We noted last week from Mark 2:1-17, Jesus Christ proclaimed He is God and the Only One who can save people from their sins. Jesus called on sinners, i.e. all people, to believe in Him and repent from sins.
Do we all believe in Jesus Christ as God and Only Savior for our sins?
Are we committed to repenting, turning away, from sins against God?
Let’s all take a quiet personal moment to think about these 2 important questions and yield to God the Holy Spirit…..
As we prepare for Communion, we will look at the last part of Mark chapter 2. We will come back next week to the middle part of Mark 2. Jesus proclaimed that He is the Lord of the Sabbath. And so, before reading our passage, let’s have a better understanding of what the Sabbath is. Turn briefly with me to Exodus 20:8-11..
The Sabbath in the Jewish Faith is the Holy Day of Rest and worship God. The Sabbath is a sacred Holy Day established by God!
Should the honoring of the Sabbath, which is a Saturday today, continue? Is Sunday the new Sabbath day? God has all the answers not man! Actually, I believe this is the main point that Jesus wants people to learn; Since Jesus Christ is God, Jesus has all the right answers! Read along with me Mark 2:23-28……
Let us first of all note something that we can easily miss. We noted from the first part of Mark 2 that the Religious Leaders, the Pharisees and Sadducees, were hanging out in the front row where Jesus was preaching. Now we note in v24 that the Pharisees were following Jesus as they were walking in the grainfields. Why do you think those religious leaders were hanging out where Jesus was??
The Religious Leaders did not like Jesus because He was getting more and more popular than them! And so, because they were jealous, the Religious Leaders were looking for ways to trip up Jesus!
Because Jesus and His disciples picked grain for food during a Sabbath Day, the Pharisees saw it as work on a Holy Day and accused Jesus of sinning against God! Jesus had 3 answers for the accusation of sinning against the Sabbath:
First of all, Jesus reminded them of one of their heroes!
God allowed a Jewish King do something that was unlawful in the eyes of men (v25-26). The Pharisees knew that David was known as a man after God’s own heart!
Secondly, Jesus makes an interesting statement in v27; what did He mean by that? Let’s look again at that statement in context: What was Jesus responding to?? – the accusation of doing something wrong during the Sabbath.
Who was Jesus talking to?? – What was the motive of the Pharisees in questioning Jesus?? – they were trying to trap Jesus. And another thing we need to look at is what did the other Gospels say about this? Turn with me briefly to Matthew 12:3-8…….
And so, with all of these in mind, I believe what Jesus was trying to tell the Self-righteous Pharisees was.. 2. God’s Laws are to help people because of love not a tool for hate! (v27 in context)
And finally, Jesus was straight forward with His answer to the Pharisees’ accusation.
3. Jesus Christ is Lord of all, including the Sabbath (v28).
There are at least 2 major Biblical Principles we need to consider for our lives today. First of all, as Jesus alluded to, God’s Laws are to help people because of love not a tool for hate; How can we Christians mess up in this area??
a. We must not judge Non-Christians of sinning against God’s laws!
Romans 3:11-12 states, all people are sinners and in Galatians 5, Christians have the Holy Spirit to fight sin!
The only thing Non-Christians know to do is sin, therefore love with God’s Word not hate!
Secondly, how are we to handle the Sabbath today? Jesus answered this for us… Jesus Christ is the Lord of the Sabbath! There are 2 other passages which can help us. Colossians 2:16-17….
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. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.
In Hebrews 3-4, Hebrews are called to “enter in” to the Sabbath rest provided by Christ.
And so, how are we to handle the Sabbath today? If Jesus Christ is the Lord of the Sabbath, everything is to be done in Christ and Jesus Christ is the final rest….
b. Sabbath for us today is daily rest (belief, worship, live) in Jesus Christ! And Jesus Christ also provides for us rest for eternity with Him (we need to think about this daily!).
Our Scripture of the Week summarizes it for us: And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17!
