The Good Lord of the Sabbath: Mark 2:23-28

Introduction

Jesus throughout the book of Mark has several altercations with Pharisees and religious leaders of His day. He was irreconcilable with their traditions and a threat to their influence. In the text we will look at in this time of Bible Study, we will see one of those altercations, which centers on the topic of the Sabbath. Keeping the Sabbath is the fourth commandment and a part of God’s unchanging moral law. In the Old Covenant, a violation of the Sabbath was punishable by death. However, the Rabbis, whom the Pharisees revered, had come up with a list of several things that could and couldn’t be done on the Sabbath. In doing so they made a law above God’s Law. Their law was not grounded in God’s word, but their own traditions. As we go through our text, we will be faced with the fact that the Jesus is the good Lord of the Sabbath. This concept is our big idea. Three supporting truths, also, arise as we begin to understand our big idea.

Body

Let’s start by considering that Jesus is the good Lord of the Sabbath and the traditions of the Pharisees are not binding: 23-24

The event of our text takes place on the Sabbath, which from creation to the resurrection was the seventh day of the week, or from Friday evening until Saturday evening. Look at verse 23, “One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain.” The plucking of a neighbor’s grain was permissible according to the Law of Moses (). People would do this when they were hungry and famished. We may infer that the Pharisees had witnessed what Jesus’ disciples were doing. Read verse 24 with me, “And the pharisees were saying to him, ‘Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?’” This question assumes that what Jesus’ disciples were doing was a violation of the Sabbath command. A teacher as we saw last week was thought to be responsible for his disciples. Thus, the Pharisees were accusing not only the disciples of violating the Sabbath command, but also Jesus. However, it was not the Sabbath Law that Jesus violated it was the traditions of the Pharisees. The rabbis they followed attempted to answer what all could be done on the Sabbath and what all couldn’t be done. In doing so, they created a law above God’s Law and undermined, as we shall see, God’s intent in creating the Sabbath for man.

Dr. John Greever a mentor of mine once told me that one of the worse things you can do to a person is tell them something that is not sin is sin. We must allow God to tell us what is sin and what is not.

We may learn a couple of things from the Pharisees. 1) It is not wise to add to God’s Law or 2) provide an interpretation that contradicts His Word. God’s Law is clearly presented in the Scriptures. These Scriptures are sufficient for life and godliness. We don’t need an extra source. We need to be well acquainted with these sacred writings. If you want to know right from wrong, it is to the Scriptures you should go. The opinions of men change, God and His Word remain.

1) It is not wise to add to God’s Law or 2) provide an interpretation that contradicts His Word. God’s Law is clearly presented in the Scriptures. These Scriptures are sufficient for life and godliness. We don’t need an extra source. We need to be well acquainted with these sacred writings. If you want to know right from wrong, it is to the Scriptures you should go. The opinions of men change, God and His Word remain.

The Pharisees, however, were not trying to add to God’s Word. They were trying to rightly interpret and apply it. The problem was there interpretive method failed to take into account the nature of the Scriptures. They have God as their ultimate author. What is found within them is exactly what He intended and they are completely consistent with each other. Therefore, we should use more clear passages of Scripture to interpret less clear passages. We should use later revelation to interpret older revelation. We should understand the scope of Scripture is the glory of God in the redemption accomplished by the Lord Jesus. Understanding these things will protect us from falling to the seductive error of legalism and libertinism. It will help us avoid the stumbling of the Pharisees their placement of tradition above Scripture and their selective use of Scripture.

Jesus is the good Lord of the Sabbath and the traditions of the Pharisees are not binding.

Moving right along, we learn that Jesus is the good Lord of the Sabbath and the law of the Sabbath is a blessing: 25-27

Jesus gives a two-fold response which shows that He and his disciples were in fact living lawfully. First, He calls upon the example of David. He does so by asking a pointed question. Read both verses 25-26 with me, “And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but priest to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” David and his men were on the run and starving. They needed to eat. They came to the house of God, the tabernacle at that time on what was likely the Sabbath. They confronted the priest who allowed them to eat of the consecrated bread that under normal circumstances was exclusively for the priest. Meeting a need is not breaking the law. This is the principle of necessity. Jesus in calling upon David’s example invites us to compare David to Himself. Jesus is the greater David. However, He doesn’t in anyway admit He is breaking the law. His Old Testament citation would also permit the Pharisees to pluck the heads of grain. God’s Law in general and the Sabbath Law in particular were not meant to be a crushing burden upon man. It was a day set apart for the observance of religious worship and rest from the toils of daily work. The Pharisees had turned what God created good as burden.

Second, calls upon the story of creation. Look at verse 27, “An he said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.’” Jesus in his first response to the Pharisees question showed them adders to the Law. In this response He shows them to be to narrow. The Sabbath was given not only to Israel, but the first man and his physical seed the day after his creation. The Sabbath is God’s gift to mankind. The Sabbath came after man and for man. The Pharisees in adding to the Law of the Sabbath made it a burden and in narrowing it to the Jews robbed it of its original intent blessedness.

In applying this, allow me some time for theological reflection. We in our culture have a hard time not working and doing. God’s has wedded into the very fabric of creation a rhythm. Man is to work six days and rest one. The day of rest was given to Adam as a blessing to be enjoyed, as He was to work the other six in accomplishing the mission God had given him. The Sabbath commanded to Israel as a reminder of their redemption from Egypt and the rhythm God had given Adam’s at creation. We need rest. We need a day to worship and commune with fellow members of God’s people. The New Covenant Sabbath is no longer Saturday, but Sunday because it is on Sunday that the New Creation broke into the Old. It is on Sunday that Jesus rose from the grave as the firstborn of the New Creation. This is the Lord’s Day and we begin our week with a day of rest. We work from rest not to rest. Christ coming didn’t remove the Sabbath but transformed it. It is on the Lord’s Day we receive the ordinary means of grace: the preaching of the Word, baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and the prayer. This is not a crushing burden if you are sick, if you must meet a need, if there is a work of mercy, then you are permitted to miss the observance of the Lord’s day gathering. Now we have elected to not gather out of necessity to not harm each other through the transmission of a deadly virus. But don’t fall into thinking it is a thing to celebrate. Let us long to be together and come under the glorious ordinary means of grace. Let us long to be face to face. It is not a burden to observe the Sabbath for in doing so we partake of the blessings of union with the good Lord of the Sabbath.

25-26: David’s Example

We in our culture have a hard time not working and doing.

God’s has wedded into the very fabric of creation a rhythm. Man is to work six days and rest one. The day of rest was given to Adam as a blessing to be enjoyed, as He was to work the other six in accomplishing the mission God had given him. The Sabbath commanded to Israel as a reminder of their redemption from Egypt and the rhythm God had given Adam’s at creation. We need rest. We need a day to worship and commune with fellow members of God’s people. The New Covenant Sabbath is no longer Saturday, but Sunday because it is on Sunday that the New Creation broke into the Old. It is on Sunday that Jesus rose from the grave as the firstborn of the New Creation. This is the Lord’s Day and we begin our week with a day of rest. We work from rest not to rest. Christ coming didn’t remove the Sabbath but transformed it. It is on the Lord’s Day we receive the ordinary means of grace: the preaching of the Word, baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and the prayer. This is not a crushing burden if you are sick, if you must meet a need, if there is a work of mercy, then you are permitted to miss the observance of the Lord’s day gathering. Now we have elected to not gather out of necessity to not harm each other through the transmission of a deadly virus. But don’t fall into thinking it is a thing to celebrate. Let us long to be together and come under the glorious ordinary means of grace. Let us long to be face to face. It is not a burden to observe the Sabbath for in doing so we partake of the blessings of union with the good Lord of the Sabbath.

27: Creation’s Order

Jesus is the good Lord of the Sabbath. The traditions of the Pharisees are not binding and the law of the Sabbath isn’t a burden it is a blessing.

The Second Reply

Moreover, the send response of Jesus teaches us that Jesus is the good Lord of the Sabbath and the law of the Sabbath is a blessing: 27

Lastly, we are told that Jesus is the good Lord of the Sabbath and the Lord of the Sabbath is the boss: 28

Our Lord Jesus concludes his response to the Pharisees by asserting His Lordship. Look at verse 28, “So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.” As the Son of Man He is the promised Messianic King through whom God reigns. The title Son of Man calls our attention to the Messianic prophecy of Daniel 7:13-14, ““I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.” The Sabbath was created by God and it is given to man as a blessing. The Son of Man as the the promised Messianic King is Lord of the Sabbath. As such, He has authority to protect it from the errors of the Pharisees and communicate its promised benefits in a fuller way than it had ever been experienced. He as Lord of the Sabbath may in order to bring it into alignment of His redemptive accomplishments transfer it from the last day of the week to the first, as that is the day He rose from the grave. Furthermore, as Lord of the Sabbath we are also given a glimpse at the fact that Jesus not only is the Son of Man, but God the Son. The Sabbath is God’s (; ). Put more simply, Jesus provides us with the final interpretation and application of the Sabbath. It is not abolished by Him, but regulated and governed by Him. It is on the Lord’s Day, the Christian Sabbath, that we partake in a special way of the blessings acquired for us by Christ Jesus. It is in the corporate gathering of the local church on the Lord’s Day that we sit at the outskirts of the heavenly Jerusalem and drink of its overflowing goodness and blessings. Eventually our weekly observance of the Lord’s Day will culminate in the eternal rest that Christ has entered and it is there that He as our faithful prophet, priest, and king will lead us.

Conclusion

There is nothing to illustrate the marvelous blessing of the Lord’s Day. The fact that we take the Christian Sabbath for granted breaks my heart. On the Lord’s Day when the saints gather we not only rehearse the eternal rest we will one day enter, we participate in that rest. We enjoy some of its marvelous benefits and blessings now. The gathering of the Local church is not like any other gathering or club. God has promised to be present with His people in these gatherings and to bless them through the ordinary means of grace. This cannot be done virtually or in the individual Christian’s quiet time. I don’t know how long we won’t be able to gather. I hate it. I long to be with you and not talking to a camera phone on a stick. I long to hear your voices, shake your hands, and see your yawns during sometimes longwinded sermons. I love you and know that the best thing for the people of God is the regular observance of the Lord’s Day. At this time though, I understand the wisdom and love in not gathering. I, also, understand that the one who is the Lord of the Sabbath has all authority period and is sovereign even over our present circumstances. God’s providence is a mystery. But His promises are clear and true, all things even this temporary separation will work for the good of those who love God. I believe that good may be a renewed desire to devote ourselves to the regular gathering on the Lord’s Day, prayer, love of neighbor, and preaching the gospel that is the only hope in life and death. Jesus is the good Lord of the Sabbath and the Good Lord of the Sabbath is the boss.

Conclusion

In this altercation with the Pharisees, we have learned that Jesus is the good Lord of the Sabbath. We also have learned in connection with this truth that the traditions of the Pharisees are not binding, the law of the Sabbath is a blessing, and the Lord of the Sabbath is the boss. The Pharisees enslaved people with their traditions and misunderstood the intent and application of the Sabbath. Jesus as the Lord of the Sabbath corrected there interpretation with God’s intent of the Sabbath.

Unbeliever, there is not rest for the unrepentant sinner. Through keeping of man made rituals or outward obedience to certain commands of God you will not be saved. It is only by coming to know the God Lord of the Sabbath that the Lord’s Day will benefit you in any way. You are sad sinner and an unrighteous rebel. You may think you are good by your religion as the Pharisees did, but have been fooled. You may be a libertine, who believes you can do whatever you want and that you are the law of your life. In death or at the return of Christ, you find out that either of those two camps you find yourself in is the wrong one. You mortal and will die. You need salvation and it only comes through Jesus Christ. Believe in Him and then get connected to a gospel believing and preaching church as soon as you can. Don’t wait. Call a church and talk to a pastor. Message me.

Vista Baptist Church and fellow believers, your hope in life and in death is the good Lord of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is for your good and blessing. Jesus rules and reigns over it. He uses it to bless you and grow you in His likeness. It is true that the Church is the people and not a building, but the invisible and universal church is made visible by God’s command and direction in the gathered local church. Church literally means assembly in greek. So, yes, be Christ-like, and pursue Him in private and family worship. However, long and pray that God would bring us back together quickly. In the mean time, may He bless you, grow you, and keep you in Christ our good Lord of the Sabbath.