The Sabbath

This morning we are finishing our series titled Criticizing Jesus: The Words of Jesus. In this five-week series we will look at the criticisms Jesus faced during his ministry. What does each criticism reveal about Jesus’s character, priorities, authority, and mission?

If you look at the Gospels you can find a number of time that Jesus faced criticism from the Pharisees, from scribes, from Herodians, from Romans, even from members of his own family.

Last week we look at at time when Jesus was so called hang out with the wrong group of people. The Pharisees did not like the fact that Jesus was seating and eating with Tax collectors. This Jesus went against everything they thought was right. Jesus could have reposed by saying it’s none of your busy what I do. But instead he say I didn’t come the righteous but for the sinners Mark 2:17. We can something be like the Pharisees we can push out people that are different from us. We can not go near people of people because we are scared of them. Jesus did care about that they did or who they were. He still loved them and show who he was to them. Where to you fit into this? On the side of Jesus or the Pharisees.

This morning with our last criticism what we will be looking. We will again be in Mark 2. Just a few verse lower. If you have our bible go head an turn to Mark 2:23-3:6. if you do not have your bible you can follow along on the screen in a few moments.

Before we loo at today verse I have a question for you. So think for a moment.

When was the last time you did something for someone else?

We leave in a world were we mostly worry about ourself and no one else.

When a society is dominated by laws and rules that meticulously lay out exactly how you are to act, and even when you are to act certain ways, it can create a culture of fear.

The world Jesus entered was one in which rules governed every aspect of life: what you ate, what types of clothes you could wear, whom you associated with, when you were allowed to work, and when you were required to rest.

Mark 2:23–3:6 CSB

23 On the Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and his disciples began to make their way, picking some heads of grain. 24 The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” 25 He said to them, “Have you never read what David and those who were with him did when he was in need and hungry— 26 how he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest and ate the bread of the Presence—which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests—and also gave some to his companions?” 27 Then he told them, “The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. 28 So then, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” 1 Jesus entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a shriveled hand. 2 In order to accuse him, they were watching him closely to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath. 3 He told the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand before us.” 4 Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. 5 After looking around at them with anger, he was grieved at the hardness of their hearts and told the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 Immediately the Pharisees went out and started plotting with the Herodians against him, how they might kill him.

Jesus was a dispurter

Jesus was a disrupter, and so, unsurprisingly, he received criticism throughout his ministry.

In Mark 2, Jesus and his disciples are walking through the grainfields, and as they walk they pluck heads of grain to eat. The Pharisees see this, and because this action is classified as “work” on a day when no work is to be done, they ask Jesus, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” Also on the Sabbath, Jesus enters a synagogue and sees a man who has a “withered hand” there. The congregants watch Jesus intently to see what he will do. So intense is their scrutiny that Jesus feels compelled to defend his actions (Mark 3:4). The criticism comes down to the behavior of Jesus and his disciple on that sacred day known as the Sabbath. They are guilty of working on a day in which no work should be performed.

The Sabbath was a special day

The Sabbath is more than a day; it is a commandment by God to rest from our labors. It is, in fact, one of the Ten Commandments, with a history rooted in creation (Genesis 2:2; Exodus 20:8).

So, unlike some of the other criticisms Jesus faced, this one is rooted in Scripture, and again, we don’t want to be too critical of the critics. In the history of the church, there have been other times when people fixated on just a couple of verses, even commands by God in Scripture, to the exclusion of other verses in Scripture.

That’s the case here: a system was built up defining what was permissible and not permissible on the Sabbath, and since it’s part of the law (some of which was biblical commandment and some of which was human tradition), obedience was not just expected but required. In their eyes, Jesus was failing to maintain the very basic obedience to the Ten Commandments and the traditions based on the Sabbath commandment

We must observe the Sabbath

Both in his actions that bring the criticism and in his response, Jesus again teaches us something about God. God wants us to observe the Sabbath. Never once in these moments did Jesus demonstrate a disrespect for the Sabbath or teach disobedience to it. There are no instances of him working as a carpenter on the Sabbath, but rather, we see a typical Sabbath experience: worship in the synagogue or going for a walk. The only difference is that when Jesus encounters someone suffering, he doesn’t use the Sabbath as an excuse to not help them. God made it clear that the law is summed up by the double commands to love God with all our being and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:30–31). In his actions in Mark 2 and 3, Jesus shows us exactly what that looks like: someone who loves God by practicing the Sabbath and yet is willing to heal someone or provide food for someone who is hungry on the Sabbath.

Jesus shows you that the laws should encourage you to treat others well

The most important rule of our faith is to love God and love our

neighbors as ourselves.

As this series comes to a conclusion, it’s good for us to remember that Jesus’s ultimate response to criticism was entering into death. What was the criticism?

The criticism was directed at God, and it’s the criticism we are guilty of whenever we sin; it’s our way of telling God that we think we know what’s best for our life. And Jesus’s response to that criticism was to enter this world, take on flesh, live the life that doesn’t criticize God through sin, and instead die on the cross so that we can be forgiven and live eternally with God. As Jesus hung on that cross and declared forgiveness (Luke 23:34), we see the ultimate response to criticism: a demonstration of grace for all of the critics assembled that day