August 15, 2021
Morning Service

In chapter 11, Jesus called us all to “Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”  He is calling us to a better way of life one that is focused on God and His kingdom, not ourselves.  It is a calling to deep rooted peace, contentment, and happiness that is unattainable on our own.  He calls us to a life of purpose in doing something that has eternal consequences and rewards.  Surrender is necessary to win the victory.  In this chapter we begin to see Jesus for who He really is; the very Son of God and the Creator and Lord of all we know and see.  Today we begin with the 5^th Commandment given to Moses which will help set the background for our encounter along our journey with Jesus today.

Exodus 20:8-11 "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.  (9)  Six days you shall labor and do all your work, (10) but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates.  (11)  For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore, the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

            The Jewish people were taught and governed in every aspect of their life through the Law of Moses given to him by God.  It was their only pathway to righteousness, holiness, and acceptance to Him.  Following the rules and regulations became a burden to them to always do it right.  The religious leaders took a very hard core approach to the law and created their own interpretations of what they really meant in a practical way.  In doing so they missed the true purpose that was intended for it.

Mat 12:1-2 At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.  (2)  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, "Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!"

            The Pharisees had established a list with 39 categories of actions that were forbidden to be done on the Sabbath.  These were all based upon their interpretations of Jewish law (above) and tradition.  One of those actions was that you could not harvest grain on the Sabbath.  By plucking the wheat and rubbing it in their hands, the disciples were “technically” harvesting the wheat according to the Pharisees narrow point of view.  They were not harvesting, they were hungry and were only trying to satisfy that hunger by rubbing out the wheat and eating it.  The Pharisees only see things from their “righteous and legalistic” point of view and had no compassion for these men hungry or not.  Jesus fires back at these religious leaders who were teaching the letter of the law, but did not understand the purpose behind it.  He uses King David as an example to explain His point; someone they revered as a man of God.

Mat 12:3-8 But He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: (4) how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?  (5)  Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless?  (6)  Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple.  (7)  But if you had known what this means, 'I DESIRE MERCY AND NOT SACRIFICE,' you would not have condemned the guiltless.  (8)  For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."

            This story is found in I Sam 21 telling how David, God’s chosen vessel, ate the Bread of the Presence which was lawfully only eaten by the priests.  David was on the run from King Saul who was seeking to kill him, because God had chosen him to be the next king of Israel.  He ate the bread along with his men to sustain themselves and God did not punish them.  Jesus was basically saying; “If you condemn Me then you will also need to condemn David” which was something they would NEVER do!  Jesus is not condoning disobedience, but was revealing to them a bigger picture of what the God that they served was really like and what He is looking for in us.  He quotes a passage written by several of the prophets that God desires mercy and compassion over legalistic obedience like the OT sacrifices.  He desires our obedience that originates from a heart full of love for Him rather than dutiful, ritualistic obedience. His statement in verse 8 points to the fact that it is He that created not only the Sabbath, but the entire law and that makes Him Lord over both; which is huge in the eyes of Jewish people.  The story continues:

 

 Mat 12:9-14 Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue.  (10)  And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"—that they might accuse Him.  (11)  Then He said to them, "What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out?  (12)  Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."  (13)  Then He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other.  (14)  Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.

            The Pharisees petty rules included that you could only help someone on the Sabbath if it was life threatening.  Here they are tempting Jesus for the first time to openly disobey their teachings so they can accuse Him of breaking the law proving that He was not from God.  Jesus points out to them the lack of compassion they have for by using the example of pulling a sheep out of a pit would be okay but not to heal this man with a withered hand!  They had no compassion at all for what the healing would mean to this man and his family, only that it broke their rules; showing their blurred vision of what the purpose of the law is over the letter of it.  Jesus boldly replies with an action that carries much more weight than just words; He healed him right there is front of everyone.  We, the disciples, think this is amazing and worthy of great praise for this One who has come doing these wonderful works.  It shows that He is Lord even above the law and we should be listening to all He says and teaches because He now is our path to eternal life and reconciliation with God.  The Pharisees?  The condition of their heart is revealed as they now because of this healing on the Sabbath seek to destroy Him rather than follow Him! 

            Where are we as Jesus followers today; are we short sighted about the big picture and getting to much caught up in the moment to see God in action? God is at work right now in our world, but so is our enemy!  Satan is using his ability to deceive, even devout followers of Jesus, into believing lies causing much confusion and conflict in our society. We as the church today must not lose focus of the big picture that Jesus revealed to us in the lesson today; He is Lord of all!  We are following Jesus first and foremost and cannot get caught up in the unrest of our society.  Paul commanded us in I Cor. to follow like this:

 

1Co 16:13-14 Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.  (14)  Let all that you do be done with love.

            Do not allow your focus to be deterred from the fact that you belong to Jesus and everything you do and say reflects upon Him.  This takes courage to be able to do this in today’s world because if you do not line up with their point of view, then you are a hater and they will come after you.  We must be that voice of faith, love and compassion that calmly and consistently points to Jesus as the answer to all of society’s problems in.  He is “the Way, the Truth and the Life.”  Let’s become more like John the Baptist and devote ourselves to pointing others to the Man we now know is “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

“Let me tell you about My Jesus!