When Religion Loses Relationship
Series: Encountering Jesus (through the Gospel of Luke)
Brad Bailey – February 24, 2019
Text: Luke 6:1-11
Note: The following is not a transcript. I only read Scripture and main point. The rest serves as a source of prepared thought that I hope to share more naturally…and usually more briefly than all that is here. I have also included an unusually long set of notes that follow, in part because the issue of the Sabbath’s relevance to the church is a major topic that I did not address in this message but naturally arises for those engaged with this text.
Intro
I want to begin with a challenge today.
To realize your soul is looking for a deeper rest.
(I’m not suggesting a morning nap. I’m referring to your soul.)
Our souls are restless.
We have a high propensity for distractions.
But there is a rest that is deeper than merely who is in political office… or any political crisis of our day.
It is about the search for rest… for truly coming home to the place that we are accepted… where we belong… where we can know at the core of our nature… the security and significance.
…With that in mind…I want we may do well to consider a word that we can have a strange relationship with.
“Religion”
We can hear that word and feel something positive and negative.
One may have some sense that religion is to be respected…that they shouldn’t bash religion… but there is a lot that they may want to keep their distance from.
Even on a personal level…some describe themselves as “not religious but spiritual”… which may reflect trying to find some form of separation between the two…that may be hard to define…is nevertheless a reflection that there is something good and something bad trying to be distinguished.
And perhaps even many here today may feel that way. Wondering… Are we religious? Should we be religious?
The topic of “religion” involves more definition and clarity than we will try to engage today.
But as we continue in our journey… “Encountering Jesus” through the Gospel of Luke… we see that Jesus not only confronts the problem… but clarifies the issue.
• He is like the plumb line. A builder can try to measure what is true in any ways…but the plumb line settles what is truly aligned with the way things really are.
• Or when we are trying to know what pieces of material may not be straight…he is like the straight stick… that when laid next to the others… shows everything else in it’s true perspective.
With that in mind…this morning we encounter Jesus… as captured here in Luke 6:1-11.
In Luke 6:1-11 …we have two confrontations with the religious leaders related to how Jesus related to the Sabbath.
If you’re not familiar with what the Sabbath is all about…we’ll touch on that in a bit…but to help understand these incidents…the Sabbath simply means stop…as in stop from your labor…and rest in God as the Provider. And it was specifically set apart as the last day of the week…. Saturday.
?Luke 6:1-5 ?One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grain fields, and his disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels. 2 Some of the Pharisees asked, "Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?" 3 Jesus answered them, "Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He entered the house of God, and taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions." 5 Then Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."
Pause to consider this first incident. - Jesus’ disciples are hungry. They’ve been caring for people on the Sabbath Day… , they’re walking through a grain field, and as they walk through that grain field they just pick the heads of the grain and they eat. Now, this was not stealing. This was specifically allowed by the law. The law allowed those in need to pick the excess of grain in a field. So the Pharisees interestingly don't accuse them of stealing. But what the Pharisees do accuse them of doing is breaking the rules involving labor on the Sabbath Day.
Now you need to know there was no such law as that found in Moses’ law. This is their interpretation of how Moses’ law is to be applied in this particular situation, according to the teachings of the rabbi. And so what we have is the Pharisees’ interpretation of God's word set over against Jesus’ interpretation of God's word…and the Pharisees accusing the disciples of the Lord Jesus of being Sabbath breakers.
Jesus responds by challenging how their interpretation wasn’t consistent with what God had intended…and does this by calling forth an incident from the Scriptures involving King David. [1]
When David’s men were hungry and in need…he gave them the ceremonial bread that was left over and kept for the priests. Only they could eat this bread because it was holy, dedicated to the LORD. Yet David had taken this bread and given it to his soldiers. No one criticized David for his action because he was the rightful king of Israel. Jesus as that anointed one of Israel and the Lord of Lords and King of Kings had even more right to eat.
He brings this home as we read in verse 5, declaring:
"The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."
….Now verse six introduces us to the second conflict related to the Sabbath.
Luke 6:6-11? On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled. 7 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. 8 But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to the man with the shriveled hand, "Get up and stand in front of everyone." So he got up and stood there. 9 Then Jesus said to them, "I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?" 10 He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He did so, and his hand was completely restored. 11 But they were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.
It’s a rather dramatic scene. In the midst of this conflict we almost forget that there is a man in need… a man with a withered hand.
We are not told how old the man was; only that he was a man.
We are not told if the man’s hand was withered from birth, or due to later onset of palsy, or some tragic accident in his work. We are only told that it was withered.
In a time that virtually any form of activity, whether it is work or play or daily chores required the use of the hands, you can imagine how his entire life must have been hindered by this handicap. We may suppose the man was poor, because he would not have been worth much to any employer as workers with two good hands.
One of the only details included…was that it was his right hand. It furthers the picture…because in the Jewish culture the right hand was an important hand. With the right hand, a Jewish man was to bless his sons as they came into adulthood like the patriarchs did in the Old Testament. And the right hand was a symbol of favor. To sit at someone’s right hand was a symbol of favor.
And his presence in the synagogue suggests that he was a faithful man.
His condition might have been thought of as punishment for some sin…. BUT HE WENT... AFTER ALL. Where could a man whose distorted nature was so outward ever go to find real sympathy and encouragement and help except to the people of God?
Here he is, taking his usual place in the synagogue among his family and friends; people of this small Galilean village he had known all of his life, and he was there to worship his God in spirit and in truth.
And what was the attitude of his leaders?
We see this dramatic contrast between something good and beautiful in that nature of Christ…and something so evil and ugly in the nature of these religious leaders.
In Christ we see compassion. In the religious leaders…we see that which was so self-serving.
They were in a place of worship, and although I am sure their physical display was one of humility and worship, their whole attention was fixed on Jesus for the purpose of catching Him breaking their law, so they could accuse Him.
This was a man in their charge to care for. They are the one’s who should have been caring about this man…praying for this man. Instead, they had no concern at all for the crippled man, his condition or his life’s circumstances or even his spiritual health. Instead they want only to defend their rules. [2]
Jesus knew that their primary motivation was to trap Him in order that they might kill Him. Jesus called for the man to come forward, to stand in the very middle of Jesus’ enemies.
Jesus paused to look around, undoubtedly the synagogue became as quiet as his eyes went from face to face. Then Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And as he did so his hand was completely restored before their very eyes.
Surely now they would be moved to believe, not so for Luke closes the story in verse eleven by giving a glimpse of into the soul of the Pharisees. “But they were filled with rage, and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.” [3]
The other gospel accounts tells us that they actually plotted to kill Jesus (Matthew 12:14, Mark 3:6).
So here they are believing that this act of healing was wrong…while plotted murder.
If we step back we see the nature of withering…and what God is doing to restore it.
In the first scene we see the withering… their bodies in hunger…and Jesus cares to provide for them. In this scene we see the withering of a hand cut off from what it needed.
But there is a deeper withering. We see the withering of human hearts… in the religious leaders and all who were led by them.
> It’s the withering of souls when religion is cut off from relationship.
Like this man’s hand, the their religious life had withered.
Religion withers when disconnected from relationship.
But in Christ God comes to restore what had lost life.
(He comes like rain to a withering religious world.)
And to this end we see Jesus offering restoration to the human soul.
And here we see it in relationship to the Sabbath.
The word Sabbath is a transliteration of the Hebrew word Shabath which simply means to cease or stop…referring to labor.
God began revealing this pattern when he was preparing to free his people from 400 years of slavery in Egypt.
Deuteronomy 5:12-15 (NLT) ?“Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you. 13 You have six days each week for your ordinary work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the LORD your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your oxen and donkeys and other livestock, and any foreigners living among you. All your male and female servants must rest as you do. 15 Remember that you were once slaves in Egypt, but the LORD your God brought you out with his strong hand and powerful arm. That is why the LORD your God has commanded you to rest on the Sabbath day.” ?
Enslavement meant that they had become owned by another… and under that rule…there would be no rest.
In essence, God was declaring “You are my people…because you join my rest.”
So God is shaping their identity as a people who are no longer slaves…no longer defined merely by their labor… nor living in relationship to another human ruler.
And that included a point in every weekly cycle to stop from work… and rest in acknowledgment of their relationship with God…. to acknowledge and enjoy that God is the ultimate Provider.
And it carried with it a form of compassion and care for all… And this was to be a blessing that was shared by all… over all servants…and creation itself.
It served their identity.
Exodus 31:13 (NLT) ?“Tell the people of Israel: ‘Be careful to keep my Sabbath day, for the Sabbath is a sign of the covenant between me and you from generation to generation. It is given so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy.”
It set human life apart from being enslaved. They were no longer owned by Pharaoh or any other ruler…if they stayed rooted in this relationship with God.
So what was the heart of the Sabbath?
The Sabbath, like all honorable “religious practice” was “relationally formative” … it served to bring freedom and to restore life in relationship to God.
The Living God attested to in the Scriptures, has always sought relationship…forming a relationship not a religion in itself. Religion is more the outer structure which may or may not serve that relationship.
The Sabbath is not simply a rule… it’s a relational formation… shaping who one rests in.
Let me finish our time with what I believe Jesus brings home to us.
I believe Jesus speaks to the relationship between rules and relationship.
Some are proud of dismissing rules…and some are proud of keeping rules…and many of us might feel some mixture running through us. [4]
Here is where Jesus becomes a plumb line… he clarifies and fulfills what it’s all about.
He both anchors in pattern of life in the Sabbath…but redeems it as well.
It’s important to recognize that Jesus actually does value and participate in the patterns of he Sabbath. Notice what it says:
“On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue…” - Luke 6:6?
Jesus observed the Sabbath… and not casually. On the Sabbath he went into the synagogue… over and over the Gospels tell us how it was his custom… his pattern of life on earth. He was living in the human rhythm of resting in the ultimate rest that the heavenly realm represents.
> Relationship involves priorities and patterns.
We will all grow inwardly when we set aside a time you stop from your work and productive role…and rest…in God. Not just rest…but enjoy the God of rest.
If that is most naturally Sunday…do as much work during the others days…and don’t save up all your household chores for it.
Our souls will find greater rest as we create a normal rhythm of weekly worship. I totally understand that people have to work with their unique circumstances… but we do need to reflect upon our patterns reflect our priorities. We may want to think hat God is central to our lives… but may find ourselves uncentered and disconnected when we don’t establish a regular rhythm of resting in Him.
We will never have that centered life if we decide randomly what we feel like each weekend. That would never show a meaningful way to relate to one’s job…one’s marriage… and we do well to wonder how we could consider it an appropriate way to relate to God. [4b]
So Jesus is a model of what is involved in finding rest but Jesus also reveals some vital truths.
1. Rules cannot substitute for relationship. Rules must serve relationship …with God and others.
Centuries passed and by the time of the Pharisee’s of Jesus time, the simple commandment concerning the Sabbath had grown into impossible tangle of rules. The Pharisees and scribes turned the Sabbath into a burden instead of the blessing that God intended it to be. [5]
But Jesus sets things straight.
In Mark’s account of this passage (2:27), Jesus makes the statement that "The Sabbath was MADE for man, not man for the Sabbath."
Or as the NLT translation captures it:
Mark 2:27 (NLT) ?Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath.
Those are words are worthy of letting soak in.
I wonder if we don’t often feel we are suppose to follow God’s rules…as something negative. We may even call them “restrictions”… and think of them only in a restrictive sense. But every commandment of God is a form of freedom… is that which meets the real need of our lives.
(I know that many of us just don’t like rules. In truth …what we usually mean is we don’t like rules that we think restrict us. But as soon as someone violates them…they declare that some rule was violated.)
Life has rules.
And I believe that God reveals what serves us best.
The key is grasping that they indeed serve us.
What God calls us to may require hard choices… it may not be what is easiest in the moment…but it is always what is good and ultimately liberating.
We can sense this in our earthly relationships. If my wife and I decide that we should have a weekly date night… it can be a great rule that serves our marriage. But if one of us is horribly sick… it would be missing the point to demand going out…because it wouldn’t be serving the relationship.
What we need to really connect to…is the good of what serves God and others.
Many of us would do well to ask ourselves:
Are your beliefs a blessing…or a burden to others?
2. The Sabbath was not simply about what we don’t do …but about doing what honors God.
Again… true in earthly relationships.
A spouse who can only say, “I never cheated”…is not the same being “faithful” to love and honor.
(Jesus and parable of the one who did nothing because they “feared” the master.)
The thought in the hearts of the Pharisees was, “It is not lawful to heal on the Sabbath.” Jesus responded by asking, “ Is it lawful to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” [6]
Not doing in itself is not a relationship… becomes lifeless…we will wither.
A relationship rooted in love will avoid sin…but it is so much more.
Some of us may feel the difference. If may feel some vitality lacking…maybe you should get out and do something with God.
But Jesus’ ultimate declaration is that “He is the Lord of the Sabbath.”
This certainly referred to how is the one who knows it’s true nature and how it should be interpreted and lived.
But it would lead to far more.
The Sabbath was only a shadow of what was to come through himself. [7]
The whole process of the Israelites becoming enslaved and freed by God’s provision… that of death coming …and they eing saved by the sacrificial lambs.. was all a predecessor to the ultimate freedom and saving work of Christ. Christ came to all life created by God…that sold itself out…to the powers of this world…and he became the sacrifice… that can redeem us…and restore our true life in God.
3. Christ is the “Lord of the Sabbath”… offering true rest to whoever comes to him. He ushers in a new creation…and offers freedom to all who are enslaved by the powers of this world.
In him…a new creation has begun.
In him…we who have been enslaved by selling ourselves … can be free and find rest.
In him … we can enter the land that was promised and awaits. [8]
Closing:
Our souls will never find rest apart from resting in the source of eternal security ad true significance. They will never find their ultimate rest in other people…in possessions…in any other source. They may find plenty of pleasant diversions and distractions… monetary pleasures. But our souls will not find rest…until we find we have a home we belong in.
Jesus offers that rest.
He calls us to leave the position of the religious…and self-righteous.
He invites us to stretch out our withering hands… and withering souls.
Maybe you have found…
• Hope withers into pessimism.
• Faith withers into cynicism.
• Love withers into selfishness.
Restoration begins right now. Will you be honest before God and hand over that withered area of your life?
Resources: John Hamby message “He Is Lord of All”; Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III - “Lord of the Sabbath”; Mark Roper message “Jesus the Restorer of hands and hearts”; Davon Huss “God Loves People More than Anything” (sparked reflection about what it must have been like to be this man.)
Notes:
1. As one notes: “Jesus responded to the Pharisees harassing question with a stinging rebuke, “Have you not even read …?” The Pharisees were the professional students of the law. This was what they considered their calling in life. Jesus began by asking the scholars of the law if they had ever even read the text of which he referred. It was a way of saying, “Your question is so elementary that is almost absurd, and one that reveals that however much education you have, you have a very poor grasp of the Scriptures.” These words must have come as a verbal slap in the face to these proud students of the law.”
2. As one notes well: “According to Matthew (5:7) a merciful spirit is a sign of having received mercy, while an unmerciful spirit is the sign of not having experienced mercy. No matter how “religious” you are if you don’t care about other people, if you have no concern whether they are saved or lost and going to Hell, then I fear that you have not yourself received God’s gift of mercy and forgiveness.
True Christianity has always produced mercy. It should be no surprise that the movement to abolish slavery was rooted in Christianity, led by Christians such as William Wilberforce. The same is true for social concerns, with men like William Booth Likewise, the elevation of women and protection and care of children sprang from the concerned hearts of followers of Jesus.
But Jesus pointed out that the true aim of God’s laws among men were mercy and compassion. God did not give His laws in order to deprive men of their pleasure but to keep them from harm. You do not tell your infant children about not touching the stove to deprive them, but to keep them from being hurt.”
3. Literally here it says, “they were filled with madness.” The Greek word used here in Luke is (anoia) which describes “foolish anger” or “senseless rage,” it suggests an absence of mind.
4. Jesus sees two types of lost souls. This is the essence of his parable of the Prodigal Son.
Outwardly they appear to be opposites…one a rebel… and one religious. They don’t like each other… but they are usually two sides of the same. Both are self oriented… both can be proud in their own way…one is defiant, and one is dutiful… one left home…one is outside refusing to come inside.
4b. Billy Graham once said, “Jesus tells us it is OK to help our ox out of the ditch on the Sabbath. But, if your ox gets in the ditch every Sabbath, you need to either get rid of the ox or fill up the ditch.” Some of you may need to fill up the ditch.
5. Now Israel had so failed to keep the Sabbath… and all that it represented… the whole nature of being set apart to God. And as a result they were overtaken and exiled to foreign lands. And when they returned after hundreds of tears… there may have been a deep fear of ever failing in he same way again. This may have increased the role of forming strict rules about what refraining from labor involved….rules that would ultimately be filled with human pride… particularly a religious pride.
6. Their attitude should have been the one of compassion, kindness, and a willingness to help him in whatever way they could.
Isaiah 1:16-17 (NIV)
Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.
This is brought home so clearly by James…
James 1:27 (NIV)
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress AND to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
We do well to ask if our life bless others? Our perspective can bless or burden…and whichever blesses is likely aligned with God…and whatever is burdened is not? (Notably… to those with appropriate expectations… developmental maturity… as certainly some may not value was blesses them because of limited perspective.)
1 Peter 1:22 (NIV)
Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.
7. The question that naturally arises is related to the relevance of the Sabbath today.
Particularly helpful is Paul’s reference that it was a shadow of what has now come in Christ.
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.”
I join many who value how N.T. Wright has helped in understanding the nature of the Sabbath…and Jesus as the fulfillment. I would encourage any to consider the following:
Scott McKnight presents on his blog Jesus Creed a few considerations on NT Wright’s latest book, Scripture and the Authority of God: How to Read the Bible Today
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/jesuscreed/2011/06/01/tom-wright-scripture-and-gods-authority/
Tom provides an exceptional illustration of how both to read Sabbath in its OT setting, what Jesus and Paul “did” to that teaching, how the Jubilee principle extends the Sabbath principle, and how Jesus is the transition to a new kind of time — death and resurrection and new creation, and thus how the Sabbath principle finds fulfillment in Jesus himself, and then he probes how to live that Sabbath principle out in our world. Here are some highlights:
1. In the OT Sabbath was a strong commandment, it was the day YHWH took up abode in the temple of creation (here he chimes in with John Walton) and asked image-bearers to enjoy that same rest.?2. Sabbath shows that history is going somewhere, it is a temporal sign that creation is headed toward that final rest, and it is sacred time.?3. Sabbath has to be connected to Jubilee, and therefore to justice and compassion for the poor, and that means Sabbath and Jubilee point us toward the restoration of creation.?4. Jesus thought the entire Sabbath principle pointed toward himself. Time was fulfilled in him; a new kind of time begins with him. Paul does not seem to care about Sabbath, and he observes its absence in Romans 13:9; Col 2:14-16; Rom 14:5-6. I have to be brief: it’s about time’s fulfillment. Sacred time finds its way to Jesus Christ and new creation.?5. To continue celebrating sabbaths is to focus on the signposts when we have already arrived. Thus, “Come to me and I will give you rest.” You don’t need the alarm clock when the sun is flooding the room with its light.
6. The early Christians didn’t transfer Sabbath to Sunday.?7. We don’t need to back up into a Sabbatarianism.?8. We “celebrate” instead of “rest” — a kind of celebration rest. We reserve this day for new creation life. Music, the meal, family, service, peace, justice, love — these are the notes of Sunday for those who see the fulfillment of Sabbath in Jesus.
We live in a perpetual sabbath.
The Significance of the Sabbath By N. T. Wright
http://churchintoronto.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-significance-of-sabbath.html
Rethinking the Sabbath – the blog of Frank Viola
https://frankviola.org/2015/01/26/thesabbath/
Hebrews speaks of the greater rest that comes in Christ and the kingdom.
Hebrews 4:3-11
For we who have believed enter that rest, just 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. For He has said somewhere concerning the seventh day: “AND GOD RESTED ON THE SEVENTH DAY FROM ALL HIS WORKS”; and again in this passage, “THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST.” Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience, He again fixes a certain day, “Today,” saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before, “TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS.” For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.
This passage teaches us that both the seventh-day rest of Genesis and the land of Canaan described in the Book of Joshua speak of the rest of faith that we now enter into through Christ.
The rest of God is available to God’s people now, for the writer of Hebrews says, “we who have believed do enter into rest,” and “he who has entered into God’s rest has ceased from his own works.”
This rest of faith is found in God’s kingdom.
Although the kingdom of God will be manifested in the future during the glorious display of Christ’s coming (2 Tim. 4:1), we enter into His kingdom now (Luke 17:20-21; Col. 1:13).
I believe it is also helpful to understand that the early church’s celebrating on Sundays was not simply a change of days with the same meaning.
The following is adapted from Jerry Flury “The Lord Of The Sabbath”
The Sabbath is not “the Lord’s Day”. When the early church began to gather and celebrate on Sunday…the first day of the week… they were not simply changing the honoring of the Sabbath to a new day.
No where in Scripture is the Christian commanded to observe the Sabbath.
The Sabbath was essentially Jewish, which explains, its absence in New Testament instructions to Christians.
The Sabbath was the sixth day began at sunset Friday and ran through sunset Saturday. The Lord’s Day is the first day of the week corresponding to our Sunday.
J. Vernon McGee tells this story about a man who wanted to argue about the Sabbath. The man said, "I’ll give you $100 if you will show me where the Sabbath day has been changed.? McGee answered, "I don’t think it has been changed. Saturday is Saturday, it is the seventh say of the week, and it is the Sabbath day. I realize our calendar has been adjusted, and can be off a few days, but we won’t even consider that point. The seventh day is still Saturday, and it is still the Sabbath day." He got a gleam in his eye and said, "Then why don’t you keep the Sabbath day if it hasn’t been changed?" McGee answered, "the DAY hasn’t changed, but I have been changed. I’ve been given a new nature now, I am joined to Christ; I am a part of the new creation. We celebrate the first day because that is the day He rose from the grave." That is what it means that the ordinances have been nailed to the cross in Colossians 2:14
The early church set aside the Lord’s Day as a day of rest, worship, and celebration of Christ’s resurrection. (Acts 20:7, 1 Corinthians 16:2, Revelation 1:10)
In addition, the early church fathers fought against a ceremonial keeping of the Sabbath.
• 150AD JUSTIN: Moreover, all those righteous men already mentioned [after mentioning Adam. Abel, Enoch, Lot, Noah, Melchizedek, and Abraham], though they kept no Sabbaths, were pleasing to God; and after them Abraham with all his descendants until Moses... And you [fleshly Jews] were commanded to keep Sabbaths, that you might retain the memorial of God. For His word makes this announcement, saying, "That you may know that I am God who redeemed you." (Dialogue With Trypho the Jew, 150-165 AD, Ante-Nicene Fathers , vol. 1, page 204)
• 200AD TERTULLIAN: Let him who contends that the Sabbath is still to be observed a balm of salvation, and circumcision on the eighth day because of threat of death, teach us that in earliest times righteous men kept Sabbath or practiced circumcision, and so were made friends of God. .. ...Therefore, since God originated Adam uncircumcised, and inobservant of the Sabbath, consequently his offspring also, Abel, offering Him sacrifices, uncircumcised and inobservant of the Sabbath, was by Him commended... Noah also, uncircumcised - yes, and inobservant of the Sabbath - God freed from the deluge. For Enoch, too, most righteous man, uncircumcised and inobservant of the Sabbath, He translated from this world... Melchizedek also, "the priest of most high God," uncircumcised and inobservant of the Sabbath, was chosen to the priesthood of God. (An Answer to the Jews 2:10; 4:1, Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. 3, page 153)
That which offers rest in and with God was embodied and ultimately fulfilled in Christ. So we can now gather in a new celebration of freedom. In it our souls find their truest rest. It is not a rest that can only be found in the symbol of a single “holy” day…but that can and should be entered at all times.
While the end of a formal Sabbath day has been fulfilled in reconstituted in Christ himself… the principle of “stopping from work” to acknowledge that God is our Provider of life resources and eternal rest of soul…is that which still serves our mind, hearts, and souls. As human beings, our Creator did not design us to work seven days a week. Our bodies and souls both need rest, and taking off one day out every seven is good for us. Those of us with workaholic tendencies may find it difficult to get into the habit of a regularly scheduled day off, but we need it. It should always be something to which we look forward.
Jesus sought time away to rest…but notably with a clarity that rest was time connection and centering hi life with the Father. He would at times lead his dimples into similar times.
As Warren Wiersbe notes, “The ability to calm your soul and wait before God is one of the most difficult things in the Christian life. Our old nature is restless...the world around us is frantically in a hurry. But a restless heart usually leads to a reckless life.”
8. Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
