If the Sabbath is a day of rest where we worship the One true God to show our covenant relationship with Him, how do we keep the Sabbath holy? What happens when we see others have needs? This devotion looks at how Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath.
Nuggets
- When the disciples picked the grain, they were technically harvesting.
- Jesus reminded the Pharisees that David did something what they would have considered worse.
- Jesus is greater than the temple.
- Sabbath was made for all mankind — Jews and Gentiles.
- God is love, so He wants us to treat His creation with love.
- The man with the withered hand wasn’t saved because he went to church that morning – he was saved because he interacted with the Savior.
Jesus always went to the synagogue to worship on the Sabbath day. However, that did not always please the Pharisees. Jesus did not always follow their laws.
Let’s look at one of their skirmishes.
Let's Put It into Context #1
Worship, according to the Holman Bible Dictionary, is “Human response to the perceived presence of the divine, a presence which transcends normal human activity and is holy.”
Resource
According to the Holman Bible Dictionary, the Sabbath is “the day of rest, considered holy to God by His rest on the seventh day after creation and viewed as a sign of the covenant relation between God and His people and of the eternal rest He has promised them.”
Resource
Let's Put It into Context #2
“At that time Jesus passed through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick and eat some heads of grain. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, ‘See, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath’” (Mt. 12: 1-2 CSB)
The Pharisees were always looking for points to trip Jesus up to prove He wasn’t the Messiah. They must have thought they really had Him on this incident.
When the disciples picked the grain, they were technically harvesting. Harvesting is work.
The fourth commandment is explicit about no work. “You are to labor six days and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work — you, your son or daughter, your male or female servant, your livestock, or the resident alien who is within your city gates” (Ex. 20: 9-10 CSB)
How was Jesus going to get out of this one?
Worse Things Happen
“He said to them, ‘Haven’t you read what David did when he and those who were with him were hungry: how he entered the house of God, and they ate the bread of the Presence — which is not lawful for him or for those with him to eat, but only for the priests? Or haven’t you read in the law that on Sabbath days the priests in the temple violate the Sabbath and are innocent? I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. If you had known what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath’” (Mt. 12: 3-5 CSB)
Jesus reminded the Pharisees that David did something what they would have considered worse. When David was on the run, he went to see a priest to ask for food (I Sam. 21: 1).
Now, Jesus didn’t bite on David for eating the bread of the Presence. According to the Holman Bible Dictionary, Bread of the Presence “… consisted of twelve loaves of presumably unleavened bread, and it was replaced each sabbath.”
The Bread of the Presence was to be on the table at all times. “Put the Bread of the Presence on the table before me at all times” (Ex. 25: 30 CSB). The table was in the Holy Place.
David asked for regular food. He didn’t ask for the Bread of the Presence. “… which is not lawful for him or for those with him to eat, but only for the priests?
We know that Jesus didn’t come to do away with the laws. “Don’t think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or one stroke of a letter will pass away from the law until all things are accomplished” (Mt. 5: 17-18 CSB).
So, how did Jesus justify this seemingly contradictory response?
Someone Greater
“I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. If you had known what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath’” (Mt. 12: 6-8 CSB)
Jesus is greater than the temple. Well, of course. He is God.
Described as the cornerstone (Eph. 2: 19) and the head (Col. 1: 18), Jesus makes the church. The church is nothing without Jesus.
McLeod brought up some good points. Jesus created the church, which gave it life. He gave it His righteousness. Everything came from Him.
We have to remember that the temple was God’s baby. He gave specific directions as to how they were to be built.
We have to remember that we are now His temple. God is the one who makes us.
For Man
“Then he told them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. So then, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath’” (Mk. 2: 27-28 CSB)
Matthew’s statement of “For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath’” (Mt. 12: 8 CSB) is explained in Mark 2: 27. Mark added the concept that the Sabbath was made for man, not the other way around. That makes Jesus the Lord of the Sabbath.
Let’s think of it this way, like Cohen did. Sabbath was made for all mankind — Jews and Gentiles. If mankind would have been made for the Sabbath, it would have just been made for the Jews because the Jews were His chosen people.
In the last devotion, we talked about the Sabbath being the day of rest where we worship the One true God to show that we are in a covenant relationship with Him.
We get to slow down/stop our hectic lives to recharge. We get to fellowship with like-minded believers — well, in normal circumstances.
Cohen wrote “Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath, the Proprietor of it, the Owner of it, the Master of it. It is His.” He is the Judge. That means He gets to say what is acceptable and unacceptable actions.
That is one reason we call it the Lord’s Day.
But how many times have we heard — or even said — “It’s my life. I’ll decide how I am going to spend my time. I don’t need God to tell me what to do.”
We want it to be our day.
We just talked about whether governments have authority over disciples. Jesus told us that God has ordained the idea of a governmental ruling authority. We do have those who have authority over us — and one is God.
To read a related devotion, click the appropriate button below.
As Lord of the Sabbath, that means Jesus is above the laws of the Sabbath. It is His choice. Sadler wrote, “Nothing can show the Divine nature of our Lord more clearly than that He is above such a law of God, so that He should modify it, relax it, change it at His pleasure.”
Healing a Man’s Hand
“Moving on from there, he entered their synagogue. There he saw a man who had a shriveled hand, and in order to accuse him they asked him, ‘Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?’ He replied to them, ‘Who among you, if he had a sheep that fell into a pit on the Sabbath, wouldn’t take hold of it and lift it out? A person is worth far more than a sheep; so it is lawful to do what is good on the Sabbath.’ Then he told the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ So he stretched it out, and it was restored, as good as the other. But the Pharisees went out and plotted against him, how they might kill him. (Mt. 12: 9-14 CSB)
Okay, back to Matthew. But Jesus and His disciples had moved on. They went to the synagogue and see a guy with a withered hand.
Not one to pass up a learning opportunity, Jesus asked, “If we can’t harvest and work, can we heal?” But Jesus wasn’t only asking about the rules.
Jesus was asking about their hearts. God is love, so He wants us to treat His creation with love.
Pearse got me realizing something else about this passage. The man with the withered hand wasn’t saved because he went to church that morning. He was saved because he interacted with the Savior. He talked with Him, listened to Him, and did what He told Him to do.
Jesus put the man with the withered hand before the law. He valued the man.
Making the Connections
We have to be very careful. We cannot say, “Oh, Jesus set that law aside …
- “So He did it permanently” or
- “He did it for all of His laws and commandments.”
Jesus didn’t say it was okay to commit a sin because we want to do what we want to do. We don’t get to judge or pick and choose which laws to follow. God has called us to obedience.
Jesus put the disciples’ and the man’s needs before the laws. He put us first.
Making the Connections to Self-Discipline
God wants us to focus on our relationships with Him and with others. Our relationship with Him is strengthened when we seek Him. That takes self-discipline.
Our relationships with others also takes self-discipline. Any relationship takes work to strengthen – and that takes time and patience.
We’ve been asking these questions all along so we can prepare for when we are asked. Here is the worksheet again. What would you say about our interactions with others, especially those who think disciples should be able to ignore God’s laws and commandments?
- What does the Scriptures say?
- What do I believe?
- Why do I believe the same/differently than the Scriptures?
- What are the talking points when witnessing to a non-believer?
Related Links
I have created a worksheet of the questions above. Click on the button below to access it.
How Do We Apply This?
- Follow what God tells us to do.
- If God wants a relationship rather than religion with us, doesn’t He want that to extend to others?
- Don’t expect God to tell us something isn’t a sin because we don’t want it to be.
- Help meet the needs of others, while not helping them sin.
Father. We want to imitate You. We want to show others who You are. Help us grow in Your grace and knowledge. Amen.
What do you think?
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