Jesus and the Sabbath Part 1

Within the Church of God, I think at times we've fallen into the habit of focusing on the what we can't do as Christians who live differently than those who do not know God and believe His words. Let me expand on this a little bit. I don't think it's necessarily our own fault, or it's the fault of the Church, or the part of us as Christians, because as parents we often do focus on the can't-dos in our kids' lives.

You can't touch the hot stove because you'll get hurt, or you can't run down the steep driveway, the steep concrete driveway, because we know what's going to come when their little feet catches on the curb and they completely wipe out. I'd like to make this a little bit interactive, just at the beginning. It's a little bit different than what we normally do at services, but I'd like you to think about and to share, maybe, some of the can't-dos when you become a Christian, when you have some of the beliefs that we have.

What are some of the things, maybe, that you've told someone or someone has told you that you can't do as a Christian? Any takers? Anybody brave enough to share? I should ask Mr. Sylvester, as the nurse, to come back down a little bit for him. What are some of the things we can't do? Christmas. Can't keep Christmas, right?

That's a great one. That was one that was in my mind. Can't eat pork. Yep, can't eat pork. Can't have that pepperoni pizza. Can't work on the Sabbath. Can't work on the Sabbath, can we? Mr. Sylvester. That's the one I was just expecting. Yeah, that's one that comes up big, right? We tell our kids that, we tell our employers, can't work on the Sabbath.

Any others? Can't shop on the Sabbath. Yeah. And you're kind of getting to where I'm going to go with this here in a bit, right? Any others? Any other things that you can't do on the Sabbath? Your own amusement. Yeah, seeking out your own amusement on the Sabbath. Football games on Saturday. Football games, and that's a big one in this area, isn't it? U of M games.

Can't go to the Saturday football games. Can't mow your lawn. Can't mow your lawn. That's kind of a blessing, too, isn't that? You guys are starting to pick up on the other side of this, I think, of where I'm going to go with today. Sometimes we in the church have been guilty on focusing too much on what we can't do as Christians versus what we can do.

All right? In my teen mind growing up in the church, I remember it seemed like the focus was always on what I was missing out on. What I couldn't do. What I can't do. I don't know if that was just something I've made up kind of in my mind. I don't know if the messages that were shared then were kind of focused on that. But as one who has now been able to start teaching the teens more with our youth program and in the local congregations of encouraging our teens, I've worked to try to change this mindset of what we can't do to what we can do. Because we see throughout Scripture the blessing of following God, the blessing of understanding, the blessing and the calling we have, has set us up on a different path, a blessed path, a path to go forward being able to do a lot of things because God has given us the empowerment to enjoy that.

I think one of those shared one of the things that growing up, kids would look at me different and that when they found out I don't keep Christmas, right? Well, all the things that you miss out on, you don't get the gifts, you don't get the new jeans, you don't get to have get together with your family, and I'll sing Christmas carols. But yet the thing that I would always remember, and I wasn't brave enough to really tell them much about it, but the places that I got to go see because of the Feast of Tabernacles, right?

I think we've all appreciated that ability that I get to, tying into today's sermon, which as Mr. Sylvester was preparing that, well, it was just neat to see another tie-in with the messages today. I get to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. I get to explore states that I've never been to, never got to experience before. Some of the teachers, I remember Mom and Dad would come in and let the teachers in elementary school know that we're going to go be taking some time off right after school starts.

We're going to be taking a trip for this religious observance, and they would ask, what homework does Michael need to work on? What things would you like him to do while he's gone so he remains caught up? And some of the teachers were just amazed at this opportunity to go out west to see Mount Rushmore, to visit other states. And some of their comments to my parents were, you guys are getting to do things that some of the kids in this school will never ever experience.

Some will never leave the state of Ohio. Some will never take vacations outside of an hour from their home. And so they would ask, they said, we don't want him to do homework, just take a journal of the things that he gets to see, the sites, because that will mean more to him down the road of experiencing these things than just doing some extra English work or something like that. So we get to do so many amazing things as Christians. But one of the areas I specifically remember the can'ts is in regard to the Sabbath day. Some of you shared those things.

What we can't do on the Sabbath, I remember thinking, I can't play football because the games are on Friday night. Or I can't go to my prom because it was on a Friday night. But with this concept in our minds, let's go look at the beginning of our Bibles to see when God set apart the seventh day and made it holy. Because again, I want to move away from the can'ts and focus more on the can'ts. Let's look at Genesis 2 and verse 1.

Genesis 2 and verse 1.

This is breaking into the story a little bit in the context. God has created the heavens and the earth. He's created all the living things on the earth. He's created mankind. And we get to hear on day 7 of the Creation Week. And it says, Genesis 2 and verse 1. And on the seventh day God ended his work, which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all of his work, which he had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it or set it apart. Because in it he rested from all of his work, which God had created and made. What a blessing that we have in that God himself knew the importance of this day. And he set it apart. He blessed it and set it apart so that we could enjoy this day ourselves.

One of the things was mentioned is we can't work on the Sabbath, right? Well, what about that we can take in that day of rest that we get once a week? I know some of you have worked jobs like I have at times where you work six days a week, right? You'd work seven if it wasn't for the Sabbath because the factory's working or they pay overtime or time and a half. And sometimes you can't. I mean, how do you pass up that type of money, especially when you have bills or you have children or you have challenges? I remember working on my uncle's farm, as I've shared with you before, as a teenager. And that farm, he would run seven days a week because he wasn't in the church. And so those six days that I was able to work that farm, we worked it. And when Friday came around, I was always so thankful when I'd see my parents' car pull up because I knew I got to go home. I got the day of rest. And that's when I think for the first time I really appreciated what God has given us here in the Sabbath day, a day of rest. Because I knew if it wasn't for that, my uncle would be pressing me to continue to work on the farm, continue to help, continue to harvest things. But I knew that this was going to be a day of rest because I was going to get it. And then Sunday morning, my parents were going to drop me back off on the farm to continue working because he needed the help. What a blessing we have in this day that we get to take the Sabbath off. We get to focus on him and to worship him. We get to come together and to be encouraged by one another. It's just such a tremendous blessing in our lives. Let's also look at Exodus 20.

Still focusing on this Sabbath day that you and I are blessed to be able to enjoy. Exodus 20. And we'll look at when the commandment, the fourth commandment, was given to Moses at Mount Sinai.

Exodus 20 and verse 8. It says, Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath to the Lord your God.

In it you shall do no work nor you nor your son nor your daughter nor your male servant nor your female servant. He's going down the whole list. It's not just, oh, you have to take the day off, but you have to give others who are your servants off. And also your animals because he says nor your cattle nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that was in them and rested on the seventh day.

Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. This word hallowed is the same Hebrew word as we read in Genesis 2 and verse 3 that was sanctified. So hallowed and sanctified. It's the same Hebrew word. From the Brown drivers and Briggs Hebrew dictionary it means to consecrate, to sanctify, to dedicate, or to be set apart, or to be set apart as sacred or as holy.

This is the day that God has set apart in his ultimate wisdom knowing that you and I would need this day of rest. That there would be so much meaning in this Sabbath day. So we see early on in our Bibles that God identified and set apart the seventh day of the week as special and holy time for his people. He made the day unique from every other day of the week.

And there's much that we get to enjoy and that we get to do as we ourselves treat this day as holy and special time. Several months back I shared a sermon on the importance of the Sabbath day.

And we went through and laid the foundation of kind of what we looked at here in Genesis and Exodus. And we went on through to see how God gave the Sabbath day as a test commandment. And how God laid it out that this was a day to be observed still today. And we went through that. And I don't mean to rehash any of those things. But I want to build on top of that foundation another aspect. Today's message, again, is not intended to repeat the importance or command for you and me to observe the Sabbath and keep it holy.

Today I would like to explore some of what we can do as we consider the good things that Jesus did on the Sabbath day. I'd like to dive in a little bit deeper and look at what Jesus Christ, her Lord and Savior Himself, did in practice when He was God in the flesh, when He was man, and when and consider some of the good that He did on the Sabbath day. You can just write in your notes Mark 2 verses 27 and 28. We're going to turn there later. I just want to use this kind of to just lay the foundation as we begin to explore this subject a little bit deeper.

And He said to them, and this is Jesus, The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath. We see here clearly that the Sabbath day was made for us, that we were not made for the Sabbath day.

In a similar parallel understanding or illustration, we can look at this beautiful building that we have or the different congregations have to meet in. And it's such a blessing in our life to have a building, a shelter when the storms blow in, a place where we can have an anniversary celebration, a place where we can keep the Holy Days.

But this building isn't here, or we're not here to serve the building, are we? The building is here to serve us. God has given us this blessing as He's given us jobs and He's given us homes. We don't live life to serve our jobs, or we don't live life to serve our homes, but these are facilities and things that God has given us to serve us. And the Sabbath day is similar in that way, that it was made for you and me to have a day of rest, a day of worship, a day of coming together, a day of prayer, that we can dedicate and carve out from sunset to sunset this time period for God and to make it holy as we see in Scripture.

The first mention of the Sabbath in the Gospels is in Luke chapter 4, and I'd like to turn there next. Luke 4 and verse 14. As I've shared before, I don't see anything throughout Scripture and throughout the Gospel accounts that Jesus did Himself that we should not do in our own lives and work to do, even up to giving our lives if it was asked for us to do that, or even spiritually giving our lives in sacrifice when we were baptized. God has, in the example we see here in Scripture, everything that Jesus did was for purpose, and everything He did was good.

And so we see part of what He does here that we still do today, and we follow that example that He did as well. Luke 4 and verse 14. It said, Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding regions, and He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. So He came to Nazareth where He had been brought up, and as His custom was, notice that, as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read. At the very beginning of Jesus' ministry, and in early Gospel accounts that we have, we find that it was Jesus' custom, and for Him to, on a regular basis, attend the synagogues on the Sabbath.

And while this group had limited understanding of Jesus and the way that He would come into the world, His mission, and what He would ultimately accomplish, those of the Jewish faith were a direct descendants of the nation of Israel, and they were followers of God's law. So Jesus kept the Sabbath holy by gathering with fellow believers and keeping the commandments, just like you and I do still today.

This was a regular thing that He did. He didn't miss the Sabbath day. He carved out this time as holy and special time, and He dedicated it to God. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogues, and He stood up and often read, and often taught. Later in verse 31 of Luke 4, so it's the same chapter, but towards the end of the chapter, verse 31, it says, Then He went down to Capernaum, the city of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbaths.

Notice that it's plural. Multiple Sabbaths that He observed, multiple Sabbaths that He taught. And it says in verse 32, And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority. For us today, we continue to hold fast through the teaching and the importance of being together on the weekly Sabbath and sharing this time together.

We get to take time away from our busy lives, and we get to come together as God has commanded us. But I recognize not all of us can come together in person at times, whether it's illness, whether it's other physical challenges that we battle. Sometimes these things happen, and the webcast is a tool that helps us in these unique circumstances. It's a tool similar to our study guides that the church publishes and that we have available, that we can use these study guides to help complement our spiritual growth, our Bible study. But in no way would we ever say that one of our study guides replaces God's Holy Scripture, would we?

It never replaces the importance of us studying God's Word, reading it daily, diving into it. The study guides are a tool, and so in a similar fashion, the webcast is a tool to help those in specific circumstances or situations to observe the Sabbath and be connected with the congregation. It's a tool to help again, but it should not become something that we lean on on a regular basis, when our life really does provide us the opportunity to come together in person.

Again, it's that, as we heard in the sermonette, that have to versus get to connection. We could fall into the mindset that I have to get up, I have to get showered, I have to come on the Sabbath day, or we get to come in fellowship. We get to be able to have a car that will get us the services. We get to attend in-person Sabbath services. It's a similar mindset that we have when we approach other events in life, like weddings or graduations.

Do we approach these special events thinking, ah, we wake up that day, I've got to go and celebrate this special occasion? Or do we look forward to that, to a baby shower that we get to go to, Thanksgiving at a family's member's home? I think when we host Thanksgiving ourselves, maybe we have that negative side, right? Oh boy, here comes all the work and all the mess and all the cleanup.

That have to, maybe, mentality. But when we get to go to someone's house for Thanksgiving, when we get to go to a family reunion, when we get to go to a special sporting event and root for our home team, we wake up that day normally excited, normally looking forward to it, not dreading the day, but excited for what it will bring. I would hope that circumstances do not present themselves where you feel like this is not that special occasion. That maybe you come into the Sabbath saying, ah, it's a hard week, I've had challenges, I'm just going to stay home because it's too much to go. Because when we are in a good mindset or position in our life, we look forward to these exciting and fun events in our life. And I know that when the Sabbath day rolls around, that we look forward to the Sabbath day and to be able to come together and enjoy this. But the meditative question for us today is, how do we approach and feel towards attending in-person Sabbath services? What is our mindset as the week comes to a close and we begin to realize that the Sabbath is coming near?

We would all acknowledge that watching a sporting event on TV or watching a Zoom connection to a wedding, it's not the same as attending in person. There are just some things that you can't experience at a distance when you're not there with others and living and spending time and experience in the same occasion together. So for the rest of the message, I would like to explore some of the things Jesus did on the Sabbath day and tie them into some of the physical things that you and I get to share with one another each day that we come before God on His carved-out day. For those attending or tuning in online, I recognize and I want to again acknowledge that there are situations that present themselves in your lives that has caused you to not be able to be here with us today and maybe on a regular basis. And I do not want to minimize that those situations are legit and are difficult and that this is where you must be. We've all had those things occur in our lives, whether it was illness and I've had to tune into the webcast. Whether it was a physical challenge or something else that occurred where I had to miss a certain week, that ox in the ditch situation that occurred.

But for those tuning in, I'd like you to consider along with us and hear. How do we approach the Sabbath day? What is the mindset that we have? What are the things that we can still do? The blessings that we still get from observing this day together? Because whether we're here in person or whether we're here online, there are definitely things that we can explore and consider as we look at Jesus' example of how he kept the Sabbath day. In the examples we'll look at, much of what Jesus did on the Sabbath day was in conflict with what the religious leaders did at that time. Was this because Jesus just went around breaking God's law and commandments and he did not treat the Sabbath as holy? No, we know that is 100% not the case. The religious leaders had heaped up many of their own traditions, making them equal with God's law. But they did this on their own accord, not with the blessing and not with the agreement of God. So much of Jesus' teaching and correction was directly related to the burden the religious leaders heaped on top of God's word and heaped on the Sabbath day. We'll look at some of this correction as we go through this Gospel example. But first, let's look directly at what Jesus said about the attitude of the scribes and the Pharisees in Matthew 23 in verse 1. Matthew 23 in verse 1. So then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to his disciples, saying, The scribes and the Pharisees, they sit in Moses' seat. Therefore, whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do. But notice what he says next, But do not do according to their works. For they say and do not do, for they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders. But they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do to be seen by men, they make their flactories broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. They love the best places at the feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, Rabbi. This is the example that Jesus points out of the Pharisees and their attitudes that they had towards the Sabbath, and their attitudes that they had towards fellow believers. But what are the examples of Jesus' behavior on the Sabbath day? Let's start off and continue looking in Mark 2 and verse 23.

One Gospel will count forward in Mark 2 and verse 23. Our Lord and Savior did some amazing things, and it's an interesting study to dive into of what He did on the Sabbath day. The events that He would attend, or the healings, the different things that He did on the Sabbath day. It's a fun study, if you're looking for a study to dive into. We see here in this example of Jesus' disciples plucking grain on the Sabbath, here in Mark 2 and verse 23.

There's also parallel counts in Matthew 12 and in Luke 6. We're going to focus right now on Mark 2 and verse 23. It happened when He went through the grain fields on the Sabbath, and as they went, His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. The Pharisees said to Him, look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath? It's Paul's right here for a minute and understand the context of why this would be an issue.

The parallel count of the story in Matthew says, Notice that they were hungry and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. The other parallel count, this time in Luke, Luke records, and His disciples plucked the heads of grain and ate them, rubbing them in their hands. So they would take the grain, pluck it, rub it in their hands to get the chaff and the other parts that are not as fun to eat away to be left at the colonels.

So they were hungry and they were getting a small amount for themselves to eat. But the issue is, according to tradition, and not God's word, this was harvesting grain on the Sabbath day. From the archaeology study Bible, it says this, Important developments regarding the Sabbath took place in the inter-testamental period. So between the two testaments, the Old Testament and what we have captured is the New Testament. There's a period of time, a gap in time. And it says, Important developments regarding the Sabbath took place in this gap period. One was the Jewish legal authorities began to define what constitutes rest by formulating specific definitions of the kind of work to be avoided on the Sabbath day.

It is likely that the Mishnah, which lists 39 classes of work forbidden on the Sabbath, reflects practices prevalent at the time of the New Testament, although the Mishnah was written in the third century AD. The Mishnah was codified well after this example of Jesus Christ. From the Encyclopaedia Britannica website, it says, The Mishnah, which is the oldest authoritative post-Biblical collection and codification of Jewish oral laws, systematically compiled by numerous scholars over a period of about two centuries. That's what the Mishnah is. It says, The Mishnah supplements the written or scriptural law, I underline in my notes, supplements, the written or scriptural law found in the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible.

It presents various interpretations of selective legal traditions that had been preserved orally since at least the time of Ezra. That's this codification of these laws, these 39 laws, that you can do this and you can't do that on the Sabbath. The oral tradition that we don't see outlined specifically in God's Word, but this is kind of that mindset of the Pharisees and why they were questioning Jesus and His disciples.

From our UCG study guide, Sunset to Sunset, it says this about the time period. It says, One of the Israelites' most flagrant sins leading up to their national captivity was the violation of God's Sabbath. Once restored as a nation, they determined never to make the same mistake again.

Consequently, over several centuries, Jewish religious authorities crafted meticulous regulations detailing exactly what they considered permissible or impermissible on the Sabbath. They veered from one ditch to the other, from ignoring and abusing the Sabbath to imposing an oppressive, legalistic observance of the day. This is the context of the passage and why the Pharisees were having issues with the disciples plucking and eating grain on the Sabbath. Let's continue in verse 25 because then we see Jesus' explanation and teaching.

It says, Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him? How he went into the house of God in the day of Abathathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him. He said to them, Again, we see that this day, the Sabbath day, was made for us.

A tremendous blessing and a gift. But what is this about David eating the showbread and it being lawful? Many have tried to understand that more deeply. Let's explore 1 Samuel a bit to understand the context. This is 1 Samuel chapter 21 where we see this account of David and his men eating the showbri and given and eating the showbread. 1 Samuel 21 and verse 1 is where we'll start.

1 Samuel 21 and verse 1 says, A hemlock was afraid when he met David and said to him, Why are you alone? And no one is with you. So David said to a hemlock the priest, The king has ordered me on some business and said to me, Do not let anyone know anything about the business on which I send you or what I have commanded you, and I have directed my young men to such and such a place. Now therefore, what have you on hand? Give me five loaves of bread in my hand, or whatever can be found. And the priest answered David and said, There is no common bread on hand, but there is holy bread if the young men have at least kept themselves from women. From the Life Application Study Bible, it says this about the passage we just read, A hemlock had to go against the law to give the holy bread to David because the bread was supposed to be given only to the priest. But a hemlock put David's needs and life ahead of religious ceremony and fed him the holy food. This upheld a higher law of love, and it references Leviticus 19 and verse 8. We're going to get this into a little bit more. We're going to dive into a couple more commentaries, but I want to continue with the story here before we look at some more commentaries. And so David answered in verse 5, Then David answered the priest and said to him, Truly women have been kept from us for about three days since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in effect common, even though it was consecrated in the vessel this day. So the priest gave him holy bread, for there was no bread there but the showbread, which had been taken from before the Lord in order to put the hot bread in its place on the day that it was taken away. The New Living Translation reads like this for verse 6. It says, From Expositor's Bible commentary, it shares this.

The New Living Translation reads, The Nelson Study Bible is quoted in our own UCG Bible commentary, which states, The Talmud explains that the parent breach of the law on the basis that the preservation of life takes precedent over nearly all other commandments in the law. The spirit of the law, which was kept by a halamalah, a compassionate act, that much certainly is true for Christ upheld the feeding of David with the bread. So we can see from the example that we have here from Christ's own teaching, the bread was noted and set apart for consumption by the priests, which is how it was handled. It was the law put in place to protect that bread, to sanctify it and to make it special for the priests because it was their bread.

But the priests saw the greater good in this instance would be for him to share the bread with David and his men versus him eating it himself. So in the account we read in Mark, we know that Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath, said it was lawful for men to eat the grain they plucked on the Sabbath. It was something that was good and for their well-being, but in no way did Jesus, under any circumstance, do away with the sanctity or the holiness of the Sabbath, nor did he diminish the Sabbath in any way. The Pharisees did things which made the Sabbath a burden, a day heavy with regulation and requirements. But we see that Jesus Christ removed the heaviness of that burden and magnified what the day was really set apart for. I like action items and I like questions for us to ponder as we continue forward in the sermon. An action item and something for us to consider is what good can we do on the Sabbath day while we are here in person with one another? And for those online, to think about what good can you do on the Sabbath day while you're at home or while you're gathered in smaller groups? This is the question to keep in mind because if we can identify the importance of this day and the things that we can do on it, this helps drive us to the realization of why this day is so special and why this day is set apart by God in the way that he has done.

So keep these questions in mind as we look at another account of something Christ did on the Sabbath. Let's look in Luke this time, Luke 6 and verse 6.

Getting back into the Gospel accounts this time, Luke 6 and verse 6.

Luke 6 and verse 6.

Now it happened on another Sabbath, so this is a separate Sabbath from the account we looked at previously, also that he entered the synagogue and he taught. So obviously, teaching on the Sabbath is a very good thing that Jesus did. Matthew's, Henry's commentary points this out about what Christ was doing on the Sabbath day. It says, observe this. One Christ on the Sabbath day entered into the synagogue. And it says, note, it is our duty, as we have opportunity, to sanctify Sabbaths and religious assemblies. On the Sabbath, there ought to be a holy convocation, and our place must not be empty without very good reason. And then Matthew, Henry, goes on with point two, or an aspect, a second aspect to consider. In the synagogue on the Sabbath day, he taught. Giving and receiving instruction from Christ is very proper work for a Sabbath day and for a synagogue. Christ took all opportunities to teach, not only his disciples, but the multitude. And so we see that this is one of the reasons we come together on the Sabbath. God wants us to be taught. He wants us to explore his word more deeply. He wants us to consider, how does his word sit on our hearts? How do we let his word live in our hearts and our minds? And so here in Luke 6, to continue, we have Christ on another Sabbath entering the synagogue and teaching, and continuing in verse 6, it says, And a man was there whose right hand was withered. We don't fully know how curled, how dysfunctional his hand was, but we know it was a hand that would not have worked normally. And for this period of time, the right hand had a lot of significance in one's life. It was the hand that had more value in conducting business and doing other personal things. The left hand was used for more menial tasks, tasks that would not be given a lot of weight. And so having a withered right hand would be a really challenging disability to have in one's life.

But it would also be challenging in how others would view what this man did with his withered right hand, and what he did with his good left hand on a regular basis. So for us today, it's not as much of a setback for one to have, maybe, by society's standards, not a setback to have a dysfunctional hand. But at this time, there were ceremonial aspects tied to it as well. Moments, aspects of one hand being clean and the other hand being unclean. And so having a right hand would be a real disadvantage, a disabled right hand. In verse 7, it says, So the scribes and the Pharisees, they had a soft heart towards the man and were compassionate.

No. Doesn't say that, does it? It says, the scribes and the Pharisees, they watched him closely, speaking of Jesus, whether he would heal on the Sabbath, that they may find an accusation against him. But he, Jesus, knew their thoughts, and he said to the man who had the withered hand, Arise and stand here, and he arose and stood. Then Jesus said to them, I will ask you this one thing. Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil? To save life or to destroy? And when he had looked around at them all, Jesus looked around and he scanned the room, looking if anybody was going to rebuttal him, and if anybody was going to have something else to say.

He knew that it was a quiet room. No one dared to say a word, because they all knew it was okay to save a life on the Sabbath. Again in verse 10, And when he looked around at them all, and he said to the man, Stretch out your hand, and he did so, and his hand was restored as whole as the other, but they were filled with rage, and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

It's an amazing two sides of the story we have here. We have our Lord and Savior healing a man who had a dysfunctional right hand. One that in society would bring even more hurt and harm to him because of how people viewed the proper use of a right hand and a left hand in the time period. Ceremonial, having your left hand be unclean and your right hand withered, we couldn't use it.

It would be very difficult.

And instead of having compassion, instead of recognizing the setback that this man would have, and rejoicing in the fact that he could be healed on the Sabbath day, they were filled with rage. Imagine just that feeling on the Sabbath day of coming together, praising God, setting this day apart, and then being filled with rage.

We just see this contrast here in the passage.

I'd like to look at the parallel count of this story in Matthew 12 and verse 10. Matthew 12 and verse 10.

Because Matthew's account provides a little bit deeper knowledge into this mindset that the Pharisees had versus Christ on this Sabbath day. Matthew 12 and verse 10.

Again, this is a parallel count to the same story we just read in verse 10. Matthew 12 and verse 10 says, And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand, and they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, that they might accuse him? Notice what verse 11 says. But notice what verse 11 says. Then he said to them, What man is there among you, who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it, and lift it out, of how much more value is a man than a sheep? Therefore, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. So we don't saw that in the other count. It wasn't just the rage. It wasn't that they were silent because they knew what was to do good on the Sabbath. But this is showing that there was a double standard that they had. If one sheep fell into a ditch, one sheep fell into a well, one sheep had a challenge on the Sabbath, it was fine to save that sheep, to save a life.

But when it came to healing a man and restoring him whole, and giving him a new future that he could walk, new dignity, nah, not today, we see that heart. The can'ts, can't do on the Sabbath versus the can do that Jesus did. The blessing that was able to come from the Sabbath day. Again, that's action item. The question for you and me to ask ourselves today, what good can we do on the Sabbath day while we are here in person with one another? And for those online, what good can you do on this Sabbath day with those close to you, those around you this day?

Now, to be clear, I definitely do not want anyone to think the sermon and the illustrations I used in any way. It's taken away from the sanctity of the Sabbath day. In no way am I trying to water down, take away, or minimize the importance of the Sabbath and the command that we are to keep this day holy. But rather, I'm hoping that we will recognize just how special this day is and the importance that we gather in person as much as possible to partake in this day and to let this message, let the take-home of this message be, to consider these events that Jesus performed on the Sabbath day, the good that He did, and to ask ourselves, and this is the take-home, could He have done these events if He was not present with them? Could He have done these healings if the other person with the withered hand did not come to the synagogue that day? Jesus was with His disciples as they plucked the grain and ate it. If they were not there with Him, they could not have been part of the events. Jesus was present in the synagogue to teach others in person. If Jesus was not there or people missing from the synagogue, it would just not have been the same. Jesus was there with the man with the withered hand in person. Had either not been there that day, that healing would not have occurred. All of these things occurred on the Sabbath while Jesus was in person with others and they with Him.

There was a... There was a Sabbath day many years ago. One that was a challenging Sabbath day for me to come in person. As you know, Laura has some health issues and challenges that she faces. In the midst of some of these challenges that we had gone through, it seemed like they were piling up, one right after the other. She wasn't getting that reprieve that I felt that she needed and all of us would desire. And after a very challenging week, for me as well, as a husband, as we know, as we support our wives and we go through challenges, we're in it too. Maybe not the same, but we're in it. And I remember waking up that Sabbath day and telling Laura, I don't want to go to church today. I just don't want to.

I knew in my heart I wanted to be there, but for whatever reason those words came out of my mouth. And I knew I needed to be at church, and so I went. It was just me maybe throwing a little bit of a kid temper tantrum, right? I don't want to go today. And so I was on sound. I knew I had a responsibility. I wasn't going to let the congregation down, so I came and I served on the sound crew. And I was going about my normal business with the weight of the week, with the weight of a sick spouse on my heart. And one of my friends came up that week, whose wife also has her own health challenges, and he's the healthy spouse supporting her. And just out of the blue asked me, how are you doing? How was your week? And me in my moment of having a tough week, I said, you know what? It was a tough week. I didn't hold back.

And he let me talk. He let me vent.

I remained in control. I didn't cross any lines that I'm aware of, other than maybe just a little bit of a bad attitude. But he listened. And then he was able to have compassion towards me, because he had walked a similar walk with his wife previously. And we talked about it. He encouraged me. He recognized, yep, what you're going through this week was really hard. I'm sorry. And it gave me an opportunity to be loved, to be heard, to be understood. And I went on with my Sabbath day. And you know what? After church, another husband came up to me, whose wife had battled cancer. And he asked the same question, not knowing the week I had. How was your week? You know what I told him? It was bad. And he gave me another opportunity to share the week that I had had, emotionally, the challenges, the weight I felt. And he listened. And he had compassion and said, I get it. I've had those weeks, too, because when my wife was going through chemo, when she was having these hard things that just seemed to pile up, that he had bad weeks, too. The take-home from this, for me, is I would have missed out, not only on the spiritual food provided that day, by being there in person, but I would have missed out on two people that God sent to me that day. Two people that could understand what I was going through. Two people that could, without knowing, I'm sure they came up that day just looking for the, how was your week? Oh, it was great. How was your week? I'm sure that that was their mindset.

But why did God send me two husbands, who were the well spouses in their relationship, who supported sick wives, who battled challenges? He sent me those two. And there's no question God sent me them. But had I made the choice that morning just to stay home, I would have missed out on this opportunity. I would have completely missed out. Sometimes we can fall into the trap of, what can I get when we come to services each week versus what can I give or what can I do on the Sabbath? If you want another item to consider for today, if in the study you were thinking about the external things that you can partake in in the Sabbath, what do you get out of the day?

If your thoughts are about what you can't do on the Sabbath or what you have to do, you can change this mindset. You can walk away from here today and ask, what is it that I can do for others when we gather on the Sabbath?

This is a wonderful aspect to take to God in prayer. It's a wonderful prayer to pray on the Sabbath day. We can come before God in prayer and ask Him, help me to help someone else this day. Put me in someone's path that could use something that I could give them this day. Because what this prayer does is it shifts our mindset away from what I get on the Sabbath day to how God can use me this day. How I can give to others, how I can encourage others this Sabbath day. How I can be a light, how I can practice and show empathy, compassion towards others on this day. It's a beautiful prayer that so many times when I've prayed it, God put me in someone else's path to encourage them on His Sabbath day. For those, again, joining us on the web, I recognize that being in person today and maybe on a weekly basis is not something you can do. But I encourage you to pray this same prayer, asking God to show you how you can encourage someone else near you, someone else that maybe lives next door or the next town over. A way that you can be involved in their life, that you can reach out through a phone call or through a letter. Ways that you can still pray for one another. Because this, again, as I've mentioned, is a beautiful prayer that God wants to answer in our lives when we focus not on what we get on the Sabbath, but rather what we can give. Before each of us, we have a wonderful opportunity to be physically present with one another as we keep and observe each Sabbath day together. For anyone who has missed several Sabbaths or in a row, many Sabbaths, I think back to the quarantine period when we were not able to meet but on Zoom. When we came back together and when we were able to enjoy this fellowship together, it was a breath of fresh air. I don't think we recognized how special this opportunity together to be able to have a cake and a recognition of someone's anniversary, to be able to share a meal, to be able to get a hug, to be able to even ask somebody how their week is, and for them to be honest with us. And to say, you know what? It wasn't the best. And for us to be able to be there for one another is something that we can never, ever take lightly.

Sometimes we can fall into the trap of the, I have to go to church this week. I have to get dressed up and put on my nicer clothes. I have to get in the car and drive, or I have to miss the sporting event that occurs on the Sabbath. But I hope that from this message and from my heart, you get to see that there is so much that we get to have, so much that we can do because of this day. And that God has set it apart special for us. And in closing, let's turn to Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 25.

Actually, let's read verse 24 and then verse 25. Hebrews chapter 10.

Hebrews 10 and verse 24. The writer shares, And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works. What an amazing thing we can do on this Sabbath day. Stir up love and good works. Notice verse 25. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting or building up, strengthening other definitions for the word exhort, but exhorting one another, and so much more as you see the day approaching. We know a future time is going to continue to come when life gets harder for so many of us. Life is going to get harder for our society around us, and they're going to struggle. But God has given us a Sabbath day, a day of rest, a day that His people have always had. Even though His people have had challenges in their life, they've had illnesses, they have had difficulties, they have had persecutions, they've had job losses. We have so much of that recorded in Scripture, these challenges, but they always had the Sabbath day. So may us each continue to find the joy in this day. May we continue to remember the things that we get to do from this day. May we remember the blessings of God's special and holy Sabbath day.