Matthew 12:1-14

the guiltless. For the Son of Man is Lord even

of the Sabbath. Now, when he had departed from

there, he went into their synagogue. And behold,

there was a man who had a withered hand, and

they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to hill

on the Sabbath? And they asked him, so that they

might accuse him. Then he said to them, What

man is there among you who has one sheep? And

if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not

lay hold of it and lift it out. Of how much more

value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it

is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. Then he

said to the man, stretch out your hand. And he

stretched it out and it was restored as whole

as the other. Then the Pharisees went out and

plotted against him how they might destroy him.

Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word,

Lord God. It is light. Lord, it is illumination

to the path that you have called us to. Lord,

would you help us this morning? Give us discernment.

Give us understanding and eyes, Lord, that will

see the glory of Christ in this passage. Father,

deliver us from religious hypocrisy. Draw us

closer to you, Lord God. Make us more into your

image. Lord, indeed, we ask this morning that

your face would shine upon us now, Lord, as we

hear from heaven through the preached word. Prepare

soil, prepare horse for this horde. May they

receive it as it is, the word of God and not

the word of man. We ask this in Christ's name,

amen. In February of 2011, Tim Moots, Kenny Barkas

and I had an incredible opportunity to travel

to Israel. We went with Glenn Matthews and a

group that he was hosting there. I remember we

flew out of JFK and we flew on an Israeli airline

called El Al. I think over there is around an

11 -hour flight. I think back was 14, and I could

be a little messed up on my numbers there. But

the trip was pretty amazing. It was eye -opening,

it was inspiring. We're able to walk where the

Son of God once walked. For me, the most emotional

time is when we start in what is known as the

Via Don Rosa, the painful path where Jesus was

forced to carry his cross. And you're walking

in that same path where the Son of God was carrying

his cross. But there are many things that stood

out, but one of the things that stood out that

might seem surprising to you is actually when

we're staying in our hotel and it happened to

be the Sabbath. Now we're in Israel. So Sabbath

is from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday.

During the Sabbath, the hotel elevator automatically

stops on every floor. Now the rest of the week

you may go in and if you're on the fourth floor,

push the button four. It won't stop on every

floor, but not on the Sabbath. it's going to

stop on every floor so that no button would have

to be pushed. Now you may be wondering, why would

they do that? Now the Orthodox do it because

in Exodus 35 verse 3, God said, you shall not

Exodus 35:3

kindle a fire throughout your dwellings on the

Sabbath day. Now you may wonder what does that

have to do with pushing a button on an elevator?

Well again, if you're Orthodox and you're an

ultra conservative Orthodox Jew, they believe

that by touching that elevator button you cause

an electric current to take place, which in essence

is kindling a fire, which then is a violation

of Exodus 35 verse 3. See, in their view, the

Exodus 35:3

prohibition against creating or kindling a fire

extends all the way down to touching an elevator

button. Now you and I might be sitting here this

morning wondering, is that really what God had

intended in the law? No, of course not. But this

same scrupulous attention and detail to the minutiae,

it was there happening in Jesus' day as well.

Every religious leader, scribes and Pharisees,

but the Pharisees were the ultra conservative,

the very Orthodox, and they had developed an

elaborate set of Sabbath rules which they expected

everyone to keep. They had rules about how many

steps you could take before if you took another

one, you would break the Sabbath. Then they even

had rules on what scenarios was okay to help

someone on the Sabbath and what scenario would

it be not okay and you'd have to wait for another

day. Now in our text this morning, Matthew 12,

our Lord is going to reveal the true intention

that lay behind the Sabbath, but even more importantly,

how he fulfills it. Now I've said many times

from behind this pulpit that there are times

when chapter and verse divisions don't make sense.

You have to understand chapter and verse divisions

were not part of the original autographs. In

fact, the Bible you hold in your hands, those

chapter and verse divisions did not come about

until the year 1227. So it's relatively recent.

Now we should be very thankful for them. It's

a great work. But there are times, there are

places when a chapter ends with a break and a

new one begins that I don't think the author

intended for that to be separated right there.

And our text is one of these examples. In chapter

12, out of nowhere, we begin with Jesus getting

into trouble with the Pharisees over the Sabbath.

But as we looked last week, if you look at the

end of chapter 11, I'll have these on the wall,

chapter 11 ended with Jesus issuing a call for

those who were burdened. and weighed down to

come to him for rest. Matthew 11 38. Rest. What's

the Sabbath a day of? Rest. He says if you're

burdened, if you're laboring and are heavy laden.

Now think about who he was speaking to. He was

speaking to all those people who were burdened

and heavy laden with all the extra laws and all

their traditions that the religious leaders had

placed upon them. And in chapter 12, Matthew

seamlessly gives us an example of one of those

heavy burdens that these leaders had placed upon

the people. Now the question in chapter 12, it's

not if the Sabbath matters or not. Of course

it does. It did then. But the question is, what

was God's intention when he gave the Sabbath?

Jesus' offer of rest in chapter 11 is contrasted

with the Pharisees distorted view of rest in

chapter 12. Now look at 11, 28 through 30. I

have it on the wall behind me. Jesus speaking,

very end here. Come to me all you who labor and

are heavy laden, that means burdens are on your

back, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke,

not the leader's yoke, upon you and learn from

me. For I am gentle and lowly in heart, not like

the Pharisees. You will find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light,

contrasted with chapter 12. At that time, Jesus

went throughout the grain fields on the Sabbath.

His disciples were hungry, and they began to

pluck his heads of grain and to eat. The Pharisees,

they're observing him. And when they see what

his disciples were doing, they don't go to the

disciples, they go to Jesus, and they're like,

look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful.

It's what is profaning, what is breaking the

Sabbath. Now, I don't want to defend the Pharisees,

but you have to understand their mindset. They

viewed obedience to the law as loyalty to God,

and they were right. And so when they saw Jesus

and his disciples doing what they thought was

breaking the law, What they thought or assumed

was a violation of it, they were very incensed.

They were aggravated. So now they had zeal. They

had zeal for the law of God. But here's what

had happened. They had built a fence, their own

laws, around God's law in order to keep people

from breaking it. So if God said this, they would

have a standard out here. So even if you broke

that one, at least you wouldn't be breaking God's

law. That was the first intention. But there

was a problem inherent in that philosophy. They

began to elevate their own traditions and rules

as authoritative as God's law. They took what

they said and they raised it to the status of

what God said. So in time, they came to believe

that breaking their laws was the same as if someone

was breaking God's law. And Jesus wasn't going

to stand for any of it because he was the law

giver. Now understand, We need to look back at

the Old Testament. What were the prohibitions

given in the Old Testament concerning the Sabbath?

I mean, this was a big deal in Jesus' time. This

is one of the reasons he gets crucified, by the

way. But surprisingly, if you go back to the

Old Testament, the commands for the Sabbath are

relatively brief. You've got the Decalogue. You've

got the Ten Commandments there in Exodus 20.

Let's just read it, and it's pretty straightforward.

Exodus 20 verse 8. Remember the Sabbath day to

Exodus 20:8

keep it holy. How are you going to do that? Six

days you shall labor, do all your work. But the

seventh day is the Sabbath, or the Shabbat, of

the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work.

Who? You, not your son, not your daughter, not

your male servant, not your female servant, your

animals, not your cattle, not your worker, your

slave, the stranger who's within your gates.

Why not? For in six days the Lord made the heavens

and the earth, the sea and all that is in them,

and he rested the seventh day. Therefore the

Lord blessed the Sabbath day and he hallowed

it. He set it apart as holy. So what do we get

from this one? No regular work is to be done.

You can't work. This is a day of rest, okay?

Move over to Exodus 31. Therefore the children

of Israel shall keep the Sabbath to observe the

Sabbath throughout their generations. Notice

this last phrase, as a perpetual covenant. It

was a covenant sign. between the nation of Israel

and God. This is a sign of their covenant, part

of the Mosaic law. Now, the next place, and this

will be the last one we stop, chapter 35. Then

Moses gathered all the congregation and the children

of Israel together and he said to them, these

are the words which the Lord has commanded you

to do. Work shall be done for six days, but the

seventh day shall be a holy day for you, a Sabbath

of rest to the Lord. Now, whoever does any work

on it, shall be put to death. You shall kindle

no fire throughout your dwellings on the Sabbath

day." So again, we have a reiteration. You don't

get a work on the Sabbath, and there's a little

bit more specificity here. You can't kindle a

fire on that day either. So if we want to sum

up, and just for sake of clarity here and conciseness,

the Old Testament prohibited you could not work.

Do you remember when the children were in the

wilderness in their desert wonderings for 40

years? They could not collect any manna. On the

sixth day, they had to collect twice as much.

On the seventh day, they collected none. They

couldn't kindle a fire. You couldn't harvest.

If it was harvest season, that was the day you

didn't go out to the fields and harvest. No commerce.

You could not buy or sell on that day. You could

not carry burdens that could wait until the next

day. And you were not allowed to treat the Sabbath

as if it were an ordinary day. You couldn't just

go on your business like nothing else was special

about it. So this was a day. designed by God

for Israel to cease from ordinary labor for two

purposes, their bodies and animals needed to

rest, and for worship. Keep that last part in

mind, worship. But by the time of Jesus in Matthew

12, there was this oral tradition known as the

Mishnah that had developed and had grown to play

a huge part in Israel's identity. The Pharisees

now were imposing their own Sabbath regulations

upon the people. These burdens were impossible

to keep. No one could keep them. So they're burdening

the people with a host of rules. Now keep in

mind, I showed you pretty much everything the

Old Testament says about it. It's not quite that

much. But in Matthew 12, the Pharisees have a

long list of rules. So now here's what we find.

The disciples on the Sabbath, they're hungry.

They're walking through a field with some standing

grain that had not been reaped. They plucked

a little bit, crushed it in their hands, and

ate it. The Pharisees looked at them, and they

considered to pluck the grain and to crush it

in your hand is to reap and to thresh. And that

is a violation of the Sabbath. Therefore, in

their mind, Jesus and these disciples cannot

be of God. And they begin to rebuke Jesus. because

he's allowing his followers to do what was unlawful

to do. Now, in reality, they were not defending

God's honor. They were defending and protecting

their own religious system. The disciples had

not broken any of God's laws at this point. People

ate on the Sabbath. There was no prohibition

against plucking a piece of grain and eating

it. But what God had intended for a blessing,

which is the Sabbath, they had turned into a

burden. and Jesus will not bow to them." And

we see his answer, and he is masterful. Listen,

I love to see our Lord in action in this chapter

here. In verses three and four, he said, oh,

so you want to accuse me, huh? Well, you guys

are experts in the law. Let's go back to the

law. Have you not read what David and his men

did when they were hungry, how they entered in

the house of God and they ate the bread of presence,

also known as the sure bread, which was not lawful

for anyone to eat except priests, and yet they

ate it. So these religious leaders, again, what

were they doing? They were going to use God's

law as a weapon. They were using it as a club

to bludgeon others with it. They had missed God's

heart in giving the law. So Jesus, he's going

to take them back to, at first you're like, well,

why is he going there? Because he's so masterful

in this. He takes them to 1 Samuel 21. David

had already been anointed king. Saul hates him,

he's trying to kill him. David has a group of

men with him, and they're on the run from Saul.

These guys are running so much they get hungry.

It's not the Sabbath, excuse me. They do come

to the temple. They come to the house of God,

and you have Ahimelech, the priest, was on duty.

And they're like, hey, listen, we're starving.

Can you give us any food? Ahimelech says, the

only food that I have here is just this bread

of presents, the sure bread. But that can't be

eaten by anyone except priest. Yet, in spite

of the prohibition, Ahimelech, the priest, willingly

gives David and his men this bread of presents

to eat. And the point that Jesus was making was

that the law will yield to mercy. If David and

his men could eat the holy bread out of necessity

and be guiltless, be innocent, then his disciples

could pluck and eat standing grain and not be

guilty of breaking the Sabbath. Now, the Lord

never said the law doesn't matter. Rather, he

was showing the Pharisees how they had misinterpreted

the law. Verse 5. He gives another example. This

one's even more specific. He said, well, if you

think I'm breaking Sabbath, what about your priest?

Don't they work on the Sabbath? I mean, they're

offering sacrifices. God doesn't hold them guilty.

So, here's what, again, just master logic here.

He's showing the Pharisees how inconsistent they

were. If all work that was done on the Sabbath

was forbidden, then the priest who served at

the temple on the Sabbath would be guilty. Because

the law that God gave required daily sacrifices

and daily offerings that had to be made, including

on the day of Sabbath. But so the priest, they

had to offer sacrifice, they had to kindle a

fire. They had to offer sacrifices. And Jesus

said, but yet they don't profane. They're not

violating the Sabbath because their service in

the temple took precedence over Sabbath observance.

The priests, they were innocent because worship

does not break the Sabbath. Worship fulfills

the Sabbath. There were two purposes. You rested

and you worshiped. The purpose of the Sabbath

was never meant to simply stop what you're doing

and just rest. As though we just all need to

lay around in bed. That was never the purpose.

It was meant for worship and to point to the

true rest found in God. And this is the million

dollar point. Now you see why Jesus's statement

in Matthew 11 is so amazing. Come unto me, Jesus

said, and I will give you rest. He didn't say

obey the law. He didn't say do this or that.

He said if you want the true rest that the Sabbath

had always been pointing to, come unto me. I

can give you the true rest that the Sabbath can

only represent. All that the Sabbath was pointing

to was fulfilled in Christ. And this is the point

this morning. Only the Lord Jesus Christ can

offer true rest for your soul because He is the

only one who has been sent by God who is able

to save you. So if the priests are not guilty

and they serve at the temple, how much more innocent

are they who serve Jesus because He's greater

than the temple? Priests can serve at the physical

temple and they're held innocent. So anyone serving

Jesus is even more innocent. Because Jesus is

greater than the temple and that's look at verse

6 and this friends is astounding Yet I say to

you that in this place There is one greater than

the temple This is one of the clearest claims

of deity that Jesus makes He said in his own

words from his own mouth. He's greater than the

temple. Now. What was the temple? It's a center

of Israel's public life. It was the center of

Israel's identity. It was the place of worship

The temple was a place where Jews could go, they

could meet with God, they could have their sins

atoned for, and they could also enjoy God's presence

and have true fellowship with Him. The temple

was at the very heart of Israel's national identity,

and Jesus is standing there and saying, and I'm

greater than that temple. That's amazing. In

John's Gospel, chapter 2, Jesus said, in fact,

I'm the true temple of God. What was the temple

for? It was a place where God met man. Jesus

said, I'm the true temple. I'm the ultimate place

where God meets with man. Now this statement

no doubt got to the Pharisees. It hurt them.

Who did this man, who did Jesus think he was?

How could some man claim to be greater than the

temple? They're indignant. How do you know that?

Verse 14, they went out and plotted against him

how they might kill him. He's a blaster in their

eyes. No way this man's from God. And they wanted

him dead. But Jesus didn't stop. Look at verse

7. He says, but if you knew what this means,

and now he quotes Hosea 6, verse 6, I desire

Hosea 6:6

mercy and not sacrifice, you wouldn't have condemned

the guiltless. He's quoting Hosea 6. Let me give

you the whole verse. I desire mercy and not sacrifice,

and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

Now God was not saying that sacrifices were unimportant.

On the contrary, he's the one who commanded sacrifices

to be offered. So what did Hosea mean when he

wrote that? A true relationship with God is more

important than religious performance. See, the

problem in Hosea's day, get this, was that Israel,

they were going through the motions, they were

offering sacrifices, they were giving their daily

offerings, and yet their hearts were far from

God. They were cold toward God. Plenty of religious

activity. They didn't stop being religious. But

there was no love for God. No heart behind it.

And Jesus is indicting the Pharisees with the

same condemnation. They performed religious duties.

In fact, they were very diligent to do so. But

they hammered others. So they were very good

at keeping what they thought they should be keeping.

But they looked down their noses at other people

who didn't. They failed to show mercy. And there

was no heart for God behind all of their religious

actions. And you say, well, how do you know there's

no heart for God? Jesus said this. They did not

show mercy. Showing mercy is one of the ways

we prove that we know God. Or in other words,

you might say this mercy flows from a real relationship

with God. Micah 6 -8, he summarizes, he says,

and what does the Lord require of you? Three

things, to do justly, love mercy, and to walk

humbly with your God. You do right, you love

mercy, and walk humbly with him. All of our religious

acts, all of your religious acts, they are a

stench in the nostrils of God if they're not

done out of love for God while at the same time

showing mercy to others. God doesn't need it.

In fact, he got tired of the burnt offerings.

He said, it's a stench to me. Stop bringing your

offerings. I don't want it anymore. Now one example

of how they failed to show mercy was in an, it's

a law called Corbin. Corbin was developed by

the religious leaders. It was anything that you

had that you wanted to dedicate to God, you labeled

it Corbin, and then it went to temple use. Now

the scribes and Pharisees, religious leaders

at this time, usually were pretty wealthy. Scribes

were their aristocrats. So they had some means.

And what they were doing, sometimes their parents

were in need. They were poor. And the Pharisees

refused to help them. Now they had the means,

but they refused to because they said, all my

riches are korban. That means dedicated to the

temple. Now what's interesting, I get to use

them while I'm alive. But when I die, now they

go over to the temple use. It's Corbin. Thus,

I can't help you, Mom. I'm sorry, I can't help

you, Dad. These things belong to God. I'm sorry.

Now, I can use them right now, but I can't give

them to you. What did Jesus think of that? Mark

7. Notice how the Pharisees hypocrisy. He said

to them, all too well you reject the commandment

of God. That you may keep your tradition. Do

you see they had elevated their tradition? Because

here's what God's law said, honor your father

and your mother. And if you curse your father

or your mother, let him be put to death. Serious

things to honor mom and dad. But here's what

you say. If a man says to his father or mother,

whatever profit you might have received from

me, now I'm sorry, it's Corbin, that means I

already gave it to God. Then you no longer let

him do anything for his father or his mother.

Now notice verse 13. You make the word of God

of no effect through your tradition, which you

have handed down, and many such things you do.

They thought in their mind we're being really

religious. I mean, they're devoting all that

I have is to God's, it's Corvin. But I can't

help anyone who's in need with it. And Jesus

said, you think that honors God? And the Lord

further angered them. His rhetoric, the Lord

Jesus kept speaking, verse 8. For the Son of

Man is Lord, even of the Sabbath. Whoa. Another

explicit, clear claim to deity. God gave the

Sabbath. It's the fourth law, the tenth commandment.

And Jesus claimed to be Lord of it, which means

Jesus is claiming equality with God. He didn't

abolish the fourth commandment. He claimed authority

over it. He said, since I'm the one who gave

you the Sabbath, I'm the one who can tell you

what to do and how the Sabbath should be honored

and observed. Now friends, if they want to kill

him before, they really want to kill him now.

Now they got what he was saying. Again, it's

why in verse 14 they're like, this guy's got

to die. And later on that same day, They follow

him. There's another confrontation. They move

from a private setting to a public one, the synagogue.

Look at verses 9 to 13. They'll be on the wall.

I'm not, for time's sake, I'm not going to reread

it. We read it earlier. But that's when they

go into the synagogue and there's a man there

who has a withered hand. And the Pharisees want

to trap Jesus and they're like, hey Jesus, can

you heal on the Sabbath? Jesus then answers them.

Let's pick the confrontation up. So we're moving

from private to a public setting. They're in

the synagogue. Apparently they follow him there.

Still the Sabbath same day and gathered in their

midst as a man with a withered hand Now we might

think well, okay, but this was a big deal at

that time Since he had a withered hand and labor

was manual. He would have been unemployable His

family would have suffered economically this

man and his family would have if he had a family

would have been suffering Now the Pharisee saw

this man and they asked Jesus a question But

they're not asking in good faith. It tells you

it was designed to trip him up that they might

accuse him. They needed something that they could

nail him with. Is it lawful, Jesus, to heal on

the Sabbath? Now aren't they supposed to be the

ones that love this day? They're weaponizing

the day. They're supposed to be leaders, examples

to the flock. You see here their cold, dark heart.

So this man is suffering and they're not moved

at all by his suffering. He was simply a pawn

in their game in an attempt to trap the Lord.

That's it. Now let me just state the obvious.

You do not want to get into a debate with the

Son of God. He wins every time. He does it here.

Now Jesus, I love this, he doesn't immediately

say, yes, it's lawful to heal. But he doesn't

say, no, it's not lawful to heal. He said, okay,

I've got a question for you. Which one of you

all has a sheep, one sheep, and it falls into

a ditch or falls into a pit, and that day happens

to be on the Sabbath? Do you not go and lift

that sheep out of the pit? And the implied answer

is, of course they do. What are you going to

do if one of your animals falls into a pit? Are

you going to wait until this Sabbath is over

and leave that animal sitting there in that pit?

Or are you going to reach down and get out immediately?

Now Jesus knows the answer. He had seen this

happen. And by the way, it is okay to do so.

Of course they're going to go get their animal

out immediately. And Jesus argues from the lesser

to the greater. of how much more value, then,

is this man, withered hand and all, than a sheep?

Now he answers the question. It is lawful to

do good on the Sabbath. Basically, if you would

rescue some dumb sheep on the Sabbath, how much

more valuable are those who have been created

in the image of God? If you're going to help

your animal out, how are you going to go help

this man? How cold must your heart be? Again,

the Sabbath was not a do -nothing type of day.

It was a day where they found delight in God

and were to do what honors Him. This is what

made Jesus mad. He says it's always right to

do good, even and especially if it's a Sabbath.

Look at verse 13. He said to the man, stretch

out your hand. And he stretched it out. and it

was restored as whole as the other. Jesus healed

this man with his word. No medical procedure

needed. There's no work. Jesus didn't do surgery.

He said, stretch it out. This is another proof.

Friends, this is another proof. Matthew is writing

about the kingdom. This is another proof that

the kingdom of God had come. Why? The lame was

being made whole. He's restoring what was broken.

Jesus brought wholeness to this man. The Lord

had come to restore all that sin had broken.

He had come to bring shalom, peace, or wholeness

back to the creation and we see this here. And

this is what we don't want to miss this morning.

Christ ensures, the Lord Jesus Christ ensures

that the brokenness of this world is not permanent.

Right now we do see children get cancer and we

see godly people die and suffer and we see all

kinds of things, but that's not permanent. Christ

ensures that what is broken will be made whole

one day. And this healing here, it's a preview

of what life in the coming kingdom will be like.

There'll be no withered hands. There'll be no

lameness. There'll be no blindness. All will

be made whole and perfect when God brings the

kingdom when he returns. Now you would think

the Pharisees like they would fall on their faces

in repentance, like we're so sorry. Oh my goodness,

did you see what Jesus did? By His word, He makes

the withered hand whole. Verse 14. They went

out and plotted against Him how they might destroy

Him. It's killing. It's too dangerous. Here's

the irony here. Those who claim to care about

Sabbath keeping broke the Sabbath by plotting

to murder the Son of God. It's the highest of

honor. See, their hypocrisy knows no bounds.

In these Pharisees, you start to see something.

We talk about the depravity of the human heart,

how depraved is mankind. Look at the Pharisees.

Here's depravity cloaked, robed in religious

garments. They were willing to kill God's son

because he wouldn't follow their man -made rules.

That was it. And friends, let's not miss the

big picture here. What's the point of Matthew

in writing this down and recording it for us?

What does God want us to know? This passage reveals

God's heart. God has a heart that moves toward

human need and moves toward human suffering.

You should not walk away from this passage thinking,

well, the Sabbath doesn't matter. That's not

the point. Nor should you walk away thinking,

well, God will accept me only if I get the rules

right. Only if I follow X, Y, and Z perfectly.

That's not the point. Rather, Matthew 12 is showing

something much bigger. Jesus is Lord. Jesus is

Lord of the Sabbath. Jesus is Lord of the law.

He's Lord of the commandments. But even more

importantly, Jesus did not come to crush sinners.

He did not come to crush them and lay more heavy

burdens on them so that they might be accepted

before God. Instead, what did Jesus say? I came

to give rest to weary souls. I came to bring

mercy to a world that deserves condemnation.

This world, friends, you and I, we deserve to

be condemned. We are Sabbath breakers. We are

law breakers. And what did the law of Moses say?

Those who break it deserve to die. We deserve

condemnation, but Jesus did not came to condemn

he came to save And he still offers rest Come

to me he says all you who are heavy who labor

and are heavy -laden And I will give you rest

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me For I'm

gentle the Son of God is gentle. I'm lowly in

heart I love this next phrase, and you will find

rest for your soul. He doesn't offer physical

rest, but if you're weary and you're struggling,

he says you can have rest. That noise in your

soul can be silenced. The Sabbath was never friends

intended to focus on a day. It was always pointing

to a person. Don't miss that. The Sabbath was

given so that we might see Christ. It was born

toward Him. And this is what I would say as we

close. The same one who healed this man's hand

is the same one who went to the cross for sinners,

who suffered, who died, was buried, and rose

again the third day. And according to the Word

of God, He still saves all those who will call

upon His worthy name. This is the point of Matthew

12. This is the God that we serve. This is the

Savior with whom we commune. He gave his life

for us, friends. Let us live our lives for him.

Let's close in word of prayer. Father, I'm thankful,

Lord, for your word this morning. It's rich,

Lord. It's so very rich. It nourishes our soul.

God, we start to see who Jesus really is. This

offer of rest, it's wonderful, Lord. And there's

no limitations to those who are weary. burdened

downed, tired of trying to jump through the hoops.

Jesus extends his hands and says, come to me

and I will give you rest for your soul. Lord,

I don't know those who have gathered here this

morning. Perhaps there are some who has a tremendous

noise in their soul. Their soul is not at rest.

They're weary. Would they know they've done wrong?

They've broken your holy law. They're away from

you. And Jesus said if they will come to him,

he will receive them and give them rest. Lord,

would you awaken them to their need this morning

and to the solution? Bring them to Jesus that

he might save them. Lord, we're so very thankful

that God, by your spirit, you draw sinners to

yourself. Lord, continue to do so. Draw sinners

to the bleeding side of Christ and in his atonement

may they find true soul satisfaction. Do this

to the glory and honor of your son's name. It's

in that worthy name we pray, amen. This morning,

we had the privilege of celebrating both sacraments,

baptism and communions we do every Lord's Day.