Life of Christ 17

Introduction

Jesus is in the middle of demonstrating His authority over the Sabbath

The Sabbath was the most important aspect of the pharisees (Every legalist has their thing)

Jesus is first demonstrated is authority by healing a paralytic man on the Sabbath

You can not teach about the Pharisees without teaching about legalism

Look for the marks of legalism as we go through this passage

We are going to cover two more times in which Jesus demonstrates that He is Lord over the Sabbath

The Plucking of Grain -

Deuteronomy 23:25 ESV

If you go into your neighbor’s standing grain, you may pluck the ears with your hand, but you shall not put a sickle to your neighbor’s standing grain.

Mark of Legalism #1 - The Pharisees Ignored God’s Word

Application:

Abuse of Church discipline

Lack of kindness (Among pastors)

Humility

Pick and choose verses - Look for people who do that

v1-2 - By Command

v3-5 - By Example

Example 1 - David and the Bread of Presence

Leviticus 24:5–9 ESV

“You shall take fine flour and bake twelve loaves from it; two tenths of an ephah shall be in each loaf. And you shall set them in two piles, six in a pile, on the table of pure gold before the Lord. And you shall put pure frankincense on each pile, that it may go with the bread as a memorial portion as a food offering to the Lord. Every Sabbath day Aaron shall arrange it before the Lord regularly; it is from the people of Israel as a covenant forever. And it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place, since it is for him a most holy portion out of the Lord’s food offerings, a perpetual due.”

What does the letter of the law say? - That it was for the High Priest and his sons

What does the spirit of the law say? - This is about worship

Legalists typically lack spiritual common sense

1 Samuel

1 Samuel 21:4–6 ESV

And the priest answered David, “I have no common bread on hand, but there is holy bread—if the young men have kept themselves from women.” And David answered the priest, “Truly women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition. The vessels of the young men are holy even when it is an ordinary journey. How much more today will their vessels be holy?” So the priest gave him the holy bread, for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence, which is removed from before the Lord, to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away.

Let look at Mark’s account

Mark 2:27–28 ESV

And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

Mark of Legalist #2 - They turn Blessings into Burdens

The Purpose of the Sabbath was to benefit man - A Day of Rest

The Pharisees turned it into a religious burden

What ways can we turn a blessing of God’s into a burden in the church?

Over the top attendance requirement

Unrealistic expectations

Others?

If anything dealing with Jesus (service, church, business) that becomes a burden - Legalism has touched it

Example #2 -The Preists

v5

The Priests work on the Sabbath

The Pastor works on Sunday

Working for worship

Mark #3 - The Pharisee Misses the Big Picture - Jesus - v6

Watch some legalistic sermons on youtube - They will not even mention Jesus

Mark #4 - The Pharisee Place Ritual over Righteousness (7-8)

This was considered an insult - Go and learn

Rules are not more Important than righteousness

Righteousness is more proactive - Love, kindness, unity - Not avoiding specific “sins”

The Healing of the Withered Hand - v9-14

Same day - picture it - the pharisees are following Jesus and probably hounding Him along he way

v9-11

Mark #5 - The Pharisees Live in Hypocrisy

The rules that they hold so valuable are not for them but for others

Mark #6 - The Pharisees Did not Value People

v12

I have seen this time and time again - The legalist does not care about who they hurt - They usually believe their opinions must be expressed, their rules must be followed regardless of who they step on

You Love Jesus - You Love People

Can not be seperated

And you will place people and relationships at the top of the list

Mark #7 - The Pharisees Create a Polarized Environment

v13-14

There is coming a point where Jesus is called a demon

They simply can’t disagree and they certainly are not going to consider that they might be wrong

In their minds, Jesus must die

What is the opposite of legalism? Grace

Why is our nation so polarized? A lot of legalism and no grace

Legalism leads to pride, anger, division, backbiting, selfish ambition, rigidness, bitterness, and jealousy

Grace leads to forgiveness, kindness, hope, vision, patience, longsuffering, unity, and compassion