Keeping the Sabbath Holy
Mark 2:23-3:6
June 3, 2018 – Redeemer
Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy.
What does this mean?
We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and his word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it.
When Dr. Luther wrote the Small Catechism he included woodcuts – pictures, so that the youngest children in the family who couldn’t read, could still be taught what God’s Word said. The woodcut for the third commandment is a picture of worship. Luther is standing in the pulpit, preaching Christ. You know he is preaching Christ crucified because there is a large crucifix between him and the people. The congregation is all ages of people Most of them are attentively listening to the sermon, but a few are not. At the bottom of the picture is a man not even looking at the preacher. His hand is covering his ear. He’s looking in the direction of a fussy toddler. It’s obvious the Devil has distracted him. At the top of the picture is a window. Through the window you can see a man hauling wood. Perhaps he just left Menards because it was the last Sunday of their 11% rebate sale and he wants to build a new deck. Right below the window, inside the congregation appears a father and his family. Dad is looking out the window. He’s mad at his neighbor for getting a head start on his deck while he sits in church with his wife and children. So who is keeping the Sabbath in the picture? Are you keeping the Sabbath? Today, the question Saint Mark’s Gospel puts before us is this – Did Jesus keep the Sabbath?
Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work … You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and outstretched arm. God did all the work of creating in six days and then He rested. Sabbath means rest. On their last day as slaves in Egypt – God’s people rested. While they rested God did all the work of saving them. He brought the plague of death on their enemies and set them free. The next day they were free from bondage in Egypt and on their way to the promised land. Along the way they stopped at Mount Sinai where Moses received the commandments and the covenant from God.
On every Sabbath in the OT the people were to rest from their labors and remember that God created them and redeemed them from slavery all by Himself, without any merit or worthiness in them. God destroyed Pharaoh and His army in their baptism in the Red Sea. God fed them Holy Food in the manna from heaven. God led them through the wilderness to the promised land.
Now Jesus comes along as a Rabbi, a great teacher, and his disciples pluck heads of grain to eat. The Pharisees react as if Farmer Bob fired up his $300,000 International Harvester Combine and brought in 160 acres of wheat. “What kind of a teacher are you Jesus? Your disciples are harvesting grain on the Sabbath.” Don’t try this at home. Don’t challenge Jesus about the Word of God. He is after all its author. The Pharisees were wrong. According to Deuteronomy 23 you can pick fruit or grain on the Sabbath, as long as it is only to eat. You can’t take any grapes home in your pocket or use a sickle to harvest more than you need.
Jesus also reminds the Pharisees of that time when King David and his men were without food, entered the temple, and the priest gave them the bread of presence – sacred and holy bread intended only for the priest.
Not only did the Old Testament allow the plucking of grain to eat on the Sabbath, but King David actually took what was Holy and used it to feed his men. So according to the Old Testament, you kept the Sabbath holy even when you were meeting your basic needs on the Sabbath. It was also still holy to meet the basic needs of others.
Jesus taught the Pharisees what the Sabbath is with the Old Testament. Now He taught them with Himself. He went into the Synagogue – a building set apart for God – a holy house. Since He is God He did God’s work in God’s house. A man with a withered hand is there – a man who could not work. Jesus asks the Pharisees (who don’t want anyone, including God, to work), “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” No answer. Another reminder for you. Don’t try to argue with Jesus about God’s Word – you’ll lose. Jesus commanded the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out and it was restored.”
Let me tell you a little secret (that is no secret). The commandments were not given to save you. If you think you can get into God’s good graces by the commandments – you’ll likely end up a Pharisee. You’ll always be looking for others to fail to make yourself feel better. You’ll rewrite God’s Word to accommodate your sins and make everyone else a sinner. You have not kept the third commandment – if you’ve ever daydreamed, looked at your phone, thought about your afternoon plans, ignored the whole sermon, skipped church, you broke this command. Repent.
Jesus kept the Sabbath, not only in the text, but ultimately He kept the Sabbath. There was that one Sabbath in the life of Jesus, that seventh day, that Saturday when Jesus rested perfectly – where He did nothing because all of God’s Work was finished. Do you remember that Sabbath? It was the day after He died and the day before He rose.
Throughout the Old Testament God worked for the salvation of His people and through them to save the world. Then Jesus came, a descendant of Adam, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, and David, and He worked. He worked against the Devil by casting out demons. He worked against death by healing sicknesses and raising the dead. He worked against sin by resisting all temptation. Finally He let all of your sin do its work on Him. He lifted the load of your guilt and shame. He took your daydreaming, Facebooking, texting, and sporting leagues – your sins against the third commandment, and died for them. The Father’s anger at you despising preaching and His Word burned against Jesus. When all His work was done, Jesus rested. “It is finished,” He declared and bowed His head to take a three day nap in the tomb. Rest in peace Jesus.
Every Sabbath rest of the OT is fulfilled when Jesus rests on the final Sabbath. He kept the Sabbath and that is why Christians don’t worship on Saturday anymore. Free of the Sabbath Law we freely chose Sunday to remember the resurrection of our Lord, to hear preaching and the Word of God. Every Sunday is a little Easter – a celebration that Christ woke up after His rest having finished the work of our salvation.
In his hymn on the Ten Commandments, Luther taught this about the Third Commandment.
“You shall observe the worship day That peace may fill your home, and pray,
And put aside the work you do, So that God may work in you.”
Have mercy, Lord!
There is one valid excuse for not keeping the Sabbath. You no longer need God’s work. Until that day we remember the Sabbath, by keeping it holy, by hearing God’s Word and preaching. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Pr. Bruce Timm anno Dimini
June 2, 2018