Message by Chad Kelly
Introduction
One of the most powerful movies in recent years is the epic film Gladiator. At the beginning of the film, the aging Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius has a private conversation with Maximus, his most trusted and successful military commander.
During this dialogue, the Emperor communicates his desire that Maximus succeed him as “Protector of Rome” instead of the Emperor”™s evil son, Commodus. Shortly after this conversation, Marcus Aurelius privately gives Commodus the same information. But the ambitious Commodus doesn”™t react well to the news. He quickly murders his father, thus securing the throne before anyone else learned of his father”™s plans for Maximus. He then gives the order that Maximus and his family be disposed of.
Unbeknownst to the young Emperor, Maximus escapes and rushes off to save his family. But he doesn”™t make it. He finds them murdered and his beautiful home destroyed. His desire to live now absent, he is gathered up by a slave trader and sold as a gladiator. But after experiencing success as a gladiator””and learning of the potential to fight in the Roman coliseum before Emperor Commodus””Maximus has renewed hope . . . and vengeance. The climactic moment of the movie occurs after the Emperor has witnessed this masked gladiator”™s spectacular performance and, accompanied by his guards, walks out onto the floor of a packed coliseum to meet him. Let”™s join the scene:
Commodus: “Why doesn”™t the hero reveal himself and tell us all your real name. You do have a name.”
Maximus: “My name is gladiator.” (turning his back on the Emperor to show his disrespect)
Commodus was offended by the gladiator”™s audacity to turn his back on him. He wondered, “Who does this guy think he is? Does he have a right to do such a thing?”
Commodus: “How dare you turn your back on me! Slave! You will remove your helmet and tell me your name!”
Maximus: (removing his helmet while turning to face Commodus) “My name is Maximus Desimus Meridius, commander of the armies of the north, general of the fearless legions, loyal servant of the true emperor””Marcus Aurelius, father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife, and I will have my vengeance in this life or the next!”
After Maximus reveals himself, everyone in the coliseum gasps! And Commodus begins to shake in his boots. THIS is MAXIMUS!
In Mark chapter two, Jesus is going to say and do such audacious things that those around Him are going to ask, “Who does this guy think He is?” Jesus answers that question and leaves those all around Him with their mouths hanging open. They will realize who this Guy is, and that He does have the right to say and do such things.
As we continue to look at redemption in Mark”™s Gospel, we come to 2 stories recorded back to back, apparently on the same day.
In our text, Jesus confronts one of the key elements of the oppressive and legalistic religious system of His day and asserts His authority to do so!
And boy, does He tick off these religious leaders!
Mark 2:23-3:6 (NLT)
23 One Sabbath day as Jesus was walking through some grainfields, his disciples began breaking off heads of grain to eat. 24 But the Pharisees said to Jesus, “Look, why are they breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath?”
25 Jesus said to them, “Haven”™t you ever read in the Scriptures what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 26 He went into the house of God (during the days when Abiathar was high priest) and broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests are allowed to eat. He also gave some to his companions.”
27 Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!”
3 Jesus went into the synagogue again and noticed a man with a deformed hand. 2 Since it was the Sabbath, Jesus”™ enemies watched him closely. If he healed the man”™s hand, they planned to accuse him of working on the Sabbath.
3 Jesus said to the man with the deformed hand, “Come and stand in front of everyone.” 4 Then he turned to his critics and asked, “Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?” But they wouldn”™t answer him.
5 He looked around at them angrily and was deeply saddened by their hard hearts. Then he said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” So the man held out his hand, and it was restored! 6 At once the Pharisees went away and met with the supporters of Herod to plot how to kill Jesus.
Redeeming the Sabbath
Mark 2:23-3:6
We can enjoy the redemptive heart of the Sabbath!
Now, there were 3 Groups of Religious Leaders that were prominent:
Experts in the Law: Also known as scribes, these Jewish leaders were professional interpreters of Scripture. Scribes could also be Pharisees.
Pharisees: Numbering about 6,000 in first century Palestine, these defenders of Judaism were known for their knowledge of the Law and its application to life.
Herodians: Mentioned only three times in the Gospels (Mark 3:6; 12:13; Matthew 22:16), these Jewish leaders were politically loyal to Herod and the Herodian dynasty. They never appear without the Pharisees.
These leaders were out to get Jesus””to somehow catch Him violating their religious system, so that they could condemn Him and shut down His ministry!
Here, their focus is to somehow condemn how Jesus acts/behaves on the Sabbath.
And Jesus boldly “acts out” in true righteousness and with THE authoritative understanding of the Sabbath!
MacArthur
[As background to our understanding of these two scenes], in the Talmud there are 24 chapters of Sabbath laws. There are 24 chapters of Sabbath laws and one rabbi said he spent two and a half years studying one chapter to figure out all the minutia, things like you could lift something up and put something down, but only from certain places to certain places. You could lift it up in a public place and put it down in a private place, or you could lift it up in a private place and put it down in a public place, or you could lift it up in a wide place and put it in a legally free place and on and on and on.
No burden could be carried that weighed more than a dried fig, or half a fig carried two times. If you put an olive in your mouth and rejected it because it was bad, you couldn’t put a whole one in the next time because the palate had tasted the flavor of a whole olive. If you threw an object in the air and caught it with the other hand, it was a sin. If you caught it in the same hand, it wasn’t. If a person was in one place and he reached out his arm for food and the Sabbath overtook him, he would have to drop the food and not return his arm, or he would be carrying a burden and that would be sin. A tailor couldn’t carry his needle. The scribe couldn’t carry his pen. A pupil couldn’t carry his books. No clothing could be examined lest somehow you find a lice and inadvertently kill it. Wool couldn’t be dyed. Nothing could be sold. Nothing could be bought. Nothing could be washed. A letter could not be sent even if it was sent via a heathen. No fire could be lit. Cold water could be poured on warm, but warm couldn’t be poured on cold. An egg could not be boiled even if all you did was put it in the sand.
By the way”¦in Deuteronomy 23:25 God makes a wonderful provision for travelers. When you enter your neighbor’s standing grain, then you may pluck the head with your hand, but you shall not put a sickle in your neighbor’s standing grain. Obviously, you can’t just harvest the grain and haul it off, but when you’re traveling through his fields, have at it. Take what’s there. This would be true of any kind of food in a reasonable, sensible way to stave off your hunger, you’re welcome to what is there. So the Old Testament provides for that and it doesn’t restrict it to six days a week, it simply says you can do it. The Old Testament never restricts how far a person can walk, how far they can go, how heavy the burden they can carry. It simply calls them to stop working and rest and spend the day worshiping God with no other narrowing restrictions.
So His disciples are doing exactly what the Old Testament allowed them to do. His disciples making their way along while picking the heads of grain. Luke adds they were then rubbing them in their hands. They pick off the heads of grain, rub the heads of grain so they could get the inside fruit from the husk and the shell. Matthew adds they did it because they were hungry. This, of course, was perfectly within the purposes of God and the revelation of God in the Old Testament, but in direct violation of the religious rules manmade which dominated that legalistic culture.
Jesus said: “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!”
We can enjoy the redemptive heart of the Sabbath!
God gave the sabbath to help people ”“”“ not to arbitrarily restrict their activities. By abstaining from work on the sabbath, people keep it holy (a service to God), but also gain a day of rest (a service to themselves and their families).
In other words, God made the Sabbath for our good.
We can enjoy the redemptive heart of the Sabbath!
Furthermore”¦
Sabbath law is not designed to burden us, but to provide an opportunity for rest, a rest that prefigures the coming day of God”™s eternal rest.
And understand”¦God”™s eternal rest was bought with the life and death of Jesus Christ! He did all the work to save us so that we can rest forever as the children of God!
The Sabbath was designed to point to that eternal rest!
Back in Genesis, after God created all things in 6 days”¦God didn”™t NEED to rest on the 7th day. He rested to make it part of the created order, to ingrain into the very fiber of the universe this day of rest that was to be a pointer to the redemption and rest that Jesus would bring to us!
We can enjoy the redemptive heart of the Sabbath!
The second story in 3:1-6 is about Jesus healing a man on the Sabbath.
He poses two either-or possibilities ”“”“ “to do good, or to do harm” and “to save life, or to kill”. His opponents, of course, would advocate a third alternative: Let’s wait until the sabbath is ended. But Jesus has come to bring life and release and freedom. What better time to do a good deed than on the sabbath! What better place than the synagogue!
Jesus had the true understanding of the redemptive heart of the Sabbath, as God had originally intended it!
We can enjoy the redemptive heart of the Sabbath!
Jesus is angry and grieved ”“”“ angry that holy men should obstruct holy action ”“”“ angry that small men enjoy so much power over the life of their community ”“”“ grieved at their hardness of heart ”“”“ grieved at their lack of compassion for a man whose infirmity has defined so much of his life ”“”“ grieved that those responsible for interpreting Torah should have failed so completely to understand God’s will.
And Jesus wanted all of His hearers to really get the redemptive heart of God in the Sabbath”¦and to enjoy it!
MacArthur
The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. The Sabbath was made for rest and blessing and joy and mercy and compassion and the meeting of needs, there wouldn’t be a better day in the week to heal somebody. There wouldn’t be a better day in the week to provide food than the Sabbath.
We can enjoy the redemptive heart of the Sabbath!
Conclusion
Jeff Miller tells a story:
I recently attended a seminar at a conference with a friend of mine. As was the custom at these seminars, a thirty-minute paper was read arguing for or against some biblical or theological position. This particular paper was written in response to a recently-published article. After she had read her paper, the seminar leader invited ten minutes of questions from the 50 or so in attendance. My friend raised his hand and began to defend the published article against which she wrote. Back and forth they disagree until she finally cut him off.
“I beg your pardon,” she began, “but I think you”™ve misunderstood the intention of the author of that article.” My friend replied, “I beg your pardon, but I am the author of that article.”
Doesn”™t it make sense that the author would know best? If you know your New Testament, you know that Jesus””as an instrument of the Father””was actually the Creator of the universe. Thus when the Bible says that on the Seventh Day God rested from His work, that was Jesus””the eternal Second Person of the Trinity. Jesus is the author of the Sabbath.
Doesn”™t it make sense that He would know its purpose?
JESUS says”¦
We can enjoy the redemptive heart of the Sabbath!
Practically, for us, we enjoy the principles of the Sabbath a day later”¦on the New Sabbath”¦the Lord”™s Day”¦the first day of the week”¦because it was on Sunday that Jesus rose from the dead and made our redemption complete!
And now, with even greater meaning and understanding of because of the finished work of Jesus Christ”¦
We can-and should-enjoy the redemptive heart of the Sabbath!
MacArthur
The Jesus you can’t ignore is this confrontational Jesus who attacks false religious leaders, doesn’t build bridges to them.
He assaults them and their corrupt systems. The gospel of grace, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the gospel of God is something completely distinct from and separate from all offerings of false religion. He is Lord of the Sabbath. That claim over their pinnacle day which was the most defining feature of their religious system set Him in a place where they could not be satisfied until He was murdered. He dispenses grace and they dispensed brutal, merciless law.
Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
That should be our practice every day. But certainly on Sunday.
We can enjoy the redemptive heart of the Sabbath!
Each Sunday, enjoy the redemptive heart of the Sabbath by resting from your regular work and by resting your soul by coming to get help from the Redeemer Who alone can give you eternal rest!