In 1981 the movie, Chariots of Fire, won the Academy Award for Best Picture. This Hollywood film told the true story of a devout Christian, Eric Liddell, in a very positive way. I want to just show you a clip of the film. Eric has decided he must forfeit his chance to run in the 200 meter dash at the 1924 Paris Olympics because the qualifying meet will be held on Sunday. His coach, and some others, try to convince him to change his mind.......wow! It is great to see someone who is willing to hold to his convictions no matter what it costs. Yet, think about the stand that Eric is taking. He won't participate in the race, simply because it is on Sunday. He believes that to run on Sunday violates the Biblical command, the 4th of the Ten Commandments...to keep the Sabbath day holy.
Many of us in this room probably would not agree with Eric's position. We would have said, "Eric, lighten up a little. Is this really the mountain you want to die defending? It is just one race. There will be plenty of time to go to church before or after the meet. Your decision not to run may keep you from witnessing to others about Christ." Today most Christians see Sunday as just the day we happen to meet for church. Many feel there is really nothing special about the day and going to church on Saturday night or Wednesday evening is just as good. Who is right? Eric Liddell, and other Christians who have been zealous in their efforts to observe the Sabbath, or the many Christians today who have no qualms about playing, shopping, or working on Sunday? How important is the Sabbath? Frankly, this is not an easy question. I have good Christian friends who take very different positions on this issue. But, I believe the Lord wants us to seek what His will is for us. Today our journey through Matthew brings us to Chapter 12:1-14. Let's pray that as we look at God's Word, He would show us what role the Sabbath should play in our lives.
Our text has Jesus and the Pharisees disagreeing about the Sabbath. The first incident involves Jesus' disciples picking some grain. Matthew 12:1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. There is no reason to believe the disciples are starving. They are out for a Saturday afternoon walk, they are hungry, so they pick some grain along the road. It doesn't sound like a very tasty snack to me, but I'm sure it was very nutritious. The Pharisees, the religious leaders who have become Jesus' opponents, are very upset by this. What Jesus and His friends are doing doesn't bother them, but when they were doing it was a big problem. 12:2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath." The 4th Commandment reads, Exodus 20:8-10a "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work,..." The Pharisees claimed this meant that thirty-nine types of work were forbidden on that day. One of them was reaping grain.
Matthew 12:3,4 He answered, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread --- which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests." Jesus asks, "How can you guys condemn my friends for eating a few heads of grain which God did not specifically forbid, when the Old Testament did not condemn David for doing something which was a violation of the law?" Jesus' point is that the Pharisees' rigid interpretation of the Old Testament law is inconsistent with Scripture itself. Jesus then asks, 12:5 "Or haven't you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent?" Jesus notes that the law allows the priests to do work in the temple on the Sabbath because their work in facilitating worship is more important than the Sabbath principle. Then He says, 12:6 "I tell you that one greater than the temple is here." Or, in other words, "The work I have to do is far more important than what the priests did in the temple." Jesus sums up His argument in Verse 12:7 "If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent." That is a quote from Hosea 6:6 which shows that the Pharisees have missed the whole point of God's law. Their judgmental attitude, not the disciples snacking on grain, was what really violated the Scripture. 12:8 "For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath." This statement was guaranteed to shock the Pharisees. Jesus is saying, "If you Pharisees are really interested in honoring the Lord, you should join the disciples and follow Me."
Then Matthew tells us about a second incident, where Jesus heals a sick man. 12:9 Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue,... Luke tells us that this occurred on a different day, perhaps the next Saturday. 12:10 ...and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" The Pharisees' goal is to trick and trap Jesus some way so they can accuse Him of contradicting God's Word. The common Jewish view was that lifesaving medical treatment should be given on the Sabbath, but elective procedures, like treating a shriveled hand, should wait until the next day. But, Jesus doesn't respond on their level. 12:11 He said to them, "If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out?" Interestingly, an even stricter Jewish group argued that it was wrong to touch the animal on the Sabbath, but OK to put a plank in the pit so the animal could get out by itself. Jesus assumes that Pharisees would indeed help one of their animals out of the pit. 12:12 "How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath." Jesus is not an animal rights activist. It is not sheep, dogs, dolphins, or any other animal, but human beings who are made in God's image, and we should certainly treat people better than we treat animals. Helping other people, healing other people, is a wonderful thing to do on the Sabbath. 12:13 Then he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. This miraculous healing is Jesus' big exclamation point which says He is indeed Lord of the Sabbath, and if anyone wants to know how to really honor the Lord and keep the Sabbath day holy, they should follow Him, not the Pharisees. But, of course, these self-righteous religious leaders are not impressed. 12:14 But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.
Now, there are numerous implications we could draw from this passage, but I want to zero in on our question of the day. How important is the Sabbath? Should we be zealous in making sure the only things we do on Sunday are worship and rest, or is it a day in which the Lord gives us freedom to do whatever we want? Before we tackle that, I need to clarify something. In the Old Testament, for Jesus and His disciples, and for the Jewish people today, Saturday, actually Friday sundown to Saturday sundown, is the Sabbath Day. Why are we talking about Sunday as the Sabbath? The reason is that for almost 2000 years, almost all Christians have observed Sunday, not Saturday, as the Lord's Day. Jesus' resurrection occurred on the first day of the week, and the early Christians met together for worship on that day. Though both Saturday and Sunday were probably days of worship for the earliest Christians, it didn't take long for Sunday to become the special day. Now groups like the Seventh-Day Adventists, and the Seventh-Day Baptists, believe Saturday is the day which is to be treated as the Sabbath. We could spend a lot of time discussing whether worship services should be held on Saturday or Sunday, and if you have questions, I would be glad to talk with you later. But since that vast majority of Christians would see Sunday as the Sabbath Day, that will be our focus.
OK, how important is the Sabbath? #1) The Sabbath is not as important as some people think. Rigid, legalistic views of the Sabbath, like the Pharisees held, are wrong. God instituted this day of rest and worship for the good of His people. He never intended it would be a chain to enslave them. There are folks who would say, "Yes, you are right, Pastor Dan. The Pharisees had a very warped view of the Sabbath. They added many rules which the Old Testament does not have. But, as Bible-believing Christians, it is our responsibility to obey what the Old Testament does teach about the Sabbath. We need to strive to make sure we follow all those instructions and make Sunday a day for only rest and worship." I almost agree. We cannot dismiss the 4th Commandment lightly. It still has important meaning for us. But, when I read the New Testament, it seems that part of being under the new covenant, part of the difference between being an Old Testament Jew and a New Testament Christian, is that the Sabbath has been transformed. In the Old Testament, Saturday was to be a day devoted exclusively to rest and worship. In the New Testament, however, I believe the Sabbath has now become the Lord's Day, and Sunday is now the day which is to be used primarily for rest and worship. Exclusively and primarily are the key words here, but more on that in a few minutes.
Let's look at 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. What does Paul mean when he says, "Don't let anyone judge you by a Sabbath day"? It would seem he means, "Don't let anyone judge you by how you choose to observe a Sabbath day, or maybe on what day you choose as a Sabbath." When I combine this verse and Jesus' words to the Pharisees which we looked at today, and the fact that the New Testament church observed Sunday as "the Lord's Day" and that nowhere in the New Testament do Jesus or the apostles warn Christians about the dangers of failing to observe the Sabbath correctly, I have to conclude that the Old Testament Sabbath is no longer in force. Just as the rules concerning kosher food and animal sacrifices are not meant for Christians today, neither are the Sabbath regulations. Anyone who observes Sunday, rather than Saturday, as the day of worship really has conceded that. I disagree with the Seventh-Day Adventists who insist we must keep a strict Saturday Sabbath, but their argument is consistent. Those who claim we should observe a strict Sabbath on Sunday really are contradicting themselves, because to strictly follow the 4th Commandment, we have to make Saturday the day of rest and worship.
So, what are the practical implications? I don't think it would necessarily be a sin to run a race on Sunday. Now, it would have been wrong for Eric Liddell to violate his conscience, so it was good he did not run, but I don't think there is anything inherently evil with participating in or watching a sporting event on Sunday. There are other rules which people in our circles have sometimes come up with which I don't think are necessarily valid. When I was growing up, our pastor said we need to have the church Sunday School picnic on Saturday, because it was wrong to have it on Sunday. He felt it was not appropriate to swim or play baseball on Sunday afternoon. There are Christians who think it is a sin to go shopping or to eat in a restaurant on Sunday. A few years ago, a friend who is my age and in many ways more liberal than I am, said she could not believe that I would go out to eat on Sunday after church. Now, I admire people who are zealous in trying to keep the Sabbath. They are attempting to take God's Word seriously, which happens far too seldom in the church today. Yet, I believe they misunderstand how the Lord intends the 4th Commandment to be applied. The Sabbath is not as important as these folks believe.
#2) The Sabbath is more important than many people think. Though Jesus condemns the strict view of the Sabbath which the Pharisees held, He does not reject the idea of a Sabbath day. The principle of Sabbath, that one day a week should be reserved for rest and worship, still applies today, though specific Old Testament instructions don't. The 4th Commandment is relevant for all people at all times and in all places because it is based upon the actions of the Creator of the universe. We are to work six days and rest on the seventh, because Exodus 20:11 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. Whether we live at the time of Christ, or 2000 years earlier, or 2000 years later, God does expect us to keep a Sabbath, to take a break, so we can rest and worship.
Now, we need to make sure we are avoiding legalism as we do this. There is nothing wrong with stopping at the gas station after church to pick up a gallon of milk. There is nothing wrong with occasionally watching a football game, playing a round of golf, or going to McDonald's on Sunday afternoon. These types of activities are OK, as long as the primary focus of the day is to worship the Lord, and to get some rest. Some of you are thinking, "Well, this sounds great, Pastor Dan, but I have to work on Sunday." Yes, some jobs require that. We should not be legalistic and say that Sunday or Saturday or Tuesday or any other day of the week has to be the Sabbath. We pastors work on Sunday, just like the Old Testament priests did on the Sabbath. Nurses and others in the health field often have to work Sunday to take care of patients, and Jesus said it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. Farmers have to feed their animals and milk their cows on Sunday, which Jesus also recognized. If your job requires that you work on Sunday, then it is important to set aside another day of the week as a Sabbath. It is best to use Sunday, but if you can't, you need to pick another time.
The important thing is that we set aside time for rest and worship. These are two things we desperately need. 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. Henry Ward Beecher said, "A world without a Sabbath would be like a man without a smile or like a summer without flowers. It is a joyous day of the week." He was right, it is a day that provides great opportunity for needed rest and for worship.
Every day we should take time to read the Bible, pray, and express our praise to God. But, it is important to have one day in seven which we set aside so that we can have an extended time to worship and focus upon the Lord. It is very helpful to do this with other Christians, and so it is practical that we agree on one day when we will meet together. And Sunday, the first day of the week, the day on which Jesus' resurrection occurred, is a great day to do that. Going to church on Sunday should be a regular part of the schedule for every Christian believer. I believe that attending Sunday School and the evening service can also be great ways to help us focus on the Lord that day. In our culture, Sunday is often seen as a family day, and that's great. Busy dads, busy moms, busy teens, and busy children all need to make sure they take regular time to spend with each other. But, it is more important that we spend time with the Lord. Sunday should be the Lord's day, even more than it is family day.
Let me just close with some practical suggestions: #1) We need to do as much work as possible on days other than Sunday so that we can reserve that day for rest and worship. When I was growing up on the farm, the cows had to be fed and milked every day, including Sunday, but my Dad tried to make sure we didn't have to do other work that day. We didn't make hay or plow the fields on Sunday. So, don't save all your household projects for Sunday afternoon. Mow your lawn on Saturday, not Sunday. Do your homework on Saturday afternoon, not on Sunday. Last year a college student told me he was getting into the habit of not studying on Sunday, and was getting better grades. Yes, I think God will honor an effort to reserve a day for Him. If you have a job which sometimes requires Sunday work, try to minimize that. Don't take advantage of others, but if you can trade a shift and work Saturday and get next Sunday off, do it. 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." Try to get done as much work as you can before Sunday.
#2) Limit recreational activities on Sunday. We tend to worship our play and play at our worship. A modest amount of recreation on Sunday is good. It is part of relaxing and getting the rest for which the Sabbath is designed. Yet, when we are addicted to our recreation, we miss the whole purpose of the day. Watching ten hours of football on Sunday, which can be done, noon to 10 p.m., is not keeping the Sabbath. Playing in any sport which requires you to frequently miss church on Sundays is not a good thing. Recently the NCAA ruled that college teams could not be required to play on Sundays in various tournaments. Good for them. It is OK to sometimes go fishing, golfing, hunting, or shopping on Sundays, but Sunday should never become our fishing, golfing, hunting, or shopping day. We must strive to keep it primarily a day for worship and rest. And that means we sometimes need to limit our recreational activities.
#3) We need to work at making Sunday special. There are many ways to do that, and most of you are much more creative than I am. But, I encourage you to develop ways for yourself and your family, besides going to church, which will make Sunday a unique day. Maybe you spend some extra time reading the Bible, or maybe you go for a drive in the country. But I think it is important that we don't treat Sunday like just another day. The Sabbath should be a very special day.
When Ben was a baby, his skin started to turn orange because he was eating too many carrots. Actually, it was Gerber's carrots, but the doctor said Ben needed more variety in his diet. No one has ever told me that I am eating too many carrots. It would be good for me to eat a lot more. When I read our text, it is almost like Jesus is scolding the Pharisees for eating too many carrots. They were placing far too much emphasis on the Sabbath. They needed to get some balance. But most of us today should take the Sabbath much more seriously. God established the day for our benefit. May He help us to learn to use the day in a way that would honor Him.
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