“Jesus and the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:1-14)

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In high school and college I learned to do the bare minimum to get the grade I was seeking. If I knew I could get an “A” by skipping the reading and focusing on the writing, I didn’t bother reading. I like to think I was being efficient, but laziness is a better word for it. The Sabbath was not instituted so that men would have an excuse to be lazy. As much as that sounds like a great way to spend the Lord’s Day, we should recognize the intricate connection between work and rest. In fact, in order to properly fight laziness, we need a better understanding of Sabbath rest. It is important to recognize the value of work that is explicitly mentioned in the fourth commandment. In Exodus 20:9 we read, “Six days you shall labor, and do all your work.” Although this emphasis of the command is the rest that defines the seventh day, this verse should not be so quickly glossed over. Work was a creation mandate. Adam and Eve had duties to perform those six days. It is an active six days of work that makes the rest and worship of the seventh day that much more rewarding. We will not properly value rest if we have not properly valued work. Both aspects of our weekly responsibilities combine to provide purpose and fulfillment. Paul Maxwell Under the tyranny of today, laziness is simply the most meaningful reality we can conceive. Under the loving hand of God’s Sabbath rest, though, the unrelenting tyrant of laziness loses its power — day by day, Sabbath by Sabbath, inch by inch. Then, life and work will be filled with more meaning, relief, and fruitfulness. This is the third of four sermons on the fourth commandment. We began by recognizing that the origin of Sabbath observance takes us back to the creation account (Genesis 2:1-3). Then we considered the observance of the Sabbath (Exodus 20:8-11): Remember the Sabbath Day – Implies prior knowledge, not forgetting, observing, and celebrating.Keep it Holy – Set apart. Not common.Do Not Do Any Work – Not inactivity.Do Not Employ Others We are to observe the Sabbath day because it is a creation ordinance as well as a response to God’s deliverance of his people. Finally, a few weeks ago we considered the purpose of the Sabbath which was to delight in a day of rest and worship (Isaiah 58:13-14). This morning I want to turn to the New Testament and spend most of our time looking at the teaching of Jesus regarding Sabbath observance. How did Jesus remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy? Some have argued that his teaching loosened the restrictions. But, his corrections of the scribes and Pharisees actually served to return his people to an accurate view of the day. Jesus grew up honoring the Sabbath and that carried into his ministry pattern (Luke 4:16). He spoke against the Pharisees abuse of the Sabbath commandment, as he did with many of the other commandments. Read Matthew 12:1-14 I. Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath Jesus had just given a great promise of rest (Matthew 11:28-30) before correcting the Pharisees for their false teaching on the Sabbath. In particular, this passage focuses upon two of their errors. The Pharisees taught that it was wrong to pluck and eat the grain as the disciples had done (Matthew 12:1-2). They also understood that it was unlawful to heal on the Sabbath, so Jesus heals a man right in front of them (Matthew 12:9-10). The Pharisees had the false notion that Sabbath rest was best defined as inactivity. They invented additional rules for Sabbath-keeping such as: how much weight could be lifted and how far one could walk. The modern equivalent would be the outlaw of drinking altogether to ensure no one accidentally gets drunk. Jesus rebukes this practice of the Pharisees because their man-made laws became more important than God’s actual law (Mark 7:8). The Talmud, which is a collection of ancient Jewish commentary, includes 24 chapters on Sabbath observance. 39 different occupations were outlawed on the Sabbath. The law of God

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