Lord of the Sabbath

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 125

Psalm 125 ESV

A Song of Ascents. Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people, from this time forth and forevermore. For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest on the land allotted to the righteous, lest the righteous stretch out their hands to do wrong. Do good, O Lord, to those who are good, and to those who are upright in their hearts! But those who turn aside to their crooked ways the Lord will lead away with evildoers! Peace be upon Israel!

Scripture Reading: Exodus 20:8-11

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.

Sermon

Good Morning Church! was Glad when they said to me let us go and worship in the house of the Lord!

Although it has been a long time, five sermons ago to be exact, we are back at the grindstone back to our journey through the Gospel of Matthew. Today we will be looking at Matthew 12 verses 1-8. But before we even dive into this passage, partly because it has been so long but also partly because I think that we cannot do ANYTHING with divining into Context, I would like to just remind us what the book of Matthew has been up to this passage.

It has been twelve chapters of Scripture, but in terms of time we are sitting at 10 months in this book, so it would be good to be reminded of a few things. The first is the structure and flow of the book. Matthew is organizes such that, there is an introduction and beginning, then the body, which is focused on discourse and narrative, then the death and resurrection. So we are in the body which is five series of Discourses, or teaching sand speeches of Jesus, then narrative which serve to illustrate what is going on between the discourses. the narratives serve to explain, to illustrate and to SHOW the truths behind what jesus taught.

So again we had the genealogy and birth and baptism narratives of Jesus, these served as the introduction to Matthew and then we were hit with the first major discourse, and really the most major, for it is the longest and most famous one, the Sermon on the Mount. In the Sermon on the mount Jesus was concerned with kingdom living, or how we live in the heavenly kingdom that (he implied) he is king over. He has the authority to speak and tell us what is true what is the ways of God, how we are to live, how we are to pray, all of these things. then after that If we remember back there were a set of miracle narratives. Jesus performed miracle after miracle healing lepers, paralytics, calming the storm raising a child from the dead and these miracles gave 1 credence to the authority of the one who would speak the Sermon on the mount, but also gave us practical and tangible ways to describe this authority. He has authority over sickness and disease, he has authority over the spiritual realm, he has authority over the earth as he calms the wind and sea and he has the authority to forgive sins. Jesus has authority. SO what does he do with that authority, he sends his disciples on Mission. our second large discourse was the missions discourse.

And in this one he sends out his disciples. He charges them to go out and preach the Gospel, preach his specific message here which was, chapter 10 verse 7: the kingdom of heaven is at hand! And now we are in the narrative section after that. So at the heart of this narrative is Jesus and the sending of HIS people to proclaim HIS message of the Kingdom of heaven. The narrative section started with the disciples of John the Baptist coming to Jesus with some questions. Is Jesus really the one that we think you might be? and it turns out he is, he has shown through his work, and through his teaching that he is the long awaited messiah. Then he declares woes to the cities around, because as the disciples go on mission the cities will not believe who jesus is, what he has done. Even though they have these miracles i front of them and so the cities of Judah are compared to the cities of the world, and in fact it is worse, because even those sinful cites would have repented if they saw the things you have. the last time we were in Matthew Jesus began getting to the heart of who he was, WHY he could send the disciples on mission, WHY service to him s critical, WHY it is worth the persecution and suffering that will accompany it. and last time it was because he gives us REST, but that point gets kicked up to 11 today.

And so here we have the start of the trouble that the missions discourse predicted. Trouble is brewing. We have seen the Pharisees a little bit, they have been a sort of stick in the mud from time to time, trying to trip him up, but starting here in chapter 12 they become, for lack of a better way to put it, the big time enemy. they people that much of the conflict will center around. The ones with whom Jesus will verbally and spiritually spar, the ones that will have the most issues with Jesus and his teaching and who he was. So it is interesting right after Jesus comes and claims if we come to him he will give us REST the Pharisees appear on the scene as if on cue to have issues. and it centers on the idea of rest. With that being said, lets read

Matthew 12:1–8 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. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

These are the words of the lord for us this morning, lets begin with a word of PRAYER

PRAY

The issue at hand quite simply IS the sabbath, but more particularly it is who is the LORD OF THE SABBATH. Jesus is going to make a very bold statement. this is the type of statement that will get him killed. More than just sort of hinting about who he is, and what he has done like he has done earlier. Lets remember back, because this is the most bold thing jesus has said since chapter 9 when he healed the paralytic. there jesus said “your sins are forgiven” but the pharisees were left to sort of piece together, did this guy just say what we think he did? They look around and THEY are the one who are like WAIT… the only person who should be able to say that is god… is that Jesus what you are saying? and Jesus didn’t give a definitive verbal answer, he just said, you figure it out and healed the man. But in this passage we are going to get a definitive verbal answer as to who Jesus thinks he is. The Pharisees will NOT be left to ponder and wonder, did Jesus just say what we think he did… no Jesus is going to come right out and say it and it centers on this idea of the Sabbath.

Now before we dive into the sabbath and what Jesus says here I want to emphasizes, which is why i think context is important, because context emphasizes this same thing, but the main point of the passage, while informed by the sabbath,. the Sabbath, what that means, what we do, what is required of us, is not the main issue here. Jesus , and Matthew through the words and teaching of Jesus here are AS ALWAYS driving us to the heart of the issue here. and there are, I would say there are two central aspects of this text that we need to hear today. the first is: what is the heart of the people who will hear these words? but more particularly and I would say more importantly, and therefore the the second one is what is their heart towards Jesus. So we are going to tackle what is the Sabbath, but in terms of who jesus is.

But before we get there lets ponder for just a second why Jesus would do this here. Why would Jesus use teaching on the sabbath to be the way and the place for him to reveal the deeper truths of who he is? I think knowing the Pharisees helps us answer that question. Why would the pharisees be so heated that the disciples are plucking some grains of wheat probably breaking them up and chewing on them for sustenance. Well, to sort of defend the Pharisees for a second, it is because the sabbath is not man’s law, but it is God’s law. It is is God’s law in the ten commandments, so there is it’s inherent worth, but why might the Pharasees like it so much? tow reasons I see. one is that the sabbath is like the one of God’s laws that we all seem to like. Wait a second God, you want me to take a day off? you want me to like not work for a whole day? I can totally do that one. But the more central issue, and why I would say the Pharisees take such pride in the sabbath and why Jesus would seek to insert himself into the conversation at this point is that the Sabbath is really one of two things in all of Jewish culture that would make them stand out to the world around them. The first was circumcision, but the sabbath was the other one. And the sabbath is in some ways the much more visible one. Everyone sees that you are not working on one day, like the whole culture, the city stops for one day, it is strange, and it is visible, and it became an immense source of pride. In particular, it was a great source of pride for the Pharisees. So much so that they began to add more laws, make it more of a grandiose thing. the sabbath became very performative. there were laws upon laws and the Pharisees had developed certain loopholes so that they could still be out and seen in public while still “observing the sabbath.”

So it turns out the Pharisees had sort of appropriated this day and this is Jesus’ first problem. This is God’s day. You pharisees are so broken in your thinking that you cannot even seem to get the sabbath right. And so Jesus will now at this point stir the pot. he will now when the Pharisees are puffed up in their sort of pseudo-righteousness Jesus comes and tears that down, and then he will then inset himself into the sabbath. But again note he does not insert himself into the sabbath to say that it is gone. If we think that way, if we think in those sort of terms we are forgetting the whole sermon on the mount, wherein jesus says I have not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. In stead he comes to teach that they have a wrong idea of sabbath because they have a wrong idea about God and his law because they have a wrong idea of who Jesus is. And so jesus will come to the pharisees and he will teach them.

TO set the stage once again the disciples are plucking grains, the pharisees are getting really mad, here is this guy jesus, he’s a rabbi, hes a teacher and his followers are a bunch of rascals. these grain plucking on the sabbath heathens are worthless, how dare they and they go to Jesus with this as their compliant. YOUR disciples are breaking the Law of the Sabbath. Now to be clear the Pharisees were speaking of Pharisaical law so jesus drives them to heart of the matter. there are a series of things that he will ask: have you not read, have you not herd, really it is asking: do you not know? Jesus will begin to teach them lessons from Scripture.

The first lesson if you will is this: you think my disciples are breaking the law? well you just don’t get it, you do not get it AT ALL. so let me help you, maybe you have heard of this guy, kinda famous, HAVE YOU NOT HEARD ABOUT DAVID?

Have you not heard about DAVID?

Jesus references a story from, you can write this down, 1 Samuel 21:1-6. To help us, So this is David, before he is fully king he is running from Saul and he and his army find themselves hungry. So what are we we going to do, look around and heres a solution, the Lord’s house and a priest, Ahimelech. David and his men come to this priest and they say: we are hungry. and the priest is like sorry we have no food for you and David says, sorry you must not have understood we are hungry, and we would like some food. So the priest thinks for a second and he says, well we do have some food, but you can’t eat it. In the law there were certain breads used in temple worship and this was a specific one called the bread of the presence. but hear’s the problem, only the priests, only Levites could eat this bread. But yet the priest, who knew the law, who knew David, knew who he was, said, OK, you know what, you and your men can eat this bread.

So that is the general thought, there is a whole lot else that goes on there, but you get the picture. And Jesus decides that this is where he wants to go in God’s word. he starts by asking “have you not read” which is, just from the get go, this is why the pharisees do not like Jesus, this is rather bold and quite frankly a little bit of a taunt to the pharisees. To ask them “have you not read” is a little rude. I just summarized because WE are not super familiar with this one, but the Pharisees knew the OT forward and backward. they would have red this one MANY times. So when Jesus asks “have you not read” then hits them with this story it is treading all over their job/livelihood their expertise.

I racked my mind trying to figure out what would be a similar situation, like could i place myself in a similar situation to say something this bold and this is what I got. It would be like me, going into doc’s office, he is a chiropractor and I go in and I am like hey Doc, did you not know that the knee bone is connected to the shin bone. Have you never read that? no of course he does, that is his job and he has spent his life training and reading and studying. or If I were to go into the police station and say, i don’t know if you all know this, but are you aware that it is illegal to steal from people. Like of course it is, and this is basic stuff here. OF COURSE I WE HAVE READ THIS.

But Jesus wants them to note, and therefore what we should note is that he introduces them to David because something interesting happens with David. David does this and yet there is absolutely NO condemnation. David takes his men into the temple and then they eat the “forbidden” bread of the presence. And yet he is guiltless. and yet David is still a man after God’s own heart. And Yet David is still the great hero of the pharisees. And yet David is still David. SO what is going on?

Jesus is not noting something like: “Oh yeah, there are some times when it is OK to break the rules. But Jesus IS saying: you don't even get WHY David is allowed to do this. It is NOT that he is breaking the rules, it is that there is an authority that David has. David the successor of Saul, the rightful king, God’s anointed, The authority that David has trumps the thought that he and his men cannot eat this particular bread. And so the regulations of he who can eat holy bread, he who can eat the bread of the presence, has a sort of higher level than that which is on the surface that is only the priests can do that. So ultimately what Jesus wants us to see is a sort of class of people. There is a class that certain rule, it is not right to say that certain rules do not apply, but how we read and how we interpret certain laws is different. It is as if , for lack of a better way to put it, David has a sort of diplomatic immunity as God’s king.

So, to answer the question of the pharisees as to why the disciples are dong this, there is a class of people that can do some things that you in your Pharisaical soul would call unlawful - that class is God’s king. So maybe, just maybe, Jesus and his disciples belong to that same class. Maybe Jesus has the same standing as David. One answer to your question Pharisees is to see that the Davidic king is here. He is at least as important and at least as powerful as David. That is a bold claim!

But yet Jesus is pleased and right in making this forceful claim. You see you pharisees are so caught up in finding fault, but wait a second, what are you eve doing in the field. There is a lot of debate among the commentaries as to what exactly the Pharisees are doing here in the first place. technically they were not allowed more than a half mile from home on the Sabbath. So what in the world are these dudes doing here? But more than that are you so, pharisees caught up in your sort of hollow legalistic religiosity that you do not remember who David Was and see who I am?

The Pharisees just don’t get it but Jesus keeps going. It is not just David. HAVE YOU NOT HEARD ABOUT THE PRIESTS?

Have you not heard about THE PRIESTS?

Verse 5 Jesus asks the same question: Matthew 12:5

Matthew 12:5 ESV

Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless?

Jesus here is referencing a law in Numbers 28:9-10 The priests, their Job was to offer sacrifice, to offer sacrifice in the temple to WORK in the temple. And in Numbers 28:9-10 there is actually a requirement that is placed on the priests that they must do EXTRA work on the sabbath. there is an additional sabbath sacrifice that they are called to make. So not only are the priests called to work, they are called to minister in the temple, but they do EXTRA work in the temple. They, according to you, this language on jesus is fascinating verse 5 again “the priests ‘profane’ the sabbath”. They are -in your eyes only pharisees - they are breaking your sabbath laws and they are profaning this holy day! What a tragedy that they do so while offering a sacrifice to God! But yet they are, again verse 5 guiltless.

So here is the point that Jesus is driving them too. It is not JUST the example of David. We cannot just look back and think, well SOMETIMES, David broke some of the laws so it is kind of OK. instead Jesus looks to the whole of God’s law and he asks: isn’t it true that there are levels to this? The Pharisees knew there were. The Pharisees have a book called the Talmud. It is like a collection of Rabbinical writings, much like commentaries, but with much more authority, but in the Talmud expressly stated it says: SACRIFICIAL SERVICE SUPERSEDES SABBATH. That’s some great alliteration and it was not even originally in English, but sacrificial service supersedes sabbath. So you rank this: OK God has required this of Us - he has required us to observe sabbath, but he has also required that we offer sacrifice. and sacrifice to God is much more important than man made rules about not breaking the sabbath. And so the priest can do this.

To drive the point home, what Jesus is fully saying is that service to him, walking with him, joining him on mission, is at least the same as the priests offering sacrifices in the temple. What Jesus is saying is OK - not only am I the Davidic king, that is important, but wait - service to me is of critical importance too. He has actually now answered how the disciples can be guiltless. It is because they are not working for works sake, the are working in service to Jesus, and why is that better and more important, verse 6 tells us

Matthew 12:6 ESV

I tell you, something greater than the temple is here.

Jesus point is that he, the one who is the great high priest (Hebrews) the one who is the propitiation of our sins, the one who is (again Hebrews) able to make sacrifice once for all time, HE IS HERE. SO why can the disciples pluck this grain, because ultimately they are serving him. Because they are serving Jesus. Here the Pharisees are getting heated. Not only is he claiming to be more important than David here is is saying he is better than the TEMPLE. THE TEMPLE!?!? and they still don't know.

have you not heard about MERCY

Have you not heard about MERCY?

You see Pharisees you are missing the WHOLE boat because you do not even understand the fundamental principles of WHO GOD IS! If you had known - you read ALL THE TIME you Pharisees all the time are standing p in the synagogue and you are reading Hosea 6:6 - “I desire mercy can not sacrifice”, you stand up, you read it and then you claim to be the ones who have the authority to know and read and interpret God’s word and you don’t even get this and this is basic stuff. You don’t even know about mercy.

If you were to truly understand what God wants, what God desires, what God has called you too, you wouldn’t be out here judging the disciples for picking grain, instead you would be offering them to eat some of your bread that you cooked yesterday so that BOTH OF YOU would be guiltless. If you understood that God desires mercy and not sacrifice then you wouldn’t be, and we will get to this later in Matthew, you wouldn’t be laying these burdens on people that will ultimately just drag them down to hell. You would be saving them. If you really understood, pharisees, what God had asked of you, you wouldn’t even be here.

Because God desires mercy, he desires an upright heart, he requires our love and devotion. He doesn;t care that you follow your made up, man made, sabbath regulations if you cannot have heart of Mercy! He cares that you love him you serve him, you are acknowledging him in all that you do. Because if you would have understood that, Jesus continues, you would not have condemned the guiltless. If you would have understood who God is, what He has called you too, if you understood ANY of that you would not be here condemning my disciples. They are innocent - they have NOT broken the sabbath. But because you pharisees do not understand God’s mercy , you don't understand what he has required you are all over the place.

But there is something else they do not understand. and this- oh pharisees is your greatest sin. This is their biggest problem, HAVE YOU NOT UNDERSTOOD JESUS

Have you not understood JESUS?

-WHY WE START WITH CONTEXT - because we often don’t understand Jesus either - and note with the idea of discourse narrative what Matthew wants us to see - it is not just that we understand his words - though we must understand his words - but we ave to understand Jesus and WHO HE IS

-here it is NOT just an understanding of the words, though we must understand those, what is at issue here is do you understand Jesus, who he is?

-Against the Hebraic background of the phrase, its loaded phrase of Lord, being called the LORD f the Lord’s day, so taking and claiming authority over something that is uniquely God’s jesus is doing the “unthinkable; to speak of a human being as such is to make the most extraordinary claim to an authority on par with God himself.” - France 463