A friend of mine used to wear a t-shirt to our Sunday night group that said in big bold letters, “Sunday Fun-day!” Do you enjoy Sunday? Being in the house of the Lord? Being with fellowship with brothers and sisters in the Lord? Why?
In the Gospel of Mark, we see an interesting account of tension between the Pharisees and Jesus. In this passage the Pharisees question Jesus about how his disciples should or should not do on Sabbath.
“One Sabbath he was going through the grain fields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath? 25 And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: 26 how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priest to eat, and also gave it to those were with him. 27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”
WHAT ARE JESUS’ DISCIPLES DOING ANYWAY?
Work was prohibited by the Mosaic Law on Sabbath—So what were the disciples doing plucking grain on Sabbath?
Work was prohibited on the Sabbath. A refusal to obey this law was punishable by death, although that wasn’t likely to be enforced under Roman rule. But the disciples did not bear a harvesting sickle, they were picking grains by hand, hand to mouth so to speak.
Many of you probably remember how Ruth, in her desperation, harvested the edges of Boaz’s fields and found favor in his eyes. In Mosaic law, farmers were not to harvest the outer edges of their fields, so that the poor, widows and travelers could harvest grain to get by.
Plucking grain or grapes by hand was not considered labor—the labor of the harvest was defined by wielding tools such as a sickle. Eating hand to mouth was not considered labor.
Israel was waiting for the Messiah who would usher in the kingdom of God. They believed that he would deliver them from the bondage of Roman rule! They did not understand that he would deliver them from the bondage of their sin! From the rule of Satan! And release them from the bondage of stiff religion!
The scribes and Pharisees developed 39 activities that were not to be done on Sabbath. The Pharisees taught that if Israel could keep on perfect Sabbath, God would send the Messiah to deliver them. They applied heavy legalistic pressure upon everyone—Sabbath lost its point!
Here is the irony...The Pharisees were breaking their own Sabbatical standards in order to follow Jesus away from Jerusalem and out into the fields! Why did they follow him? To test his Sabbatical practice. They wanted to trap him, take him to court, and have him punished by death!
But Jesus trumped their case—David came into the temple and was given the bread of the presence of God, that was only to be eaten by the priest. Why? Because he and men were in need—they too were hungry.
SABBATH WAS MADE FOR MAN
Jesus said, “Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (2:17). Sabbath was created for man from the time of creation,
“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested all his work that he had done in creation” (Gen 2:1-3).
From creation, God instituted the seventh day as a pattern for man to follow to be a blessing—not a burden. God rested not because tired, but in order to enjoy his creation, and this is the point of Sabbath—to enjoy being God’s creation—to enjoy God being God—and us his creation! We are never to forget this!
Jesus also said, “So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath” (2:27). Jesus was not against the Sabbath! The Mosaic covenant was fulfilled by Jesus, he 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” (Mt 5:17).
Because Jesus fulfilled the demands of the Law upon Sabbath, early Christians began practicing the “Lords Day” on Sunday, the day of Jesus’ resurrection. But they still kept the ‘spirit of Sabbath’ by not working, and allowing for good deeds.
The demands of the law have been fulfilled, but the benefit of the “spirit of Sabbath” remain. By practicing the “spirit of Sabbath” we will find nothing but grace! It is an exercise of faith to refrain from working one day of the week and let God be God! We can love him, serve him, and love and serve others! What do you think God’s response to that would be? Did Jesus model this? Lets’ look at our next passage!
SABBATH WAS MADE FOR DOING GOOD
Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. 2 And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3 And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” 4 And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. 5 And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch our your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him”(Mark 3:1-6).
So the Pharisees could not entrap Jesus in the fields—but maybe they could get him in the temple! As he entered the temple the Pharisees conspired to trap him doing one of those miracles of healing again! And there was the perfect person—A man with a withered hand!
Jesus could see that the Pharisees were watching to accuse him, so he asked, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” Did anyone get it yet? Did they understand that Sabbath was for our benefit?
Jesus was both angered and grieved by their silence! Their hearts were hard! They missed the point! Sabbath was meant to be our benefit!
Jesus told the man to stretch out his hand—and it was healed! By his words alone performed the miracle. They could not arrest him for speaking words—but they began to conspire for his death!
What is the benefit of setting aside work for one day to love God and love others? It is like a reset button to our busy lives. It corrects our focus of life so that we can see things the way God sees things! Whether you call it Sabbath or the Lords day—Let’s not let the spirit of religion creep in on truly abiding in the presence of Christ through the Holy Spirit!
What would happen if the most important thing to us was to dwell in the presence of Christ? What it became our passion to share the presence of Christ with our friends and family—our community? I believe this is the heart of the Father.
Let’s make Sunday a Fun-day for those around us!
This article is part of the Son of God--Servant to Man series on the Gospel of Mark.
This message was preached March 12, 2017 at Living Water Foursquare Chapel in Yucca Valley CA.
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