Lord of the Sabbath
Text: Mark 2:23-3:6
Core Idea: Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath – the One who brings true rest to our souls. Then let us not fear from resting, let us not forget to rest because it’s an opportunity to experience His grace in our lives as we recalibrate our hearts to the One who gives life. Let us find our rest in Christ today.
INTRODUCTION
Good afternoon, Lighthouse. It’s so good to see many of you here in-person. I’m so thankful that we could worship together. For those of you joining us online, I miss you. I can’t wait for the whole church to gather to worship and feast again. Through this pandemic, it’s true that we’ve lost so much, but one of the things that God did even through this tragic situation was to open our eyes to see how essential community is to our lives – how tightly it’s connected to the health of our faith but also the joy of our hearts. I think many of us now see that gathering for worship, serving together, doing life together, and even having those small chitchats after service helped us to grow and mature as a church. So, now that we can slowly gather together, now that we could re-establish somewhat of a rhythm back into our lives, I pray that all of us will begin to make every effort to deepen our love for one another once again. It’s going to take some time to undo a lot of bad habits and rebuild this community to be the church that God desires. This isn’t going to be easy; but listen to what one pastor said, “Gathering with the church can be inconvenient, but so is love. Relationships are messy, but so is love. Vulnerable conversations are scary, but so is love” (Jonathan Leeman). Because of our love for God and our love for one another, I pray that we’ll learn to interlock our lives so that we can grow and mature together and live out the call that we have received as a church. That’s what I’m praying for all of us.
We’re still exploring the Gospel of Mark – looking at the ways of Jesus in order that they might become our ways. That’s what discipleship is all about – gazing upon Jesus (learning who He is and what He did) so that we may become more like Him. Now, we saw that things took a steep turn for Jesus at the end of chapter 1. If you recall, after healing the leper, Jesus strongly warned him not to tell anyone about this. But for whatever reason, he told everyone he met, the word spread, and a huge crowd began to flock to Jesus wherever He went. These people were composed of those who wanted to be physically healed or spiritually liberated, those who wanted to be entertained by these miracles, but there were also the religious leaders who weren’t fond of Jesus. They questioned Jesus’ authority and searched for ways to oppose Him. They were blinded by their pride and envy that they weren’t able to see Jesus for who He really was. Even though Jesus displayed His authority to forgive sins through the healing of the paralytic, Jesus was called a blasphemer. Even though Jesus declared Himself the Great Physician by dining with the tax collectors, Jesus was called a friend of sinners. Even though Jesus inaugurated the ultimate feast as the long-awaited Bridegroom, He was called a lawbreaker. It’s important to see that there has never been and there will never be a consensus on who Jesus is. Some will always misunderstand Him, but some will see Him for who He is – the Savior King. This is why it’s absolutely crucial for us to clearly understand and passionately endeavor to know who Jesus really is. So, that’s what we want to do today as well. Through another story of opposition, we’ll learn that Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. So, if you have your Bibles, please turn to Mark 2:23-3:6. Let me read this for us.
23 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as His disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. 24 The Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” 25 He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? 26 In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.” 27 Then He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” 3:1 Another time Jesus went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. 2 Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched Him closely to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath. 3 Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.” 4 Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent. 5 He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. 6 Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.
Amen. This is the Word of God for you today.
The story can be divided into three parts:
THE DISTORTED SABBATH
THE TRUE SABBATH
THE CHOICE
1) THE DISTORTED SABBATH (V. 23-27)
Let’s look at verse 23. Here, Jesus and His disciples were walking through the grainfields. The disciples must have gotten hungry; so, Mark tells us that they picked some heads of grain to eat. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked in verse 24, “Why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” It’s important to note that the disciples did not violate the Sabbath law, but they possibly violated two regulations that the Pharisees instituted as an interpretation of the law. Let me explain. When the laws were given to the Israelites at Mount Sinai, many of the laws weren’t really precise in detail. So, the rabbis began to commentate on the law hoping that it will help people to understand and obey the law. But over time, their interpretation became a tradition, and they were eventually treated like the Scripture itself. And as a result, many of what God intended through the law was distorted and lost. Here’s an example of a Sabbath regulation: Exodus 16:29 says, “Bear in mind that the LORD has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day He gives you bread for two days. Everyone is to stay where they are on the seventh day; no one is to go out.” Then it begs the question, “What’s considered going out? Can you move around the house? Can you visit your friend’s house? How far can you go?” So, the rabbis actually came up with what’s known as “the Sabbath day’s journey” which permitted one to travel 2,000 cubits, which is around 1.2km. In other words, if someone traveled even one more cubit, that person would’ve been considered a Sabbath breaker. In our passage, considering that the disciples walked through the grainfields, searching for something to eat, it’s very likely that they violated this rule. But the Pharisees focused more on the second violation, which was reaping. Exodus 34:21 says, “Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest.” Using this verse, the Pharisees must have seen plucking as harvesting. So, as a result, Jesus was held responsible for the actions of His disciples – but the tone of this question in verse 24 was borderline a rebuke – “How dare you break the law simply because you’re hungry!”
Now, before we judge them, we must see that we do this as well. Here’s what I mean: we would take the command, “Don’t lie,” and begin to ask, “But are white lies okay? What if you’re lying to help someone?” Or take the command, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” and ask, “But who are my neighbors? Are they my friends or those in the church or those at my workplace?” Or take the command, “Be holy and pure before God,” and ask the question that so many young people have wrestled with, “How far is too far?” All this to say, all of us are trying to analyze and interpret the law in order to make sense of it, in order to practically live it out. Let me make it clear: it’s not wrong to wrestle with the Word to apply it to our lives. Sure, it’s possible that we may end up with a very narrow interpretation of the text (possibly even a wrong one), but that’s why we’re in a community. We need to sharpen each other, keep each other accountable so that we’re all on the right path. But all this to say, it’s perfectly acceptable for us to wrestle with the Word and come up with applications, because we want to live it out as faithfully as possible. The problem comes when we begin to treat our interpretation as a mandate for everyone else. This is incredibly dangerous because it could lead to pride, spiritual superiority, and legalism.
That’s exactly what happened to the Pharisees. Because they believed that their standing before God depended solely on their own performance, they became meticulous about all that they did – they wanted to know exactly what they had to do, because their life depended on it. But it didn’t stop there – their legalistic heart ultimately caused them to judge others according to their own standard. They looked for the shortcomings in others – looked for what was wrong in someone’s life in order to criticize and condemn them rather than looking for what’s right in order to commend and encourage them. Legalism is rooted in pride and self-righteousness, and it always lacks mercy, grace, and compassion for others.
In response, Jesus directed them to the Bible to cite a precedent to justify the behavior of the disciples. He reminded them of an incident from the life of David in 1 Samuel 21:1-6. When David was running away from Saul, David and his men were incredibly hungry. So, they went into the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which was lawful only for the priests to eat. But this didn’t arouse any anger from God. Then in sharing this, Jesus’ point was simple: God was primarily concerned with caring for David and his men more than the upholding of a ceremonial law; and in the same way, God cares for His people more than protecting an interpretation of the law. And Jesus concluded with a principle that must have shocked the Pharisees; verse 27, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” In other words, the Sabbath was made for our enjoyment, not us for the Sabbath’s significance. He was saying, “Don’t make it a day of what we shouldn’t do but make it into a day of how God will graciously minister to us.” The Sabbath is a blessing that lifts us up, not a burden that weighs us down. It’s to help us grow in grace and maturity, not strangle us with rules and regulations. You see, our God is a God who knows the limits of our strength; so, He gives a day where we can rest from our labor. Then what is Sabbath all about? What are we called to do? On the Sabbath, we should celebrate His love for us – remembering and rejoicing over His work in our lives. But knowing that our souls and hearts are battlefields for praise, the Sabbath is also an opportunity for us to recalibrate our hearts to God. Celebrate and recalibrate.
Then let me invite us to check our hearts right now. Unfortunately, this sort of legalism is all too common within the Christian community, where all kinds of rules are established that have nothing to do with God’s laws. Have we made our interpretation, application of the truth absolute for ourselves and others? “This is how I do it and you ought to do it exactly the same. Or else… you’re not being obedient, you’re not good enough, you’re unclean,” and so on. And the scary thing is that you could essentially use anything to enslave people – how many chapters you read every day, how long your quiet time is, how we parent our children, how we use our money, our vacation, how we serve at church – we could use anything to enforce our ways on others as if it was the truth. This is why God is inviting us to guard our hearts. This must be avoided at all costs because it will have a detrimental impact on the community. You see, if we live this way, if we judge one another with all these standards and expectations, people in our community will begin to put on a mask. People will start pretending because no one can live up to these expectations. Instead of learning to confess our sins to one another and inviting others to speak the truth into our lives, we hide, we lie, we cover up because we don’t want to be exposed, we don’t want to be judged. Friends, this is going to kill the community; but when we faithfully obey and help one another with compassion, it’s going to breathe life into this community. Then I invite you to love God and love others faithfully, passionately, and humbly.
2) THE TRUE SABBATH (V. 28)
Listen to what Jesus says in verse 28, “The Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” What does this mean? Simply put, it means that Jesus made the Sabbath and therefore, is sovereign over it. He’s the One who determines what’s lawful to do on that day. Now, it’s easy to miss or dismiss this (because we’ve heard it so much), but we must clearly see that Jesus once again puts Himself in the place of God – in saying this, He was claiming to be the Creator God. Jesus understands that there is a God who has no beginning and end, who is infinitely transcendent, who made the world and rested on the seventh day, and who sustains them all. And Jesus says, “That’s who I am.” Many people say, “Sure, I believe that Jesus is a great teacher, but I don’t believe that He is God.” But this creates a problem because His teaching is based on His identity claim. For example, the Sabbath law is a wonderful thing for us – it’s there to give us rest. But it’s based on the fact that Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. He’s the source of the Sabbath – the true rest for our souls. Then listen to what one scholar writes, “How can you live with the terrifying thought that the hurricane has become human, that fire has become flesh, that life itself became life and walked in our midst? Christianity either means that, or it means nothing. It is either the most devastating disclosure of the deepest reality of the world, or it is a sham, a nonsense, a bit of deceitful playacting. Most of us, unable to cope with saying either of those things, condemn ourselves to live in the shallow world in between” (N.T. Wright). In other words, Jesus is either a wicked liar or a lunatic who you should have nothing to do with, or He really is who He says He is, which means that you should throw yourself at His feet and vow to have your life revolve around Him. We can’t be in the middle ground. We can’t pick and choose what we like about Jesus. We must either reject Him or completely surrender our lives before Him. Friends, I hope you don’t miss or dismiss this: Jesus is God. And may this reality fuel our passion for worship today. But there’s one more important implication to this truth.
You see, when Jesus said, “I’m the Lord of the Sabbath,” He was saying, “I’m not just showing you the meaning of the Sabbath; I’m not just sovereign over it; I am the true rest you need.” How is this possible? Let me explain. One of the biggest learning curves for me personally as we started this church together was the fact that I needed to preach every Sunday. I used to preach every other month – so, to do this every week, I had to find a new rhythm to my life. Essentially, the passage I was going to preach that Sunday would be on my mind every day whenever I had the chance to reflect – as I was doing the dishes, putting the baby to sleep, driving, grocery shopping – I was constantly thinking about it. This meant that the only day I was able to truly rest, physically and mentally, was after Sunday service. Praying that God would use my inadequate sermon to minister to the church, I would say to myself, “It’s over. I can finally rest.” Of course, the process would begin again the next day, but isn’t that true for all of us? We can truly rest when we know that the work is finished. We may be physically resting, but if we know that there’s still work to be done, we still feel restless. And this is how it is spiritually as well. Legalism is working, obeying, performing in order to earn God’s favor, to impress Him. But the reality is that because we’re not perfect, because we’re sinful, no matter how much we try, we will always come short – it will never be enough. No wonder legalism leads to restlessness, anxiety, and fear. But this is how Jesus becomes our true rest: Jesus Christ on the cross said, “It is finished” (Jn. 19:30). He lived the life that we should have lived (perfect obedience) and He died the death that we should have died (perfect payment). On the cross, Jesus experienced the greatest restlessness so that you and I can have the ultimate rest – making a way for us to be loved and be freed from despair.
Then let me ask you, “Do you feel like your soul is flourishing or drained today? Are you tired, exhausted?” Parents, I wonder if you’re physically but also emotionally exhausted thinking about your children – taking care of them. Others may be tired from being absorbed in thinking about the mistakes you made, the challenges that you’re facing, or the tasks to be done. You might be tired of trying to keep things together or to get things right. You might be tired from the tension or conflict you have with someone at home, school, or work. Or you might be just exhausted, and you don’t even know why – could be the winter blues, or the COVID blues. Whatever the case may be, if this is you, I invite you to rest in Christ today. What does that mean? For sure, it means that we trust Jesus. We fight to believe that Jesus is the Lord over our lives – family, work, finance, friendship. There’s nothing going on in our lives that He’s not ultimately Lord over. If He upholds the universe, He sure can uphold our lives. 1 Peter 5:7 says, “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” You see, He’s not only powerful to do this but He’s driven by this incredible love to care for us. And even better news is that this is not only for this world, but also for the world to come. Our future is secure in Him. Nothing will take away this hope from us. Then to rest in Jesus is to truth Him knowing that He will bring all things together to work for the good of those who love Him (Rom. 8:28).
But what does this mean practically? What does it look like to trust and rest in Him on the Sabbath day? It could mean that we celebrate and recalibrate our hearts through our corporate worship like right now; so, sing your heart out, engage with the Word, and encourage one another. Or it could be by enjoying time with your family and friends; it could even be through an afternoon nap or by reading a book that would draw you closer to Christ; it could also involve an act of mercy for someone in need – the ways could be endless. If you’re having a hard time resting from work, ask yourself, “What’s keeping me from resting?” It might actually expose the things that you’re obsessed with, even idolize. And He might be inviting you to let go. We must remember that living a restless life is like trying to fill a bucket that’s constantly leaking. No matter how much we work, the dripping away of our lives will eventually destroy us. So, brothers and sisters, I invite you to rest well in the Lord today. He alone is the source of our strength.
3) THE CHOICE (V. 1-6)
Let’s turn to chapter 3. Possibly on the same day, Jesus entered the synagogue and the Pharisees followed because they were still looking for more reasons to accuse Him. There happened to be a man with a shriveled hand, and the Pharisees were closely watching to see if Jesus would heal the man on the Sabbath and break the law – or at least the law as they defined it. The Pharisees permitted healing on the Sabbath only for the sake of saving a life. Clearly, the man’s problem wasn’t life threatening. So, according to the Pharisees, Jesus should’ve said, “If you want me to heal your hand, come back tomorrow.” But Jesus wasn’t interested in upholding their tradition; He was more interested in doing good, showing compassion. The Pharisees might have made the Sabbath into a day of fearful obedience; but Jesus wanted it to be a day of God’s extravagant grace.
So, Jesus invited the man to step forward and asked everyone in verse 4, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” Pastor Kevin DeYoung has an insightful take on this. He said, “This wasn’t just a choice about the Sabbath. Yes, that was the issue at hand, but it was more so about the person of Jesus. He was asking them, ‘Who’s side are you on? Are you with me to do good or are you with those who do evil?’” But we read that they remained silent; perhaps because they knew that Jesus was right but couldn’t bend their pride to submit themselves to Him. Either way, through their silence, they were making a choice – and they chose to be against Jesus. Of course, this angered Jesus. The Greek word Mark uses here is not the word used for simple annoyance or even righteous indignation – it’s the word for violent anger. In other words, He was furious to see their stubbornness, outraged that they cared more about their tradition than the wellbeing of this man. But His anger was also accompanied with grief and sympathy knowing that the hardness of their hearts would lead them to the way of destruction and death. And that’s exactly what we see next. Jesus heals the man, but the Pharisees went out and began to plot how they might kill Jesus. Jesus saved life; the Pharisees plotted to kill.
Brothers and sisters, how would you answer Jesus’ question? We assume that the answer is obvious – we would always choose to do good, to save life, choose Christ. It’s easy for us to judge the Pharisees but we must realize that we may fall into the same temptation if we don’t guard our hearts. If we’re not careful, we might be blinded from the fact that our sin and the hardness of our hearts is causing Jesus to grieve. If this is you, I invite you to repent. Lay your sins down before Him and be like the man with a shriveled hand. You see, when everyone remained silent, he chose Jesus. He stretched out his hand to Jesus and received life. Friends, Jesus is inviting us to stretch our hands to Him for help, for rest, for strength. I pray that all of us will choose Jesus, receive life, and choose to do good.
CONCLUSION
Lighthouse family, Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath – the One who brings true rest to our souls. Then let us not fear from resting, let us not forget to rest because it’s an opportunity to experience His grace in our lives as we recalibrate our hearts to the One who gives life. Let me finish with Jesus’ words from Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
sermon questions
Do you feel like your soul is flourishing or drained today?
Is anything keeping you from resting from work? What does it mean to rest in Christ?
Reflecting on Mark 3:4, what good things do you feel the Lord is calling you to do in our church community on the Sabbath? How can you show grace to someone today?