When Sacrifice Misses Sabbath Luke 6:1-11. I desire mercy, and not sacrifice...matt. 12:7

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1 When Sacrifice Misses Sabbath Luke 6:1-11 I desire mercy, and not sacrifice...matt. 12:7 Introduction: A week ago, 12 of us from this church attended a gathering of pastors and churchmen for a conference in Sun Valley. Normally this would be a time to get books, find encouragement, reconnect with old friends, and to be sharpened by the teaching and preaching of God s Word, but this year there was a new spin. This year was an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to the Inerrancy of Scripture, and thus it was called a Summit on Inerrancy. Back in 1978 a group of faithful pastors, theologians, and academicians got together to form a document that stated the belief and trust in the Bibles authority, veracity, sufficiency, and trustworthiness. 1 This became the Chicago statement of Inerrancy, and you can link to this today and see what they, and we affirmed. The reason this is so important is that the authority of God, His Word, and His work WILL ALWAYS BE UNDER ATTACK, which means there will always be those who try to weaken the absoluteness of this authority. Sometimes that means making excuses for God when tragedy happens, or perhaps things happen that God did not know about or was not in control of. In comes in forms of acknowledging that Jesus was a man, but not fully God, and thus not a complete sacrifice for us. But one of the greatest attempts to limit God s authority in the lives of men is to state that the Bible is not FULLY accurate, or not totally true in all its parts, or that it contains errors in terms of science and history. The reason this is always the case is that we ultimately do not want to have an absolute authority over us, and will try anything possible to weaken it, leaving us as the ultimate authority in our lives. This is the crux of the clash between Jesus and the religious leadership of Israel during His time on earth. In the book of Luke we see two dominate traits in Jesus life: authority and mercy. He had authority over disease, demonic hosts, and forgiveness of sins (4:36, 40; 5:20). Even at His word demons would flee and disease would leave. But we also see Him as full of mercy. He had a message for the poor, captive, blind and oppressed (4:18-19). He healed the sick and released the demonically oppressed. He touched the unclean, healed the paralytic, and interacted with the dregs of society. It would seem like this type of activity would have magnetized Jesus will all people, but it began to absolutely polarize Jesus with the religious leadership. His exercise of authority and mercy cut down the self proclaimed authority and utter lack of compassion demonstrated by the Pharisees. This culminated in another set of showdowns that centered around the Sabbath, which had become a litmus test of faithfulness to God. We see that Jesus continues to teach what God truly desires, and it is not religious observance. It is a yielding of ourselves to His authority, which produces in us humility, kindness, compassion, and mercy. The true litmus test is not observance to a day of the week, but whether we do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8). I. The Purpose of the Sabbath A. OT commandment The two instances of tense interaction between Jesus and the Pharisees took place on successive Sabbath days. For us, that may not seem like a big deal, but the Sabbath was a major center of their religious practice, so in order to understand the interaction, we have to understand what the Sabbath was, what it became, and what it should be. 1 For a look at that document, go to 1

2 A command based on the created order (Exodus 20:8-11) When God gave the Law to Israel at Mt. Sinai after they left Egypt, the Fourth commandment was to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. This command was instituted based on how God created the earth. He created the entirety of the universe in 6 literal days and ceased working on the 7 th (which means that if these days were anything but 24 hour periods of time, this command would be exceedingly confusing to people keeping a day holy!). This was to be a day of rest, a ceasing of activity, and of worshipful remembrance. A gift for God s people (Exodus 31:12-17; Mark 2:27) On this day, the people were not to do any work, which meant that they would work hard for six days, but on the seventh they would be able to stop. This was for their good. This was because God knows man, since He created Him, and thus created the Sabbath to make sure rest would happen. This was not a negative restriction as much as a gracious provision as a sign of God s faithfulness to them and their trust in Him. B. Digressive Corruption Like so many things, Israel had allowed a gift to become an anchor. Instead of seeing the gift as reflecting God s graciousness and resting in His promise, the focus became on the keeping of a rule. They were so passionate about keeping this Law that they determined 39 different classifications of work, three of which included reaping, winnowing, and threshing (which is what they would have accused the disciples of doing). They had written 24 chapters of Sabbath regulations in the Talmud, going into exhaustive detail on how to keep the Sabbath, and in doing, missed the point as Edersheim pointed out: In not less than twenty four chapters, matters are seriously discussed as of vital religious importance, which one would scarcely imagine a sane intellect would seriously entertain yet in all these wearisome details there is not a single trace of anything spiritual not a word even to suggest higher thoughts of God holy day and its observance. 2 They set up regulations like: you couldn t travel more than 3000 feet from your house, but if you put food at a location the day before, that would be considered a residence, and you could travel another 3000 feet. A tailor could not carry a needle, a scribe his pen, or a student his books because they may be tempted to work. Women could not look into a mirror because they may see a gray hair and be tempted to pluck it out. Some rabbi s allowed parents to pick up their children, but if the child held a rock, you couldn t because it may constitute gathering. These rules had become burdensome, a weight to the people, but had become the measure of control that the Pharisees had on people, and they zealously clung to them. C. NT practice There are two principles to glean from this in our practice today before we move ahead. The NT clearly states that one day is not greater than any other, and we are not to be judged on how we practice a Sabbath day (see Colossians 2:16-17). However, we do learn valuable insight into God s mind when we see His establishment of the Sabbath: 2 Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah: Appendix 17: The ordinances and Law of the Sabbath as laid down in the Mishnah and the Jerusalem Talmud. Pp

3 We need rest Rest does not mean vacation or playing on the weekend. God designed us not to be machines that keep going and going, but there are times that we need to stop, cease activity, and rest in Him. This also means we should work hard for six days, but we should devote time to do something different to remember Him. We do not regulate it, but that also means some dismiss it and miss it altogether. We wonder why God seems distant or that we are not close to Him, and often its because we miss how God orchestrated our weeks to work hard as worship and to rest deeply to worship. We freely gather often, not as regulation or to earn favor with God, but to stir one another up toward love and good works (Heb. 10:24-25) We do not gather on Sunday as some sort of regulatory practice, keeping score, taking names, and sending out reminders. We gather to worship together, to remember Christ s resurrection, to take communion together, and to encourage each other as we see the Day approaching. This is what Christ has freed us to do, to not weigh us down with regulation but to allow us to pursue Him and each other consistently, relentlessly, and purposely. How do you view rest? Do you take time to stop activity to focus on Christ? Is coming here out of duty or desire to honor Christ, pursue Him together, and encourage? How do you view gathering together with God s church? Is it duty or simply a margin? II. The Authority of the Sabbath Luke 6:1-5 On a Sabbath, while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. 2 But some of the Pharisees said, Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath? 3 And Jesus answered them, Have you not 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 bread of the Presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him? 5 And he said to them, The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath. A. The questioning Jesus was walking with His disciples by some grain fields with His disciples on a Sabbath day, and some of them began to pluck the ripe heads of wheat or barley (personally not sure that constitutes a great snack, but to each his own). This was not only a common practice, but clearly allowed in the OT law: Deut. 23:25 If you go into your neighbor s standing grain, you may pluck the ears with your hand, but you shall not put a sickle to your neighbor s standing grain. This was not harvesting your neighbors crop, it was simply gleaning the low hanging fruit. My grandfather used to do this with summer fruit in the Central Valley and bring it to the widows in the church. This was NOT A BIG DEAL. However, this was a perfect example for the Pharisee s to question the disciples based on THEIR SYSTEM of law. When they asked the question: Is it lawful, they were not asking based on the OT, but based on the Mishnah and Talmud, the law they created to keep the Law. For them, this was all kinds of bad: they were working, winnowing, threshing, AND harvesting. This was a slap in their face and an in-your-face affront to their system. This would have both infuriated them and strengthened their resolve to work on getting rid of Jesus. B. The teaching I desire mercy, not sacrifice (Hosea 6:6) 3

4 Jesus responded by reciting the story of David found in 1 Samuel 21:1-6, when he was running from Saul and came to the Tabernacle to the priest for aid, specifically food and weapons. The only food available (since the Tabernacle was not a bakery) was the bread of Presence, which 12 loaves were baked every Sabbath and were consecrated as a remembrance of God s provision, and then eaten by the Priests (see. Lev. 24:5-6). Common men were not to eat this. Yet, the priest went ahead and gave David the five loaves left, even though it went against the letter of the law. Why? Simply put, God desires mercy, or steadfast love, more than sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. In the parallel passage, Matthew quotes Jesus as He quotes from Hosea 6:6. God put parameters on worship in the OT to show His holiness, goodness, and graciousness, not to be a measuring stick of righteousness. The priest at Nob did right by David, since it was better to break a regulation than have a man starve. The Pharisees were keeping a rule and missing the whole point. I am Lord of the Sabbath All three passages deliver this statement: Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath. They were questioning His practice on the Sabbath, and Jesus reminded them that He had authority over the Sabbath itself. This was nothing short of a claim of Deity (see John 5:9-17), as He claimed supremacy over the day. This not only set Him at equal footing with the Father, He also claimed that their laws and regulations had not basis or authority at all, just as no self-righteous regulations do. B. The point Lack of mercy = a lack of humility True faith will produce mercy, a willingness to have compassion on others and view them through a lens of the way God sees them. Mercy is a result of humility, and humility comes out of seeing God clearly and seeing others as having a surpassing value greater than ourselves (see Philippians 2:3). But pride puffs ourselves us and we begin seeing people as enemies and we become the standard of judgment. We see ourselves as being BETTER than someone, and abhor what they do. Proper growth in faith means that we see people as valuable because they are image bearers, and have compassion on people because they have been corrupted by their sin (and they don t even know it). Mercy does not mean we condone sinful action or waver on what God clearly states, but we are willing to respond in kindness, compassion, gentleness, giving a word of hope to those tied down by their sin. Self-righteousness derives from ignorance, sometimes willing ignorance Why did the Pharisee s react this way? They were ignorant of God s truth. I think it is ironically interesting that the ones so passionate about keeping the Law can miss the whole point. We can get so caught up into doing things for God that we miss God altogether. This happens when we detach spiritual activity from spiritual authority. The authority in our life is God s Word, His Spirit, and Christ s Lordship. We are not to make stuff up as we go or do what suits us nor do what suits the culture. So we MUST BE grounded in what Scripture actually says to know what God actually wants. William Tyndale, known as the Father of the English Bible, moved away from His education in Theology because they studied about God, but did not open the Bible: In the universities (Oxford and Cambridge) they have ordained that no man shall look on the Scripture until he be noselled (nursed) in heathen learning eight or nine years, and armed with false principles with which he is clean 4

5 shut out of the understanding of the Scripture. The Scripture is locked up with false expositions, and with false principles of natural philosophy. 3 Takeaway for us: Do not let our traditions or structures (personal or corporate) miss the object of loving God in Christ III. The Value of the Sabbath Luke 6:6-11 On another Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. 7 And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse him. 8 But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, "Come and stand here." And he rose and stood there. 9 And Jesus said to them, "I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save 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 were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus. A. The questioning On the next Sabbath, a man entered the synagogue with a withered hand. This was an opportunity for them to catch Jesus in the act. They knew He could heal, so they were well aware of His authority. They were no looking in anticipation in order to worship, but looking to literally catch Jesus in the act. Healing on the Sabbath would break their law, and they would have a case where they caught Him breaking the Sabbath red handed, so they could accuse Him publically. B. The teaching Jesus knew their thoughts and knew the trap, so He gladly walked into it. He brought the man in front of Him and asked a question they could not answer. In Matthew 12:11, Jesus presents the case for doing good on the Sabbath by asking if one of their sheep fell in a ditch, would they not retrieve it? How much more value does this man have? He taught two powerful points: Keeping rules < than relieving human misery and affliction In the name of keeping rules FOR God, they missed caring for God s people. They were known to tithes down to the herbs they had, but missed opportunities to care for the people who were hurting around them (Matt. 23:23-24). Here was a case of helping a man who had hurt for a long time, and instead of hoping for his restoration, they zealously upheld their own law. When our practices become more important than caring for people, we have moved to man-made self-righteousness that does not please Him. Legalism lives in self-preserving fear vs. a freeing confidence in the Lord Jesus exposed the lie of legalism, and He blew the lid off their systems. He did not do this by arguing ungraciously or by being insensitive, but by the uncompromising teaching and living out of the truth. Legalism lacks confidence, and tries to find it in the boxing in of regulation in order to find validation. The problem is the box always shifts, and so surety is a mirage. In Christ we have confidence in His finished work, that we no longer are trying to prove ourselves to others, no longer trying to do it on our own, and no longer trying to force the issue with others. We rest in the fact that God is at work, and He uses us as instruments in His hands, because we know His hands are massive. C. The point 3 Steve Lawson, The Daring Mission of William Tyndale, p. 5. 5

6 God rejects religious ritual divorced from compassion, mercy, and doing good Jesus looked at the Pharisee s with anger and a grieved heart because they were so far away (Mark 3:5). He brought the man to him and healed his hand. All the religious activity in the world: all the Bible studies, service projects, memory verses, attendance, and participation are void if they do not breed compassion and mercy in us. Each of these should enliven our heart to be able to forbear with others, to be patient, kind, and longsuffering, because that is exactly how God is with us. They observed their laws of the Sabbath to the minute detail, all the while plotting to kill the Lord of the Sabbath This is the height of irony: all the while a group of people was observing a day that accounted for the tiniest of details, and yet when confronted by the One who was the object of that day, they sought to kill Him. When Jesus stripped away their supposed authority, they were filled with fury, wrath, and began not simply to expose Jesus in public, but the seeds of a desire to kill Him were planted. Takeaway for us: Do not let our traditions and structures (personal or corporate) miss the object of God s mercy and grace, which is our call to love others, both friends and enemy. This issue is nothing new, and we are all prone to it. In Isaiah 1 the prophet dealt the same way with the nation of Israel for missing the point of all their spiritual looking and activities, and gave them a solution: Isaiah 1:11-17 (cf. Amos 5:21-24) "What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the LORD; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. 12 "When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my courts? 13 Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations- I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. 14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. 15 When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. 16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, 17 learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause. Isaiah 1:18 "Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. Concluding Thoughts & Questions: How do you view rest as a believer? Is rest something that is important, and if so, how do we proactively seek it? What does it practically look like in a fast paced life in Southern California? What things would we have to say no to? How do you view the gathering of God s church? Is it a duty? Is it simply marginal (if you have time)? What priority does it have in your life and why? We all have certain structures and traditions in how we live out the Christian life. How can these get elevated above God and people? Where do we fall into the same trap as OT Israel and NT Pharisees? How do we make sure that does not happen? Why is it so important to examine our motives in all of this? Why is it important to be willing to repent when we miss the point? 6