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The Sabbath Issue

Text: Mark 2:23-28; Matthew 12:1-8; Luke 6:1-5
20 October 2013

THE SABBATH ISSUE

1. Incident

The disciples plucking the heads of grain          Mark 2:23

2. Charge of the Pharisees

Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?          Mark 2:24

a) The disciples of Jesus had broken the Sabbath law
b) Jesus as their Teacher was held responsible for their breaking of this law
c) Jesus was thus guilty of breaking the Sabbath law Himself

THE DOCTRINE OF THE SABBATH

1. The 4th Commandment

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.          Exodus 20:8

2. Severe penalty in the breaking of the Sabbath Law          Exodus 31:12-17

THE PRACTICE OF THE LAW BY THE PHARISEES

1. The plucking of grain is breaking the law of the Sabbath

2. Interpretation of the Sabbath was encoded by their traditions

THE DEFENCE OF JESUS

1. Answering the question of the Pharisees with a question of His own

a) The example of David eating the showbread which was meant only for the priests          Mark 2:25
b) The high priest Abiathar gave the bread to David and his men when they were fleeing from King Saul          Mark 2:26
c) The illustration of the priests who technically break the Sabbath Law and yet are blameless          Matthew 12:5

2. Significant teaching by Jesus

The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.

Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.          Mark 2:27-28

a) The Sabbath was a law that was given for the benefit of man
b) Man was not meant to be enslaved by the law
c) He was certainly not meant to be trapped by the interpretation of the Pharisees
e) Jesus had not broken the law of the Sabbath
f) He had understood it and practised it correctly

TEACHING ABOUT THE SON OF MAN

1. He is reater than the temple          Matthew 12:6

2. He is the Lord

3. He is the Lord of the Sabbath          Mark 2:28

EMPHASIS ON PRACTISING MERCY

1. The practice of mercy          Matthew 12:7 (Hosea 6:6)

2. The wrong of being judgmental and practising of condemnation on the guiltless

3. The disciples were not guilty of breaking the Sabbath

RESPONSE OF THE PHARISEES

1. No response to the arguments of Jesus

2. No comments about Jesus being the Son of Man

a) Greater than the temple
b) The Lord of the Sabbath

POEMS CT

#4 THE SABBATH WAS MADE FOR MAN

God’s laws were always made for man’s good,
Sadly, they seemed to be badly misunderstood.
In the hands of the legalists, the law became a tool,
It was used to force people to obey their rules.

The Sabbath law was abused for many years,
This law caused many people to shed tears.
How did a law of God become so hard?
This particular law some especially guard.

Through some grain-fields the disciples passed one day,
They had worked hard and had little to eat along the way.
They plucked the heads of grain and began to eat,
The Pharisees swiftly and angrily jumped to their feet.

They condemned the disciples for having broken the Sabbath law,
Why had their Teacher not corrected His disciples this obvious flaw?
Jesus was not perturbed by this great accusation wild,
He spoke to them with His usual spirit, calm and mild.

Had they not read how David broke the law when he ate sacred food,
It was the high priest himself who fed him and his men for their good.
Had the Pharisees truly understood the Sabbath law?
Could their interpretation have an intrinsic flaw?

The Sabbath, Jesus explained, God gave for the betterment of man,
Man was never made to merely keep the Sabbath, in His plan.
This word of truth brought a great sense of relief and liberty,
The Son of Man, the Lord of the Sabbath, had come to set man free!

Inspiration: Mark 2:27-28