Word of Salvation – Vol. 26 No. 37 – June 1980

 

The Sabbath Today

 

Sermon by Rev. Geoff Van Schie on Matthew 12:1–8

Scripture Readings: 1Samuel 21:1-10; Matthew 12:1–21

 

Brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ,

The Lord’s Day. Indeed a very controversial day at that in the life of the Christian Church. And not controversial in our day only, but this has been a controversy which has existed for centuries.

What can you do on the Lord’s Day? What is not permitted on that Day?

Is it nothing more than an Old Testament ceremonial law abolished by the fulfilling work of Jesus on the cross? Or does it belong to the moral law of God, a code which like the other nine commandments can never be abolished since God Himself does not change.

We may think that we have many problems concerning the keeping of this day, but our text reveals to us, that these types of problems already existed in the time of our Lord Jesus Christ. The confrontation we have before us, between Jesus and the Pharisees is evidence of this problem.

How do we keep the Lord’s Day? How should we keep it?

A. The Viewpoint of the Pharisees

Just then, what was the viewpoint of the Pharisees?

Let us first of all make a distinction. We have on the one hand the divine law stating that this day was to be set aside and was to be unlike any other.

On the other hand the Pharisees had added to that law many of their own man-made regulations.

What then was the actual divine law? What had God decreed regarding this day and its observance?

When we take a look through Scripture and especially the five books of the Law, we find there are two main things that we must realise about this day and its purpose.

It was to be a day set aside unlike any other; first of all that man may rest from his labours. This is what we find in Exodus chapter 20. God said to Israel they were to rest on that day because after having created all things, He Himself rested on that day and He made it holy; that is, He set it apart from all other days. Likewise then, man was to do the same.Israel was to set this day aside as a day separate, different from any other day of the week. Man is to follow God’s example.

For the purpose of making this day unlike any other, man was commanded to rest from all labour; Not just a command given to the heads of the various households, but a command which extended to all classes of society even to the slave who received not wages! This command was so far reaching it even extended to the animals which were used at that time for the purposes of farming. Your ox and your cattle shall rest on this day also!

First of all then, the Sabbath of the Lord was to be a day of complete rest for all living beings within the covenant community, whether that being was man or animal.

Secondly, when we turn to the record of the Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy, the resting from all labour is not the focal point of the Sabbath, but we are told to keep this day in order to remember the deliverance from bondage by the arm of God.

At that time Moses told Israel they were to meditate upon how God in mercy had heard their cries in Egypt and how He had remembered His covenant made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. How in His remembering the covenant, God led them forth into freedom.

Of course the same is true today. The release from Egypt was only a shadow of a far greater release. That was a rescue from the bondage of sin and death; That is a shattering of the shackles with which Satan has held us prisoner. We have a release brought about by a far greater leader than Moses. It is liberation through the redeeming work of Jesus! What a truth on which to meditate! What a work of grace upon which to set one’s mind on a day especially set aside for this purpose!

That then is the divine law as it existed and as it continues to exist. The Sabbath, a day to be set aside for rest and meditation, so the covenant community can take time to concentrate alone on her Redeemer.

What had the Pharisees done to this day?

They took it upon themselves to make all sorts of rules and regulations to make sure it was virtually impossible for anyone within the community to work on this day. They made up lists which covered all possible classifications of work, and they went to the extreme.

So severe were their regulations which they added to God’s Word that to merely go into a grain field and to pluck an ear of corn was considered to be harvesting, to be reaping the crop. To rub that grain in your hand was considered also to be working, performing yet another part of the process of harvesting.

Therefore we find that these murderous Pharisees, seeking to find anything they might use to destroy the Lord, pounced on this event as a sure thing upon which they could prefer charges and have Jesus arrested.

The problem that existed here between Jesus and the Pharisees was the different emphasis they placed upon the observance of this day.

The Pharisees placed all the emphasis on the outward observance of the day. So much so, that for them it became such an issue that it became another ‘work’ by which salvation was to be secured. This emphasis we saw also in the record of what happened with the man who had the withered hand in the synagogue. The Pharisees were more concerned about the day, rather then the good thing which might be done for the man. They followed the letter of the law but lacked in that they neglected the spirit of the law.

It is not the outward observance of the law that counts, and for this reason the Lord revealed quite clearly that unless they changed, they would not know the salvation of the Messiah.

We also see this emphasis on outward observance in that they condemned the disciples and Jesus. ‘You should have spoken up! You should have stopped them! You should have known better Jesus!’ Instead of being more concerned a bout the hunger of the disciples and their obvious need, they were more caught up with the setting aside of their precious rules.

This trap we must avoid today. We must not make our rules and regulations and add them to God’s divine law. We cannot make up our lists to cover every situation to make sure the day is rightly observed: – You cannot swim, you cannot knit, you cannot walk into your garden and seeing a withered flower, pluck it from the stem.

We have a divine command given to us which we must follow. No matter how much we may like or detest this particular command, we dare not tell God that this one out of Ten Commandments has become out of date!

So what is right? What is wrong as we seek to be covenantally faithful in the observance of this day?

B. THE TEACHING OF JESUS

Jesus gives us the answer in His reply to the Pharisees. He does so with two illustrations from Scripture.

First of all there was David and the consecrated bread. Here we have a divine law set down by God – not a man made regulation added to what God has to say. Therefore Jesus by dealing with an obvious law of God was demonstrating what was true with regard to this law which is higher than those of the Pharisees, must also be true of their laws.

In our example we find that no-one but the priests were permitted to eat the bread consecrated or set apart for the service of the tabernacle. These twelve loaves represented the twelve tribes of Israel and were to be placed before God on the Sabbath and renewed the following Sabbath by fresh loaves being brought in. The old loaves were then to be eaten only by the priests.

But then came David. Persecuted by Saul, already anointed of the Lord and he came to Ahimelech the priest. He wanted food but there was nothing for Ahimelech to give, for there was only the consecrated bread. These loaves were only to be eaten by the priests, and that God had commanded!

Yet we read that the loaves were handed over to David quite willingly. No censure of Scripture do we find, and in the words of Jesus taking this event as a precedent, if anything, confirmation that the action pleasing to God was performed. Note: Jesus did not condone the lie of David that he was on an urgent errand from Saul – but our Lord did support the compassion shown towards the Lord’s anointed and the setting aside a divine law to do so.

This is the point of the example. Where compassion was needed the Lord is more desirous for His people to forsake the law than to neglect the person in need.

The second example taken up by our Lord emphasises the same point. Sabbath observance extended to the priests as members of the covenant community just as much as it did to anyone else. However, the higher need was the offering up of the sacrifices, and for this reason they were permitted to break the Sabbath law without any guilt being laid upon them.

The same is true of preachers today as they bring the Word of the Lord to His people. They break the Sabbath yet they are innocent before God, for the higher principle is serving the spiritual needs of others than the outward observance of the day.

What then is the point of these illustrations?

It is this. Where there is a higher law concerned, then the lower law must give way to it.

In the case of David, the higher law was the spiritual and physical welfare of God’s anointed. The spirit of the law is love and compassion. Ahimelech was right in showing this to David even though a divine law had been violated. Where necessity dictated the breaking of a divine law, it was allowed.

It was the same with the priests. With the offering up of the sacrifices for the sins of the people that they might stand clean before God, the higher law was the continued worship of God through the sacrifices made on behalf of the people. Thus the observance of the day was to be set aside in their case. Pointing back to these precedents and the principle they expressed, Jesus provided the ground on which His disciples should not have been condemned, but rather, compassion should have been the order of the day.

It was at this point that Jesus declared that He the Son of Man, the Messiah, was Lord of the Sabbath. Where the temple had the right to make the exception to the law, so then could He who was the very one to whom the temple services pointed. He was indeed greater than the temple, not being the foreshadow of one to come, but being that One Himself!

C. THE SABBATH TODAY

How then are we to apply this lesson today? Have we been taught in this lesson that there is no longer any need to observe this day? That now we can do as we please on the Lord’s Day? God forbid!

Jesus as Lord is still Lord of the Sabbath and in His confrontation with the Pharisees He did not abolish the 4th commandment. It still stands together with the other nine. If we took the time to work through the list of the other nine-commandments we would not dare to set aside any of them how can we dare to make an exception to the 4th? In love and gratitude all ten must be our delight!

The point today is what Jesus revealed to the Pharisees. Compassion is required above sacrifice. When it comes to a choice between the outward observance of this law, and showing compassion – we must always obey the call to fulfill the work of mercy.

This is the reference made to Hosea 6:6. In that time there was no total dedication toward God since the people worshipped Him in an absent minded manner more out of habit rather than from the heart. There was also much injustice evident at that time. Through Hosea God made it clear, all the sacrifices in the world would make no difference unless they were accompanied with compassion ― the spirit of the law.

This the Pharisees had forgotten. They too had fallen back to a position of outward observances without the inward disposition. If they had compassion uppermost in their hearts they would not have condemned the disciples, but would have given what was necessary.

Therefore we must be very discerning when it comes to the Lord’s Day. .There is a time when the outward observance of the Lord’s Day can be set aside, when we can freely give up attending the gathering of the Lord’s people BUT ONLY when a higher law or principle is at stake ― the law of compassion.

The divine law of a separate day for rest and remembrance stands as much as it ever did!

Look at the example of the Lord of the Sabbath Himself. He observed the day attending the synagogue ― meeting with the covenant community, proclaiming God’s kingdom, meditating upon the deliverance of the Most High.

It was not a day to get the odd jobs done around the house. A day to finish off what was not completed the day before. It was not a day to seek His own pleasure above His Father’s. It remained a special day for our Lord and the disciples, even after His death and resurrection!

The Lord’s Day remains a gift given to God’s community. A day in which they are given time to drop the distractions of work, hobbies and outings. A day set aside for two specific purposes are ― for rest; not just for rest in itself, but rest which points us to that eternal rest; therefore a rest which gives us the time to meditate upon God’s wonder of grace in Jesus!

Does that sound boring to you? If it does, not all my persuasive speech could change that attitude ― you need a change of heart. For who can ever think our redemption through the blood of Christ is something not worth our time to search and trace and for which to praise God! Having been born of the Spirit we are called upon to live by the Spirit which means to count everything earthly as rubbish when compared to knowing Christ Jesus our Lord! Let us indeed set our minds on the things that are in heaven and not on those things which are on earth!

Yet let us not fall into the trap of making this day a ‘work’ of salvation. When confronted by the needs of others whether it be a stranded motorist; an injured neighbour or a heart broken acquaintance we must never think we must get to the church service at all costs. Instead we must learn the lesson of compassion. Unless we learn this truth, our worship of the law is in jeopardy of being nothing more than an empty ritual.

May the Lord of the Sabbath guide us all as we seek to learn His ways, and cause us to be ever prepared to forsake our own.

Amen.