Part 42 | Lord of the Sabbath

Read Matthew 12:1-14;

Review:

Last week we looked at those people in Matthew 11 who responded to Jesus and His message with either criticism or indifference—both of which are forms of rejection—much to their demise.

Today, we see the tension between Jesus and Israel’s leaders rise to a horrifying level.

The tension arises from Jesus’ doing what the religious leaders considered to be “work” on the Sabbath.

I will briefly address the Sabbath Day in a moment, but the doctrine of the Sabbath is not at the core of the text; it is merely peripheral.

What is the central message of the text?

It is about the crushing nature of extra-biblical rules and rituals.

It is about legalism.

Legalism is when you make your extra-biblical convictions—other peoples’ obligations.

Message should resonate with us today!

You might remember the movie Water Boy, where Bobbie Bouche’ lives with his overbearing single-parent mother, who wants to do everything in her power to keep him from any level of success in the world, because she wants, horribly, to keep him for herself: she doesn’t want him to ever leave home.

She is insanely strict, and loads Bobbie down wit ridiculous rules and attempts to instill as much fear of the world in him as she possibly can.

There is a particular scene where Bobby admits to his mother that he has been going to school and he’s even been playing football—two things that his mother has forbidden. She insists that school is the devil and that “foosball” is the devil.

In this scene, Bobbie has had enough. He gets up from the kitchen table and starts to storm out—and he screams--”Everything is the devil to you, mamma”.

Most of you have encountered Christian’s that proclaim that same mantra: “everything’s the devil.” They load you down with a myriad of extra-biblical rules.

And if you grew up in a family like that or you’ve attended a church like that, you know it will suck the very life out of you.

Main Point: The Law of Christ is liberating; legalism is crushing.

Matthew 12:1 (ESV)

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.

I. What is the Jewish Sabbath?

It is the seventh Day of the week, a day in which—in the OT— the Jews were to refrain from any labor.

Ten Commandments (Fourth Command): “Remember the Sabbath Day to Keep it Holy.

Purpose: The Sabbath Day, for the Jewish people was a day of rest and a day to intentionally remember God.

A.) First, the Jews were to use the day to remember God as “Creator.”

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.

B) Secondly, the Sabbath was a day to remember God as “Redeemer.”

Deuteronomy 5:15 (ESV)

You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

The Sabbath was a day for God’s people to remember Him as Creator and Redeemer

BTW - The only one of the ten commandments that is not repeated in the NT is the one to keep the Sabbath.

My understanding is that Christians are not required to keep the Sabbath, because it was a day of rest that foreshadowed the rest that we Jesus and that we will have in perfection in the New Creation.

We take the first day of the week to worship and remember the resurrection of Jesus… Saturday is still considered the Sabbath Day, but Sunday is the Day of the Lord.

II. The Charge (Against Jesus)

Keeping the Sabbath was a serious thing for the Jews; breaking it had dire consequences.

Exodus 31 tells us that to profane the Sabbath was punishable by death.

The Pharisees’ accusation against Jesus, is that He has broken the Sabbath…

If true, that would—at minimum— discredit Him as the Jewish Messiah.

Previous chapters: the Scribes and Pharisees misinterpreted God’s Law and have put multitudes of extra, unbearable rules to God’s people.

Through the years—the Scribes and Pharisees have added strenuous rules to the Sabbath.

Let me quote one scholar:

Two whole treatises in the Talmud are devoted to the details of Sabbath observance. One of these, the Shabbath enumerates the following thirty-nine principal classes of prohibited actions: sowing, plowing, reaping, gathering into sheaves, threshing, winnowing, cleansing, grinding, sifting, kneading, baking; shearing wool, washing it, beating it, dyeing it, spinning it, making a warp of it; making two cords, weaving two threads, separating two threads, making a knot, untying a knot, sewing two stitches, tearing to sew two stitches; catching a deer, killing, skinning, salting it, preparing its hide, scraping off its hair, cutting it up; writing two letters, blotting out for the purpose of writing two letters, building, pulling down, extinguishing, lighting a fire, beating with a hammer, and carrying from one property to another. Each of these chief enactments was further discussed and elaborated, so that actually there were several hundred things a conscientious, law-abiding Jew could not do on the Sabbath.

The religious leaders have added to the Jews the weight of innumerable legal restrictions for the conduct of life under the Law.

The tension between Jesus and the Pharisees came

A) Plucking Grain on the Sabbath

The conflict arises when Jesus and his disciples walk through the grain fields on the Sabbath Day.

The disciples are hungry, and so they they begin plucking and eating raw grain after removing the chaff (gross).

B) Healing a Man with a Withered Hand

Application:

1) Why Are Some Christians Legalistic?

Ignorance (Traditions they think are Biblical)

Tattoos

Lev.

1 Cor. 6;

Tricia

David Pawson - God did remove the other ones

Sayings that aren’t in the Bible

Ask Jesus into your heart

God won’t put on you more than you can handle

Bolster Self-Righteousness

2) Why is Legalism Harmful?

It is unmerciful (v. 7)- It is crushing…

It brings unwarranted condemnation upon God’s people (v. 7)

It places tradition above people.

It can leads people away from God rather than to Him.

Closing

Extra-Biblical rules are unbearable.

Last Chapter ended with Jesus inviting the Jews to come to Him… because His yoke is easy and His burden is light. And He offered them “rest.”

What was He communicating? Well, He was inviting the crowds to throw off the unnecessary burden of the extra-biblical rules put on them by the Pharisees.

It is a story about the weight of legalism.

*Parents have every right

I am calling all of those who have attempted to put extra rules upon people to repentance. It is a sin and can certainly be a stumbling block to people.

If you have extra-biblical convictions—in as much as they do not VIOLATE Scripture, follow those convictions. But don’t make your convictions someone else’s obligation.

2. I want to apologize to those of you who have experienced the crushing weight of legalism. I pray today—by God’s grace—that you can find healing.