I’m not sure what your idea is of this term – “Sabbath.” If you have been in church for a while or if you’re older, it is a
term you have probably heard. If you’re younger or a new believer, I’m not sure what, if anything, you know about the
term.
Let’s take a little poll – not to embarrass anyone or put anyone on the spot – just so we know what we think about the
term “Sabbath.” You can raise your hand more than once.
- Is “Sabbath” a religious day? - Is “Sabbath” Sunday?
- Is “Sabbath” a Jewish thing? - Is “Sabbath” church day?
- Is “Sabbath” a day off? - Is “Sabbath” a day to not work?
- I don’t know what “Sabbath” is.
We’re going to learn quite a bit about “Sabbath” today. As we continue to look at the Lord Jesus – a REAL human life –
we’re going to start to see how He dealt with challenges from religious people about His actions on the “Sabbath.” The
Lord Jesus says and does some amazing things – things that push the limits of whether we’re talking about a mere human
being or maybe He pulled out His God-powers to do some stuff.
Before we open God’s Word, let’s ask our Teacher to help us. PRAY
Turn to Luke 6:1,2. READ. The NKJV is the only version I found that said “on the second Sabbath after the first.” Luke
may have written that to help keep this event in timeline perspective or maybe he was referring to a particular month and
this happened on the second Sabbath of the month. Most Bible translations just say that this happened on a Sabbath.
Sabbath is, among many other things, a day of the week for Jews. If you talked to a Jew or a Christian who attends a
Messianic church, they would refer to the day as “Shabbat.” Turn back to Genesis 2:1-3. READ. The word “Sabbath”
doesn’t appear in those verses – in ENGLISH. It does in Hebrew – the language the OT was written in. “Sabbath” means
“rest.” Does anyone know the Spanish word for “Saturday?” Sabato. Why would Saturday be called “sabato?” What’s
the Spanish word for Sunday? Domingo. Why isn’t Sunday called sabato – Sunday is the Sabbath, right?
No – God rested – took Sabbath – on the seventh day. The seventh day is Saturday. Notice almost all calendars – what
is the day on the far left? Sunday. Why? Because Sunday is the first day of the week. On the very first Sunday, Genesis
1:1-5, God worked – He created the heavens and the earth and He also created light which consequently produced
darkness. On Sunday – the first day of the week – God did that. And then He worked for 5 more days after that in His
creative acts.
On Saturday, the seventh day, God rested – Sabbath. If you are a fan of Mannheim Steamroller and you have Fresh Aire
7, notice the huge mistake in the title of one of their songs – “Sunday, the Seventh Day.” Jackson Berkey and his wife
Almeda should have known better, being followers of Jesus, but I suppose Chip Davis had the final say. The seventh day
God rested. This would have been the very first Saturday.
God also blessed the seventh day and sanctified it – set it apart for Himself. What God did on the seventh day is what God
wanted His people to do on the seventh day – REST. Sabbath. Turn to Exodus 20 – in the 10 Commandments. Exodus
20:8-11. READ. Before there was any law, God had set aside the Sabbath – the seventh day – as a day of rest. Then
the Law of Moses came from God and included in that Law was a requirement for God’s chosen people to keep that day
set apart, different from the rest of the week.
Turn over to Exodus 31:13-17. READ. God was very serious about the importance of this day of rest for the children of
Israel. If they broke the Sabbath, they were to be put to death. Interesting – “Rest or DIE.” And it is called a perpetual
covenant for the children of Israel. We could find numerous passages in the books of Exodus and Leviticus that get very
specific about what can and can’t happen – what is and what is not “work.” Go back to Luke 6.
One of the things that Jews were instructed to do in the Law was to make preparations for eating and all other kinds of
work on the sixth day – Friday – so they didn’t have to do any work on the seventh day. Read Luke 6:1,2 again. READ.
You and I probably don’t think of that as work. But the religious people – Pharisees – were starting to notice several
things about Jesus. He spoke about the things of God with authority. His actions were causing the “regular” people to get
excited about their faith. He was starting to draw huge crowds – a lot more than they did. So they were following Him
around out of jealousy to see if they could catch Him make a mistake. And they thought they had Him with this one.
No one could deny that God had set apart the Sabbath day as a day to rest and focus one’s attention on God. The
Pharisees were very proud of their ability to do that – and they flaunted it in front of the “regular” people. So when they
saw Jesus and His disciples walking through this grain field and “working” – picking the grain and taking off the husks in
order to eat it – they knew they had Him. “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?”
We will see something as we continue to look at the life of the Lord Jesus and His interaction with the religious leaders.
After a while, they began to kind get kind of reluctant to ask Him any questions – and even when they just THOUGHT
stuff, He usually still rebuked them. I would be very nervous to challenge the Lord Jesus. But they hadn’t learned yet.
Jesus doesn’t say this, but He responds to their question, “Let’s think about what is lawful and what isn’t lawful on the
Sabbath.” And, as always and as we should, Jesus goes right to God’s Word.
Turn to Leviticus 24:5-9. READ. This bread was placed in the tabernacle of the Israelites and the temple of the Jews
every Sabbath to “show” that God’s presence was there. It was then used by the Levites – the descendants of Aaron,
workers in the temple and priests – as nourishment. It was holy – set apart for God’s purposes and was to be used as
God directed here in Leviticus.
Turn to 1 Samuel 21:1-6. READ. There are several things we could talk about here, but we’ll focus on the thing that Jesus
used as a response to the religious leaders. David and the men who were with him were hungry. David was well aware of
the purpose for the holy bread in the tabernacle. He was well aware of God’s laws concerning its use and what it signified.
But David also knew that he and his men were hungry and had no other option for food.
Look at Luke 6:3-5. READ. He was questioned by the religious leaders about what was “lawful” on the Sabbath. Let’
think about what is lawful and what is not lawful – David took and ate what was only “lawful” for the Levites to eat. I think
the question Jesus is asking without putting into words is, “Did David break God’s Law by doing this?”
Turn over to Matthew 12:3-8. This is Matthew’s account of this same event. READ. Luke included what God wanted
him to include. Matthew included more of what was said. The Law is actually broken by the priests on the Sabbath –
THEY WORK on the Sabbath. He then says something that explains why later they get really mad at Him. In verse 6 of
Matthew 12, Jesus proclaims that He is greater than the temple. He also quotes Hosea 6:6 – God desires mercy and not
sacrifice. It is the heart of people God is interested in, not how well they abide by every little rule of the Law of Moses.
Turn to Mark 2:25-28. This is Mark’s account of this circumstance and we get a little more of the story. READ. The
Pharisees were under the mistaken impression that God’s point in establishing the Sabbath was to make mankind serve IT.
Withhold stuff from yourself and from others – don’t help get your animal out of a hole or a trap – don’t feed someone in
need or you’ll break the Sabbath. Jesus says here in Mark that the Sabbath was made for MAN – not man for the
Sabbath. The day of rest is for mankind’s benefit – to help mankind. For mankind to experience the grace, mercy and
love of God as God restores a person’s strength and motivation and helps the person find meaning and purpose in the
things of God.
Turn to one more passage – John 5:16-18. READ. Jesus is posing an interesting paradox for these religious people here –
this is at some other situation than in Luke 6. The problem is “has God taken a day off SINCE the first Sabbath?” Jesus
answers NO – My Father has been working until now. He never stops showing kindness and meeting needs and working
miracles. God HIMSELF is breaking the Sabbath. The religious leaders here in John either miss the point completely or
ignore it and devise another reason to hate Jesus – He says He’s equal with God.
The Sabbath – the day of rest – was made for MAN, not man for the Sabbath. If My disciples need nourishment, it is not
against God’s law for them to pick a few kernels of grain and clean them off and eat them. They are resting in the Lord –
that’s God’s point. This whole discussion of what is legal to do on the Sabbath and what is not is the start of another new
concept Jesus introduces under the coming of the Kingdom of God. There is a NEW law – we’ll see that soon.
But in keeping with what we saw last Sunday about the new wine and the new wineskins and God’s new and BETTER
way of doing life, Jesus pushes against the old to begin to make people aware. And in all the accounts of this experience
we have – Matthew, Mark and Luke – Jesus ends with this statement – The Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.
Is Jesus pulling out his God-ness there? We have been looking at the Lord Jesus – a REAL human being, living a real
human life – in the Gospel of Luke. It has been our contention that Jesus, according to Philippians 2, emptied Himself of
His God abilities – set them aside – and came to earth as a human being and lived a true human life. Remember that this
does not in any way make Him less than God. He is, was and always will be God. But He voluntarily set aside His
privileges as God to live the kind of life you and I have to so that He could do it right and show us how it should be lived.
I assume that we have some drivers here with us this morning – are any of you drivers? How do I know that? You’re not
driving right now. If I had to prove that you are a driver I have very little to go on. Yes, there are a lot of cars out in the
parking areas. But they could have been left there by someone else. You could all have arrived here by bus or walking or
in 10 or 12 of the cars and only 10 or 12 of you are drivers. The truth is, there are a good number of drivers here right
now and you are not putting your driving abilities to use at this time. You have set them aside to come into this building and
be with the church family. It doesn’t change the truth – many of you are drivers.
Jesus is, was and always will be God. The fact that He temporarily set aside His abilities as God did not change the fact
that He IS God. And now, God in the flesh, living a completely human life, says “The Son of Man is also Lord of the
Sabbath.” This is not a claim of deity – this is a claim of HUMANITY. The Sabbath was MADE for man – not man for
the Sabbath. The true human being, the REAL human life that Jesus lived could say that He IS the Lord of the Sabbath. It
was made for Him and for us. What He says about it is what is reality. What He does in it is allowable and acceptable.
There is a new way to view and participate in the day of rest.
Jesus continues this new thing as the story goes on. Luke 6:6-11. READ. Verse 7 says that the religious leaders were
there – not worshiping and not listening for God’s Word – but to find something they could accuse Jesus about. They
either were different religious leaders than He had spoken to in verses 1 – 5, or they ignored His point. “Is He going to
heal on the Sabbath – is He going to do a WORK of healing on the day of rest?”
Jesus knew what they were thinking. He didn’t have to pull out His God powers to realize this. I think you and I could
figure this out. But He was, as always, closely connected with the Father and listening to Him and doing what the Father
told Him to do. So He addresses the man with the hand. I think it is clear that the man came, knowing that Jesus the
healer was going to be there. He likely thought, maybe He will see me and heal ME. This is faith. And Jesus responds.
“My friend, stand up and come where everyone can see you.”
Imagine the anticipation of this man. “He’s going to DO it!” So the guy stood up. And then Jesus gets right to the heart of
the issue the religious people are seeking to use to condemn Him. “I’m going to ask you lawyers – you legalists – one thing:
is it legal on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil? Is it legal on the Sabbath to save someone’s life or to destroy someone’
s life?” Jesus was going to do good. Jesus was going to save a man’s life. These law addicts wanted evil for this man and
didn’t care if his life was destroyed.
Look again at verse 10 – “And when He had looked around at them all…” Jesus didn’t look at everyone in the room. He
looked into the eyes of every religious leader – do you want to talk about if looks could KILL? The piercing gaze of Jesus
the real human being, fully dependent on God Himself, would have been devastating. After He had the attention of every
one of them, He said to the guy, “Stretch out your hand.” Before everyone’s eyes, the hand was completely restored by
the healing power of God and the fully devoted trust of Jesus the human being.
What a blessing! What an act of love and compassion! What a caring thing to do. Is it legal to do that on the Sabbath?
Jesus said OF COURSE it is. This is the character of our God. This new way of doing the Sabbath reflects the new
freedom there will be in Christ. When we were in Galatians, we saw that freedom in Christ is clearly freedom FROM the
Law. The Law kills, freedom and grace and healing are in Jesus. In the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Kingdom of God,
there is great freedom to experience and know the forgiveness and deliverance from the condemnation the Law brings
because of sin.
Look again, though, at the reaction of the legalists, verse 11. READ. The KJV says that they were filled with madness –
they went crazy. Not because they were excited – because He had exposed them for what they really wanted – pain and
suffering and evil. And they don’t deny it – their course of action became how to shut Him up.
Let’s look at one more verse before we wrap it up today. Luke 6:12. READ. Once again, the Lord Jesus, a real human
life, found His strength and motivation in His close relationship with God. This is at least the third time we have seen Jesus
go away by Himself with His Father to recharge and continue on in the human existence. I ask us all again – do we need
time with the Lord any LESS than Jesus? No – we need time with Him MORE than Jesus.
Where do we spend time with Him? Where do we hear from Him? We get to know Him and we hear from Him through
His Word the Bible. That is our primary source. There is no other place promised by God to allow us access to Him.
Anyone who ignores or stays away from God’s Word the Bible is only destroying the opportunity for God to do His God-
sized stuff in him.
We ALL need to spend time with Jesus in His Word – seeking Him, hearing from Him, applying what we hear from Him.
2 Timothy 3:16,17. READ. “Thoroughly equipped for every good work” – by WHAT? By God’s WORD – not
anything else. And at the same time, we need to be in constant communication with Him – in prayer. If JESUS – GOD in
the flesh needed this to do the human life right, WE HAVE TO HAVE IT. There is no debate.
What can we apply today from what we have seen? Hopefully we have a better understanding of what the word Sabbath
means. By the way, we didn’t bring this up, but since it was instituted before the arrival of the Law, it is a good thing to
apply – a day of rest. The Law made it a requirement for the people of Israel. For the rest of us, it is a really beneficial
practice. Do you take a day each week to remove yourself from the regular issues of life and concentrate on the goodness
and provision of God? I think in our culture, we would benefit greatly by doing that.
Another valuable lesson we can take from what we saw in Jesus today is that God desires to renew us and refresh us and
recharge us, and He’s given us a pattern to practice by taking a day to do that. It doesn’t mean you can’t work – the intent
of the Sabbath day is to remove yourself from regular work and focus on the Lord.
So if you sit in an office all week, take a day to be away from that world and focus your attention on the goodness and
blessings and provision and power of God that He’s showed to you through Jesus Christ. If you do farm work, take a day
and refocus your attention on God’s blessings and power and provision. If you labor physically at your job, take a day to
break from physical activity and rest, relax and recharge by reading God’s Word and spending time in prayer and being
with your family.
Another thing we can take from our time with Jesus today is that in Christ, there is freedom. In the Law, there is
condemnation – that’s what the Law was for. To show us we are sinners and we need a Savior. In Jesus – THE Savior –
we can experience the grace and mercy and forgiveness and goodness of God.
The Law, according to Galatians, was out tutor to bring us to Christ – to crack our knuckles and get our attention as to
how off track we were. Jesus came and lived the perfect, REAL human life. And then He took the next step and took our
sins on Himself – even though He had never sinned. He died carrying our sin. And then He took it all the way and rose
from the dead and overcame sin and gave us the opportunity to do life the way He did – a REAL human life. PLUS we
are also now able to live with Him eternally. What a great Savior we serve.
Whatever we do, all of us need a day each week to spend time in His Word, spend time in His creation, spend time with
the family He’s given us. Thank Him, talk of Him, teach Him, listen for Him. This is not MY suggestion – this is GOD’S
plan – it may have some validity. Are you applying His plan?