detailing

the almost

innumerable

specifics

of what constituted

acceptable behavior.

Almost no area

of life

was spared

from the Sabbath

regulations

of the rabbis.

There were laws

about wine,

honey,

milk,

spitting,

writing,

and getting

dirt off

of clothes.

Anything

that might be

contrived as work

was forbidden.

Thus,

on a Sabbath,

scribes

could not

carry their pens,

tailors

their needles,

or students

their books.

To do so

might tempt them

to work

on the Sabbath.

For that matter,

carrying anything

heavier than a dried fig

was forbidden.

And if the object

in question

had been picked up

in a public place,

it could only be

set down

in a private place.

If the object

were tossed

into the air,

it had to be caught

with the same hand.

To catch it

with the other hand

was constituted

as work,

and therefore

would be a violation

of the Sabbath.

No insects

could be killed.

No candle

or flame

could be lit

or extinguished.

Nothing

could be bought

or sold.

No bathing

was allowed

since water

might spill

onto the floor

and accidentally

wash it.

No furniture

could be moved

inside the house

since it might

create ruts

in the dirt floor

and thereby

constitute plowing.

An egg

could not even

be boiled

if all one did

was to place it

in the hot desert sand.

A radish

could not be left

in salt

because it would

become a pickle.

And pickling

constituted work.

Sick people

were only allowed

enough treatment

to keep them

alive.

Any medical

treatment

that improved

their condition

was considered

work

and therefore

prohibited.

It was not even

permissible for women

to look in the mirror

since they might

be tempted

to pull out

any gray hairs

they spotted.

Nor were they

allowed to wear

jewelry

since jewelry

weighs more

than a dried fig.

Other activities

that were banned

on the Sabbath

included

washing clothes,

dyeing wool,

shearing sheep,

spinning wool,

tying or untying

a knot,

sowing seed,

plowing a field,

reaping a harvest,

binding sheaves,

threshing wheat,

grinding flour,

kneading dough,

hunting a deer,

or preparing

its meat.

One of the more

interesting restrictions,

says MacArthur,

related to

the distance

that people

could travel

on the Sabbath.

a person

was not allowed

to travel

more than

3,000 feet

from home

or

they actually

didn't have feet

back then

so they measured

into steps.

1,999 steps

is all you're allowed

and of course

they chose that number

because 2,000

was really the number

but let's just set

the bar back

just one step

just in case,

you know.

And due to

practical concerns

the rabbis

devised creative ways

to get around this

so if you placed

food at the

3,000 foot point

before the

Sabbath began

then that point

was considered

an extension

of your home

which would allow

you another

3,000 feet

beyond that.

Or if a rope

or piece of wood

was placed across

a narrow street

or alley

it would be

considered a doorway

and it would make

part of one's home

connected to

the next building

or the next person's

home which would

allow the 3,000 feet

to kind of be

outside of that.

And apparently

even in modern times

Jewish neighborhoods

are connecting

houses together

using these cords

and ropes

known as

irav

and doing so

from the perspective

of rabbinic law

creates a single home

out of every

connected building

allowing people

to move freely

within the defined

area without being

limited to that

3,000 foot restriction

so that they can

carry certain

household items

like keys,

medicine,

strollers,

canes,

and babies.

The man-made

traditions

writes MacArthur

perpetuated by

the Pharisees

and scribes

clearly placed

a crushing

weight

on the people.

Now I thought

that sounds

ridiculous

that sounds

extreme

is that how

it really was?

So I had to

look up some

of these things

and sure enough

they are in

the Jewish

Talmud

and the Mishnah

to that degree

and it's worth

noting that the

Pharisees didn't

see all these

add-ons as

optional.

Like if you

break these

rules

you are working

on the Sabbath.

You are leaving

home on the

Sabbath.

You're sinning

against God.

You're breaking

his commandments

and if you

keep these

rules

if you keep

all these

things

then that's

righteousness.

That's what

pleases God.

So it's like

they came up

out of the

ditch of

blatantly

ignoring the

Sabbath

and they went

right off

the other

side

into the

ditch

of

a

legalistic

self-righteous

man-made

religious

striving.

And so this

gives us some

understanding of

the Sabbath

and why the

Pharisees would

say something

like this

to Jesus

and his

disciples.

I mean here

they are

they're out

on a walk

having a

stroll on

the Sabbath

day.

They're

presumably

hungry

which is

why they

started

just you

know

grabbing

some

grain

gleaning

it from

the field

and the

Pharisees

it seems

were lurking

nearby

and keeping

a close

eye on

them

and they

see them

pick those

heads of

grain

oh

that's

that's

harvesting

they're

harvesting

they see

them rubbing

it between

their hands

oh

that's

threshing

that's

that's

food

preparation

right there

they're

working

on the

Sabbath

day

why are

you doing

what is

unlawful

on the

Sabbath

well how

does

Jesus

respond

to this

verse

three

Jesus

answered

them

have

you

never

read

what

David

did

when

he

and

his

companions

were

hungry

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

now

this

response

of

Jesus

is

very

difficult

to

understand

we

all

understand

intuitively

that

it's

Jesus

arguing

back

against

what

the

Pharisees

are

saying

but

how

does

this

argument

work

what

is

Jesus

point

another

commentator

John

Nolan

put it

this way

he said

there's

no

shortage

of

suggestions

about

how

this

argument

operates

but

consensus

has

remained

elusive

he goes

on in

his

commentary

to list

five

different

explanations

for how

for what

this means

that Jesus

said

how this

argument

works

and then

he says

the list

is not

complete

there's

some

I

didn't

put

in

why

is

this

such

a

difficult

answer

first

of all

Jesus

uses

a

rhetorical

question

referring

to an

Old

Testament

event

which

kind

of

implies

he's

making

a

statement

but

what

is

that

statement

what

is

he

saying

to

the

Pharisees

second

Jesus

refers

to

King

David's

story

from

1st

Samuel

chapter

21

verse

1

to

9

and

David's

fleeing

from

King

Saul

in

that

passage

who's

trying

to

kill

him

even

though

he's

done

nothing

wrong

David

lies

to

the

priest

and

says

the

king

sent

me

on

a

mission

when

in

fact

he

hasn't

and

so

it

kind

of

raises

some

of

these

questions

of

well

was

David

acting

rightly

in

that

situation

or

was

he

acting

out

of

fear

then

there's

the

tabernacle

regulations

that

Jesus

refers

to

in

this

argument

it

all

revolves

around

specific

regulations

at

the

tabernacle

which

was

like

the

set

up

and

take

down

temple

that

the

Israelites

had

and

one

of

the

things

at

the

tabernacle

was

this

consecrated

bread

they

were

to

put

out

fresh

bread

12

loaves

of

it

in

the

holy

area

every

Sabbath

day

and

they

had

to

change

it

each

week

on

the

Sabbath

and

Jesus

basically

says

well

this

consecrated

bread

was

meant

only

for

priests

and

yet

the

priest

gave

it

to

David

and

David

ate

it

which

was

not

lawful

for

him

to

do

so

it

pushes

us

to

this

big

question

of

well

was

David

justified

in

eating

this

bread

or

not

I

mean

Jesus

states

that

it

was

unlawful

even

more

strongly

we

see

in

the

gospel

of

Matthew

and

yet

David

wasn't

condemned

God

didn't

punish

him

there

was

nothing

of

that

so

was

this

an

exception

of

mercy

all

of

that

pushes

us

even

further

into

this

ethical

discussion

does

mercy

sometimes

necessitate

breaking

commandments

are

some

commandments

are

some

commandments

limited

in scope

and

can be

set

aside

when it

comes into

conflict

with a

greater

one

and

then

at

the

end

of

all

that

we

have

to

figure

out

how

does

that

apply

to

Jesus

and

his

disciples

right

now

who

are

gleaning

in

the

field

is

Jesus

suggesting

that

they

can

do

what

is

unlawful

without

guilt

just

like

David

did

or

is

he

saying

something

to

the

effect

of

you

Pharisees

you

wouldn't

apply

your

legalistic

Sabbath

rules

to

King

David

and

condemn

him

even

though

technically

he

broke

the

law

but

you're

now

applying

it

to

us

here

and

now

even

though

technically

we

haven't

broken

God's

command

to keep

the

Sabbath

only

broken

your

man-made

rules

about

the

Sabbath

we

could

go

on

here

but

I

think

you

get

the

point

this

is

not

an

easy

thing

of

Jesus

to

understand

and

I

spent

hours

on

this

studying

reading

and

I'll

be

honest

I

do

not

know

how

this

argument

from

the

story

of

David

works

and

what

Jesus

meant

by

it

but

there

are

some

things

that

are

clear

that

Jesus

said

after

this

and

we're

going to

focus

on

that

this

morning

in the

gospel

of

Matthew

there's

more

that

Jesus

said

that

we

hear

of

Matthew

Matthew 12:5

chapter

12

verse

5

Jesus

goes

on

with

a

second

example

he

says

haven't

you

read

in

the

law

that

the

priests

on

Sabbath

duty

in

the

temple

desecrate

the

Sabbath

and

yet

are

innocent

this

one's

a little

clearer

the

priests

were

commanded

to offer

sacrifices

and to

change

the

bread

among

other

things

on

the

Sabbath

so

they

were

commanded

by

God

to

do

their

duties

to

work

on

the

Sabbath

despite

the

fourth

commandment

and

in

doing

so

Jesus

said

they're

innocent

they're

not

breaking

it

and

so

maybe

we

need

to

adjust

our

understanding

of

the

scope

of

God's

commandments

or

be

open

to

the

possibility

that

one

commandment

at

times

may

trump

another

if

the

two

seem

to

be

in

conflict

next

we

also

notice

in

Matthew's

gospel

Jesus

said

this

he

said

if

you

had

known

what

these

words

mean

I

desire

mercy

not

sacrifice

you

would

not

have

condemned

the

innocent

he

says

this

to

the

Pharisees

here

and

this

quote

is

I

desire

mercy

not

sacrifice

is

something

God

said

through

the

prophet

of

Hosea

long

ago

so

Jesus

himself

says

that

he

and

his

disciples

are

innocent

this

is

Jesus

verdict

right

here

we're

not

breaking

the

Sabbath

command

that's

not

what

it

was

intended

to

to

mean

we're

not

we're

not

they

haven't

failed

to

keep

the

Sabbath

day

holy

just

because

they're

picking

grain

and

eating

the

kernels

!

while

walking

along

regardless

of

what the

Pharisees

think

this

is

the

verdict

of

Jesus

they

are

innocent

maybe

they've

broken

the

man-made

religious

rules

of

the

Sabbath

but

they

haven't

in

God's

eyes

done

any

wrong

and

these

words

I

desire

mercy

not

sacrifice

seem

to be

really

key

and

powerful

in this

situation

there's

two

words

there

mercy

and

sacrifice

one

of

these

words

describes

the

outward

behavior

the

ritual

the

ceremony

the

other

describes

the

heart

in

other

words

Israel

long

ago

and the

Pharisees

now

missed

the

heart

behind

the

law

they

missed

the

very

heart

of

the

Sabbath

commandment

they

transformed

what was

intended

by God

as a

gift

to rest

and refresh

into

something

utterly

burdensome

another

religious

obligation

like

quick

we gotta

you know

get home

and we gotta

tie the

ropes

between our

houses

so that

we can

go back

and forth

between

our

houses

tomorrow

without

having to

count

steps

or

hurry

if we

don't

set the

food

out

near

the

edge

of the

property

we

won't

have

enough

steps

to

make

it

to

grandma's

house

tomorrow

to check

in

on her

like

that's

not

the

kind

of

life

that

God

intended

for

his

people

when

he

gave

that

commandment

that's

not

the

kind

of

relationship

that

he

had

in

mind

for

them

that's

heartless

man-made

religion

and

rule

following

that's

the

sacrifice

that

God

doesn't

want

I

desire

mercy

not

sacrifice

God

wants

a

relationship

with

us

characterized

by

mercy

by

compassion

by

loving

kindness

he

doesn't

want

mere

lip

service

or

heartless

ritual

observance

this

comes

out

especially

with

what

Mark

reports

in

his

gospel

each

one

of

them

saw

or

took

note

of

a

different

thing

Jesus

said

Mark

Mark 2:27

chapter

2

verse

27

then

Jesus

said

to

them

the

Sabbath

was

made

for

man

not

man

for

the

Sabbath

God

didn't

make

human

beings

because

there was

an important

day

that needed

to be

kept

holy

and he

needed

some

people

to keep

it

holy

rather

he

instituted

the

Sabbath

day

as a

benefit

for the

people

that he

had

created

as a

gift

a

needed

day

to rest

and

spiritually

a

day

to

cease

from

strivings

and

remember

that

God

is

our

provider

think

of it

this

way

do

you

like

holidays

I

like

holidays

even

the

word

comes

from

holy

day

meaning

special

day

a day

set

apart

from

the

rest

where

we

all

take

a

break

and

we

enjoy

relationship

we

go

out

and

enjoy

God's

creation

or

we

go

visit

family

or

we

sleep

in

or

we

do

some

recreational

activity

we

have

a

nap

whatever

now

imagine

that

you

lived

in

a

society

where

there

were

no

holidays

no

days

off

ever

everybody

works

seven

days

a

week

and

the

only

days

you

get

off

are

if

you're

too

ill

to

work

so

as

God

set

up

his

covenant

law

with

the

Sabbath

was

like

God

saying

you

guys

have

been

slaves

all

your

lives

you've

been

working

seven

days

a

week

with

no

break

and

now

you're

free

and

as

we

do

this

now

as

you

are

my

people

and

I

am

your

God

I'm

not

just

going

to

give

you

three

holidays

a

year

or

even

just

one

a

month

I'm

going

to

give

you

a

holiday

every

week

at

the

end

of

the

week

a

day

off

a

day

to