Lord of the Sabbath

Luke 6: 1 – 11

Introduction.

Last Sunday we looked at the stories Luke told us about the life of Jesus as a child. I find it interesting that the only thing we know about Jesus’ childhood are stories that took place in the Jerusalem Temple. This makes for a good Mothers’ Day sermon, since it demonstrates how seriously Mary and Joseph were about keeping the Jewish Law.

It is obvious in Luke’s Gospel that Mary and Joseph kept the Law. They followed the letter of the Law when it came to their son, Jesus. They had him circumcised when he was eight days old, just as the Law required. When Jesus was 41 days old, they traveled to the Temple to fulfill two legal requirements.

First, they offered a sacrifice to purify Mary from childbirth. The Law stated that a woman was ceremonially unclean for 40 days after giving birth to a son (80 days after giving birth to a daughter). Mary had to wait 40 days and then offer a sacrifice in the Temple to regain her religious purity.

Second, Mary and Joseph offered a sacrifice to redeem their first-born son. The Old Testament required that every first-born among the Jewish people belongs to God. This applies to animals the family owns and to the children born to the family. In the case of the animals, Jewish people had two choices. They could kill the first-born animal as a sacrifice to God, or they could redeem (or buy back) the animal by substituting a lamb as the sacrifice. For babies born to the family, God did not allow human sacrifice. So, the first-born baby was to be redeemed (or bought back) from God by sacrificing a lamb. If the family was poor, the Old Testament allowed the family to substitute two doves in the place of a lamb.

In Luke 2, we learn a lot about Jesus’ family when Luke tells us they offered two doves to redeem Jesus as their first-born child. We learn that Mary and Joseph were very religious parents. They kept the Old Testament Law. And, we learn that Mary and Joseph were poor. They redeemed Jesus with two doves and not a lamb.

I think it is fair for us to look at the religious life of Mary and Joseph and to project that religious life onto the rest of Jesus’ childhood. Mary and Joseph demonstrated the life of good Jewish religion. They taught Jesus how to follow the Old Testament Law. And, as a result, Jesus grew up to be a good Jewish man who followed the requirements of the Law.

Jesus kept the Old Testament Law through his entire life. Jesus even taught his followers the importance of the Law in his Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 5: 17 – 20, Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven (NIV).”

Those were strong words about the importance of the Law. But, it wasn’t enough to convince Jesus’ opponents. The Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law didn’t believe that Jesus took the Law as seriously as they did. So, there were many times when Jesus faced challenges from these religious leaders.

Read Luke 6: 1 – 11.

1 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and his disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels.

2 Some of the Pharisees asked, "Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?"

3 Jesus answered them, "Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?

4 He entered the house of God, and taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions."

5 Then Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."

6 On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled.

7 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath.

8 But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to the man with the shriveled hand, "Get up and stand in front of everyone." So he got up and stood there.

9 Then Jesus said to them, "I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?"

10 He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He did so, and his hand was completely restored.

11 But they were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.

(NIV)

This controversy between Jesus and the religious leaders was not a small controversy. It was based on two opposing views of what it means to keep the Sabbath. Again, this is no small controversy. Keeping the Sabbath is one of the Ten Commandments… Even if it is the commandment we tend to pay the least amount of attention to in contemporary Christian life.

For the Jews of Jesus’ day, the Sabbath Day was the most important way of identifying themselves as faithful in a pluralistic culture. Israel had lost her national identity to the Roman Empire. The Jews were free to practice their religion in the Roman Empire, but they faced a serious threat from the Roman pantheon and the patriotic religion of Emperor Worship. The Sabbath Day was the one public sign which set the Jews apart from the non-Jews. As a result, the religious leaders were very serious and very protective of the Sabbath.

In fact, the Pharisees had more rules and regulations about observing the Sabbath than were found in the Old Testament. This is where Jesus got in trouble with the Pharisees.

Legalism

The Pharisees of Jesus’ day were the most religious men of Israel. They dedicated their lives to studying the Old Testament Law. They believed that all Jews should keep God’s Law in every circumstance of every day. This much they had in common with Jesus. Jesus did not come to abolish (or do away with) the Law. Jesus came to fulfill the Law.

In order to apply God’s Law to every aspect of daily Jewish life, the Pharisees devoted their lives to making new rules and regulations. The Sabbath Day is a good illustration of what the Pharisees did.

In the Ten Commandments, the Fourth Commandment is really very simple and open ended. “Remember the Sabbath Day and keep it holy.” It is a very broad commandment and probably a little too broad for the Pharisees. So, they made it more specific by making a list of 39 different types of work to be prohibited on the Sabbath. These 39 categories included over 1,000 specific actions.

This is what upset the Pharisees about what Jesus’ disciples did on the Sabbath Day. The disciples were walking through or near a grain field. They were hungry and began to eat grain from someone else’s field. That was not a crime. In fact, the Old Testament allowed hungry people to collect grain from someone else’s field as long as they only used their hands and did not use any harvesting tools.

However, the Pharisees took exception to what the disciples were doing, because it was on the Sabbath Day. Luke provides us with a clue to the Pharisees’ objection by saying the disciples picked grain, rubbed the heads of grain in their hands and ate the kernels. Perhaps the Pharisees interpreted the disciples’ action as harvesting and threshing—two forbidden activities listed among the thousands of activities in the Pharisees’ rules and regulations about the Sabbath.

I love the way Jesus answers the Pharisees’ objection. He told a Bible story from the life of David.

The story about David cuts right to the heart of purpose of the Law. In the story of David, David was running away from King Saul. He ran to the Sanctuary of Nob and asked the priest for two things: a sword for himself and bread for his men. The only sword in the sanctuary was the sword of Goliath, which David took after he killed Goliath. The only bread in the sanctuary was the “Bread of the Presence.” Every Sabbath Day, the priest placed freshly baked bread in the presence of God. Then, the priest removed the week-old bread that had been there since the previous Sabbath. The week-old bread was to be eaten by the priest as a part of his livelihood—it was part of his wages.

David knew the Law but did what was contrary to the Law. He ate the bread and shared it with his men. Human need took precedence over ceremony.

There is another interesting thing about Jesus’ answer. By appealing to a biblical story from the life of David, Jesus shows us that he places more value on what the Bible actually says than on the Pharisees’ interpretation of the Bible.

Appropriate Work for the Sabbath

On another Sabbath Day, Jesus went to the synagogue to teach the Scriptures. This was an acceptable type of work for the Sabbath…Notice that a group of Pharisees showed up to hear Jesus preach.

Actually, there were two kinds of people gathered in the synagogue that Sabbath. There were Jewish people who had heard Jesus’ teachings in the streets and had witnessed his miracles. They were there to see Jesus. Then, there were the Pharisees. They too had heard Jesus’ teachings in the streets and had witnessed his miracles. But, the Pharisees weren’t there to see Jesus. They were there to WATCH Jesus.

The Pharisees did not doubt that Jesus had the power to heal. They had witnessed many of his healing miracles. They doubted that he respected the Sabbath Day the way they did. So, they watched him.

Again, the Old Testament commands us to “Remember the Sabbath Day.” The Pharisees had added restrictions to that. In the matter of healing, the Pharisees said that it was OK to heal on the Sabbath as long as it was a matter of life and death. This was not a matter of life and death. So, they watched Jesus to see if he would do the right thing. Of course, they thought the right thing was to tell the man to wait until the sun went down.

I suppose Jesus could have given the man his business card and asked him to call the next day. Or, Jesus could have whispered in the man’s ear, “This really isn’t a good time for me. I can heal you…And I am willing to heal you on the Sabbath. I would just prefer that we not do this in front of the Pharisees. They are watching me right now. Let’s get together somewhere a little more private.”

But that is not what Jesus did. He asked the man to walk out to a highly visible position in the synagogue. And right there in front of everyone, Jesus healed the man. But before he healed the man, Jesus offered a brief teaching about what is appropriate on the Sabbath Day.

Jesus offered the crowd two choices. Luke 6: 9, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it (NIV)?”

The way Jesus asked the question tells us a lot. Is it lawful to do good or to do evil? Is it lawful to save life or to destroy life? Doing nothing is not an option. Waiting until tomorrow is not an option.

This reminds me of a teaching from James, the brother of Jesus. James teaches us in James 4: 17, “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins (NIV).”

According to the Pharisees, Jesus had broken the Sabbath. He didn’t keep all their rules about Sabbath keeping. But, Jesus did something even better. He reformed the Sabbath by releasing people like you and me from the burdensome restrictions. But be careful here…Jesus didn’t tell us we can do away with the Sabbath. And, he didn’t tell us we could do anything we want to do on the Sabbath.

You and I can’t redefine what can and can’t be done on the Sabbath. Only Jesus can do that. Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath, because he is also the Son of Man. Luke 6: 5, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” The Pharisees are not Lord of the Sabbath, and you and I are not Lord of the Sabbath. Only Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath.

Conclusion.

Sabbath is still an important part of our lives. Keeping the Sabbath is one of the Ten Commandments. It does not go away just because Jesus fulfilled the Law with his life, death and resurrection.

The Old Testament was clear that the Sabbath Day was to be a holy day. “Remember the Sabbath Day and keep it holy” shows up in both places where the Ten Commandments are mentioned (Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5). However, Exodus and Deuteronomy give two different reasons why Jews ought to keep the Sabbath.

Exodus 20 tells us that Jews ought to keep the Sabbath holy because of what God did in the act of creation. God created everything in six days. Then, God rested on the seventh day. Therefore, God’s people should imitate God…Work for six days a week, and rest on the seventh day.

Deuteronomy 5 gives us a different reason. Here we read that it is important to keep the Sabbath, because God’s people used to be slaves in Egypt. Keeping the Sabbath Day is a good way to remember that you are not a slave. Slaves don’t get to take a day off of work. Only free people can take time off.

I suppose there are at least a couple of ways that we can interpret this reference to slavery. On one hand, slaves don’t work for themselves. Slaves work for their masters. The master controls when the slave works and when the slave takes time off work. On the other hand, slaves can’t set their own schedules. Someone else assigns the work and sets the schedule.

Someone is probably thinking right now that slaves are not the only people who work all the time and never take time away from work. There are men and women of many different occupations and stages in life who work all the time. However, I suggest we are all slaves to something. We may not be slaves to an earthly, human master. Yet, it is possible to be a slave to work.

Maybe this is why Sabbath ought to be more important to us. Keeping the Sabbath can be a profession of our faith in God. People who cannot take time off of work believe that God NEEDS us. People who stop working realize that God keeps on working, even when we are not working. … This is an act of worship: acknowledging that God is God, and I am not.

Sabbath is a time for us to rest…Like God rested after Creation.

Sabbath is a time for us to worship God…We are free to take time away from work, because we are not God.

Sabbath is a time for us to go good and to save life…As Jesus demonstrated in his life’s work.