A New Sabbath

Light in the Darkness: The Glory of Jesus in Mark PART VI
Dr. Timothy Keller
08 February 2015

Mark 2:23-28, 3:1-6
23One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grain fields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain.  24The Pharisees said to him, "Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?"

25He answered, "Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need?  26In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat.  And he also gave some to his companions."

27Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.  28So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."

3:1Another time Jesus went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there.  2Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath.  3Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, "Stand up in front of everyone."

4Then Jesus asked them, "Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?"  But they remained silent.

5He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.  6Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.

ANGER OF JESUS 3:5
--Epic anger and he grieves over stubborn hearts.
--According to Pharisees, Jesus was doing a bunch of illegal things on the Sabbath.
--Legalistic rules thwarted the purpose of the Sabbath.
--Sabbath is about rest, renewal, and restoration.
--v.27 Law was made for us as a gift, not a burden.
--Not eating from the tree in the Garden requires an attitude of the heart.
--Serpent's lies have gotten into all of our hearts.
--Obey God just because we trust Him, not out of trying to get something from Him.
--Something in our hearts sees the Law as a chain

ENEMIES OF JESUS
--Herod was a secular power; Pharisees were traditional Jewish laws.
--Although they were sworn enemies, they united against Jesus
--Can obedience be intrinsically satisfying?
--Sex-God made it to create community between two people, not for personal fulfillment.
--v25-David eating the holy bread in the tabernacle suggests that ceremonial rules of how you worship God are temporary.

CLAIM OF JESUS
--God rested on the seventh day because the work was done.
--Jesus Christ finished the work on the cross that crushed us after the fall
--Looking for the rest underneath the physical rest we need.
--Jesus just doesn't change or overturn the Sabbath, but he is the Sabbath.