"At
that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. His disciples
were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the
Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is
unlawful on the Sabbath.” Matt:
12:1-2
Jesus,
and his Disciples were walking in the gain fields on the “Sabbath” day,
it is here, that Jesus has a confrontation with the religious leaders over
their perception that Jesus' disciples were "violating" the
"Sabbath" command. This exchange in the grain
fields between Jesus and the Pharisees was one of the many ongoing
exchanges that occurred throughout Jesus' ministry for 3 1/2 years
The
Pharisees are upset that the disciples of Jesus were “working” on
the "Sabbath” day, they considered the Disciples picking grain and eating
it as the "work of harvesting" which the Pharisees deemed
this as "unlawful".
"At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the
Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and
eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples
are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.” Matt:12:1-2
The
Pharisees had held the Sabbath as a test commandment of obedience and
faithfulness to the Covenant established by God with the people of Israel at
Mount Sinai.
The
Pharisees read the command in the Book of Exodus written by the Great Prophet
of the Lord God Moses, stating that the Sabbath(s) was a sign between God
and Israel, that the Lord was their God and Israel was his people.
"The
LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel,
saying, 'You shall surely observe My sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me
and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who
sanctifies you. Therefore, you are to observe the sabbath, for it is holy to
you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does
any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people" Ex:12-14
Over
the years the religious leaders had built a hedge of their own ideas around the
Sabbath in order to "protect" the Sabbath's sanctity so that
it would not be "profaned" , and that any who
did not embrace their view was , in their minds, disobeying God.
The
keeping of the Sabbath was their hallmark of obedience, and it was
their own imposed “litmus test” upon others as how they measured
obedience to the Covenant.
But
Jesus and his disciples were, in the minds of the Pharisees, violating
this “test” , and the Pharisees reacted
badly, and accused Jesus and the Disciples of braking the Sabbath. The
Sabbath was in the Pharisees' view the focus of the Covenant that God made with
Israel.
Changing
Covenants
For us
to truly understand this encounter in the grain fields we need to go back
to the calling of the Disciples. That is, Jesus called
his Disciples and sent them forth into the work of preaching that the
Kingdom of God, that God's Kingdom had arrived and that a relationship was
opened for humanity to have with God. We can read about this in Matthew10:1-20
In Matthew
11:12 Jesus issues his great invitation for any and all who will
freely receive it to "Come to me and I will give you rest" .
Jesus tells us, that in him is the true rest of which the Old Covenant
Sabbath was only a shadow of, Jesus is the realty of that rest.
"
Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in
respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day thing which are a mere
shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ" Col: 2:16-17
The
very point that the Pharisees confront Jesus on, the “Sabbath” is what the
Pharisees looked to as their evidence of piety as the very means
by which they measured righteousness. That means, these Pharisees “rested" in
the Sabbath, looked to the Sabbath, trusted and relied on the
Sabbath, drew their identity from the Sabbath and saw it's
keeping and as the justification of and their validation and as
the expression of the Law and all other attachments of the Old Covenant.
The
“Sabbath” is anything that gives you “rest” in place of Jesus –Any “litmus
test” other than Jesus – The Apostles were sent for to tell others about Jesus-
where the true rest is found- nothing else- but Christ It is the changing
of a Covenant-they drew their identities from it they trusted in it and they
"rested in it".
Blameless
Jesus
immediately recognized the true issue that the Pharisees have with his
Disciples, and directs the Pharisees to the word of God in response to the
Pharisees accusation.
"Jesus
answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were
hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the
consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the
priests. Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the
temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are blameless? I tell you that something
greater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, ‘I
desire mercy, not sacrifice, ‘you would not have condemned the blameless. For
the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” Matt:
12:3-8
David
and his men had come to the town of Nob, where the Tabernacle was erected and
asked for bread from the Ahimelek the Priest for he and his men. There was
no bread on hand except the Shewbread which was in the Sanctuary of
the Tabernacle.
The
Shewbread which David and his men took from the Sanctuary of
Tabernacle and then ate was concentrated for only for the Priest only to eat,
yet Jesus declared David and his men "blameless".
Jesus
then addresses the arduous work of Temple Priest in the continuous
offering of sacrifices. The animals had to be bound, slaughtered, dressed and
even lifted to the Alter of God. All of this entailed "work"
on the Sabbath Day, yet Jesus declared that the Priest were doing
their " Sabbath duty in the temple and desecrate the Sabbath and
yet are blameless?" before the Lord.
A New
Priesthood for a New Covenant
Why
did Jesus bring up the example of David doing what was "unlawful"
and the Temple Priest "desecrating" the Sabbath, and then
Jesus declared both as being "blameless" ? What was Jesus
telling the Pharisees in response to their charges that Jesus' Disciples were
"doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath "
Jesus
then faults the understanding of the Pharisees, that they have misunderstood
the true intent of the word of Scriptures.
"If
you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would
not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” Matt: 12:7-8
Jesus
not only address the Pharisees' lack of understanding of the Scriptures, but
Jesus then pronounces that his Disciples are "blameless" as
well.
Jesus
tells the angry Pharisees that if they, truly understood the word of God they
"would not have condemned the blameless", meaning that his
very Disciples are "blameless".
What
is Jesus telling the Pharisees about his Disciples who were with him in the grain fields,
and throughout the ages?
Jesus
is stating that his Disciples are "blameless" as was David who
ate the Shewbread which belong only to the Priest, and the
Priest in their service at the Temple, who Jesus said was "blameless"
even as they "desecrated the Sabbath”.
By
Jesus declaring his Disciples "blameless" Jesus is declaring his
Disciples Priest.
But
Jesus' Disciples are not a Priesthood of the Covenant of Sacrifice made with
Israel at Mount Sinai, of which the Sabbath was the sign of that Covenant but
rather Jesus' Disciples are a Priesthood of a New Covenant of Mercy which had
been, and is, God's intent all along.
"If
you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice," (8)
Mercy
Not Sacrifice
The
Old Covenant would have those who broke the Sabbath to die for "desecrating"
the Sabbath as we read in the Sabbath command in Exodus:12.
But this is not what God's intent ever was.
God's desire is for mercy, not sacrifice. This means that forgiveness is
extended to us, we are "blameless", as was David and the Temple
Priest, there are no more sacrifices to be offered as we read in the Epistle to
the Hebrew Christians.
"AND
THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE." Now where
there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for
sin." Heb: 10:17-18
Disciples
Are Priest
Jesus
is declaring that those called to himself, his Disciples, those who find rest only
in Jesus, and are sent into the harvest are a New Priesthood of a New
Covenant of Mercy which supersedes the Old Covenant of Sacrifice.
The
Pharisees understood what Jesus was telling them, that the Priesthood
and Covenant which they served was passing away. All that the
Pharisees "rested" in was passing away and with
it the very Sabbath and their position of power and prominence.
St.
Paul takes up the theme of non-condemnation, that is "blameless" in
his Epistle to the Roman Christians.
"there
is now no more condemnation to those who are in Christ." Rm: 8:1
In the
eyes of God, we, Jesus' Disciples, are "blameless",
therefore we are Priest.
St.
Paul uses the description of a "priestly duty" as
applying to himself in his ministry of proclaiming the Gospel to the Gentiles
which brings people to enter and experience that New Covenant of Mercy.
"Yet
I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again,
because of the grace God gave me to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the
Gentiles. He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so
that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the
Holy Spirit." Rm: 15:15-16
St.
Peter declares all Disciples as being a Priesthood, 1Pet:2:5-9.
Jesus:
Lord of the Sabbath
Jesus
then angers the Pharisees even more, when he declares himself "the
Lord of the Sabbath".
Jesus by using the title Lord, he is
equating himself and identifying himself as the very Lord who made the Covenant
with Israel. Jesus is reveling his deity to the
Pharisees, showing that he has authority to pronounce the Disciples as
"blameless" Our
Rest Only in Jesus.
If anything,
else gives us "rest”, aside from Jesus, as the Sabbath did the
Pharisees then we are creating a test commandment that will be uses
to measure by, and if we do this, we like the Pharisees will build a hedge
around that self-created Sabbath which will then impose requirement and
bring unnecessary condemnation upon others and ourselves.
Only
Jesus is our "rest" our "Sabbath”, that we might walk in
the grain fields of this world as a Priesthood of the New Covenant of Mercy.
Benediction: May we each and all, be that "blameless"
Priesthood of a Covenant of Mercy sent forth with the Gospel message in
the grain fields of this world, today, tomorrow and forevermore.
Rev. Todd Crouch, Pastor
Topinabee Community Church
Topinabee, Michigan
If You Would Like to Know More About or to Support the Ministry of Topinabee Community Church You Can go to Our Web Site.
https://topinabeechurch.org/index.html
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"If It Is Not About Jesus, It Is Not About Anything"
