2011 6-19 ‘Serving God Seven Days a Week’ Luke 6 1-11

“SERVING GOD SEVEN DAYS A WEEK”
LUKE 6:1-11

I. Introduction
Do you keep the Sabbath? If you do keep the Sabbath, why do you keep it? If you don’t keep the Sabbath, why don’t you keep it? You’re not completely sure? Let’s take it a step further. Do you know what the Sabbath day is for? Most people would say, “It’s a day of rest.” That’s right, it is. So do you rest on the Sabbath? Come to think of it, do you know what day the Sabbath day is? Is it Saturday or is it Sunday?

These are issues that often generate considerable confusion, and sometimes even conflict, among conservative Christians. This morning, with the Lord’s guidance and direction, we will do our best to sort them out. Today’s passage, Luke 6:1-11, will teach us a lot about honoring the Sabbath. And isn’t that exactly what God commands us to do in the fourth Commandment?
*Exodus 20:8-11
8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 “Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you.
11 “For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”

These verses usually raise at least two questions. The first is, “I know what it says, but what does it mean?” The second is, “Does it even apply to the church in the NT today or was it strictly for Israel in the days of the OT?”

So before we go to this morning’s text, which speaks of two views of the Sabbath, we need to take a little time to understand just what the Sabbath was, why it was established, and what it means for you and me today.

For Israel the fourth Commandment commemorated the creation week and the fact that God rested from His labors on the seventh day. “For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth…and rested on the seventh day…” We take God at His Word so
this is a reminder to all believers, Jew and Gentile alike, that God made everything in six twenty-four hour days, and that the religions of men that teach or even approve of the teaching of millions or billions of years of evolution are in fact, false religions.

For Israel the fourth Commandment did more. It commemorated Israel’s deliverance from slavery in Egypt. In Deuteronomy, Moses repeated the Commandments and added something about the fourth. He wasn’t adding to the Law; he was clarifying it.
Deuteronomy 5:15
15 “And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.”

So the fourth Commandment reminded the Jews of God’s creation and His freeing them from slavery in Egypt.

How does the NT deal with the fourth Commandment? What does the Bible say about it to the Church of Jesus Christ? After Jesus’ resurrection there is no record that any Gen-tile believer ever observed the Sabbath. Certainly some Christians, those who may have been heavily influenced by the Jews, did observe it, but Sabbath-breaking is never named among any of the NT’s lists of sins. It simply isn’t mentioned.

To be sure, the other nine Commandments are listed and referred to again and again in the NT, but not the one about the Sabbath. So then the obvious question for us is this: If the Sabbath isn’t mentioned in conjunction with the church, are we to assume that we Christians are only bound to nine Commandments from God? Are we to assume Israel was bound to follow all ten, but the church is only required to follow nine?

Absolutely not! That is not the case at all. We need to understand what the Sabbath is. The word “Sabbath” is transliterated from the Hebrew “Shabbâth.” It simply means “a time to rest or cease from work.”
*Exodus 20:11
11 “For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested (“Sabbathed”) on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath (rest) and made it holy.”

God bestowed His blessing on the rest, the cessation of work. His blessing made the Sab-bath (the rest) holy. Is God’s rest still holy? The answer is a resounding, “Yes!” You and I are to honor the Sabbath by honoring the “Lord of the Sabbath,” not only on Saturday or Sunday, but seven days a week. In fact, we are not to honor a particular day or month or season or year. Listen to the Apostle Paul as he speaks to the Christians at Galatia about the time before they were saved; when they were still practicing their religion.
*Galatians 4:9-11
9 …now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again.
10 You observe days and months and seasons and years.
11 I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain.

By the first century the Pharisees had turned God’s grace upside down. They thought they could attain heaven by the doing of some things and by the not doing other things. That is, they worked for their salvation. The Pharisees’ hope for eternal life was based solely on their own perceived personal goodness, purity, and what they did or did not do. So while they busied themselves making innumerable laws to honor the Sabbath day itself, they completely missed the larger point: The honoring of the Lord of the Sabbath.

The Talmud is the Jew’s central text of rabbinic law. In it there are no less than twenty-four chapters devoted to Sabbath regulations. All of it speaks to external behavior; the things people could and could not do. To say that these laws were burdensome is under-statement at best. Here is just one example of how ridiculous these laws had become.

It was unlawful to travel more than 3000 feet from your home on the Sabbath. However, if you measured out 3000 feet and placed some food at that spot, you could call that home and travel another 3000 feet from there. Or you could lay down a piece of wood or a rope at the 3000 foot mark and call it a doorway. That could then be considered the door or your home and you could travel 3000 feet from there. (read MacArthur, p. 4)

It’s easy to see why Jesus told the people that He offered them freedom, isn’t it? Of course He was talking primarily about freedom from slavery to sin, but He was also talking about freedom from slavery to the crushing burden of legalism and men’s laws.
*Matthew 11:28-30
28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Sabbath?).
29 “Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest (Sabbath?) for your souls.
30 “For My yoke is easy, and My (burden) is light.”

Jesus offered the people true Sabbath rest. But the Pharisees could only offer the burden of still more laws and rituals and ceremonies and forbidden things. They were convinced that the more they could do (or not do), the more they could display their piety and holi-ness before men. But the reality was that the more laws, rituals, ceremonies, and forbid-den things they could come up with, the more they displayed their dishonor of the God who made them.

That’s because it all negated the grace of God and enhanced the Pharisee’s pride in them-selves. And if that wasn’t bad enough, they forced their laws, rituals, and ceremonies on the very people who looked to them for their spiritual sustenance and guidance. Jesus’ anger at such behavior is made clear in Matthew.
*Matthew 23:15 (referring to Gentiles who are converted to Judaism)
15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel about on sea and land to make one proselyte (convert); and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.”

That is to say, they pour their religion out on converts and make them do the same things they are doing. But the doing of them can save no one.
No matter how many rules and laws the Pharisees developed for keeping the Sabbath day, and no matter how many rules and laws they imposed on the people, the problem remained. All of the ceremonial law, dietary restrictions, and sacrifices were merely pic-tures, shadows, as it were, of the coming Messiah. Once Jesus, the Substance came, the shadows were no longer necessary. Once Jesus, the Substance came, the shadows no longer had any value. That’s what Paul told the church at Colossae.
*Colossians 2:16-17
16 …let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day –
17 things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.

I know that many Christians choose to observe some of those laws, “those shadows” today, but it isn’t necessary. Just remember this. If you do choose to observe some of the old laws, you are setting yourself up to the possibility of becoming enslaved to them.

Only when we cease working and rest, as it were, can we receive salvation by grace. Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath, is the perfect rest who opens the gates of heaven for us.

Therefore, when Jesus’ was present on the earth there was no need for observance of the ceremony, the shadow, because He is the Substance, and He was here. And although He is not here in the flesh during the Church Age (the time between Pentecost and the Rapture), He is present in each and every believer in the Person of the Holy Spirit.

So do you see why we don’t need to honor the Sabbath DAY today, but why we need to honor the Lord of the Sabbath EVERY day? When we do that, we are obeying the fourth Commandment. When a lost person comes to saving faith in Christ, they enter into the perfect rest that only He can provide. Christ has set us free from the demands of various ceremonies, rituals, and religious rules so there is no longer any need for you to go back to them. Why would any believer want to be enslaved to those things again?

We are free in Christ. He is our perfect rest. He is the Lord of the Sabbath. We are not to worship Him solely on “Sabbath Saturday,” or “Lord’s Day Sunday.” Jesus is our Sabbath rest every day and we are to worship Him seven days a week.

Now with all of that in mind, we can look into today’s text.
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II. Text
*Luke 6:1-11 (Please stand with me in honor of reading God’s Word.)
1 Now it came about that on a certain Sabbath (Jesus) was passing through some grain fields; and His disciples were picking and eating the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands.
2 But some of the Pharisees said, “Why do you do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”
3 And Jesus answering them said, “Have you not even read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him,
4 how he entered the house of God, and took and ate the consecrated bread which is not lawful for any to eat except the priests alone, and gave it to his companions?”
5 And (Jesus) was saying to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
6 And it came about on another Sabbath, that He entered the synagogue and was teaching; and there was a man there whose right hand was withered.
7 And the scribes and the Pharisees were watching Him closely, to see if He healed on the Sabbath, in order that they might find reason to accuse Him.
8 But He knew what they were thinking, and He said to the man with the withered hand, “Rise and come forward!” And he rose and came forward.
9 And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good, or to do harm, to save a life, or to destroy it?”
10 And after looking around at them all, He said to him, “Stretch out your hand!” And he did so; and his hand was restored.
11 But they themselves were filled with rage, and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.

There is a lesson for us here. Jesus was never insensitive, but he never compromised the truth either. What truth is more important than the truth of the gospel? Getting the truth of the gospel out and getting the truth of the gospel right may not seem important to some who are alive and well today, but everyone who is alive and well today will one day be dead. How important will the truth of the gospel be to them then?

Just one second after you leave this life, the only things that will matter are whether you accepted the grace of God and the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, or rejected them.

The Jews were so adamant about keeping their Sabbath rules and regulations that they became a major point of contention between them and Jesus. The clash between the works-righteousness of the Pharisees and the grace of God erupted after the two separate incidents reported by Luke in this morning’s passage. Jesus would not be deterred from telling them the truth. As a result of that truth, the hostility against Him grew.
*Luke 6:1-2
1 Now it came about that on a certain Sabbath (Jesus) was passing through some grain fields; and His disciples were picking and eating the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands.
2 But some of the Pharisees said, “Why do you do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”

Actually, they weren’t breaking God’s law at all; they were breaking men’s law. The Mosaic Law permitted travelers to eat food found in the fields. It might be likened to the “all-you-can-eat” restaurants today – you can eat your fill but no “doggie-bags!”
Deuteronomy 23:24-25 (This law was to provide food for those who were hungry.)
24 “When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, then you may eat grapes until you are fully satisfied, but you shall not put any in your basket.
25 “When you enter your neighbor’s standing grain, then you may pluck the heads with your hand, but you shall not wield a sickle in your neighbor’s standing grain.

So what Jesus’ disciples did was obey God’s law. They just broke man’s law. Picking and eating some of the grain was fine in itself. Doing “work” on the Sabbath is what angered the Pharisees. Actually they broke at least three of the Pharisee’s Sabbath laws.
• First, they picked the grain. That was work.
• Second, they rubbed the husks together to release the edible seeds. That was work.
• Third, they threw the husks on the ground. That was work.
Now you can be sure the Pharisees knew Deuteronomy 23 and they knew the disciples could eat some of the grain. But their issue was the Sabbath. “How dare they pick grain on the Sabbath?” “Why do you do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” (Luke 6:2)

Jesus answers the Pharisees for His disciples. There is a note of sarcasm here.
*Luke 6:3-4
3 And Jesus answering them said, “Have you not even read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him,
4 how he entered the house of God, and took and ate the consecrated bread which is not lawful for any to eat except the priests alone, and gave it to his companions?”

The Pharisees knew what David had done in 1 Samuel, when he was trying to escape from Saul, just as well as they knew what Moses taught in Deuteronomy 23.
1 Samuel 21:3-4, 6 (David speaking to a priest) (excerpts)
3 “…what (food) do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found.”
4 And the priest answered David and said, “There is no ordinary bread on hand, but there is consecrated bread…”
6 So the priest gave (David) consecrated bread; for there was no (other)…

The priests knew that they were morally bound to do whatever they could to serve and to protect their king. So David’s life and well-being superseded the ceremonial law with regard to the bread that had been consecrated, that is, set aside as an offering to God. Jesus used this incident as an example for the Pharisees.

This is a picture of mercy and compassion that the Pharisees are too deaf to hear and too blind to see. Their legalistic system of laws left little room for mercy and compassion. But regardless of the restraints placed on men by any kind of religious system of rules and laws, basic human needs must always take precedence over ceremonial regulations.
The parallel passages in Matthew and Mark are interesting because they tell us a few things that Luke does not. Matthew tells us that Jesus rebukes the Pharisees by quoting the Prophet Hosea.
Matthew 12:7
7 “But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire compassion, and not sac-rifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.”

In this case, “the innocent” are Jesus’ disciples. Then Mark adds to our understanding.
Mark 2:27-28
27 “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.
28 “Consequently, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

And that takes us back to Luke 6…
*Luke 6:5
5 And (Jesus) was saying to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Jesus had already claimed to be God. Remember when He said He was the prophesied Messiah and the people of His own home town of Nazareth tried to kill Him for the crime of blasphemy? (Luke 4:18-30) Now He does it again! By saying He is Lord of the Sab-bath, He is saying He is greater than the Sabbath. That means He has sole authority to change the way it is observed. It also means He has sole right to decide what is right and what was wrong about how the Sabbath is observed. It means He is sovereign!

Jesus’ disciples have not broken God’s law by eating the grain. And Jesus has told the Pharisees their laws are irrelevant. It’s pretty easy to see that they feel like their backs are being pushed up against a wall, isn’t it? They make no answer here, but you can be sure their hatred for Jesus is increasing exponentially. He has used their own Scriptures to corner them. What do wild animals do when they are cornered? They attack!
*Luke 6:6-8
6 And it came about on another Sabbath, that He entered the synagogue and was teaching; and there was a man there whose right hand was withered.
7 And the scribes and the Pharisees were watching Him closely, to see if He healed on the Sabbath, in order that they might find reason to accuse Him.
8 But He knew what they were thinking, and He said to the man with the withered hand, “Rise and come forward!” And he rose and came forward.

It seems that only a little time has passed since the incident in the grain field. Some believe these verses refer to the very next Sabbath day. Jesus was doing what He was normally doing on the Sabbath at this early stage of His ministry. He was teaching in the synagogue.

If the scribes and Pharisees had originally been neutral observers, following Jesus around out of curiosity, they were neutral no more. This man, Jesus of Nazareth, was becoming a real thorn in their flesh. He was becoming a serious threat to them.
Somehow they had to blunt the influence Jesus was having on the people. So it is likely that the man with the withered hand in Luke 6:6 was a plant by the Pharisees, a “set-up,” if you will. The text says “…the scribes and Pharisees were watching (Jesus) closely…
in order that they might…accuse Him.” You can imagine the plotting that was going on. “Watch Him like a hawk. He knows the laws. When He breaks one, we’ll get Him.”

Why would Jesus dare to break their laws again? If He insisted on healing the man, couldn’t it wait until the next day? But v. 8 says that Jesus read their minds and knew exactly what they were thinking.

So in order to make it clear to all who were present, the people as well as the Pharisees, Jesus demonstrated his utter disdain for the Pharisees’ legalism. It is important to note that Jesus did this publicly, in front of everyone. Jesus’ lack of respect for the Jews’ laws served to infuriate them and increase their hatred of Him. He told the man to, “Rise and come forward.”
*Luke 6:9-10
9 And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good, or to do harm, to save a life, or to destroy it?”
10 And after looking around at them all, He said to him, “Stretch out your hand!” And he did so; and his hand was restored.

The parallel to the first incident is obvious, isn’t it? Just as you should feed the hungry on the Sabbath, so should you minister to the sick on the Sabbath. Perhaps more to the point, do you meet human need on the Sabbath, or do you ignore it until the next day? That’s really the question Jesus has asked them. If a little child could answer this ques-tion rightly, why can’t the religious leaders and their attorneys (the Pharisees and the scribes) answer it? After all, aren’t they the “smartest guys in town?”

“Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good …?” They refuse to answer Jesus because they can’t. There is only silence. There is nothing they can say that will not condemn them, or their laws, or both. Jesus has openly exposed their fraud. Look again at the first part of v. 10. The tension in the air while Jesus waited for an answer must have been extreme.

Mark emphasizes Jesus’ frustration and anger with the Jews.
Mark 3:4-5
4 And (Jesus) said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save a life or to kill? But they kept silent.
5 And after looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out and his hand was restored.

So the real question before everyone that day was this: Who was really honoring God? Who was really honoring the Sabbath? With what they had just seen, wouldn’t you think these men would believe? But their reaction is the polar opposite of belief.
*Luke 6:11
11 But they themselves were filled with rage, and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.

This is unbelief. It is illogical. It is irrational. It makes no sense. Jesus has exposed both them and their false religion. So their disdain for Him blinds them to the truth.
Mark 3:6
6 And the Pharisees went out and immediately began taking counsel with the Herodians against (Jesus), as to how they might destroy Him.

The Herodians were Jews loyal to Herod Antipas. An alliance between the Pharisees and the Herodians would be funny if it wasn’t so tragic. Such an alliance would be somewhat akin to radical extremists from both the left and the right coming together to agree on taxes, abortion, and capital punishment. But in the end the Pharisees and the Herodians would unite in one thing. They would become united in their utter hatred of Jesus.
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III. Conclusion
Is there anything good in all of this? Yes there is! At least some of the Jewish religious leaders eventually saw the light. There was Nicodemus, a Pharisee, who came to Jesus by night in John 3, and to whom Jesus said, “You must be born again.” And while there is no scriptural record of it, tradition says that Nicodemus became a Christian.

There is Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Sanhedrin, who, after the crucifixion, went to Pilate to request Jesus’ body. Matthew tells us that both Joseph and Nicodemus prepared the Lord’s body for burial in Joseph’s own tomb.

Then there is Saul of Tarsus, a “Pharisee among Pharisees.” God’s grace broke through his hateful unbelief and saved him on the road to Damascus. Most of us know Saul better as the Apostle Paul, who wrote thirteen (fourteen if he wrote Hebrews) of the twenty-seven books of the NT before he was martyred for his Lord and Savior in Rome.

These men came to understand that the Sabbath day was a picture, a mere shadow of the things to come. They came to understand that true obedience to the fourth Command-ment was not worshipping on a particular day, or making laws that must be obeyed that day or any other, but worshipping Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath seven days a week.

How much better is it to worship and serve Him than to be burdened by religious rules and regulations, and to be buried under an avalanche of legalism? The Sabbath is the rest that Jesus gives us when we stop trying to work our way to heaven. And it is the freedom He gives us from the oppression of men’s religions. Didn’t He say…
John 8:36
36 If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.

~ Pray ~