Friday, March 02, 2012
The
Lord of the Sabbath
1 At that time Jesus
went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and
began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. 2 When the Pharisees
saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on
the Sabbath.” 3 He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions
were hungry? 4 He entered the house of God, and he and his
companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but
only for the priests. 5 Or haven’t you read in the Law that on the
Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent? 6
I tell you that one greater than the temple is here. 7
If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you
would not have condemned the innocent. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord
of the Sabbath.”
Matthew
12:1-8
This
incident comes right on the heels of Jesus speaking about how we can find rest
for our souls. The religious legalists begin to complain about Jesus’ followers
doing something unlawful on the Sabbath Day.
This is anything but rest. When
the Jews returned from Babylonian captivity there was a zealous effort to
correct their Sabbath Day laws. Before
the captivity they broke the laws. Afterward, they amassed detailed regulations
for the Sabbath. These were spiritually suffocating. It took a lot of work just
to know the rules, much less keep them.
Rubbing grain in ones hands were considered to be threshing and blowing
the chaff was winnowing, both forbidden on the Sabbath. Jesus uses three arguments to refute this
legalism:
1)
David ate the consecrated bread in 1 Samuel 21:6.
2)
Priests are working in the Temple. In other words, priests have to work on the
Sabbath which means there is some work that is acceptable.
3)
Jesus is greater than the Temple. Jesus was claiming to be God in the flesh
which is far greater than anything built by human hands.
Jesus
clears up the teaching by reminding them that he desires mercy over sacrifice
(quoted from Hosea 6:6).
The
Lord of the Sabbath wants us to know that rest is what the Sabbath is all
about. It’s still that way today. One day out of six should be devoted or set
apart for rest – not just for our bodies but for our soul as well.
The Sabbath is a time
for refreshing. The Sabbath isn’t a time for being bogged
down or overloaded but a time to refresh ourselves in the Lord. It was more important for the disciples to be
refreshed by eating grain that to go hungry by observing some manmade law. The
follower of Christ should use the day to rekindle, to recharge ourselves
physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. What refreshes you may not
refresh me. “Remember the Sabbath day by
keeping it holy” (Exodus 20:8). How are
you doing on your Sabbath day rest?
The Sabbath is a time
of worship. Jesus uses the priests to refute the legalism
of the Sabbath. The Sabbath was a time for people to gather and to worship God.
It’s a day to celebrate the risen Lord. It’s a day to acknowledge the Lord of
the Church. Gathering together is a great way to corporately worship the living
God. “Let us not give up meeting
together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another –
and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25).
The Sabbath is a time
to do acts of mercy. The Pharisees had missed the true meaning of
God’s law – to do acts of mercy. In other words love takes precedent over
legalism. Have you ever stopped to consider that showing mercy is a way to
rest?
God
gave us the pattern right from the very beginning – He rested on the seventh
day. God did not rest because he was tired but to show us the importance of
rest. His rest was to celebrate the accomplishment of creation. Our rest is
intended to celebrate the accomplishment of salvation!
Remember
the words of Jesus, “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” (Matthew
11:29).
Prayer:
Lord, help us to know how important rest is for us. May we rest in Jesus Christ
who bought our salvation so we can be friends of God. May we focus more on love than legalism.
AMEN!
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