Jesus: Lord of Both the Sabbath and the Lord’s Day

1. Jesus: Lord of Both the Sabbath and the Lord’s Day Mark 2:23-3:6

2. Sabbath • Sabbath is a derivation of a Hebrew word that means “cease” or “desist.” The Sabbath was a day (from Friday evening until Saturday evening in Jesus’ time) when all ordinary work stopped. • The Scriptures relate that God gave his people the Sabbath as an opportunity to serve him and as a reminder of two great truths in the Bible—Creation and redemption. • Tyndale Bible Dictionary

3. Keep the Sabbath Holy Turn to Exodus 20:8-11

4. Ten Commandments

5. Remembering the Sabbath reminds us of a fundamental truth: God is the Creator of all things.

6. Turn over to Deuteronomy 5:12-15

7. Redemption Deuteronomy 5:15 • And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.

8. The Sabbath • God’s intent behind the Sabbath was to provide the people of God a day to rest and remember Him! • Israel was to remember Yahweh as the One who created them and the One who saved them from bondage to Pharaoh.

9. 1500 years later the Pharisees had so added to the rules concerning the law that the original intent behind the Sabbath was lost.

10. Mishnah or Talmud(non-canonical) Oral interpretation of the OT Law (later put into writing).

11. For Example • One Example of Adding to the Law is found in Acts 1:12 • Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day’s journey. • ¾ mile

12. Exceptions • A Sabbath’s day journey was about 2000 cubits but a man could travel farther if he were to tie a rope to another location from his home which would now establish a new starting point.

13. More Exceptions • Or, if before the Sabbath, a man left at any given point enough food for two meals, that point technically became his residence and he could go 1,000 yards beyond that.

14. Mark 2:25 • And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him? This is an insult and quite instructive.

15. The story Jesus asks them about is found in: 1 Samuel 21:1-5*

16. *Very Important Point Jesus shows us that the historical record of the OT people of God is both authoritative and INSTRUCTIVE.

17. Notice Jesus’ endorsement of Abimelech’s decision to put mercy above the ceremonial law reminds us that the “law” is not the Lord.

18. Mark 2:27 • And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: In just a moment when we discuss Sabbath vs. Sunday—let’s not forget this point.

19. Mark 2:28 • Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath. This hasn’t changed. Whatever you decide about the Sabbath—the fact that Jesus is Lord is still the same.

20. Mark 3:1-2 • And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand. • And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him.

21. Mark 3:3-4 • And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth. • And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.

22. Notice Notice how the oral tradition had grown so strong that Jesus finds it necessary to ask what I would think would be called a ridiculous question.

23. Parallel Text Matthew 12:10-11 • And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him. And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?

24. Think About How backwards things had gotten that rescuing a sheep was considered lawful but healing a man was not.

25. Being angry is NOT a sin. Look @ v. 5 and see what angers God.

26. Mark 3:5 • And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.

27. Application Sabbath v. the Lord’s Day

28. Both Exodus and Deuteronomy are part of the Mosaic Law But we are not under the law according to the Apostle Paul

29. Followers of Christ • Are NOT under the law but under grace. • Romans 6:14-15 • For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.

30. Saturday vs. Sunday Matthew 28:1 • In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.

31. Sunday Acts 20:7 • And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.

32. Sunday 1 Corinthians 15:2 • Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.

33. The Lord’s Day Revelation 1:10 • I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, Not the Sabbath

34. Consider the Principle The fact that the early church celebrated the resurrection of Christ on the first day of the week does not give us the liberty of just ignoring the 4th commandment.

35. Sabbath vs. Sunday • Rest • Serve God • Assemble as Jews • Under the Law • Remember your Creator • Remember your redemption from Egypt • Rest • Serve God • Assemble as Disciples • Under Grace • Remember your Creator • Remember the resurrection of Christ

36. The way a Jew kept the Sabbath was a key thing that distinguished the “people of Yahweh” from the unbelieving Gentiles.

37. Keep the Sabbath Holy(holy = set apart) In what ways do you keep the Lord’s Day set apart?

38. Puritan George Swinnock Writes About Preparation for the Lord’s Days

39. Prepare to meet thy God, O Christian! betake thyself to thy chamber on the Saturday night, confess and bewail thine unfaithfulness under the ordinances of God; shame and condemn thyself for thy sins, entreat God to prepare thy heart for, and assist it in, thy religious performances; spend some time in consideration of the infinite majesty, holiness, jealousy, and goodness, of that God, with whom thou art to have to do in sacred duties; ponder the weight and importance of his holy ordinances…meditate on the shortness of the time thou hast to enjoy Sabbaths in; and continue musing … till the fire burneth; thou canst not think the good thou mayest gain by such forethoughts, how pleasant and profitable a Lord’s day would be to thee after such a preparation. The oven of thine heart thus baked in, as it were, overnight, would be easily heated the next morning; the fire so well raked up when thou wentest to bed, would be the sooner kindled when thou shouldst rise. If thou wouldst thus leave thy heart with God on the Saturday night, thou shouldst find it with him in the Lord’s Day morning.

40. On the Lord’s Day We Celebrate: • A Day to focus on God’s Work in our Lives • God’s creation of Humanity in his Image • The Gospel • The resurrection of Jesus Christ • The redemption of sinners from the bondage of sin

41. Is Jesus your Lord? Is Jesus Lord of Your Lord’s Day?