2023.11.26 Communion Service

Introduction

We have been learning more and more about Jesus as we journey through Matthew’s Gospel. After all of His ministry in the north of Israel, we were shocked to find that the people of these towns did not believe or follow Jesus! Even John the baptist had some doubts about Jesus because He just wasn’t what people were expecting.

But Jesus humbles the proud and raises up the humble, revealing that those who are like children, coming to Jesus in their need, and taking refuge in Him, are the ones who receive the Kingdom of God, not those who think they can please God on their own with their rules and regulations.

Last week, Jesus told to the people around Him about rest. True rest in Him. That their security and their salvation do not depend on their own good works or obedience, and that they can trade the burdensome load on their shoulders for His light and easy yoke. He has done all the work for us. He fulfilled all of God’s laws as the perfectly obedient Son. He has taken away are sins and died for them on the cross. So now, all there is left to do for us is rest in what Jesus has done for us.

Today, Jesus is going to invite us further into rest as we discover again that He is Lord.

Text

Matthew 12:1 ESV

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.

What is the Sabbath?

The Sabbath is God’s day of Rest. God himself rested on the 7th day of creation.

But It doesn’t apply to humans until God brings them out from Egypt. God makes it clear that Israel are no longer slaves. they do no t have to work seven days a week anymore, they are commanded to take one rest day, not only to recover from work, but to worship God and spend time with Him.

And it’s on one of these weekly sabbath days that Jesus and His disciples are walking, and they get hungry. So they went to the edge of a field and starting picking some grain. And if you’ve grown up in the country, you’ve probably snagged an ear of corn in an emergency too.

But now we see the Pharisees, the Jewish leaders, come and accuse them:

Matthew 12:2 ESV

But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.”

First of all, are the disciples breaking the Law?

Harvesting with a scythe was forbidden according to God’s Law. But plucking and rubbing grain by hand was fine, even in someone else’s fields.

But, again, the Pharisees had broadened the definition of harvesting to go far beyond God’s original command and intent. they restricted the sabbath so much, you could barely do anything, even the number of steps you could take were limited.

So the Pharisees try to use the disciples as a way to pull Jesus down. If the disciples are doing this, it must mean their master is evil and teaching them evil. And then they can discredit Jesus and turn everyone against Him.

But, as we know by know, that’s not how challenging Jesus plays out. Let’s see what He has to say:

Matthew 12:3–4 ESV

He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?

Jesus is being sassy. These are experts in the law, they literally know the entire old testament by heart. and Jesus says, “Oh, you must have ever read this part”.

like asking someone who give you unsolicited health advice, “oh, were did you go to med school?”

So Jesus then uses David as an example. And He recounts a story from 1 Samuel:

David was on the run, because Saul, the current king, wanted to kill Him. And one day He and His men arrived at the temple and were starving. So David asked to eat the bread of the presence, which were loaves of bread on the altar that nobody was allowed to eat, except for the priests.

So David broke the law, but was not considered guilty by God because of the circumstance at hand. He was God’s anointed, He was on the run, He was in need and starving. God understood and allowed it.

Jesus is not using David as an excuse. He is also not calling David bad.

Jesus is simply stating that God was okay with David eating the bread of the presence rather than having him die because God loved David, His anointed King, the man after His own Heart.

But Jesus greatest point is this:

If King David and His men can do this and be innocent, How much more can Jesus, who is greater than David, and His disciples?

Jesus gives another example:

Matthew 12:5–6 ESV

Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here.

Priests perform their duties on the Sabbath, but it’s not considered sin. They are working, but they are doing so within the intention of the sabbath. to rest in God! Not idolizing rest.

What is the temple? what is the function of the temple?

The temple is the place where the presence of God is with His people. It is the intersection of Heaven and earth. It is where sacrifices are made and sins are forgiven.

First it was the tabernacle tent in the wilderness

then it was a temple

Now it is Jesus. He is the presence of God, He is the sacrifice for sins, He is the kingdom of Heaven come to earth.

And if the priests can do work on the sabbath as long as it’s in the temple, then Jesus disciples can do work on the sabbath with Jesus, because Jesus is greater then the Temple.

Matthew 12:7–8 ESV

And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

This s the second time Jesus quotes this from Hosea.

And basically, it’s about a Israel, who don’t understand God or His commands. They sin and sin and sin, and then think they can offer sacrifices to make up for it. But they were abusing the system. God wanted obedience, not sacrifices!

In the same way, Jesus says, “you don’t understand the point of the law or the heart of God. You just care about the technicalities of the regulations ad are missing the point!”

“If you really understood God, you would recognize me as the savior! And if you realy understood the sabbath, you would not have turned it into a restrictive burden! If you really understood, you would not have condemned the innocent.

Especially when they are with me. I am the Lord of the Sabbath

God created the sabbath. Only He is Lord of the Sabbath

Jesus Lord of the Sabbath

Jesus is the God of Israel.

Matthew 12:9–10 ESV

He went on from there and entered their synagogue. And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse him.

What is a synagogue

A synagogue is a local house of Jewish worship and teaching. There is only one temple, but there are many Synagogues.

The pharisees try to trap Jesus Himself, not just His disciples.

And again, it does not work out for them.

Matthew 12:11–12 ESV

He said to them, “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

Jesus appeals to common sense. We all should know what work is and isn’t. it’s not just about doing something or extending effort.

The Sabbath is about recovering from work. it’s about trusting God that if you don’t have that extra day of income, God will still provide for you. It’s about taking time to be with God and worshipping.

It’s not about watching your sheep die in order to not offend God. It’s not about letting your house flood because tightening that pipe would be work. Why would that be the point?

And if a sheep is worth saving on the sabbath, How much more is a man worth than a sheep? Like the passed out person in the street who needs Narcan, or your neighbor who needs to be driven to the hospital, or your friend who need a couch lifted into a truck, or this man who has a withered hand.

Matthew 12:13–14 ESV

Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other. But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.

Jesus shows us again that He is God. He is powerful, He is able, He restores, all of that. He is amazing.

But today we understand further that Jesus is Lord over everything.

This scripture was never about the sabbath. It was about Jesus, who is the God of the world. He is the one who created the world and the sabbath and the people ad everything else. And if we fail to see that, we will never understand the things He does or says.

Application

So the question for today isn’t what’s right or wrong on the sabbath. The question is, who is Jesus, to be doing and saying these things?

and the answer is: He is the one. He is the God of Israel who has come to His people. He is the one who not only created rest, but gives that rest to us.

And then we get to see the sabbath in action as Jesus restores this man’s hand.

it is a foreshadowing to the rest We have in Jesus. that on the last day, when He comes back to us, we will be restored as well. And that Just as Israel was led out of their slavery and into rest, Jesus will bring us out of our slavery to sin and lead us into His eternal Kingdom.

He is the one in whom we should hope ad trust. We should believe in Him and follow Him. And we need to reframe our view to see that Everything that Jesus does is good, even if we don’t understand it at first.

God loves us more than He loves the Law

We should Obey the law. The law is good. The law is good for us. The law glorifies God. There is nothing wrong with God’s laws. That’s why Jesus has not gotten rid of them.

But we have to understand that God loves us more than the Law.

If God loved the law more than us, He would have let us all die for breaking it.

But instead, God sends Jesus, the perfect Son, to die for us, so that we would live despite breaking the law.

God Loves us and cares about us more than the technicality of the Law.

Reading

Matthew 12:1–14 ESV

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” He went on from there and entered their synagogue. And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse him. He said to them, “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other. But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.

Confession