[0:00] malleable wow James going for the big words you prayed it I don't know take out your Bibles with me please and turn to the gospel of Luke chapter 6 continue our walk through the gospel of Luke who wrote his gospel that we might have certainty about the gospel come to a fascinating passage today because Luke records for us two consecutive Sabbath days where Jesus caused controversy and this is going to be his way of doing things for some reason he chooses the Sabbath to push the buttons that enrage the Jewish leaders so we're going to read the text and we'll pray and then we'll dig in so if you're able to please stand as I read excuse me from Luke chapter 6 verses 1 through 11
[1:14] Luke 6 verse 1 verse 1 on a Sabbath while he was going through the grain fields his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain rubbing them in their hands but some of the Pharisees said why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath and Jesus answered them have you not read what David did when he was hungry he and those who were with him how he entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the presence which is not lawful for any but the priest to eat and also gave it to those with him and he said to them the son of man is lord of the Sabbath on another Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching and a man was there whose right hand was withered and the scribes and the Pharisees watched him to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath so that they might find a reason to accuse him but he knew their thoughts and he said to the man with the withered hand come and stand here and he rose and stood there and Jesus said to them
[2:53] I ask you is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm to save life or to destroy and after looking around at them all he said to him stretch out your hand and he did so and his hand was restored but they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus so it is written let us pray father guide us today as always give us understanding of what Jesus is doing help us to recognize the significance of what he is saying not just to the Jews of his day but to us today what is the significance of the
[4:03] Sabbath day for us help us ponder this help us grapple with it because our Lord has made it an important issue this we pray in Christ's name amen please be seated so how do I start this are you a spiritual Christian are you spiritual you know what's the test of spirituality what are the marks of a true faithful follower of Jesus how do you know for some it is a set of rules it is you shall not drink you shall not dance you shall not chew right you shall not play cards go to movies you're to dress a certain way and for goodness sake you are not to work on Sunday or even play that's what I grew up
[5:22] I kept getting in trouble because I'd go out and play mud football on Sunday afternoon for some reason my parents would catch me because I was all muddy I don't know or I'd play in the creek during chapel when I was supposed to be in chapel and how did my mom know because I was all wet I wasn't really clever what is the set of rules some focus on outward guides how you look what your appearance is avoiding certain taboos it's driven by a fear of unrighteousness a need to check the right boxes so that I know that I'm okay it's much easier to live a life of Christianity that has lines and boxes because if I can just check those boxes and not cross certain lines I know I'm okay it's much harder to walk by the spirit it's much harder right to take every situation to the
[6:35] Lord so maybe you've had that kind of experience I have you've had that kind of experience where you're kind of boxed in and you have those sets of rules well this is the same with the Pharisees they focused on externals they focused on rules they had a form of godliness without power so the question today is what makes us okay what makes us okay particularly in regard to Sabbath should Christians keep the Sabbath is Sabbath the fourth commandment of the covenant right remember the covenant the ten laws remember there's ten of them right nine of them have moral implications right right the first three about God and then about the Sabbath and then about honoring your parents and then about something about murder and then stealing and you know adultery and lying and then coveting right those are all moral issues except for
[7:42] Sabbath Sabbath is not a universal cultural moral issue it is strictly a Jewish call and Christian call so the question today is why this is important so Jesus is going to handle these issues of Sabbath your mission should you choose to accept it is to decide what's the significance of that for me today if the Sabbath is still something that we are to do then I have to consider how does that work for me today so the question today before us that Jesus is going to challenge is Jesus clarifying the original intent of the Sabbath where the Jews of his day have made it about certain rules or is Jesus changing modifying altering the
[8:47] Sabbath as something different that's it's important that's the way it's important if it's so let's get into it so we come to a subject which for Christians for different Christians is controversial it is not life and death it is not a reason to divide anything but it is something that Christians legitimately disagree about okay and it's okay to disagree have our own convictions about it it's absolutely fine I'll tell you the right one to have no seriously I'm going to give my best interpretation that's my job right but if you disagree that's okay right just give me a shot so a little background what are the laws of the Sabbath so it is the fourth commandment right it is the seventh day is a
[9:49] Sabbath day the seventh day Sabbath means stop Sabbath it means to stop to cease the seventh day is a stopping day it's a ceasing day it's a resting day okay that's the meaning of the idea now the Mishnah anybody heard of the Mishnah I know you have anybody else heard of the Mishnah the Mishnah is very very important Jewish document it was based on oral tradition that began around the time of the Babylon exile right the Jews remember the Jews were exiled why were they exiled because they weren't keeping the law particularly they weren't keeping the Sabbath and that's why they spent 70 years in Babylon because they didn't keep the 70 Sabbath years the sabbatical years they just neglected that so God said for that each year you've neglected you'll be exiled so in other words when they came back a number of good holy men righteous men desired to make sure we didn't go there again let's make sure that we keep the law and so they began a tradition to put a fence around the law okay here's the Sabbath let's make sure we don't break it so let's set up some regulations to make sure we don't break that Sabbath very honorable thing to do very honorable so they came up with the
[11:23] Mishnah is something that developed starting about 500 BC and finished about 70 AD when they wrote it all down but it has these are policies they wrote policies on what it means to not work so the Sabbath laws you shall not do any work right you shall not do any work on the Sabbath you shall rest holy day so what what does that mean not work what's work what is considered work so they came up with 39 categories of work I know well they were serious understand their intention was good let's make sure we don't do this right so they said 39 so they I'm not going to tell you about all those things but it includes things like travel there's a limitation how far you can travel before it becomes a work you shall not cook right because good cooking is putting things together preparing meals right not doing a fire not using a tool a tool is something used for work not sowing reaping gathering preparing a meal and then there's one subcategory under what they call grinding so it's 39 things and then they define what all that means under grinding there's subcategory for medicine because medicine involves grinding where you take things and you're combining them and you're grinding to make a cure right so medicine is prohibited on
[13:05] Sabbath because it would be work therefore healing is prohibited on Sabbath day but please understand there's some there were exceptions there were Sabbath exceptions for example the priests were allowed to work on the Sabbath why because they were commanded to do that they did the offerings they prepared the bread they did you know they lit the you know they're doing their normal work circumcision it was okay if the eighth day after you're born to get circumcised if that eighth day happened to fall on the seventh day so for whatever reason the law of circumcision superseded the law of Sabbath which tells us there are certain laws that superseded the Sabbath law another exception was childbirth what are you going to do and another exception was if the life was threatened if somebody's dying obviously okay we can help but if they're not dying wait till tomorrow right you got a withered hand come on is that urgent the disciples are walking through the grain field they're hungry is that urgent they're not dying so you understand the
[14:30] Pharisee's perspective what are you doing can't you wait you can wait okay so those are the exceptions what that brings up is the question where's the line if some laws of the Old Testament supersede the Sabbath law then where are there others are there others and that's what Jesus is going to address okay so here we come to Jesus in into this setting comes Jesus who is going to make a new claim that he is Lord of the Sabbath he is the authority on the Sabbath he is the master of the Sabbath because by the way he was the creator of the Sabbath he's the one who created for six days and rested on the seventh day so in other words he can do whatever he wants on the Sabbath so he's
[15:33] Lord of the Sabbath so this is the question we're going to address why is Jesus challenging the Jewish understanding of the Sabbath he's going to push this issue he's going to force the issue he's going to make them think about this they don't want to think about this they're going to dismiss him but he's going to force the issue more than any other issue this it's almost like he waits till the Sabbath to do healings well because they meet in synagogue on Sabbath and sick people come so we're going to look at two things why is Jesus challenging the Jewish understanding of the Sabbath two reasons I think that we can draw out from this text in verses 1-5 on the first Sabbath Jesus is going to point to a new Sabbath by saying that he is Lord of the Sabbath he's going to point to a new Sabbath and then secondly in the second Sabbath verses 6-11 he's going to point to a greater law than the
[16:38] Sabbath he's going to do that very thing what law supersedes the Sabbath is there a greater law than the Sabbath law okay so let's look at the first reason Jesus is revealing that he's Lord of the Sabbath and by that he's pointing to a new reality he's pointing to a new Sabbath a new significance he reveals himself as Lord of the Sabbath pointing to a new reality so first of look at the issue verse one the disciples pluck grain they rub it in their hands and they eat is that work walking through the field it's okay to walk through the field and on any day it's it's fine if you if you're not harvesting you're just plucking a grain you're just going to rub and eat it right but this is the Sabbath day so by plucking and rubbing are they preparing a meal are they harvesting are they gathering remember the
[17:42] Old Testament somebody gathered six on Sabbath he's killed are they technically gathering that's what the Pharisees say they are doing what is unlawful they're working by by by the Mishnah description they are reaping and threshing and winnowing and preparing a meal they've broken the Sabbath in four ways so what does Jesus say so he cites an example he says in verse where are we verse three Jesus answered them have you not read by the way this is one of his favorite confrontations Jesus used through the gospels have you not read haven't you read haven't you read it's kind of like you know haven't you read aren't you reading your Bibles or your Torahs your and of course they've read it but he's saying haven't you read it with understanding haven't you read it with some have you not read what
[18:46] David did when he was hungry he and those who were with him how he entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the presence which is not lawful for any to eat except the priests and then he gave it to those who were with him so he gives this example we have this example if you want to read it in 1st hand to 21 David comes he he hungry he and his men remember they're running around remember they're escaping from Saul remember that he's on the run he is the anointed one but Saul is trying to kill him so he's running around with his band of marauders and they're hungry so they come to this place and David asked the priest for five loaves of bread the priest says I remember it's the twelve loaves that go into the holy place right before the veil remember that you got the candlestick and you got the lights and then you have the bread right twelve loaves representing twelve tribes that's all they got
[19:50] David you can't have that except that he had just changed out the bread which happens to be done on a Sabbath day so it's probably a Sabbath when David comes as well and so the priest says well I do have the leftover you know I have the twelve I just took off you really hungry okay you can have it so the question is was that lawful was it okay for David well what does Jesus say notice what Jesus says in verse four how he entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the presence which is not lawful David broke the law period Jesus concedes that David have you not read what
[20:51] David did when he broke the law so how is that example of David and a justification of what the disciples did it's not he just said yeah David did it too is that make it okay well David did I can do it is that what he's saying why is it okay for David because he's David David did get away with a lot didn't he he did a lot of stuff that kings are not supposed to he did a lot of priest stuff he's going into the house of God what's he doing in there could have just meant he was in the outer tabernacle but Jesus said he entered the house of God and he took the holy bread so there's that's it's kind of interesting isn't it why does he bring up that episode that doesn't seem to justify in fact it seems to kind of notch it ratchet it up a bit so then how does he explain it what's the real issue verse five and he said to them the son of man is lord of the
[22:06] Sabbath that settles it son of man is lord of the Sabbath what does that mean the son of man which is his reference for himself it is a very vague reference it does refer to Daniel chapter seven where it talks about one like a son of man came up to the ancient of days and then he was given a kingdom that was an eternal kingdom gee I wonder who that is who rose and ascended before the ancient of days and was given a kingdom that was eternal well I think that's Jesus reference to himself!
[22:44] He calls himself son of man all through Luke that's his reference to himself and those who are careful those who know Daniel seven would recognize what he's doing basically call himself the Messiah so son of man is what lord of the Sabbath what's lord mean all through Luke lord means god lord means the lord it's the old testament word for Adonai he is the lord he is the master he is the authority in fact he is the masters were usually the owners slaves served masters masters were the owners the owners had the right and the authority to set the rules and set the definition so and since
[23:47] Jesus is the creator of the universe he is the creator of the Sabbath as well he has the right to define it now what's interesting is that's all Luke puts for us he gives Jesus giving the one example of David which is kind of like okay I don't know how that helps and then he just says son of man is Lord of Sabbath in Matthew and Mark before he says son of man is Lord of Sabbath Mark describes Jesus as saying the Sabbath was not made man was not made for the Sabbath but the Sabbath was made for man right and then in Matthew very interesting before he says the son of man is Lord of Sabbath Matthew said records Jesus saying something greater is here something greater is here than the Sabbath something greater is here than the
[24:47] Sabbath then he says son of man Lord greater than the Sabbath what's going on what is Jesus doing so here's the question and this is where Christians differ is Jesus clarifying the original intent the spirit of the covenant of the original commands of the Sabbath is he simply saying you guys have gotten off track this is what the Sabbath was all about you could argue that that's it that's very very possible it ain't right but no just is he clarifying or is he actually changing is he modifying and altering the Sabbath because the way Luke sets it up Luke doesn't tell us what Mark and Matthew said Luke just gives us this one example that Jesus said and then Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath what's Luke trying to tell us
[25:48] Luke could have borrowed from Mark he had Mark to write from Luke investigated carefully!
[26:01] Luke why does he just do this what's he trying to say David breaks the Sabbath Jesus breaks the Sabbath what's he doing well let's cheat because we have more New Testament right we have Paul's commentary do we not in Colossians Paul talked about the Sabbath Colossians chapter 2 Paul makes clarification listen very carefully Paul says therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink those were Jewish laws or with regard to a festival or a new moon again Jewish law or a Sabbath who he said the S word let no one pass judgment on you in questions regarding
[27:04] Sabbath why Paul these are a shadow of the things to come but the substance belongs to Christ what's Paul saying he is saying all those things food and drink festivals new moons and Sabbath are a shadow a shadow of the things to come they're not the reality they're not the real thing they're not the substance they're just the outline the body the significance the reality belongs to Christ in other words when Christ comes Lord of the Sabbath he is fulfilling the Sabbath he's now the Sabbath that's why he says to me come to me all who are weary and heavy laden I'll give you I'll give you what the Sabbath gives you I'll give you rest don't me this is where I'm going it's just me
[28:05] I think that's pretty persuaded Christ I think by saying Lord of the Sabbath is pointing to a new reality because that's where Paul ends up Sabbath is a shadow Jesus bringing the real Sabbath okay so let's take a moment go back to Exodus what was Sabbath what was the Sabbath command what did God say what's the significance of the Sabbath we can go to several places we can go to Exodus 20 to the original giving of the 10 commands and read the commandment there in Exodus 20 we can go to Deuteronomy 5 where he repeated the command again before they went into the wilderness remember there are actually 10 places in the Old Testament you could go that describes what is the regulation of the Sabbath 10 times the Old Testament talks about remembering the Sabbath and keeping the Sabbath observing the Sabbath okay I want to go to Exodus 31 in
[29:06] Exodus 31 if you remember in our study in Exodus Exodus 31 is the end of God's giving of the law okay from remember Moses went up on the mountain from Exodus 20 through 31 was God reciting to Moses here's the law okay so chapter 31 is the end it's the last thing God has to say about the law okay what does he say it's about Sabbath Exodus 31 13 you are to speak to the again telling Moses what to say to Israel you are to speak to the people of Israel say above all you shall keep my Sabbath hang on wait a minute above what all in other words of all the ten commands this one matters most we're thinking what I would think one two three would be more important why is this one above all above all you shall keep my
[30:11] Sabbath why for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations that you may know that I Yahweh sanctify you the Sabbath is a sign it is the significance of everything it is what it's all about it's the sign that I Yahweh sanctify you I'm the one who makes you holy I'm the one that sets you apart me and Sabbath is your recognition of that you shall keep the Sabbath because it is holy for you everyone who profanes it shall be put to death whoever does any work on it that soul shall be cut off from his people six days shall work be done but the seventh day is a
[31:11] Sabbath a stopping day of solemn rest holy to the Lord whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death okay I got it Lord that's three times now therefore the people of Israel therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath observing the Sabbath throughout their generations as a covenant forever it is the covenant the ten laws are the covenant the covenant of the covenant is the Sabbath it's the heart and soul okay it is a sign there he says it again it is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed did
[32:14] God get tired in those six days not about that not about that was refreshed could sit back and enjoy his work so what's the purpose of the Sabbath so understand in terms of Old Testament the purpose of the Sabbath is that it's a sign of the covenant it is that God has set apart Israel God has made Israel holy it is a day for rest and refreshment and it is by the way the seventh day if you are going to keep!
[32:49] you have it's not Sunday Sunday is Lord's day Sabbath day look at Acts what did they do they went to synagogue on Sabbath and then on Sunday they had church so if you believe you need to keep the Sabbath it's seventh day it means you got to be a seventh day Adventist no you don't if you're legalistic so sign so sign sign sign what sign so when God made a covenant with Noah what was the sign of the covenant that he would not flood the earth anymore rainbow is a sign right that's the sign that's the picture of the promise when God made a covenant with Abraham right I'm going to make you a mighty nation I'm going to make you big I'm going to!
[33:40] make you a great name all this what was the sign of the covenant with Abraham circumcision it's a picture we don't like that but it's cutting around cutting off the flesh making you holy so when God makes covenant with Israel on the mountain the covenant what's the sign of that covenant sabbath interesting isn't it in in in the covenant of law the sign is rest rest what does that mean let's talk about the benefits of the sabbath you may want to consider this as a Christian of keeping a sabbath day not necessarily the sabbath day you can make what any day you want but you may consider the benefits of having a day set aside for rest because it's not just rest see the sabbath meant to stop all work why that protects you from overworking are you an overworker you have a tendency to overwork maybe you need a sabbath it protects you from overworking and from trusting in yourself
[35:10] I gotta work I gotta work I can't take a day off I gotta work right doesn't mean you need to do this but it could benefit you and it also is a time that protects you from forgetting to take time for God taking time to rest and refresh and remember we do that on the Lord's day that's that's one of the great benefits of gathering together we're doing part of that the point is of the Sabbath is to refresh your souls to remember to trust God to provide see that's the pointNINGNING Not keeping the law.
[36:24] Keeping the law will not make you holy. I make you holy. Because I said you're holy. New Testament application, what are we called?
[36:37] What are we called? Saints. Saints, which means what? Holy ones. Holy ones. Are you holy because you, you know, check all the boxes?
[36:50] No, you're holy because God said you're holy. I made you mine. Now you're holy. Okay, so Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath.
[37:01] It points, I believe, points to a new reality, a fulfillment. He's pointing to fulfillment. That Sabbath is not just a day, but the Sabbath is a way of life. Read Hebrews chapter 4.
[37:12] Sabbath is a way of life. Today's the day. Come to me. So that's the first episode.
[37:23] Second episode in verses 6 to 11. Again, another Sabbath day. But here we have a second reason that Jesus is challenging the Jewish understanding of the law.
[37:34] On another Sabbath, verse 6, he enters the synagogue. There's a man there with a withered hand. And verse 7, we see that the scribes and the Pharisees are watching him.
[37:45] The word watching there means watching him very carefully. They're spying on him. They're lying in wait. And we get that. That's what it means because verse 7 says, scribes and the Pharisees watched him or were laying in wait for him to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath so that they might find a reason to accuse him.
[38:04] They're looking for evidence to witness against him. Building a case. So interesting.
[38:15] So they're skeptics, obviously. They're not there to believe. They've already made up their mind. They don't care. They are not open to facts. They just want to accuse.
[38:26] They just know he's wrong. So Jesus knows. Verse 8, Jesus knows. Just a little comment by Luke. Jesus knew. He knew.
[38:38] He knew their thoughts. They had not verbalized this, but he knows their thoughts. I'm sure it's because of his communion with the Father. And that he is led by the Holy Spirit.
[38:50] He knows this. It's not from his deity that he knows this. Right? He has released his deity. He is dependent. He is listening to the Father.
[39:01] And he is led by the Spirit. He knows. That's how he knows. He knew their thoughts. And he said to them. Oh, he said to the man with the withered hand, come and stand here in the midst.
[39:13] And he rose and stood there. So in other words, so Jesus knows their thoughts. So he's going to say, all right. Let's do this. Let's do this. Bring the man up right in the midst.
[39:25] Luke's language is come and stand in the midst. I want you to come stand in the middle. And the poor man is like, I don't want to be the spectacle. Okay.
[39:36] But Jesus said, so I'll do it. So he's got the man in the middle. He knows exactly what they're looking for. And he's going to do it. So he's going to set up the confrontation.
[39:50] He's going to push the issue because he's going to expose their false spirituality. And here's, I think, the second reason why Jesus is challenging the Jewish understanding.
[40:04] He's going to expose false spirituality. He's going to expose false spirituality.
[40:14] He's going to expose false spirituality. In other words, just setting up the rules and checking the boxes. He's going to expose false spirituality by revealing and pointing to them of something greater that should rule them, not the laws that they've made up.
[40:33] So what does he do? Verse 9. So he's got the man there. Verse 9. Now he's going to ask him a question. I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath? Okay. You're all about the Sabbath. You're all about what's lawful on the Sabbath.
[40:45] What's not lawful on the Sabbath. I'm going to ask you a question. So you're going to turn the tables on them. Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm?
[40:57] To save a soul or to destroy? Now, notice what Jesus is doing. He is setting them up to an unanswerable question.
[41:15] He's raising the stakes. He says it in their language, is it lawful? But now he's going to put it into greater categories.
[41:27] Not just work. But greater, a greater ethic, a greater moral issue. Is it lawful to do good or to do harm?
[41:40] He puts it in extremes. It's either good or harm. Save a soul or destroy a soul. There's no in between. He's just, he's putting it at extremes.
[41:50] What are they going to say? Destroy souls. What are they going to say? He's boxed them in. He is Lord of the Sabbath.
[42:02] He can, you know, he can redefine things. That's what he's doing. So, so John, remember John takes this kind of principle from Jesus.
[42:13] Remember in our study, 1 John chapter 3, he said we love one another. What is love? Love is one of the tests, right? I asked at the beginning, what are the tests of spirituality? John gave us those tests in 1 John, right?
[42:25] It's believing. It's loving. It's holding to the truth, right? So loving. Remember when John talks about love. It's, you either love your brother or you hate your brother. There's no in between. Remember how John did that to us?
[42:37] If you don't love your brother, you hate your brother. If you see your brother in need and you don't do anything, guess who you are? You're the hater. In fact, you're not just the hater.
[42:48] You're the murderer. That's what John said. I mean, John's like, right? No wiggle room in John. Because he got it from Jesus.
[43:01] Do good or do harm. Save or destroy. You love or you murder. Which is lawful.
[43:14] See, he's raising the issue. What's the greater law? He changes the issue. It's not what is work. It's what is best.
[43:25] What is the priority? What's the weightier priority? What takes precedence over every law? So of the Sabbath laws, God said, or of the commandments, of those ten, God said above all the Sabbath.
[43:42] But remember, even the Mishnah has exceptions to the Sabbath law, which is what? Circumcision? Okay, why does circumcision supersede the Sabbath law?
[43:55] Why can't they hold off to the ninth day, so the eighth day, if the eighth day happens to be on the seventh day? How come the priests get to work on the Sabbath and nobody else does?
[44:08] And that law came after the Sabbath. Because, yeah, because God said. How come some laws supersede this great above all law?
[44:23] Are there other laws that supersede the Sabbath law? Circumcision? Okay, that came earlier. Priests? Okay, I get it, because they're ordered to work.
[44:38] Is there a greater law in the Old Testament than the Sabbath law? Than any of the Ten Commandments? Is there a law that governs all of those laws?
[44:50] You know, don't you? Love. Huh. Jesus was that. What's the greatest commandment? Love the Lord your God with all your heart and mind and soul. Right? And the second is like it.
[45:02] Love your neighbor as yourself. All these two hinge everything. Everything. These two govern everything. In the New Testament, Jesus gives us one commandment.
[45:15] He tells us to do a lot of things, but he gives us one command. Right? What is it? Love. He changes the bar. Right?
[45:25] Before it was love your neighbor as yourself. Now Jesus makes it love one another as idol. Ooh, ooh.
[45:36] That's a higher bar then. Right? And Paul, Peter, James, all say that commandment is the commandment.
[45:49] If you keep that commandment, you've kept all the law. Paul says it. You have kept all the law if you keep that commandment. So Christians, you only have one.
[45:59] You have one. Just one. And it governs everything. It's the greater law than any other law. If you follow Jesus. So in other words, he's the Lord of the Sabbath.
[46:16] Is he redefining what the original Sabbath was? To some extent, I think so. But I think he's going farther than that. I think he's changing. I think he's saying there's something greater.
[46:28] Remember in Matthew 23, Jesus is exposing the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. Talking about how, you know, they have the outside really nice and pretty.
[46:40] But inside, they're all cheats and liars. You know, they're just hiding. They're just pretending. They're just posing. And then one of the things he exposes them on, he says, you know, you do the nitty gritties.
[46:54] You tithe on every little thing that you have. And, you know, you're keeping all the scrupulous laws. But you neglect the weightier laws.
[47:06] In other words, Jesus is saying there's laws above those laws. There's laws above those laws. You know, they have to do with things like justice, mercy, faith.
[47:18] You neglect those. Mercy. Mercy. Mercy. I desire mercy above sacrifice. I desire mercy over Sabbath.
[47:33] I desire mercy for others. Over your rules. Your rules take a back seat when someone else is hurting.
[47:51] Okay. Why does Jesus always take the time to heal people? Because mercy. Right?
[48:03] Mercy. So, what's their response? Verse 11. Like, now we get it, right? The Pharisees and the scribes are like, oh, we're on board.
[48:15] We're with you, buddy. Woo! Now we get it. Thanks for helping. Listen. But they were filled with fury. The word Luke uses is actually foolishness.
[48:29] Mindlessness. They were furious out of their mind. Furious. And discussed and began discussing with one another what they might do to Jesus.
[48:43] How can we get rid of this man? Their response to Jesus' logical and pointed question is pure emotion.
[49:00] Irrational. They're filled with no ration. No mind. Just emotion. They're just, man.
[49:10] You ever been like that? I've been like that. Just, just, just. I'm going to lose it. Oh, and then I did. Right? That's where they're at.
[49:23] They've already made up their mind. Excuse me. About Jesus. He can't be right. I've got my way and I won't change.
[49:34] I'm not going to listen to him because I know he's wrong. How dare him put me in a corner like that? So that's where they end up.
[49:45] So where do we end up with this? What difference does all this make? Sabbath, Sabbath, Sabbath. I, you know, I can take it or leave it, you know. I'm not speaking for me. I'm just speaking.
[49:56] What difference does it make? What does the normal person say? Why do I need to think about the Sabbath? Well, is it the Christian's responsibility to keep the Sabbath? Many Christians say yes.
[50:10] Many Christians say we should still have the Ten Commandments up. They're still the moral law that should drive us. And I say, since when in America have we cared about any of those except maybe one or two?
[50:25] Which of our, which of those Ten Commandments will our law courts uphold? Stealing? Murder. Maybe lying, false witness.
[50:36] Coveting? Would they care if you covet your neighbor's wife? No. I care. Care if you swear and take God's name in vain? No. Care if you have an idol? No. No. Care if you keep the Sabbath day?
[50:47] No. No. So why should we put those laws up? Are those Ten Laws good?
[51:00] Absolutely. They're righteous. Good. Just. Can we keep them? Absolutely not. Are they good guides?
[51:12] Yeah. They're good guides. So what about the Sabbath? So if the Sabbath, if Jesus is still saying, this is really the intent of the Sabbath and you should keep it, then what are you going to do?
[51:30] Are we the same as Israel? As I read in Exodus 31, remember he said it's a sign and a covenant between God and the people of Israel. Okay. And why does it say it's a sign and Israel?
[51:42] Because it's between him and Israel. Because the covenant is with Israel. Jesus made a different covenant with his followers. Okay.
[51:53] So if you're wondering, here's where I'll land. Romans 14. Again, Paul talks about some implications here. He doesn't say Sabbath day, but he does talk about setting aside one day.
[52:06] Romans 14. He says, again, talk about passing judgment. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
[52:21] The Lord's your master. You answer to the Lord and nobody else. Got it? The Lord is your master. He's the only one you answer to. Okay. If you keep a Sabbath, don't keep a Sabbath.
[52:36] It's only the Lord you answer to, not anybody else. Okay. So here he goes. One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. I wonder what that one day could be.
[52:48] What do you think that one day would be? I don't know. Sabbath. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord.
[53:02] The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God. While the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself and none of us dies to himself.
[53:17] For if we live, we live to the Lord. And if we die, we die to the Lord. He's my master. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord.
[53:27] For to this end, Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord. Lord of the Sabbath. Lord of everything.
[53:38] Lord of both the dead and the living. So what's Paul's point? As Christians, as followers of Christ, we have freedom in Christ. Okay. We have freedom in Christ.
[53:52] We are under a new covenant. There's only one law that governs all of our life. It includes things like don't murder, don't sin. So those aren't thrown out.
[54:03] Those are covered under love. How we respect God is covered under love. Because John said, if you don't love one another, then you don't love God.
[54:16] Because the one who really loves God will love one another. So loving one another covers that, the first commandment too, right? We have freedom in Christ.
[54:31] Paul is saying, some set apart one day to honor the Lord. Others observe all days and honor the Lord. What's the rule? What's the application? Paul says, here's the thing to do. Different Christians have different convictions, different views.
[54:45] That's absolutely fine and absolutely normal. Here's the rule. Each should be fully convinced in their own mind about how they honor the Lord.
[54:56] It's between you and the Lord. Should a Christian keep the Sabbath? It's between you and the Lord. Should I keep the Sabbath? It's between you and the Lord. The issue is not the day.
[55:09] The issue is the Lord. Honoring Him. If it would serve you better to, if it would help you to honor the Lord, to set aside one day to help me refocus and have those benefits of remembering, those kind of things.
[55:26] If that would serve you in honoring Him, do that. If that doesn't, you know, ring for you, and you have a way that you honor the Lord every day, and you kind of keep that same balance, it depends.
[55:42] Are you with me? Does that make sense? The issue is not the day. The issue is the Lord. Either way, we live to the Lord. We belong to the Lord. How can I honor Him best?
[55:54] So should a Christian keep a Sabbath? It depends on you. As a Christian, it's not the external form that matters. What matters is the heart.
[56:07] Your intentions. And what helps to focus my heart. Maybe I need a Sabbath day to help guard my heart, because I have tendencies, right?
[56:18] That's between you and the Lord. Bottom line? Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. Jesus is the Sabbath.
[56:32] Jesus brings greater rest than a day off could ever bring. And He points to the greater priority.
[56:46] To love. Do good. Save a life. That's more important than a day. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for Jesus and the way He challenges us to think.
[57:04] He's always challenging us to think. He doesn't always give us the straight answer. He calls us to these principles and these questions that make us think and force us to connect some dots.
[57:19] Help us, Lord, not be like the Pharisees who had already made up their mind and didn't want to think. They just wanted to get rid of Him. Help us, Lord, to submit to You to change our mind if we need our mind changed.
[57:40] to look to You, to be willing to say to You, search me, O God. Try my heart. See if there be anything in me that leads me astray.
[57:58] This we pray in Christ's name. Amen. Amen.