Title: Jesus Christ as Life
Contents Also, there is a short story called “Two Old Men” written by the Russian novelist Tolstoy. The two old men's lifelong wish was to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. It contains the meaning of going to the Holy Land and worshiping, not just traveling. The two old men collected money and went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. On the way, an old man was unable to make a pilgrimage because he had spent all his travel money to meet and help the poor. The other old man worshiped in the Holy Land as planned. Who did more right?
What is more valuable between this and that when we live our life of faith? Or, between this and that, the question of which is right and which is wrong arises.
Today's text can help us in our judgment. There are two events in the text. On the Sabbath, Jesus' disciples cut and ate the ears of grain and Jesus healed a man with a withered hand. Here's something to note. It is that differing views on the Sabbath were what prompted the Jewish leaders to decide to put Jesus to death. Verse 14, “How can the Pharisees go out and kill Jesus? We will discuss.” If this were true, then the question of the Sabbath would be a very important one. We should not understand these verses superficially. Dear brothers and sisters, please read the text carefully. We hope that you will discover an important message through the text.
1. First, let's take a look at the case of cutting the ears of wheat on the Sabbath. (12:1-8)
Today's text also begins with the phrase “at that time”. It is related to the preceding event. In 11:28-30, Jesus invited those who labored and were heavy laden to his rest.
After inviting him to his Sabbath, Jesus went with his disciples through the wheat fields on the Sabbath. When the disciples saw the ears of wheat, they were hungry. So they cut heads of wheat and began to eat them. Perhaps the Pharisees who were with him saw it. They protested against Jesus. This is verse 2. “Look. You do things that your disciples cannot do on the Sabbath.”
Brothers and sisters, why did Jesus take the hungry disciples to the wheat field on the Sabbath? Do you think Jesus was meaningless? no. Jesus did it on purpose and purposefully. Jesus purposely made his hungry disciples break the Sabbath in front of the Pharisees. Why? Jesus said in 11:29-30 that he was meek and humble in heart, and his yoke was easy and light. Jesus was trying to show how easy and light his yoke is compared to the yoke of the Pharisees through this incident. He wanted to contrast his yoke with the yoke of the Pharisees with the Sabbath.
Dear saints, what was Jesus' answer to the Pharisees' point? When the Pharisees pointed out the Bible, Jesus also answered with the Bible. Verse 3 says, “Have you not read?” Also in verse 5, “Have you not read in the law?” what's coming soon? “Are you talking with the Bible? Are you talking about the law? I will answer you with the Bible.”
1) Jesus cites David's companions as an example. Verses 3 and 4. (read)
In the law, only the priests were allowed to eat the showbread in the house of God. However, in the same Bible that wrote this rule, there is a record that David and his companions went into the temple and ate the showbread. God did not condemn them.
Saints, what do you mean? “If David and those who were with him long ago were not condemned by the law for eating the inedible showbread, how can you condemn me? I am the Christ greater than David, and my disciples are those with Christ greater than David. If what David did was legal, what I did was also legal.”
2) Jesus continued to speak. This is verse 5. (read)
He gave the example of the priests. The priests are to offer sacrifices in the temple on the Sabbath. They were required to keep the Sabbath outside the temple, but it was legal to work freely inside the temple. That the temple can give them freedom.
But Jesus said in verse 6, “I tell you, here is one greater than the temple.” Jesus is the Christ greater than the temple. If it is right for the priests to work in the temple on the Sabbath, it is not wrong for the hungry disciples to cut and eat the ears of wheat on the Sabbath in Christ, who is greater than the temple.
3) The Pharisees accused Jesus' disciples of breaking the law because they cut and ate the gleanings on the Sabbath. Jesus gave examples of David and the priests and said that the disciples were not at fault. Jesus declared the reason definitively because in verse 8, “the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” Jesus is the Christ, the Lord of the Sabbath. Therefore, as the Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus had the authority to establish the Sabbath long ago and now he has the authority to abolish the Sabbath. But what went wrong?
Dear saints, what was the problem of the Pharisees? While they had the form of the Sabbath, they were ignorant of the Lord of the Sabbath. He was blind as to the purpose of the Sabbath. “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27). But the Pharisees have always been heavy burdens on others. They always say, “It is not against the law. That's against the rules. This goes against tradition. It is against the order.”
Dear saints, where can we find the purpose of the law? It must be sought from the One who made the law. Jesus is the master of the law. We must find it in Jesus. Jesus is the most accurate interpreter of the law. What is God's will through the law? Verse 7: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice”. Here mercy is love. God did not want any form of religion without love. He didn't want to question religion without love. He wanted love rather than formal worship.
Brothers and sisters, we can use the law or sacrifices, like the Pharisees, regardless of the Lord's intentions. All law is nothing without love for Jesus Christ. Dear saints, Christ is greater than David. He is greater than the temple. He is the Lord of the Sabbath. Therefore, I hope that you will love Christ in your life of faith. Please focus on Christ.
2. Let's look at the case of healing a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath. (Verses 12:9-21)
After the first Sabbath, Jesus entered the synagogue on another Sabbath. There was a man with dry hands. Then the people asked, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” (verse 10), and they tried to accuse Jesus. To accuse is to criticize. In fact, it is not urgent to heal a person with dry hands. It's not life-threatening. You can even fix it by avoiding the Sabbath. Jesus must have known their intentions and could have easily avoided them. But Jesus healed him on the Sabbath. Brothers and sisters, what is the reason? To quarrel with the Pharisees? What message is Jesus trying to give?
As we look at Jesus' answer, we want to understand the Lord's message. Verse 11. “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not catch it?” The answer is obvious. Including the Pharisees are doing this. Then the answer in verse 12 is that it is lawful to do good for people on the Sabbath. Why? It's in verse 12. “How much more valuable is a man than a sheep!” Dear brothers and sisters, this sentence is an exclamation, not a question. There are few records in the Bible of our Lord admiring him. But here Jesus said, “How much more valuable are a man than a sheep!” and said. And Jesus healed a man with a withered hand.
For Jesus, it didn't matter if it was the Sabbath or not. It was more important to rescue his sheep from the pit. His members were more important than the law. He valued people more than the Sabbath itself. That Jesus loved people. He valued people more than the form of sacrifice. It is more important to fill the stomachs of hungry disciples than the law of the Sabbath. He cherished and loved people until he died on the cross.
What I did not understand in the church by believing in Jesus is that there are so many inhuman acts in the church. The truth is that there is no love in the church that shouts love. Why? Because we are separated from Christ as life and have only forms. Because we care about rules, orders, and organizations, but not with Christ, the Head. Because we care about form, doctrine, and rule, but we do not care about the members of the body of Christ. At first, we receive Jesus by faith and passionately depend on Him. But gradually, over time, that initial enthusiasm cools down, and faith becomes more and more entrenched in form, custom, and literal discipline. It is easy to lose dynamic faith and life as Christ, as life, loses interest and remains only in a formal shape.
Brothers and sisters, do you want the life of Christ, not a formal religion? Do you want a living church, not a formal church? Pay attention to Christ, the head of the church. I hope you will be interested in the church, which is a member of the body of Christ. Jesus Himself shows this. It is Christ-centered in the life of faith. And the church is people-centered. Our focus is on the Lord and His body, the saints. We must be concerned with the Lord. And you should pay attention to those who are saints.