A Time to Remember
Scripture Reading: Exodus 20:8-11
8 “ Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor
your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor
your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the
earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed
the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
This commandment seems clear enough, right? The seventh day is to be holy unto
the Lord. No work is to be done. The blueprint for this commandment is that the
Lord created in six days and rested on the seventh to give us a pattern and
therefore blessed the Sabbath. So what is considered work? Is it work to change
your baby’s diaper or to drive a car or to help a brother who is in trouble? The
definition of work is what seemed to cause quite a bit of confusion during Jesus’
ministry. I want to read about an event, first in Mark then in Luke.
Mark 2:23-28, 23 Now it happened that He went through the grain fields on the Sabbath; and
as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees said to Him,
“Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”
25 But He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and
hungry, he and those with him: 26 how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar
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?”
27 And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. 28
Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”
You can see that the Pharisees were looking for a reason to find fault with Jesus.
Jesus did a lot on the Sabbath so that seemed to be their easy way to catch Him in
something that was against the Law. Let’s look at what the disciples were doing.
They were plucking some heads of grain. It would be like us picking an orange off a
tree to eat it. Is that work? The Pharisees seemed to think so. Jesus reminds them
of a time when David and his men were forced to eat the showbread in the temple
that only the priests are to eat. I believe He was just pointing out that even in
scripture there are some things that have special circumstances. Then He explains
that man was not made for the Sabbath. He says that the Son of Man is Lord of the
Sabbath. We’ll get into that a bit more in a bit. The beginning of Luke chapter 6
mirrors the passage we just read in Mark almost exactly so we won’t read it again.
We’ll start reading in verse 6.
Luke 6:6-11, 6 Now it happened on another Sabbath, also, that He entered the synagogue and
taught. And a man was there whose right hand was withered. 7 So the scribes and Pharisees
watched Him closely, whether He would heal on the Sabbath, that they might find an accusation
against Him. 8 But He knew their thoughts, and said to the man who had the withered hand,
“Arise and stand here.” And he arose and stood. 9 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?” 10 And
when He had looked around at them all, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did
so, and his hand was restored as whole as the other. 11 But they were filled with rage, and
discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.
There was obviously quite a bit of confusion and misunderstanding having to do
with the Sabbath. Jesus spent a lot of His time dealing with this is of what is or is not
lawful to do on the Sabbath. This had to have been a very important issue for us to
get because He spent so much time dealing with it. I think it’s very important that we
rightly divide the word on this topic and study it out thoroughly. In this passage it
was yet another Sabbath that Jesus was in the synagogue teaching. He sees a
man with a withered hand and knows the thoughts of the scribes and Pharisees
wondering if He will heal this man on the Sabbath. So, He first asked if it was lawful
to do good or save life on the Sabbath. Then He looked around at them and it
seems clear that no one answered, so He tells the man to stretch out his hand, and
this filled them with rage but why? If they didn’t answer Him and say, ‘No you can’t
do good on the Sabbath,’ why would they be so upset? I want to look at one more
incident in Jesus’ ministry before we start putting this all into perspective for our
lives today.
Luke 13:10-17, 10 Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And
behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and
could in no way raise herself up. 12 But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her,
“Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.” 13 And He laid His hands on her, and
immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.
14 But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the
Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, “There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore
come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.”
15 The Lord then answered him and said, “Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath
loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? 16 So ought not this
woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen
years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?” 17 And when He said these things, all His
adversaries were put to shame; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were
done by Him.
Here it is another Sabbath and Jesus heals the woman who had been bent over for
eighteen years. The ruler of the synagogue is indignant and tells the crowd, likely
with an attitude full of piety, they should come to be healed on a day other than the
Sabbath. Jesus doesn’t bother to ask about doing good this time, He just calls it like
it is by calling the man a hypocrite. Hypocrite is a Greek word that means ‘actor’.
Jesus knew that although he was acting as if he were close to God he was really far
from Him. Much of the ‘religion’ (a word I really don’t like to use) of Jesus’ day was
more about politics than anything else. It had become more about power over the
masses and less about glorifying our heavenly Father. He reminds everyone there
that they would take care of their animals on the Sabbath. Wasn’t this woman worth
much more than some cattle? Then in verse 17 it says that His adversaries were
shamed but the multitude rejoiced. Why? They were shamed because they knew
He was right and the multitude rejoiced because they had been oppressed by this
pompous, ‘holier-than-thou’ lot for much too long. Many of them had likely
questioned some of the rulings even if only in their minds. Here was one who had
risen up from among the regular people and was able answer them wisely.
Back in the second century before Christ, King Antiochus was extremely mad at the
Jews for not accepting Helenistic (Greek) culture and religion. He decided to send
his general Appollonius to Jerusalem with over 20,000 troops. They pretended like
they were there for peace and then waited until the Sabbath and slaughtered them.
The Jews would not fight because it was the Sabbath. Is that what God would have
wanted? Is that what was meant by the commandment to keep holy the Sabbath?
Weren’t those some pretty huge special circumstances? Husbands watched as
their wives and children were slaughtered and wives and children watched as their
husbands and fathers were slaughtered. Not only could this not have been what
God had expected to keep this day holy, it was a twisted perversion of it. As the
story goes, they even killed those in the temple and killed priests in the holy place.
So, what does all this ancient stuff have to do with us in our modern lives? Well, the
first thing I want to mention is that nowhere in the scriptures does it imply that Jesus
or anyone else changed the Sabbath day from Friday night/Saturday to Sunday.
That just did not happen. Augustine says that ‘the church’ did that on their own
prerogative and I would agree with his statement but not with his conclusion that it
was right to do that. So what does that mean? Is it lawful to worship on Sunday? I’
d say that it is lawful to worship God any day. So, do we have to worship on the
Sabbath? Well, the command doesn’t say anything about that. It just says to keep
it holy. So, I’d say it’s fine to gather but would be ok if you didn’t. Don’t do it
because you have to but because you want to. Now this is the hard question that
has confounded men throughout the ages. What kind of work is permissible on the
Sabbath? Well, Jesus seemed to make it crystal clear that it is permissible to do
good and to save life on the Sabbath. Anyone who is a doctor or nurse, a fireman
or policeman, anyone who’s ministering to those in need, those things would not
only be lawful but I think would be expected by the Father. I can’t imagine Him
wanting all the doctors and nurses to leave the hospital on Friday evening to keep
the Sabbath holy.
Now what about the rest of us? Those who hold what would be considered as non-
essential (to saving life or doing good) jobs that may be asked to work during that
time period. Would God require you to quit your job? After reading the things that
Jesus said, I don’t think so but I do think He would like us to ask for that time period
off and explain why to our bosses. I think that would give Him glory. Now if your
boss says 'so what', we should probably begin looking for another job but I still don’t
think God would want you to not be able to take care of yourself or you family. That
would not give Him glory any more than the city of Jerusalem being sacked and
mostly everyone killed in the name of the Sabbath. I think it’s something each of us
needs to go to the Father about in our private time with Him to ask for clarity.
Jesus said that man was not made for the Sabbath but the Sabbath was made for
man. After this weekend that we took our short vacation, I really know why. It is
good for us to rest. Even God did not work seven days straight. Mom has been
teaching about us entering into His rest. That’s not only a good thing but it’s also a
necessary thing. Physiologically our bodies are not made for continuous work. The
orthodox might say it’s wrong to go play basketball on the Sabbath but for some it
would be relaxing. There are those who don’t start their car because they interpret
that as working but I know many who really enjoy taking long drives and definitely
wouldn’t consider it work. I think the bottom line is for us to step back and enjoy this
life that God has blessed us with and in doing so, give Him all the glory
Sermon by: Denise Baxley
Date: July 9, 2006
Revisited: December 14, 2008
Scripture Reading: Exodus 20:8-11
8 “ Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor
your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor
your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the
earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed
the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
This commandment seems clear enough, right? The seventh day is to be holy unto
the Lord. No work is to be done. The blueprint for this commandment is that the
Lord created in six days and rested on the seventh to give us a pattern and
therefore blessed the Sabbath. So what is considered work? Is it work to change
your baby’s diaper or to drive a car or to help a brother who is in trouble? The
definition of work is what seemed to cause quite a bit of confusion during Jesus’
ministry. I want to read about an event, first in Mark then in Luke.
Mark 2:23-28, 23 Now it happened that He went through the grain fields on the Sabbath; and
as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees said to Him,
“Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”
25 But He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and
hungry, he and those with him: 26 how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar
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?”
27 And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. 28
Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”
You can see that the Pharisees were looking for a reason to find fault with Jesus.
Jesus did a lot on the Sabbath so that seemed to be their easy way to catch Him in
something that was against the Law. Let’s look at what the disciples were doing.
They were plucking some heads of grain. It would be like us picking an orange off a
tree to eat it. Is that work? The Pharisees seemed to think so. Jesus reminds them
of a time when David and his men were forced to eat the showbread in the temple
that only the priests are to eat. I believe He was just pointing out that even in
scripture there are some things that have special circumstances. Then He explains
that man was not made for the Sabbath. He says that the Son of Man is Lord of the
Sabbath. We’ll get into that a bit more in a bit. The beginning of Luke chapter 6
mirrors the passage we just read in Mark almost exactly so we won’t read it again.
We’ll start reading in verse 6.
Luke 6:6-11, 6 Now it happened on another Sabbath, also, that He entered the synagogue and
taught. And a man was there whose right hand was withered. 7 So the scribes and Pharisees
watched Him closely, whether He would heal on the Sabbath, that they might find an accusation
against Him. 8 But He knew their thoughts, and said to the man who had the withered hand,
“Arise and stand here.” And he arose and stood. 9 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?” 10 And
when He had looked around at them all, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did
so, and his hand was restored as whole as the other. 11 But they were filled with rage, and
discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.
There was obviously quite a bit of confusion and misunderstanding having to do
with the Sabbath. Jesus spent a lot of His time dealing with this is of what is or is not
lawful to do on the Sabbath. This had to have been a very important issue for us to
get because He spent so much time dealing with it. I think it’s very important that we
rightly divide the word on this topic and study it out thoroughly. In this passage it
was yet another Sabbath that Jesus was in the synagogue teaching. He sees a
man with a withered hand and knows the thoughts of the scribes and Pharisees
wondering if He will heal this man on the Sabbath. So, He first asked if it was lawful
to do good or save life on the Sabbath. Then He looked around at them and it
seems clear that no one answered, so He tells the man to stretch out his hand, and
this filled them with rage but why? If they didn’t answer Him and say, ‘No you can’t
do good on the Sabbath,’ why would they be so upset? I want to look at one more
incident in Jesus’ ministry before we start putting this all into perspective for our
lives today.
Luke 13:10-17, 10 Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And
behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and
could in no way raise herself up. 12 But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her,
“Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.” 13 And He laid His hands on her, and
immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.
14 But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the
Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, “There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore
come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.”
15 The Lord then answered him and said, “Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath
loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? 16 So ought not this
woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen
years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?” 17 And when He said these things, all His
adversaries were put to shame; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were
done by Him.
Here it is another Sabbath and Jesus heals the woman who had been bent over for
eighteen years. The ruler of the synagogue is indignant and tells the crowd, likely
with an attitude full of piety, they should come to be healed on a day other than the
Sabbath. Jesus doesn’t bother to ask about doing good this time, He just calls it like
it is by calling the man a hypocrite. Hypocrite is a Greek word that means ‘actor’.
Jesus knew that although he was acting as if he were close to God he was really far
from Him. Much of the ‘religion’ (a word I really don’t like to use) of Jesus’ day was
more about politics than anything else. It had become more about power over the
masses and less about glorifying our heavenly Father. He reminds everyone there
that they would take care of their animals on the Sabbath. Wasn’t this woman worth
much more than some cattle? Then in verse 17 it says that His adversaries were
shamed but the multitude rejoiced. Why? They were shamed because they knew
He was right and the multitude rejoiced because they had been oppressed by this
pompous, ‘holier-than-thou’ lot for much too long. Many of them had likely
questioned some of the rulings even if only in their minds. Here was one who had
risen up from among the regular people and was able answer them wisely.
Back in the second century before Christ, King Antiochus was extremely mad at the
Jews for not accepting Helenistic (Greek) culture and religion. He decided to send
his general Appollonius to Jerusalem with over 20,000 troops. They pretended like
they were there for peace and then waited until the Sabbath and slaughtered them.
The Jews would not fight because it was the Sabbath. Is that what God would have
wanted? Is that what was meant by the commandment to keep holy the Sabbath?
Weren’t those some pretty huge special circumstances? Husbands watched as
their wives and children were slaughtered and wives and children watched as their
husbands and fathers were slaughtered. Not only could this not have been what
God had expected to keep this day holy, it was a twisted perversion of it. As the
story goes, they even killed those in the temple and killed priests in the holy place.
So, what does all this ancient stuff have to do with us in our modern lives? Well, the
first thing I want to mention is that nowhere in the scriptures does it imply that Jesus
or anyone else changed the Sabbath day from Friday night/Saturday to Sunday.
That just did not happen. Augustine says that ‘the church’ did that on their own
prerogative and I would agree with his statement but not with his conclusion that it
was right to do that. So what does that mean? Is it lawful to worship on Sunday? I’
d say that it is lawful to worship God any day. So, do we have to worship on the
Sabbath? Well, the command doesn’t say anything about that. It just says to keep
it holy. So, I’d say it’s fine to gather but would be ok if you didn’t. Don’t do it
because you have to but because you want to. Now this is the hard question that
has confounded men throughout the ages. What kind of work is permissible on the
Sabbath? Well, Jesus seemed to make it crystal clear that it is permissible to do
good and to save life on the Sabbath. Anyone who is a doctor or nurse, a fireman
or policeman, anyone who’s ministering to those in need, those things would not
only be lawful but I think would be expected by the Father. I can’t imagine Him
wanting all the doctors and nurses to leave the hospital on Friday evening to keep
the Sabbath holy.
Now what about the rest of us? Those who hold what would be considered as non-
essential (to saving life or doing good) jobs that may be asked to work during that
time period. Would God require you to quit your job? After reading the things that
Jesus said, I don’t think so but I do think He would like us to ask for that time period
off and explain why to our bosses. I think that would give Him glory. Now if your
boss says 'so what', we should probably begin looking for another job but I still don’t
think God would want you to not be able to take care of yourself or you family. That
would not give Him glory any more than the city of Jerusalem being sacked and
mostly everyone killed in the name of the Sabbath. I think it’s something each of us
needs to go to the Father about in our private time with Him to ask for clarity.
Jesus said that man was not made for the Sabbath but the Sabbath was made for
man. After this weekend that we took our short vacation, I really know why. It is
good for us to rest. Even God did not work seven days straight. Mom has been
teaching about us entering into His rest. That’s not only a good thing but it’s also a
necessary thing. Physiologically our bodies are not made for continuous work. The
orthodox might say it’s wrong to go play basketball on the Sabbath but for some it
would be relaxing. There are those who don’t start their car because they interpret
that as working but I know many who really enjoy taking long drives and definitely
wouldn’t consider it work. I think the bottom line is for us to step back and enjoy this
life that God has blessed us with and in doing so, give Him all the glory
Sermon by: Denise Baxley
Date: July 9, 2006
Revisited: December 14, 2008
