Lord over Sabbath
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Intro
Intro
The gospel of Luke is an interesting perspective on the life of Jesus Christ since Luke seemed to have paid very close attention to details in many circumstances. We see that Christ always seems to be coming from a meal or going to, Luke makes a point of this in Luke 5, 14, 15, and 24. There is an emphasis put on the need to be humble in the world, and finally Luke makes a very obvious point about prayer in the life of Christ. Luke shows us that Christ is always in prayer. Leonard Ravenhill, a revival and prayer enthusiast said this in 1995 during a sermon:
“THERES NOTHING MORE transfiguring than prayer. People often ask, "Why do you insist on prayer so much?" The answer is very simple - because Jesus did. You could change the title of the Gospel according to St. Luke to the Gospel of Prayer. It's the prayer life of Jesus. The other evangelists say that Jesus was in the Jordan and the Spirit descended on Him as a dove - Luke says it was while He was praying that the Spirit descended on Him. The other evangelists say that Jesus chose 12 disciples - Luke says it was after He spent a night in prayer that He chose 12 disciples. The Scriptures say that the disciples went to bed, but Jesus went to pray - as was His custom. It was His custom to pray. The other evangelists say that Jesus died on a cross - Luke says that even when He was dying Jesus was praying for those who persecuted Him. The other evangelists say Jesus went on a mount and He was transfigured - Luke says it was while He was praying that He was transfigured. There's nothing more transfiguring than prayer.”
If Christ was this deeply enveloped in prayer why shouldn't we be? Fun fact: this isn’t even what I’m going to preach on i just felt the need to share this with you. I couldn’t sit idly by and let this get past you, there is a significance in prayer, one so important that even the begotten son of God couldn't forget it.
Now for our actual text we are going to be going over, Luke 6:1-11, Christ on the Sabbath.
The Lexham English Bible Chapter 6
Plucking Grain on the Sabbath
6 Now it happened that on a Sabbath he went through the grain fields, and his disciples were picking and eating the heads of grain, rubbing them* in their* hands. 2 But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not permitted on the Sabbath? 3 And Jesus answered and* said to them, “Have you not read this, what David did when he and those who were with him were hungry—4 how he entered into the house of God and took the bread of the presentation, which it is not permitted to eat (except the priests alone), and* ate it* and gave it* to those with him?” 5 And he said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
Luke 6:6–11
A Man with a Withered Hand Healed
6 Now it happened that on another Sabbath he entered into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there, and his right hand was withered. 7 So the scribes and the Pharisees were watching closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath, in order that they could find a reason* to accuse him. 8 But he knew their thoughts and said to the man who had the withered hand, “Get up and stand in the middle,” and he got up and* stood there. 9 And Jesus said to them, “I ask you whether it is permitted on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save a life or to destroy it?”* 10 And after* looking around at them all, he said to him, “Stretch out your hand,” and he did, and his hand was restored. 11 But they were filled with fury, and began discussing* with one another what they might do to Jesus.
As i mentioned earlier Luke writes his perspective of the Gospel and life of Jesus Christ in some interesting ways, one of the most important ways he does show is he makes a case to show Christs declaration of authority in the beginning of the book. We see Christ deny easy “authority” presented by Satan but instead he rejects, from there Christ launch into ways that he shows and claims authority. He shows authoritative power with teachings of wrath and of joy, he shows that His words have authority, he has authority to heal, authority to rebuke, authority to call, to reverse the effects of sin, to forgive sin, to call sinners, to save and call people to him…but tonight I want us to focus on the authoritative claim that Jesus Christ is Lord over the Sabbath.
The Church on a whole doesn't discuss the idea of Sabbath often, and that (i think) is because its somewhat confusing (but honestly much of the bible is confusing.) Anyways i think there are just some big questions about it. When is it supposed to be, is Sunday Sabbath, if Sunday is sabbath then what about our pastor, are we supposed to do nothing on Sunday, etc. There are some good questions and points to be made there. So if sabbath is Sunday then obviously that means Kyle (and every other teaching pastor) never really gets a break and they are breaking Sabbath. There is the question: if the sabbath was important enough to get people killed in the Old Testament then why don't we practice it today. That is kind of the question that evoked this message. Why is our Sabbath practice different today than in the Old Testament.
We see Jesus and his disciples (not the twelve but 72 of them) were out in the fields. (Which quick side note, i want to mention that Jesus prayed to God to make known the 12 that were to be apostles. None of those twelve did anything to earn their spot, they (all except Judas) were some back-water country Galilean boys. They were fishermen, farmers, tax collectors, dyers and political anarchists, a bunch of nobody's, a bunch of misfits. But they were chosen, and that's the gospel. we don't do anything to be chosen and saved we just are by the grace of God. All but Judas went forth faithfully and shared the gospel, their names now engraved on the foundations of New Jerusalem.) anyways Jesus and the 72 are picking grain when the Pharisees were watching, waiting, stalking. They were searching for any way to convict Jesus of breaking law. in this moment they thought that they had him pinned against a wall. they claim that he is working on the Sabbath, they didn't even attempt to make the claim that they were stealing (which they weren't, we know that because of Deut. 23:25 “When you enter your neighbor’s standing grain, you may pluck heads of grain with your hand, but do not put a sickle to your neighbor’s grain.”) instead they convict him of working on Sabbath which could include Lighting a fire, walking too far, cooking,etc. they made the Sabbath almost impossible to keep.
They call out Jesus, but he does not shy away, in-fact he didn't even try to argue that he wasn't breaking Levitical law. He isnted responds in a manner where he is aware that he is “breaking law”. Here Jesus makes two claims: that he is greater than David (verse 3, cross reference Matthew 12:6) and that he is not just a greater king than David but that he is the Sabbath maker (verse 5). he created the Sabbath, he is what gave it its importance. He is using the Old Testament against the Pharisees, he quotes 1 Sam 21:1-6 at them. The priest took the reserved bread for priests and gave it to David who needed it. Jesus tells them that he is not just sabbath but he is greater than the sabbath, he is the rest that it gave and more. he is the rest, the refreshment, the community, the peace, the restoration found on Sabbath.
immediately Luke follows the recollection of the grain harvesting by telling us of a following Sabbath where Christ was teaching in a synagogue. There he saw a man with a shriveled hand. Jesus knew that the Pharisees would be watching him closely, they wanted to accuse him again. Christ, speaking allowed says “ Get up and stand,” then after the man stands he says “is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath or to do evil, to save a life or destroy it?” He asks this, semi sarcastically i imagine ( i think this because it says that he asks then just stands there) he tells the man to stretch his hand, he does and it heals. Just imagine being that guy, your hand all dried and curled, you're told to stick it out like you're doing the hokey pokey then next thing you know its swelling like a balloon and your hand is healed. The people should have been amazed but they were deeply enraged. They pharisees as sons of satan and as breakers of law could not be happy for they had not received joy from God. They couldn't show grace because they had not received it from the Father.
The Pharisees were so full of wrath that they weren't just mad, it says they were filled with rage. it says that they discussed what they were to do to Jesus. This is a pivotal moment in the gospel arc. Here is a moment where they start thinking about killing Jesus. The pharisees are tired of being corrected and called out, they want to kill Jesus for doing what hes done, what hes doing and what hes going to do.
I could keep going on about the pharisees and how vile they are but i have one big final point to make about them using the words of Jesus. When he makes the point of it being lawful to save a life or destroy it he is calling out the pharisees. Good being omitted and disregarded is evil being committed and enacted, there is no neutral here. The pharisees are breaking Jewish law by not acting to heal, they are refusing to love others. They only care about specific laws. And the laws they care about they don't even keep. They were stalking Jesus right, why would they be in a wheat field, the exact one that Jesus was in. They broke their own law, they were most definitely working, most likely overworking in this case. “we had to break the law to stop others from breaking the law”, fixing evil with evil. Romans 12 tells us to overcome evil with good. If Christ was breaking the law (which he wasn't) the pharisees went about correction wrong. Understand that they were working so hard to call out Christ, they desperately wanted to convict him of something he did not do, they had to follow Christ, know his every position, they were in overtime to call him out on “breaking Sabbath”
Jesus has acted on the Sabbath on two different recorded occasions here. Jesus shows that he is the ultimate sabbath, that we are not made for the sabbath. Mark records it best in mark 2:27, “Then he told them, "The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath.” The sabbath is created for man, just as the law is created for man. The law was made to serve the believer but the pharisees served the law. The law (sabbath) was created to provide rest and healing for man, otherwise we would over work ourselves. It was made to protect us from idolatry but it had become the idol of the legalist.
Our sabbath now comes from Christ, he is our rest. Hebrews 4:9-11, “Therefore, a Sabbath rest remains for God’s people. 10 For the person who has entered his rest has rested from his own works, just as God did from his. 11 Let us then make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall into the same pattern of disobedience.” we are striving to enter the rest that the father provides. the sabbath is a day of honor and glory for God, a day of mercy, a day for man. Our sabbath, our rest and peace was bought with blood. Through the crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ we can finally experience a true Sabbath. We can only experience true wholesome rest in Christ Jesus who relieves us of our works.
We are taught by Jesus here that we cannot let law stop us from being human and helping others. human need is not subject to cold and dead legalism and religious ritualism, the gospel demands mercy not sacrifice to law. (ref Hosea 6:6) We have been shown mercy by a righteous judge seated in heaven, that is a mercy that we must extend to others. If we don't then we fail at showing the gospel. God had mercy on us, we are vile and sinful people, entangled in our flesh. But he provided a sacrifice for us, he gave us a spotless lamb that would be slaughtered for us. And in that moment the sinless son of God became sin for us, he bore the entire wrath of God on our behalf. And through him we can find rest, we can find peace and comfort and love. We can show mercy and love to others, we can help others rest and find time to lean on each other. That is why we’ve been given Sunday mornings, and Monday evenings and Wednesday nights, so that as a body of Christ we can help each other rest and rejuvenate in the words of God.
We cant forget the gospel sacrifice, it is what give us rest and gives us mercy. It is the only reason we can gather the way we do. None of us deserve to be here, i don't deserve to be preaching, Lyman doesn't deserve to be leading, the band doesn't deserve to sing praise but we do. We don't deserve to rest, we should be working our tail feathers off to try and please God and enter heaven, but that's not how that works. We don't deserve the gift that is Christ Jesus yet we have it, it was given freely. I praise God that i don't work for rest and salvation, because if I did i would never get either, and neither would you. The gospel is a priceless gift that nothing in all of earth can get you, no money, no works will earn it. 1 corinthians 2:12 tells us that. We are allowed to drink freely from the fountain of life. Your salvation does not come by praying the sinners prayer, if that leads you to repenting and believing then thats amazing, but the prayer does not save you. The good gospel of the Father is needed because it makes us realize that we are sinners, that Christ is our savior and that we cannot do anything. God is holy and perfect., we are broken and filthy, only a true dependency on Jesus christ can bring that. The gospel loves the wayward, it seeks to point us home. Some of you in here arent saved, some of you have convinced yourself that you are saved and you find youself struggling in trusting and leaning on the word. IF you havent accepted Christ as your savior i pray for you daily and i weep for the condition of your soul. This is a time where i dont want that “sinners prayer” to jsut slip from your lips. I want you to seek Christ and fully lean on Him. I want to help lead you to salvation, i want to rejoice with you and your newfound dependency on the sacrifice on the Cross. When you lean on Jesus you are crucifying your old self on the cross. Come home to the father, he crys out for you. LEts pray.