Where Can I Rest?

A Sabbath Story

So this morning we are going to continue our journey through the Gospel of Mark. And I have to tell you I am not a details guy. This is my favorite Gospel account because I like action and the big picture and that is what this book does. It gives us a large grand view of Jesus and His ministry.

I get to pick up at the end of Mark ch 2 and I’ll go through a little bit of ch 3. What I’m covering are two separate accounts of Jesus being accused of breaking the Sabbath and we are going to dive into why the Sabbath is important and how Jesus handled these controversies.

What I want to do is read the first account and then we will dive into the details.

So the first account is found in Mark chapter 2 verses 23-28.

It’s funny that the heading for this section in the NLT is A Discussion about the Sabbath.

In the ESV the heading is Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath.

Both of those headings are accurate let’s check it out.

23 One Sabbath day as Jesus was walking through some grainfields, his disciples began breaking off heads of grain to eat. 24 But the Pharisees said to Jesus, “Look, why are they breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath?”

25 Jesus said to them, “Haven’t you ever read in the Scriptures what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 26 He went into the house of God (during the days when Abiathar was high priest) and broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests are allowed to eat. He also gave some to his companions.”

27 Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!”

Now I’m going to give a little bit of detail here. Sabbath has a specific meaning and it means to “cease,” “rest,” “complete rest,” or “desist. Complete Rest. Is that even a thing anymore. Is that attainable. The answer is yes but we have to know where to find it.

Sabbath rest was instituted by God at creation and handed down through the Ten Commandments. As with a lot of things over time people took what God instituted and added rules and regulations and specific ways to perform the Sabbath.

The other reason for Sabbath was to kind of reorient your mind to focus in on God and who He is and His ability to provide for us, save us, go before us, have mercy on us. And during this reorienting or focus is a time to worship Him with others. It IS IMPORTANT. Sabbath Worship is Important.

So with that said let’s look at this accusation by the Pharisees in verse 24. They said look why are they breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath.

Now here is what’s interesting. They didn’t accuse Jesus and the disciples of stealing grain from this field. Because it was permissible for them to do that.

In Deuteronomy God allowed for neighbors to enter fields and pick grain or grapes for instance and get full. It is not allowed to store any or take a container to fill. So they were perfectly fine to pick the heads of the grain.

Here’s where we gotta get technical and religious. And you see we can’t understand the Pharisees but we do the same thing at times with different situations don’t we. Because the disciples and Jesus picked the heads of grain then rubbed them in their hands like this and separated the wheat from the chaff and probably blew in their hands to blow away the chaff the pharisees considered that harvesting.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW.

Instead of blasting on these guys which is what I would have done Jesus asks them a question. It’s in verse 25

25 Jesus said to them, “Haven’t you ever read in the Scriptures what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 26 He went into the house of God (during the days when Abiathar was high priest) and broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests are allowed to eat. He also gave some to his companions.”

Now this bread was the bread that was before the Lord and was only supposed to be eaten by the priests. There were 12 loaves of bread and they were replaced every Sabbath David asked the priest if there was anything to eat and that was all that was there. The priest told David he could eat it and his men could eat as long as they were consecrated. David assured the Priest they were.

Now David took that bread and ate it. Wasn’t supposed to but they were starving. Here is where the mercy and grace of God comes in. What Jesus is saying here is life is more important than bread. Life is more important than bread.

Then Jesus lets the Pharisees know His answer in verse 27 when He says....

27 Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!”

Point 1

The Sabbath was made and modeled for us.

The Sabbath was made and modeled for our needs. How many of you in this room need rest. How many of you get tired. Physically? Mentally? Spiritually? The Sabbath was made to meet those needs. That is what Jesus is saying here. You are going to get wore down your body is going to break down, your mind is going to be tired of thinking and wondering, and at times your spirit will be crushed. THIS IS WHY WE HAVE THE SABBATH.

Then Jesus blows their minds by saying that the Son of Man is Lord over the Sabbath. They had no clue who they were talking to. You see to be the Lord over something you have to have made it. Which means that since God created it Jesus is saying He is God. Well guess what He ain’t lying. It is His He ordained it created it and modeled it for us. He has the authority over the Sabbath to define what is ok and what isn’t. What is permissible and what is not. And many times over Jesus holds that life is more important than our man made rules and traditions that we try to add on to the Sabbath.

Now let’s look at the other account that starts chapter 3. This is where Jesus heals a man on the Sabbath.

It’s Mark Chapter 3 verses 1-6

Jesus went into the synagogue again and noticed a man with a deformed hand. 2 Since it was the Sabbath, Jesus’ enemies watched him closely. If he healed the man’s hand, they planned to accuse him of working on the Sabbath.

3 Jesus said to the man with the deformed hand, “Come and stand in front of everyone.” 4 Then he turned to his critics and asked, “Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?” But they wouldn’t answer him.

5 He looked around at them angrily and was deeply saddened by their hard hearts. Then he said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” So the man held out his hand, and it was restored! 6 At once the Pharisees went away and met with the supporters of Herod to plot how to kill Jesus.

We have to be careful when we read this because our tendency is to allow verse 6 to take over the whole account. We look at those works Plot how to kill Jesus and all of a sudden that’s all we focus on.

But that’s not the story here. The story is about Jesus healing a man and answering another question about the Sabbath. Now some scholars have read into the text a little and said that the man was a plant. And really if you look at the text there is nothing in there to suggest otherwise.

I mean there was a man with a deformed hand that was already there, Jesus enemies were closely watching Him. They knew that the compassion of Jesus would most certainly have Him intervene for the man. I smell a set up.

Look at verse 2 again. If He healed this guy they planned to accuse Him of working on the Sabbath. You see Jesus didn’t consider healing someone a violation of the Sabbath. And I’m sure the man with the withered hand didn’t care what day it was when He got healed.

If Jesus walked in here right now and was healing people would you tell Him No Lord it’s Sunday today’s the Lord’s Day and we don’t do work today. I’ll take my healing tomorrow. I hope not. You see this wasn’t work for Jesus it was mission, calling, purpose, and His joy. It’s why He came....When John the Baptist send his disciples to ask Jesus if He really was the Messiah This is what Jesus told him.....

5 the blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.” The sick are cured, the withered hands are made whole, lives are being changed.

So Jesus tells the man to come stand in front of everyone. He’s making a point and wants to make sure these Pharisees can clearly see what He is going to do. And He asks them is it lawful to do good or to do harm to save life or to kill on the Sabbath

They didn’t answer Him. Probably gave him the look I get sometimes from my kids. Half eye roll arms crossed not giving an inch. ATTITUDE. THEY GAVE JESUS ATTITUDE.

Then Jesus was angry and grieved. You that are parents can grasp those two emotions going on at the same time if your kid has ever really messed up. You’re more angry about the decision and thinking or lack of it and grieved that they didn’t come to their senses.

Point 2

Our hard hearts and man made religious rules grieve the Heart of Jesus.

We are supposed to love our neighbor not heap rules and religion on them and make people feel worse about their situation. We are to good not harm. And when Jesus shows up and does something miraculous we don’t need to look at the calendar and say oh that wasn’t Jesus because He’s resting today.

Life is more important to God…Our salvation is more important to God. Our relationship with Him is the most important thing to Him. You can see the lengths that Jesus went to even before the Cross willing to be ridiculed and plotted against for healing a man. That’s what happened when He healed him. The pharisees went out and plotted how to destroy Him.

You see when we fulfill the Spirit of the Sabbath instead of just throwing a bunch of rules up and trying to obey the rules we are closer to the heart of Jesus.

Point 3

Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath

John 1:1 says In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Jesus is the word. He was there in the beginning shaping creating everything including the Sabbath. He created it and modeled it for us on the 7th day of creation. Not only that but Jesus is our Sabbath. I know that sounds weird but stick with me.

Didn’t Jesus say come to me all of you are burdened and heavy laden and I will give you rules? No wait He will give us REST. SABBATH.

When things are going haywire at home, when the economy crashes, nations rise up against nations, when uncertainty and chaos seem to rule, when addiction hits, when sickness attacks, when your marriage is on the rocks, HE WILL GIVE YOU REST. Take your Sabbath in Him. Rest in Jesus.

When I die and I will at some point unless the Rapture happens first another way to say it is I will be laid to rest. Let me tell you THE VERY MOMENT I TAKE MY LAST BREATH I WILL REST. I will have Sabbath with my Savior face to face. He will wipe every tear from my eye and I will finally BE AT REST. Jesus is my rest. He is my Sabbath. Complete Rest. No strife, no chaos, no confusion, no animosity, Just Complete Rest.