Last time we ended with Jesus promising rest and peace for anyone who would come to Him and take His yoke—a yoke where He does the heavy lifting—no more striving to earn God’s favor by being good—only submitting lordship over your life to Him. The Jews got a picture of the rest of God through the Sabbath.
God instituted the Sabbath in Exodus 16, but was first pictured in Genesis 2:
Gen 2:1-3 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, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.
It didn’t mean God was tired, it just meant that everything He set out to do was accomplished so He stopped. In Exodus 16 the people had just received Manna and were told to pick it up off of the ground every morning, but not on Saturday, which was a solemn rest. They were to gather twice as much the day before.
The Jews, in their later attempts to please God, decided that just “not working” on the Sabbath wasn’t enough, so they created a bunch of rules to keep themselves holy. The Jews created 39 categories of work that should not be done. They included chain stitching, weaving, unraveling, selecting, erasing, knotting, and finishing. What started out as a way to celebrate what God had accomplished in His provision for His people, turned into an opportunity to show how really good you are, or how much better you were than others who weren’t as “holy,” and as a way of keeping the people in line.
What we find in Chapter 12 is Jesus coming against the assumed authority over the Sabbath by the religious leaders. We’ll see in just a second that it is Jesus that is over the Sabbath, not the other way around. Paul will later tell us that the Sabbath was meant as a shadow of things to come—that is, the rest we have from all works in Jesus. (Colossians 2:17). The Sabbath became “don’t do anything or be punished.” But the spirit of the Sabbath was “you don’t need to do anything because God has provided.”
This becomes one of the biggest stumbling blocks for the Jews as Jesus begins to assert His authority as Messiah and King—not by big words but by big actions. It leads the people to one of three possibilities: Jesus is possessed, crazy, or just what He is hinting at: king. It begs the question to us, who is Jesus and how much authority over your life are you willing to cede to Him? We’ll get to that as we progress through the chapter. For today: the Sabbath and the character of the king.
1 – 8
This story shows the ridiculous lengths the Sabbath rules had gone to. It was not illegal for Jesus and His disciples to pick some grain along the road when they were hungry. Deut 23:24-25 "If you go into your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes, as many as you wish, but you shall not put any in your bag. 25 If you go into your neighbor’s standing grain, you may pluck the ears with your hand, but you shall not put a sickle to your neighbor’s standing grain. The reason the Jews got upset was that the disciples had rubbed the grain in their hands and that was, according their rules, “harvesting.”
Jesus responds with three statements—1) a wooden response to the Law misses the intent of the Lord of the Law. 2) A slavish devotion to a building (the temple) misses the Lord of the temple. 3) Jesus is Lord over both (and in turn the Sabbath).
He first gives the story of David in 1 Samuel 21. David was running from Saul and came to Nob, home to the priests in that day and the Tabernacle. Each week 12 loaves of bread (representing the 12 tribes of Israel) were put hot before the Lord called the “Showbread” or “the Bread of the Presence.” When the old loaves were removed only the priests were supposed to eat them. But David, God’s anointed king, was in desperate straits. His need was more important than the regulation in that case, and so Ahimelech gave him the bread. It was also okay because David was who he was, just as it was all right for Jesus because of who He is.
Secondly, Jesus points out that the priests “work” on the Sabbath by offering sacrifices (the burnt offerings only) but are held guiltless. The “work” of worshipping God took precedence over the requirements of the ceremonial law. In the same way, the work of Jesus supersedes the temple.
Next Jesus quotes a passage given by no less then Samuel (1 Samuel 15:22), Jeremiah (Jeremiah 7:21), Isaiah (Isaiah 1:11), and Hosea (Hosea 6:6). God is after a heart of worship and submission, not of wooden obedience to external rules while the heart is far away. The disciples were as innocent as David and the priests and should not have been condemned.
Then He makes this astounding statement that He is in fact Lord of the Sabbath. The creator of the Sabbath has dominion over it and should be able to interpret what it really means. Jesus is more important than the Law. Jesus calls the shots when it comes to what is like God.
He goes on to demonstrate just how much authority over the Sabbath He has.
9 – 14
It’s one thing to pick some grain to eat on the Sabbath, but heal someone? The Pharisees had likely followed Jesus to the Synagogue following the incident at the grain field. The Pharisees allowed no “work” of healing, or practicing medicine, on the Sabbath unless someone’s life was in danger. The Pharisees weren’t looking for information but a way of accusing Jesus of being a Sabbath breaker. Jesus responds by telling them that even for them, if a sheep fell into a pit, their Sabbath rules allowed the person to retrieve it, and that healing a person’s hand was more important than a sheep falling into a pit. The question wasn’t whether it was lawful to practice medicine on the Sabbath but that when you have the opportunity and the ability to do good to someone, Sabbath or not, you should. It is also a picture that for us, Jesus has healed us from sin and we can have rest from striving.
Further, Jesus is really making a public rebellion against the Pharisees by doing this on the Sabbath. He embarrassed them and would not submit to their authority. This is the start of the takeover. Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath, Lord of the Law, and Lord of Israel (not to mention the Lord of the universe). This leads the Pharisees to begin to plot to destroy Jesus any way they can.
15 – 21
It wasn’t time for Jesus to give His life so He didn’t stay to argue, but left. It appears many would rather have a healing rescuer than a cruel task master. He healed but again told people not to “make Him known.” Why? The people misunderstood that the Messiah was Suffering Servant before Conquering King. To make Him king too soon would be to leave all of humanity in a fallen state. It was His compassion that led Him to heal, and it revealed the character of love that the prophets portrayed but the people didn’t understand.
So the verses 18 – 21 are a combination of Old Testament prophecies – mainly from Isaiah, but some of which we can’t find the source. Matthew may have paraphrased some for emphasis. Mainly it comes from Isaiah 42:1-4, 43:10, 42:4, 61:1, and Habakkuk 1:4.
This is the kind of king that is very different from our expectations. He is filled with the Holy Spirit, bringing hope and justice not just to the Jews but to all peoples; one who isn’t self absorbed and demanding of attention—one who is so caring and gentle that the weak are not trounced upon, but healed. In a moment, though, the same religious leaders who accused Him of rebellion will accuse Him of something much worse—which makes us realize that gentleness should not be confused with weakness.
Conclusions
Should we rest on the Saturday Sabbath?
1. It is no longer required
Col 2:16-18 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.
We are dead to the Law and its requirements, but alive to Jesus, which leads us to number 2:
2. It is a shadow of the real Sabbath – not a day but a life
Hebrews 4:1-13
4 Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. 2 For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. 3 For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said,
"As I swore in my wrath,
’They shall not enter my rest,’"
although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: "And God rested on the seventh day from all his works." 5 And again in this passage he said,
"They shall not enter my rest."
6 Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, 7 again he appoints a certain day, "Today," saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted,
"Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts."
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. 9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.
11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
So let us draw near to the caring king, who desires for us to rest from trying to please God and instead let Jesus please God and live in us!
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