16. Lightened by the Sabbath

LONNIE: Welcome to Exploring the Word. Thanks for joining us as we dig deeper into the riches of the Bible. Today we’re going to explore a little about something God created way back at Creation, but which has caused quite a bit of controversy among believers down through the years.

JEANNIE: Lonnie’s talking about the Sabbath, the holy day of rest God set aside on the seventh day of Creation. A lot of people have questions about it. For some Christians the seventh-day Sabbath, Saturday, seems like the Jewish day of rest. Here is a question that came into our Discover Bible School through the Internet. This student wrote:

“Most Protestants say that the reason why they are not keeping the Sabbath day is that Jesus is the Sabbath. Where in the Scriptures does this teaching come from and I would like to know whether it is in harmony with what the Word of God says?”

“Jesus is the Sabbath.” Have you heard that before? Is that in the New Testament?

LONNIE: The closest thing we can find, I believe, is Jesus declaring, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” That’s in Mark 2:28. But I think what this person is referring to is the belief that Jesus replaces the Sabbath. That is, He’s our true spiritual rest; He’s where we lay down our burdens and cares, and so we don’t need this old day of rest, this seventh-day Sabbath.

JEANNIE: But the Bible doesn’t really say, “Jesus is the Sabbath.”

LONNIE: Right, but there is quite a bit in the New Testament about Jesus’ relationship to the Sabbath. And that tells us, more than anything else, how Christians should relate to it.

JEANNIE: That was our homework assignment from last week. Were you able to read the passages in Mark 2 and Hebrews 4? This is going to be an interesting study.

LONNIE: Let’s get started. Remember, our Discover Bible Guide number sixteen, “The Secret of Heavenly Rest,” will give you additional information on this topic.

We are going to be looking at incidents in the gospels today, events recorded in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the books that bring us the life of Christ. And we’re going to discover that a significant part of Christ’s ministry was about this: something must be done about the Sabbath. Why? Because the Sabbath had become a burden, a huge burden. That’s what Jesus believed. And He wanted to do something about it.

Now, if something is a burden you can do one of two things. You can get rid of it. Or you can try to lighten it.

If it’s not serving any significant purpose, then you get rid of it. Why keep carrying it around? But if it’s something very useful, something that can better your life, then you try to lighten it; you try to find some way to make it NOT a burden.

Which option did Jesus choose? Did He do away with the Sabbath? Did He say, in effect, “I’m here; I can do what the Sabbath once did; this religious tradition has outlived its usefulness?”

Or did He try to change the Sabbath, reform the Sabbath, lighten it so it would be a blessing instead of a burden?

We’re about to find out. So get your Bible ready. Get ready to explore. We’re going to find our answers—in the life of Christ.

One day Jesus met a man who’d been born blind, never seen the light of day. And He decided to do something about it. We find the account in the gospel of John, in the ninth chapter. John is the last of the four gospels.

Jesus wanted to heal this man. Now usually He healed individuals with just a word, just a command. He had that kind of divine authority—over paralysis, over deafness, over leprosy, even over death. But in this case Jesus chose a rather odd method of healing. Look at verse six.

“He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with clay.”

After this, Jesus told the man to go wash off in the pool of Siloam nearby, verse seven. And after he’d done this, what happened? He “came back seeing.”

Everyone was astounded. What a miracle.

But the method. Why this strange mixing of clay with saliva?

Well, as it turns out, this all happened on the Sabbath day. And Jesus was deliberately challenging the Sabbath regulations of His time. He challenged Sabbath regulations. He was attacking them, head on. These were not biblical principles, but rules that religious leaders had added to God’s law.
Look at what happened when news of this miracle reached the Pharisees, the guardians of tradition and regulation. They ordered that the alleged blind man appear before them. They interrogated him. They wanted to know exactly how he’d been healed.

“Well, He put clay in my eyes and I washed and now I see.” Now look at verse 16. This is how they responded:

“Therefore some of the Pharisees said, ‘This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.’”

How had Jesus failed to keep the Sabbath, failed to keep it holy? That mixing of saliva and dirt could be considered labor; it was making clay. Well people did indeed do a lot of work making clay in those days; they built houses out of clay bricks. But of course this was a technicality. Jesus wasn’t making bricks. He was healing a blind man.

But the fact is, the Pharisees lived for technicalities. They had built an entire religious culture around technicalities.

Jewish teachers wrote an awful lot about proper Sabbath observance. Where Scripture gave general principles, they became painfully specific. They multiplied the Bible's guidelines, creating countless rules and regulations.

For example, fires could not be lit or put out during the Sabbath. That was considered labor. Candles could be very tricky. Let's say two candles stand side by side. One is lit and the other isn’t. And you blow one out—but in doing so, light the other one. Religious teachers actually spent time debating whether this would involve double guilt--for extinguishing one fire and lighting another.

Mirrors were a danger. Women were forbidden to look in the glass on the Sabbath. They might discover a grey hair and be tempted to pull it out. A terrible sin. You couldn’t eat an egg that a chicken had laid on the Sabbath.

You get the picture. By the time of Christ, the Sabbath had become an enormous burden. The fact is, for the conscientious Jew, the Sabbath was almost impossible to keep.

So what was Jesus doing that day, when He made a bit of clay in Jerusalem? He was challenging religious authority. He was saying, “Your regulations are a burden. You don’t care that a blind man now sees; you only care about some technicality.”

The Sabbath had become a burden. But the question is, was Jesus trying to do away with it, or was He trying to lighten it?

Let’s look at another incident recorded in the gospels. We find it in the gospel of Luke, chapter six. Jesus was visiting a synagogue and teaching there. He noticed a man with a withered hand who was longing to be healed. But it was the Sabbath. And the Pharisees were watching to see what He will do.

Jesus decided to make a point, a strong point right in front of their eyes. He asked the man to get up and stand in front of the congregation. And then He stared at the Pharisees intently and asked a question. Look at verse nine:

“Then Jesus said to them, ‘I will ask you one thing: Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?’”

The Pharisees couldn’t answer him. At the moment they were actually plotting to have Jesus done away with. His words cut close to home.

So Jesus had the man stretch out his hand and immediately it was restored to wholeness.

Here we see Jesus taking a stand on what should be done on the Sabbath. He declared that the Sabbath was for DOING GOOD.

Notice Jesus didn’t just say, “Forget about the Sabbath; it’s too much of a burden.” He declared what the Sabbath was supposed to be about. In Matthew’s account of this incident, Jesus says, “It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” (Matthew 12:11)

Jesus emphasized this over and over. When He healed a paralyzed man on the Sabbath day, He told the man to pick up his bed-mat and carry it through the temple courtyard. Technically, he was bearing a burden. And the Pharisees made a big stink about it. But oh how light his steps were, how bold his stride.

Jesus was saying, “This is what the Sabbath is all about. It’s about making people happy. It’s about restoring people to wholeness. It’s about doing good.”

Well guess what? That’s exactly what many Christians are rediscovering today.

Now let me share with you one passage that removes all doubt about what Jesus wanted to do about the Sabbath.

Let’s turn to the gospel of Mark now. Mark 2:27. Here Jesus is having a run-in with the Pharisees again—over the Sabbath question. And He summed up His point of view with one simple but profound statement.

“The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27
The Pharisees were acting as if man was made for the Sabbath. They were trying to cram people into all their regulations. They were constantly whittling life down so it would fit into their narrow view of Sabbath rest.

Jesus said, the Sabbath was made for man. It was made for our benefit. It was made to be a blessing. It’s for human beings.

It was made to expand our hearts and minds, not shrink them.

And here Jesus shows His true colors. He shows that He wanted to reform the Sabbath, not do away with it. If He wanted to do away with it, He would have said the Sabbath was NOT made for man; or it’s no longer good for man.

Instead, right after declaring that the Sabbath was meant to be a blessing, He says these words, verse 28:

“Therefore, the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”

That’s the text I referred to at the beginning. Remember the question about people saying Jesus is the Sabbath. Well, in a sense that’s very true. Jesus is the source of spiritual rest. Jesus is our peace. But Jesus didn’t, therefore, replace the Sabbath. No, He declared Himself Lord of the Sabbath. He claimed it as His own. He brought it into His kingdom. Jesus made the Sabbath part of his kingdom.

Jesus was changing the way people related to God. He was bringing grace into a dry, legalistic religious landscape. And He made the Sabbath part of that grace. The Sabbath as a means of doing good. The Sabbath as a way to bless human beings. That’s what He claimed to be Lord of.

In lightening the burden of the Sabbath, Jesus was lightening all of our burdens, all of our troubles. He was showing us a different kind of kingdom based on grace.

JEANNIE: Lonnie, I know the Sabbath has become more and more of a blessing in our own lives.

LONNIE: Once you experience that special kind of rest each week—it’s hard to imagine living without it.

JEANNIE: You know, I think it’s made us more grateful, thankful—as a couple.

LONNIE: We have a little ritual we enjoy Sabbath mornings.
JEANNIE: Whoever wakes up first in the morning starts a little prayer. We just lay there for a while and pray out our thanksgiving to God—think of all the good things in our life, His blessings.

LONNIE: It’s a great way to start the Sabbath, great way to start each day really.

JEANNIE: But you know, the Sabbath really gives us time to slow down and be thankful. It’s precious.

LONNIE: And that’s the blessing we’re trying to communicate today.

If you still have some doubt about the place of the Sabbath in the life of a Christian, please turn with me to the book of Hebrews.

In the fourth chapter the writer is talking about the failure of the children of Israel to enter God's rest. They did not experience the full blessings of the covenant. But, he says, those who believe in Christ do enter God's rest, the true Sabbath rest. The writer also connects accepting the gospel with entering God's rest. And notice something in verse four. What’s the subject here? It’s the seventh-day Sabbath. God resting on the seventh day.

The true people of God, he seems to be saying, are those who find the true
Sabbath rest. Listen to Hebrews 4:9-11:

“There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall after the same example of disobedience.”

Sabbath rest is a symbol of the rest of faith. Those who believe in Christ's righteousness and rely on His merits, no longer have to try to work their way up to heaven. They trust in Christ's finished work of salvation on their behalf. They accept Christ's great sacrifice, honor it, trust it, and rest in it.

I believe that’s what Christ the reformer had in mind. The Sabbath is actually a way to take a stand against legalism. It's a time each week when we stop working; we break from the daily grind, and we celebrate the great work of Christ on our behalf.

By honoring the Sabbath, we proclaim that Christ's sinless life and death on the cross are sufficient. That sacrifice is all we need. We rest in it. Because of Christ's shed blood we stand free in Him.

This gives a whole new meaning to the admonitions about the Sabbath we find throughout the Bible. Take Exodus 31:13 for example. God says:
“Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you.”

Do you see what a wonderful “sign” the Sabbath can be now? Do you see how it can re-affirm the fact that God sanctifies us? He sets us apart. He makes us holy IN Christ’s perfect life. We can rest in that wonderful assurance.

There is a sense in which Jesus IS the Sabbath. But that’s exactly why it can be such a blessing to you and me today.

So, the question is, have you experienced real Sabbath rest? Have you set aside this special day so God can give you His special blessing?

If you haven’t, why not begin this week? It’s absolutely one of the best things you’ll ever do for yourself and for your family. Jeannie and I look back on our Sabbaths together as one of the highlights of our Christian life.

So please, accept Christ’s invitation into Sabbath rest. Please don’t let the busy-ness of life rob you of this blessing. It’s got to be intentional. It’s got to be your decision. Give God this space in your life. Determine to begin celebrating the Sabbath each week, now as we pray.

Dear Father, thank You for the gift of the Sabbath. Thank You for setting us an example by resting on the seventh day. Thank You for showing us how true Sabbath rest is really about resting in Christ. So right now we respond to your invitation. We set aside the Sabbath each week. We honor it and dedicate it to You. Teach us how to observe it properly. Show us how to enjoy it more fully. In the name of the Savior Jesus, amen.

JEANNIE: Today we’ve got an assignment for you that will help you appreciate the way Jesus touched other human beings.

LONNIE: Jesus had an extraordinary ability to find hidden treasure in others and to bring that treasure to the surface.

JEANNIE: So we’d like you to read about three encounters Jesus had with three individuals. Here are the texts. Ready? Luke 5:17-26. John 3:1-15; Luke 7:11-16.

LONNIE: We’d like you to try to figure out what Jesus was touching, what he was awakening, in each of these encounters. What kind of hidden treasure did He bring out?

JEANNIE: So your homework again is: Luke 5:17-26. John 3:1-15; Luke 7:11-16.
LONNIE: Until next week, God bless you. Never stop exploring the Word, and remember, God really does love you.