Sabbath Conflict
Our text today covers two stories, both of which focus on the matter of Sabbath-keeping. So, let’s take a moment to understand the place of the Sabbath in Jewish culture. That the Sabbath must be observed was not a matter of debate among the Jews. The observance was grounded in the account of creation and part of the covenant law given to the people of Israel.
Here is its account in Genesis:
By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done (Genesis 2:2).
Here the Sabbath receives the double distinction of being made holy through God’s blessing and exalted as the day of rest through God’s own example. God blessed this day above all others; God himself rested on this day.
Then there is the covenant commandment:
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
Why do I attach the term “covenant” to commandment? Why don’t I just say commandment? I could, but I want you to understand that the Ten Commandments given by God, though they may apply to everyone, they specifically apply to the Jewish nation, because of the covenant he made with those people alone. Everyone is bound to keep the moral commands; but to be God’s covenant people, the first four must be kept – worship God alone, do not make idols, do not take his name in vain, and keep the Sabbath. These commands distinguished God’s people from all the other nations in the world. But the Sabbath itself was the only commandment that served also as a public sign. It made the people of God not only unique but visible.
When I speak of a sign, however, I mean not only a sign for the Jews to show others who they are, but also a sign for God to show his people they are his. In Ezekiel 20:12, God says, Also I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us, so they would know that I the LORD made them holy. The Sabbath was to the Jews what baptism and the Lord’s Supper are to us – a sacrament given by God to show his people that they belong to him.
In Jesus’ day, everyone understood the importance of keeping the day “holy unto the Lord.” Even so, there was debate and ambivalence about how to observe the day. If the Sabbath is a sign of the special relationship between God and his people, then it ought to be the most celebrated of days. It should be a day characterized by rejoicing. On the other hand, the fourth commandment plainly states that the day is to be kept holy through resting from work. God is angered when the people desecrate it. If so, then it should be a day that the people take special precaution not to offend God. So which is it to be – a day to celebrate or a day to soberly guard one’s behavior?
The Pharisees approached the subject along this line. They agreed that Sabbath-keeping was defined by resting from work. The scriptures seemed clear.
Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it must be put to death; whoever does any work on that day must be cut off from his people. 15 For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death. 16 The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. 17 It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he abstained from work and rested (Exodus 31:14-17).
Don’t work! Can scriptures make it clearer? They cannot make the admonition clearer, but what they don’t do so well is to define work and apply the command to everyday life. For example, everyone would agree that butchering an animal for food would be work. If so, would cutting up small pieces of chicken to put in a pot for cooking be work? If so, is the act of cutting itself work? Maybe, maybe not, but one thing you can be sure of: if you don’t do any kind of cutting, you know that you have not violated the law.
You see the reasoning? The Pharisees approach to Sabbath-keeping was this: don’t ask how much you can do before you cross the line of Sabbath-breaking; rather, ask what will assure you that you have not crossed that line. Draw yourself a line, or rather, build for yourself a fence that you know keeps you within God’s Law. It keeps you from breaking God’s Law, plus it demonstrates to God your zeal for keeping his Law.
Look at it this way. Mom looks in her children’s rooms and sees clothes scattered on the floor. She says to Sally and Johnny, “I want your rooms picked up when I get back.” She comes back and looks in Sally’s room. Sally has picked up her clothes off the floor and piled them on her bed. Mom looks in Johnny’s room. Johnny has picked up his clothes, folded them neatly and put them away in the dresser and closet where they belong. He also has taken the time to vacuum the floor and straighten up everything in his room. Both Sally and Johnny obeyed Mom, but who really obeyed Mom the way she wanted? Who will Mom be most pleased with?
The Pharisees could raise their hands and give the right answer. But they don’t think that Jesus’ disciples could pass the test.
23 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. 24 The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”
Now here is the reasoning. Reaping grain is obviously work that is prohibited. Exodus 34:21 distinctly states that one is to rest on the Sabbath even during the harvest season, i.e. the time one would be reaping. What are the disciples doing? They may not be formally reaping, but they are in effect doing the same activity. They are harvesting grain, albeit a small amount.
By the way, you and I are not bothered about the “reaping” aspect, but we do wonder why no one is complaining that the disciples are taking produce from someone else’s property. I dare say that if we went onto our neighbor’s property to munch on an apple from his tree, he would run us off regardless of what day it was. The OT Law actually provided for this very situation.
If you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat all the grapes you want, but do not put any in your basket. 25 If you enter your neighbor’s grainfield, you may pick kernels with your hands, but you must not put a sickle to his standing grain (Deuteronomy 23:25).
This was a provision to meet the needs of those who were truly in need of sustenance. There was no MacDonald’s on the side of the road. If you did not have food with you, and you were away from home, this was all you had.
But again, the disciples had the audacity to “reap” grain on the Sabbath. Jesus gives his response, which actually was along the same line as a rabbinical teacher would have spoken. He asks a question and refers to an example in scripture to make his point.
25 He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? 26 In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.”
Other rabbis had discussed this story and concluded that David was not guilty of breaking the law. Scripture was clear that only the priests could eat the consecrated bread. There is no question about that. But they reasoned this way. Jewish oral tradition places great emphasis on the preservation of life. David and his men were being pursued by Saul. They were so hungry, according to Jewish traditional interpretation, that their lives were at risk. Thus the commandments of the Bible may be suspended to save their lives.
Jesus’ point is clear. David is excused from breaking a specific scriptural commandment for the sake of hunger. How more reasonable is it, then, for his disciples to break an interpretation of a commandment for the sake of hunger? He drives his point home with the next statement: 27…The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
It’s possible that the Pharisees could have been satisfied, even pleased, with Jesus’ answer. His response was a reasonable one in the tradition of the rabbis. Our next scene, however, indicates that their displeasure with him was only rising.
Another time he went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. 2 Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath.
Up to this time, one could have interpreted the questions about Jesus in an innocent manner. Jesus, after all, kept doing things that were surprising, and all of the questions were reasonable. One would not have to be angry with Jesus to raise them. But here we see hatred and dark hearts. On the Sabbath day, the day to delight in the Lord, some of the Pharisees are looking for a means to do harm.
Jesus knows what is going on and does a rare thing; he calls up the man with the shriveled hand to showcase what he is about to do.
3 Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.”
4 Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?”
What a terrific move! Jesus puts the Pharisees to the test. Again, he is speaking in the manner of a traditional rabbi, raising a theological issue through a question. He then is able to change the terms of discussion. It moves from the ground of debating about what is necessary or not necessary to do on the Sabbath to what is good to do. Which shows greater honor to God – to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?
The issue of healing on the Sabbath seemed to be one that had been settled in the Jewish mind. The rabbis had taught that what is not necessary should be put off until after the Sabbath. The first time Jesus healed the crowd, when did they come to him? It was in the evening, when the Sabbath day had ended. Why can Jesus not wait?
If to heal the man, Jesus would have had to leave the synagogue service and labor to heal the man, it is possible he would have waited. But the healing that takes place requires neither time nor labor. The man simply stretches out his hand and it is healed. The Pharisees would have still objected because of the principle involved – it was still an activity associated with work. That makes it wrong. Jesus says it is an activity that is good and promotes rejoicing in God. (Imagine the joy of the man and the praise that he and the crowd would have given to God.) That makes it right and good. What better day than the Sabbath to restore a man to well-being?
Jesus’ words and action silence the Pharisees. I want you to note the rift that has risen between them that before was implied, but now is unveiled by Mark. 5 He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. 6 Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.
Do you remember the words that old Simeon said to Mary the day he held the infant Jesus in his arms? This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, 35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed (Luke 2:34,35). The hearts of these particular Pharisees and the Herodians, who were political supporters of Herod, are revealed for the true wickedness that exist within.
Application
Let us consider now the question: What are we to do with the Sabbath?
What are we to do with the Sabbath, or perhaps I should say the Lord’s Day? Christians actually differ over which term is the more appropriate. Our Westminster Confession, the creed which guides Presbyterian belief, equates the OT Sabbath with the NT Lord’s Day. It states that:
This Sabbath is then kept holy to the Lord when men, after due preparation of their hearts and arranging of their common affairs beforehand, not only observe a holy rest, all the day, from their own works, words, and thoughts concerning their everyday occupations and recreations, but also devote the whole time to the public and private exercises of God’s worship and to the duties of necessity and mercy (Chapter 21, paragraph 8, Modern English Study Version).
Many Christians believe then that nothing promoting work should be done. Thus, going to a restaurant would be wrong on a Sunday because it promotes work by the restaurant employees. Also one should not play sports. That is the type of recreation done during the week and should be refrained from on the Lord’s Day. Eric Liddle, the Olympic star featured in the movie Chariots of Fire would not run for that reason.
Others believe that recreation is permissible, as well as eating in restaurants or attending games and movies. They argue that what one does on a Sunday is a matter of conscience and point to such passages as Romans 14:5: One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. Or Colossians 2:16-7: Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.
Who is right; who is wrong? Maybe we are focusing on the wrong issues. Putting aside the question of whether Sunday – the Lord’s Day – is the Sabbath that we are commanded to observe, let’s go back to that comment of Jesus’: The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Jesus’ point is this: the Sabbath is a means to honor God by being a blessing for his people.
Isaiah 58:12-14 is very helpful here:
13 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
and the LORD’s holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
14 then you will find your joy in the LORD…
Note that phrase if you call the Sabbath a delight, i.e. if you take delight in it. How is it intended to be a delight? Rest for one thing. Six days of the week you feel like you must be doing something “productive.” If it’s not earning an income, it’s fixing up the house or yard, or catching up on paperwork, or (for the student) always studying. The Lord’s Day is the one day in which you are freed from the burden of “I ought.” You are freed to rest your weary body and spirit.
How else is it a delight? You are freed to delight in the Lord; freed to worship; freed to gather with God’s people. You are freed to enjoy family and friends without a tinge of guilt that paperwork or schoolwork or yard work is being neglected. You are freed to delight in doing the good works you wish you had time for – going to the jails or the nursing homes.
The Lord’s Day is not about what I must not do; it’s about what I am freed up to do. But there is another element as well. The passage also says if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please… God’s point is not that we must give up what we really enjoy, but that the Lord’s Day is a day for us to give up what we have let run our lives. Every day is to be lived for the Lord; But let’s be honest; our days are mostly lived for the demands of our jobs or schools or whatever it is that prioritizes how we spend the day. Sunday puts those things aside. We don’t go our own way after the priorities of the world; we give our attention to the values and the joys of living in God’s kingdom. That’s not a bad trade-off.
One other thing the Sabbath, or Lord’s Day, does: it points to the true rest that we have in Jesus for salvation. Remember, Jesus is our Sabbath rest. Jesus has done the work for our salvation. Once a week we have a sign given to remind us to rest in our Redeemer.
