Two Saturdays

A message from Luke 6:1-11 by Phil Rogers 08/07/07

To listen to Phil's message click here mp3

Scripture passages quoted here are a compilation of Luke 6:1-11 and Mark 2:36-3:6

Luke 6:1-5.
One Sabbath Jesus was going through the cornfields, and as his disciples walked along they began to pick some ears of corn, rub them in their hands and eat the grain.
Some of the Pharisees asked, “Look, Why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”
Jesus answered them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God, and taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.”
Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

In the beginning when God created the whole universe in six days, he established the Sabbath day. We are told that on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Gen 2:2-3 Sabbath is derived from the Hebrew word to cease.

The Lord wanted to teach this concept to the Hebrew slaves, who, in Egypt, had had to work every single day. After their deliverance, as they were traveling through the wilderness God gave them manna for food. They had to collect it every morning except on a Saturday the last, seventh day of the week. God didn’t do manna on Saturday. Friday’s manna was enough to last two days. If during the week they kept any manna over to the next day it went off and ‘bred worms’ and stank - but miraculously manna collected every Friday was also good for Saturday - it kept fresh! Saturday was the Sabbath - don’t try and collect manna on the rest day. In the Law that God gave Moses, this was specified even further. The fourth commandment says Ex 20:8-11.

Only Judaism, Christianity and Islam teach a regular one in seven rest day. Jews rest on Saturday, Islam observes Friday and we worship on Sunday. The Lord who created us knows that we need one day’s rest in seven to cease from our work. That is how he made us. We cannot just go on and on working without taking a day off. This is the Sabbath principle and we ignore it to our peril. But the Jews did not understand this principle and they turned the Sabbath into a day of restrictions. Don’t work on the Sabbath, have a day off! became “he who reaps grain on the Sabbath, however little, is punishable by stoning.” (Talmud & rabbinic law)

The Pharisees had the Sabbath sussed. Their wives would prepare lavish feasts every Friday, working hard all day, so that at sunset, when the Sabbath began, they could all sit down and stuff themselves and drink themselves silly before going to bed. Saturday morning they would sleep in, then get up to go to synagogue, the rest of the day they ate all the leftovers and lazed around drinking wine. The most they would do was take a short walk, while doing this some Pharisees spotted Jesus strolling with his disciples in a wheat field. It was early June.

“With a cool and wet winter followed by a dry spring, Israel’s climate is ideal for wheat growing. In winter the fields are a rich green, turning a glorious golden colour in the late spring before the harvest begins during the festival of Pentecost or first fruits.” They were picking a few ears of corn and rubbing them in their hands to get rid of the husks before eating them. The law actually permitted this in Deut 23:25, but it was the Sabbath; this is working, reaping grain however little, punishable by stoning! So the Pharisees confronted Jesus, “Why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” Jesus counters with a bible account. “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.” Necessity is more important than rules and regulations, necessity is a higher principle.He added, “The Sabbath was made for man not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is master even of the Sabbath.” We were not created in order to observe a restrictive rest day! We were given a rest day for our good, our blessing. A master is not restricted as his servants are. He can go wherever and do whatever he wants. If Jesus is master of the Sabbath, he can do what he wants on the Sabbath without any restrictions, and as our Master he will tell us what he wants us to do on the Sabbath. It is about knowing the Master not following restrictions and regulations. Today we have two non-work days - how are we going to use them? Do we say the Sabbath is made for us so we can do what we want to or do we say, Lord you are Master of the Sabbath what do you want us to do to serve you? It is important for us to REST. But not to be indolent like the Pharisees. With two sabbaths, we can use one to do our own work, like gardening and decorating and shopping, and use the second Sabbath to do things that are ‘holy’ such as family time, and enjoying sitting in our garden, but above all the Sabbath gives us an opportunity have more time to reflect on the Lord and to worship.

Luke recounts the events of a second Sabbath.
Luke:6-11
On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shrivelled. Some of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. But Jesus knew exaclty what they were thinking and said to the man with the shrivelled hand, “Get up and stand in front of everyone.” So he got up and stood there.

Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” But they remained silent. He looked round at them all, in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, and then said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.
But they were furious, so the Pharisees and Herodians went out and began to and began to discuss and plot with one another what they might do to Jesus, how they might kill him.

To many people religion is a matter of regulation and restriction, even today. This legalistic mentality is highly critical of the freedom that a true relationship with God brings about. Notice Jesus reaction to their attitude: anger and distress, he was saddened by their self-righteous criticism of the way of life that he was teaching and demonstrating. Why should God not want him to heal on a holy day of worship?

We have seen people being healed in our meetings on a Sunday and we long for more, but this passage made me think, What about Monday to Saturday? Jesus healed people every day of the week, not just in the synagogue. I believe the challenge the Lord is giving us all in these days is “I am able to heal, I want to heal, will you engage with me and allow me to heal people through you, any day of the week?” Imagine the impact of work colleagues being made better because we have healed them at work! Of neighbours or women at the school gates being healed by the power of God working through us.

Satan does not want this to happen and he uses all sorts of ways to dissuade us; legalism, unbelief, a sense of inadequacy and worthlessness. Is there any attitude in us that might cause Jesus to be angry and saddened? We need to battle through such things in prayer and also ask help to get free from strongholds that Satan has established in our lives to keep us bound up and not free. How free are we to do all that God wants us the do? Work it through with him in prayer and be healed and delivered so we truly become free and flexible enough to step out in faith into new areas, the new wine, the greater works Jesus has for us.

So let us consider if we properly Sabbath, one day in seven on which we don’t work like we do the other six. Are our weekends as busy as the weekdays? A great word is recreation - re-creation - that is what the Sabbath is for. To be re-created physically, mentally and spiritually. A time for rest, for relationships, for worship, a holy day, a day to be blessed and to bless. But let’s remember that Jesus is Lord of every day not just Sunday.