"Lord of the Sabbath" Matthew 12a Jul 21 2024

Greeting and Scripture Reading

Good morning

Today, we’re in Matthew 12

Here are the words of Jesus

Matthew 12:6–8 ESV

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.”

(Pray…)

Illustration and Message

Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations (5003 Jesus’ Example of Rest)

Edwin R. Roberts of Princeton Seminary once sat under a pastor who concluded his announcements by saying, “I am not going to take a vacation this summer; because the devil never does!”

Roberts went home and re-read the Gospels to see how Jesus felt about rest. He found that during the three-year ministry of Jesus, there were mentioned 10 periods of rest for Jesus! In addition, his nightly rest, his times of being alone, and his sabbath rests.

A few weeks later, Dr. Roberts sat down with the pastor and said, “I recall your comments after your sermon about not taking a vacation, because the devil never does.” “That’s right,” said the pastor. “I need to keep working because the devil does.”

“Well I have one question,” said Dr. Roberts. “Whose example are you following?Jesus, or the devil’s?”

[Edited]

God designed us to rest

He even commanded us to rest

Today, we’re going to look at the Sabbath rest - and what it means for us

Matthew 12 starts off with two short stories about Jesus and the Pharisees

Matthew 12 is the first time we see Jesus actually encounter the Pharisees

Before this encounter - we saw that:

John the Baptist dealt with the Pharisees

Jesus talked about them

And in Chapter 9, the Pharisees confronted the disciples of Jesus

But this is the first time we read about a direct encounter with Jesus and the Pharisees

And Matthew 12 starts off with two stories about Jesus and the Pharisees in the context of the Sabbath

In this first story, the Pharisees confront Jesus - that his disciples might be breaking the Law

Verse 9 goes right into the next story

These are classic examples of the Pharisees trying to use their own logic to outsmart and trick Jesus

I went through the NT and identified the various strategies the Pharisees used against Jesus

Judging Jesus / referring to their proof texts - in connection to the works of Jesus and essentially saying, “That’s not lawful to do on the Sabbath”

Blatant false accusations - “He casts out demons by the prince of demons”

Calling Jesus out - “Show us a sign”

Trying to trick, test, or trap Jesus

All of these tactics were ultimately made to trap him

Think about it - these tactics are the same tactics the world uses against Christians

They will accuse you and condemn you

They’ll try to trick you or trap you

They will call you out

They will sometimes even try to use scripture on you

Jesus was the greatest apologist -

He knew Scripture

You could never win an argument & you could never trap Jesus in your logic

In most cases, Jesus would answer their question with a question which always caught them off guard

He was always several steps in front of them

They often were left to be more foolish once Jesus was done with them

Today, we’re going to look at two stories in Matt 12

Both of them center around the Sabbath

I want us first to look at the law of the Sabbath and what it was - of all the encounters with Jesus and the Pharisees, the Sabbath was a big issue with them

The Pharisees had made a bid deal of about the Sabbath

They thought, “Jesus claims to be so perfect - but if we can just catch him breaking the law of the Sabbath, we can prove he’s a phony and not the Messiah.”

Here is how Israel received Sabbath instructions from the Lord:

In the Ten Commandments, God commanded his people

Exodus 20:8–11 ESV

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep 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, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

That’s it. Keep the Sabbath holy

Do all your work for six days

But do no work on the seventh day - and no one within your sphere of influence can work

God created everything, but rested on the seventh day

So the Israelites were to rest by his example

That’s it - that’s the Sabbath

The Pharisees came along and said, “Well what exactly is ‘work’?”

The Pharisees then added their own laws on top of the Sabbath Law - they took the Law about resting, and made into work

They outlined 39 specific rules to what exactly work is.

Out of the list of 39, I have seven of them:

1. Carrying

2. Writing

3. Cooking

4. Washing

5. Sewing

6. Tying a knot

7. Untying a knot

They added 39 rules to the Sabbath God gave his people

Instead of resting - they made it about rules and burdens - that God never gave

The Pharisees were self-appointed

We don’t see them in the OT

They came along during the intertestamental period

[“We’re finally going to be the ones to follow the rules”]

Let me just pause and make the point - you and I are no longer bound by the Mosaic Law and we are no longer bound by the Sabbath Law

If you have your own practical way of resting once a week - and you dedicate that day to the Lord on your own - that’s wonderful

I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that everyone here is in their Sabbath part of their life [Preaching at a senior facility]

However you look at it - God does not want us to treat the Sabbath in a legalistic way

Because if you think in a legalistic way, that we are under that Law - then you need to follow it to the letter

Here’s another place in Exodus where we find the Sabbath:

Exodus 35:2 ESV

Six days work shall be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death.

Be careful about what you’re legalistic about

In one sense, it’s actually hard to rest

We have it built into us (most of us) to work

Did you know - that in the garden, the Lord never actually commanded Adam to work?

He told them to be fruitful and multiply

And to subdue the earth - and have dominion over every living thing

He commanded him which tree to not eat from

But he never commanded Adam to work - he “purposed” him to work

Genesis 2:15 ESV

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

He created us to be workers

It’s built into us to work - that’s why laziness is a great sin in the Bible

It’s hard to rest - resting is like grace - it’s a time we don’t have to do anything, but rest and receive

Deep down, there is part of us that doesn’t like grace, because we want to make it about ourselves and add to what Jesus did for us

At the center of the good news of the gospel - is that Jesus did it all for us

We want to make ourselves acceptable - but the gospel tells us we are already acceptable

Our faith makes us acceptable

Grace is a hard concept for us to swallow!

[Someone holds the door for you…]

The Bible says that God set the example for the Sabbath - because he rested on the seventh day - and he made it holy

God rested, so the Israelites rested

But think about it - God never actually needs to rest

In a sense, he really rested for our benefit

If God can rest, I need to

And here’s the main point of the Sabbath:

Resting on the Sabbath pointed us to Jesus

Colossians 2:16–17 ESV

Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.

He is our rest - he is our substance

But God knew it would be a challenge for us to rest - he set the example and rested from his work

God set the example of how to rest in Jesus - right there in the 4th commandment

If you want to be a Christian, you have to rest in Jesus

Matthew 11:28–30 ESV

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

These words are so soothing to our souls - so comforting - but coming to Jesus goes against our grain

We’re like the Pharisees! We want to add rules - we want to take the gospel and make a religion out of it

The pinnacle of Christian maturity is to drop our self-effort and completely trust in the Lord

And then serve him in response to what he’s done for us

And to serve him on his strength, not ours

What a sin it is to resist this concept and to add our own work

And the Pharisees came along and took this beautiful Law

They come face-to-face with the true Substance of the Sabbath - Jesus himself

They took the concept of rest -

And twisted the meaning

They thought they had caught the disciples in the act of doing something wrong

They weren’t trying to work - they were just hungry

That’s why Jesus quoted from Hosea

The Pharisees thought they were pleasing God with their sacrifices

“How dare your disciples just help themselves like that!”

But God cares more that we are merciful

The Stories

Let’s look at the stories in this passage…the first 14 verses of Matt 12

Our first story begins - It’s the Sabbath day - the camera fades-in to Jesus - walking through the grainfields with his disciples

It says they were hungry and they began to pluck heads of grain

As they did this, they plucked off the edible part and ate it

They were not working - they were eating

They were not farmers, harvesting their crops for sale at the marketplace - they were eating

And out of nowhere - the Pharisees show up and confront Jesus

“Look at your disciples! What they are doing is not lawful on the Sabbath.”

This was their accusation: that the disciples were breaking the Sabbath law

They were also trying to trap Jesus

The implication:

“Can’t you keep your disciples under control?? They are breaking the law - and you are complicit because you are allowing it.”

In their minds, Jesus’ honor was at stake

They could care less about how hungry the disciples were

They were trying to get at Jesus and judge him by their own standards

And what does Jesus do when they ask him that? He asks them questions about scripture and sets them straight

He says:

“Remember when David entered the tabernacle - and ate the the bread of Presence, which was only for the priests?”

“And what about the priests who technically broke the Law when they worked in the temple on the Sabbath?”

And then Jesus said, “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.”

In other words - you’re missing the bigger picture

“Something greater than the temple is here”

Your technicalities of the Law should never supersede the greater good for a righteous person

David was starving - he wasn’t trying to disobey the Lord

The priests were doing their duties in the temple on Sabbath day

And then Jesus quotes from the Prophet Hosea, “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice”

The Pharisees had made all their work about sacrifices - and striving to keep the Law

The next story starts in verse 9

Luke says this was a different Sabbath day

The scene cuts to Jesus - he’s in a synagogue

Luke adds that he was teaching there

While they’re in the synagogue, the camera cuts to a man sitting there - and it zooms down to his hand - it’s deformed and useless

It’s paralyzed - probably from birth - and unfortunately, it’s very obvious

He probably did his best to hide it his whole life

I imagine a close-up of the face of Jesus -

He’s standing there, teaching

And he is noticing the man and his hand

Then the scene cuts to the Pharisees who are observing all of this interaction going on

And the Pharisees ask Jesus another question

Incidentally, the Bible spells out their motive in verse 10: “so that they might accuse him”

They ask, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?

If Jesus says, “yes,” then he admits it’s okay to break the Sabbath Law

If he says, “no,” then he admits that he lacks compassion

I love his response - our Lord answers their question with a question:

“Suppose one of you, who owns a sheep, were to watch that sheep fall into a pit - but it happens to be on the Sabbath. Will you not take hold of it and lift it out?

And then he makes two powerful declarations:

“How much more valuable is a man than a sheep!”

“Therefore, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

I love how the Gospel of Mark puts it, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

I can imagine beautiful music beginning to play in this scene - Jesus simply says the words, “Stretch out your hand.” And he healed him.

The Bible says his hand became restored and healthy, like his other hand

I can imagine a close-up of both the man’s hands as his one hand is completely restored like the other

Jesus accomplished a lot in these stories:

He showed compassion to his disciples and to the man

He showed us the purpose of the Sabbath was not to make it about a list of rules - and that it’s okay to do good

He declared he is the Lord of the Sabbath, and we find our rest in him

What Jesus is saying to the Pharisees is that they made the Law all about following rules

Jesus is saying, I want you to place your faith in me - not just follow a list of rules

Is your faith in Jesus? Or in a set of rules?

As Christians, we are under grace, not the Law

But it’s that grace which enables us to obey the Lord

Obeying Christ is the extension of your love for him

Demonstration

(Approach my wife twice -

first, out of love and concern for her - see if she’s okay

second time - cold, and out of duty because I ought to as a husband)

Closing

Did you catch the difference?

Which one was out of love? Which one was out of duty and sacrifice?

Do you see? How the first time, I was just resting in my love for her

I didn’t approach her out of obligation - I approached out of love

Think for a moment - How do you approach God?

The Pharisees felt an obligation - and they tried to impose that on all of Israel

Here’s my point in all of this:

It’s easy for us to point fingers at the Pharisees and their legalism

But I want to ask you: when are the times you are legalistic?

When are the times you’re like the Pharisees?

Has your faith in Jesus become a faith in a set of rules?

The Sabbath Law was meant for us to honor the Lord - it was meant to illustrate his holiness

But God also wanted his people to show mercy and compassion on others out of our love for the Lord

There are 613 separate Levitical laws - but I bet everyone is familiar with the Sabbath Law

Why is that?

God’s master-plan was for us to be so familiar with how to rest on the Sabbath, that we would be able to rest in the Lord of the Sabbath

The “resting” part points to Jesus

Jesus is our rest

When you fully rest in Jesus - you are able to say that Jesus did it all, not me

Stop striving in the flesh to be better

Stop trying to be a better Christian

Allow your love for the Lord to motivate you to be more merciful and compassionate

I’m saying: don’t strive hard on your own effort

Realize it’s his righteousness in the first place

Don’t produce fruit - allow the Holy Spirit to produce fruit through you

Pray about it everyday - ask the Lord how to rest in him

You are a new creature in Christ - the old is gone, the new is here!

Jesus did it ALL - he paid it ALL

As we close - I want you to just rest in Christ - and rest in the fact that he did it all for you...

(pray…)

Communion

Matthew 26:26–28 ESV

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Luke 22:19–20 ESV

And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 ESV

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.