The Wounds of Violated Sabbath
By His Wounds We Are Healed • Sermon • Submitted
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· 7 viewsJesus was accused of violating the Sabbath, but Jesus understood better than anyone the heart of the Law of Sabbath.
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The Wounds of Violated Sabbath
The Wounds of Violated Sabbath
Psalm 93
Psalm 93
The Lord reigns, he is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed in majesty and armed with strength; indeed, the world is established, firm and secure. Your throne was established long ago; you are from all eternity. The seas have lifted up, Lord, the seas have lifted up their voice; the seas have lifted up their pounding waves. Mightier than the thunder of the great waters, mightier than the breakers of the sea— the Lord on high is mighty. Your statutes, Lord, stand firm; holiness adorns your house for endless days.
Exodus 20:8-11
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping 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, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
Luke 6:1-11
One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and his disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels. Some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” Jesus answered them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.” Then Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Get up and stand in front of everyone.” So he got up and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was completely restored. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.
Introduction:
Wednesday night we saw Jesus turn with purpose to make the journey that would end with His dying on a cross. Over the next few weeks, we will be looking at the events of passion week (the week leading to Jesus death) in light of the struggles Jesus had with the Pharisees as well as other Jewish leaders. Since you only just sat down, I am not going to ask you to stand today.
I am reading from John 18:1-13.
When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was a garden, and he and his disciples went into it. Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons. Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?” “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. Again he asked them, “Who is it you want?” “Jesus of Nazareth,” they said. Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. If you are looking for me, then let these men go.” This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave me.” Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?” Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus. They bound him and brought him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year.
The word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God.
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Jack Deere was an associate professor of the Old Testament at Dallas Seminary and in his book, Surprised by the Power of the Spirit, he gave this description of legalism.
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The essence of legalism is trusting in the religious activity rather than trusting in God. It is putting our confidence in a practice rather than in a Person. And without fail this will lead us to love the practice more than the Person.
Jack Deer, Surprised by the Power of the Spirit, p. 151
Laws and rules can keep us safe or they can enslave us. We each have certain rules we live by. Some do not eat sweets or meat feeling it is not healthy. Some avoid alcohol knowing they cannot control how much they drink. Some go to bed early acknowledging that they feel better the next day for doing so. My family had a rule that we tried to keep Saturday nights clear of obligations so we could get to bed on time and be rested for Sunday service. My parents had this family rule because they valued Sunday worship and wanted to do what they could to get the most out of it. There is nothing wrong with adopting rules that help us live healthier lives focused on the things that we value the most. However, when we lose focus of what the heart of those rules is about or we begin judging others based on our rules, we have just made rules our god above the one true God. Let us be honest! We all do it from time to time. It is a slippery slope. When we feel a value in something, we naturally want others to see that same value. However, when we begin to judge others when they do not value the same things we have just placed ourselves in the role of God. When we recognize that we have done so, we need to take a step back and ask for forgiveness and try to be more careful in the future.
However, some live in a continual state of legalism. The Pharisees were just such as these. Christ in His teachings brought the law down to two laws.
Love the Lord Your God with heart, soul and mind.
Love your neighbor as yourself.
If you truly love God with all your being and in turn love others as God loves you and others the law is fulfilled naturally. True love works in the best interest of the ones we love, therefore, murder, stealing, adultery, false witness, etc… become something we have no desire to do.
In contrast to the two commands of Christ, the Pharisees had developed a system of 613 laws, 365 negative commands and 248 positive laws (this is the oral tradition/law they defended)... By the time Christ came it had produced a heartless, cold, and arrogant brand of righteousness. As such, it contained at least ten tragic flaws.
(1) New laws continually need to be invented for new situations.
(2) Accountability to God is replaced by accountability to men.
(3) It reduces a person’s ability to personally discern.
(4) It creates a judgmental spirit.
(5) The Pharisees confused personal preferences with divine law.
(6) It produces inconsistencies.
(7) It created a false standard of righteousness.
(8) It became a burden to the Jews.
(9) It was strictly external.
(10) It was rejected by Christ.
Outlined from Fan the Flame, J. Stowell, Moody, 1986, p. 52.
They had awaited the coming Messiah, but when He arrived, they were so adamant about defending their laws they crucified Him. There were 6 factions of Jews, but none do we hear more about in scripture than the Pharisees. At every turn, Jesus was continually challenged by them.
In today’s passage from Luke, we find Jesus confronted on two different Sabbaths by the Pharisees. In the first, Jesus and his disciples are walking through a grain field. This could have been wheat or barley. We are not told which. It has obviously been sometime between meals and they are hungry, so they reach out and pull off a few of the heads of grain. They rub it between their thumb and fingers to remove the chaff leaving behind the eatable grain. Then they popped it in their mouth munching it much like we would a peanut.
Here is where we find just how detailed the Pharisaical law was. This small act on their part was considered work. By plucking the grain they were considered to be harvesting it. By rubbing it, they were considered to be threshing it.
Some nearby Pharisees call Jesus on it. How can Jesus in all good conscious allow His followers to violate the law? Remember, this is their law, but they view it as every bit as binding as the Law of God. Of course, Jesus as the Son of God was part of the making of the law. He understands the law better than anyone.
Not only does Jesus know the law better than anyone, but Jesus also knows the heart of these men. He knows that King David is someone they were proud of. They held King David in high esteem. It is rather humorous when you think about it. These men also consider themselves experts on the word of God. They know the scriptures inside and out. Jesus challenges them by saying,
Jesus answered them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?
The story Jesus is referring to is found in 1 Samuel 21. David has come to realize that Saul is determined to kill him. He and men faithful to him have had to flee. They are making fast tracks to find a safe place to hide. This makes it difficult for them to acquire a meal very fast. David goes to a place a feels safe to succour food. He goes to the priest and asks for bread. However, the priest has no bread to give him. The only bread he has is the shewbread/Bread of Presence in the temple.
Now this is a fascinating subject, but I do not have time to go into it today. But you need to know that there is a table maintained by priests in the temple. Upon this golden table, they were to stack 12 fresh loaves of bread each Sabbath. The loaves were a symbolic acknowledgment that God was the resource for Israel's life and nourishment and also served as Israel's act of thanksgiving to God.
These loaves were free of leaven and later eaten by the priests.
Leviticus 24:5-9
“Take the finest flour and bake twelve loaves of bread, using two-tenths of an ephah for each loaf. Arrange them in two stacks, six in each stack, on the table of pure gold before the Lord. By each stack put some pure incense as a memorial portion to represent the bread and to be a food offering presented to the Lord. This bread is to be set out before the Lord regularly, Sabbath after Sabbath, on behalf of the Israelites, as a lasting covenant. It belongs to Aaron and his sons, who are to eat it in the sanctuary area, because it is a most holy part of their perpetual share of the food offerings presented to the Lord.”
If you are technical about the law, which the Pharisees were, what David did in eating that bread was wrong. Not only that, but David lied to the priest saying he was on the kings business when in fact, he was running for his life. If the Pharisees are willing to overlook a huge offense as David’s eating of the Shewbread (as well as offering it to his men), how is it they can be so critical of a few heads of grain?
Then Jesus says something very direct to them. Luke 6:5.
Then Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
Jesus is intimating to them here that He is the Messiah. The “Son of Man” originated with Daniel and was a reference used of the Messiah. Then Jesus declares He is “Lord” of the Sabbath. It is His right to determine what is right or not right in regards to the Sabbath.
Actually, Matthew records a stronger reply. Matthew 12:5-8.
Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
Here again, the Pharisees have made Sabbath their god over God. They were more about what was right or wrong to do with their Sabbath than they were about worshipping God on their Sabbath. But Sabbath was not the day as it was about what was healthy for man both physically and spiritually. It is healthy to set one day a side to relax and to spend time in worshipping God.
They had made it a ritual and therefore had desecrated it giving it center place in place of God.
This is a subject that the Pharisees plagues Jesus with throughout his ministry. This was not the first time they challenged Him regarding Sabbath, nor was it the last. To demonstrate, the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke all follow this occasion with another occasion that happened shortly after. These same Pharisees are keeping a close eye on Jesus. They literally want to catch Him in an act of Sabbath violation so they can accuse Him before the people in the hopes the people will lose faith in Him.
On this occasion, Jesus is teaching in their synagogue. A man is among the people with a shriveled hand. We are not told if this was by disease or accident, just that the man’s hand was shriveled. Mark and Luke both indicate that Jesus knows that these men are watching him closely with the intent to try to trap Him. We know this is possible. Just as Jesus knew the heart and thoughts of Nathaniel, Jesus discerns the intent of these men. Matthew records the Pharisees priming Jesus by asking Him if He believes it is lawful to heal on the Sabbath?
They are trying to manipulate Jesus. They have by now already heard stories of Jesus doing just that. They are not blind. They know there is a man among them with an obvious deformity. They are trying to manipulate Jesus in doing something they can accuse him of work. If you think about the stories of healing, Jesus usually does something. He places His hand on them. He makes mud cakes and coats a man’s eye. He takes a hand and helps someone up. They expect Jesus to do some such thing on this occasion.
I have to admit, that I always laugh at this point in the story. These men are essentially, trying to set up God! Now do not laugh too hard, because I suspect we have all at some time tried to manipulate God even if we did not think of it that way. God, you do this and I will do this! Even Moses and Abraham argued at times asking God, “What will other nations think of you if you do this?” So we are not blameless. However, it is rather humorous to watch how Jesus puts them on the spot.
The first thing He does is ask the man to stand in front of everyone.
You can just imagine the man’s face turning red as all eyes turn toward him. He stands and comes to the center front of the room. Can you imagine the thoughts running through his head in that moment? Fear that Jesus will do it and he will be condemned by the Pharisees. Hope that Jesus will do it and set him free of this infirmity. I suspect there was some fear, but even more hope that Jesus would heal his hand.
Then Jesus asks the Pharisees a question that makes them the center of attention and effectively shuts them down.
Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?”
“To do good or to do evil?” As Shakespeare would say, “that is the question.” Surely one would always want to do good! Jesus is alluding to the fact that if you have an opportunity to do a kindness to someone but do not do so, you are in fact doing evil. This man’s hand was not a threat to his life. If it were so, it would have been lawful for Jesus to save him, however, this is not a threat to this man’s life. But this has been a threat to this man’s livelihood for a long time. Why make a person suffer one day more if they do not have to?
Then comes the even bigger question. “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to save a life or to destroy it?” Which is the worse evil, for Jesus to heal this man’s hand on a Sabbath or for the Pharisees to seek and destroy Jesus’ life on a Sabbath? That is what they are hoping for. If they can find a significant offense to blame Jesus for, they can call for His stoning. Yes, to death. That is how desperate they are to protect their way of life, the laws they have built.
Then without a word or deed we find the man healed. All Jesus does is suggest the man hold out his hand and when he does so, it is healed. Jesus did not speak to heal the hand. Jesus took no action what so ever. It just was healed. The men had no means of showing that Jesus had done any work or act that would constitute what they would consider a violation of Sabbath.
So, what does God say about the Sabbath?
Genesis 2:1-3
Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
God did not need to rest, but He took time to celebrate and appreciate what had been accomplished. He blessed that seventh day in acknowledgment of it all.
Exodus 20:8-11
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping 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, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
The Sabbath is about God and man, not about laws. Unlike God, man does need a rest, but that rest should be filled with positive things. That being, time to build our relationship with God, family and friends. In fact, God makes us a promise of joy when we use our Sabbath wisely.
Isaiah 56:2, 6-7
Blessed is the one who does this— the person who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it, and keeps their hands from doing any evil.”
And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant— these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”
Isaiah 58:13-14
“If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
So, is there a Sabbath rule/mandate? There are two, both for the health and joy of man. To worship and to rest.
Hebrews 4:9-11
There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.
Worship has always been a central part of Sabbath. It is right for us to take time to gather and worship our God. The writer of the Hebrews knew the importance of this gathering.
Hebrews 10:24-25
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
We do not gather to judge others, but to encourage each other. To rejoice and celebrate in our mutual adoration of God.
Jesus kept perfectly the Sabbath Law. His Sabbath was full with sharing the good news of God, God’s love and God’s plan of restoration. He delighted in healing those around Him who were afflicted, freeing them to rejoice in God also.
The Pharisees broke the very laws of Sabbath that they accused Jesus of. They were not worshipping God. They were worshipping their rules. They were not focused on a relationship with God, but on adhering to a religion.
How many times have we abused Sabbath? I guarantee you, we all have at some point. We just felt too tired and figured God would understand if we missed this once. If we grew up in homes where we went regularly, we often go through a phase when we first leave home where we are not as faithful until we come to a point of making that commitment for ourselves. Sometimes we are forced to take jobs where we feel required to work on the Sabbath. I hesitate to say that there are never such times, and yet, I question how many times we allow fear to dictate that.
I do not want to condemn anyone here or to have people say that one should never have to work on a Sunday. However, if I truly value God and His word, do I trust Him with dilemmas like this? If the only job I find requires I work Sundays, what do I do with my day off? Do I treat it like a Sabbath? Do I accept the job but keep looking for another where I can have my Sabbath? In job interviews, do we state our priority to not work on Sabbath and trust God to provide a job where we do not have to work? Please hear me, I am not judging those who do work on Sabbath. There are times when it may be necessary. I just want us to also realize that sometimes we are to blame because we do not try hard enough to do something different. We do not trust God to provide something different.
We need to take the first step of faith. We acknowledge what God’s Word tells us as true and then we pray and ask God to help provide us a job that allows us our Sundays. There were times in my past when I worked for fast food places and retail stores that were open on Sundays. In all those cases, I made it clear that I valued church and would not want to work on Sundays. They usually said the had enough employees that did not care about Sundays, but would I be willing to work in a pinch. I agreed that in extreme emergency that I would. Sometimes an emergency would happen and suddenly I would find I was getting scheduled more. I would talk to them about it and it would usually stop again.
I heard a story once about a father and his son that were sports fans. The boy was in a baseball league and one day the coach decided to have practices on Sunday. The boy’s father placed a priority on Sabbath. He told the coach that they would not be able to attend Sunday practices, but if the coach would allow his son to remain on the team, he would take his son to a batting cage for an hour each week to make up for it. If it appeared the boy was falling behind, the boy would then drop from the team. The coach agreed. Before too long, the boy was the best player on the team and the coach decided not to hold practice on Sundays.
Only you can answer the question if you really have no choice or whether there were some alternatives you could have acted upon. Such situations are between you and God alone. No one can judge you on such things. It has to be between you and God. However, when we put the God first in our life, He works to our benefit. Each time we take a stand for Him, we grow in our faith as we see what He does for us in return.
However, there is another violation of Sabbath. It is not just do you attend church on the Sabbath, but how do you spend the rest of your Sabbath? Do you leave church to go home and work on all the tasks you did not get done during the week? Do you go home and ignore family to watch sports or television or do you spend it in healthy rest and fellowship? We can attend Sunday service and still violate Sabbath with other unhealthy practices.
Today, on this first Sunday of Lent, we nail another offense to the cross of Christ. Violations of the Sabbath. We have all abused it at some point. Jesus never abused the Sabbath, but Jesus never complained about taking our violations of the Sabbath upon Himself. However, that does not mean we continue to abuse it. During this Lent season, evaluate the way you spend your time on Sundays. Is it healthy? Does it bring physical restoration and fellowship building between you, God, family and friends?
(Nail Commandment 4 to the cross).
Thank you Jesus, for dying on the cross for my abuses of Sabbath. Help me to be diligent to keep the Sabbath as a holy day.
Pray