Rev. David Holwick ZM The Quest for the Real Jesus, #12
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
December 7, 2008
Matthew 12:1-7
LIFE OVER LAW
I. ANCIENT RULES.
A. Many Jews live in the northeast.
In our area, most are moderately religious.
But there are communities where Jews take it to another level.
Writer Shalom Auslander was raised in the largely Orthodox
Jewish town of Monsey, New York.
He says Monsey was a pretty town where everything was forbidden.
One was forbidden to drive on the Sabbath, one was forbidden to
take four steps without a yarmulke, one was forbidden to eat
meat with dairy.
Having eaten meat, one had to abstain from dairy for six hours;
having eaten dairy, one had to abstain from meat for 3 hours.
One was always forbidden to eat pig, at least until the Messiah
arrived.
Only then, Rabbi Goldfisher taught him in the fourth grade,
would the wicked be punished, the dead be resurrected, and
the pigs be kosher.
The people of Monsey were terrified of God, and they taught
Shalom to be terrified of Him, too.
In early autumn, when the leaves choked, turned colors, and
fell to their deaths, everyone gathered together in
synagogues for Yom Kippur.
During the service they said out-loud and in unison, how God was
going to kill them:
“Who by water and who by fire,
who by sword, who by beast,
who by famine, who by thirst,
who by storm, who by plague,
who by strangulation and who by stoning.”
#11413
Now there’s a responsive reading that gets your attention!
Why do orthodox Jews follow all these rules?
As Tevya says in “Fiddler on the Roof,” it’s TRADITION.
Once you slack off a little, once you let some exceptions in,
everything will fall apart.
B. Jesus had issues with this kind of religious system.
1) It’s kind of ironic that his followers have constructed it
all over again.
2) We feel comfortable with rules.
a) Religious rules.
b) Moral rules.
c) Church kitchen rules.
3) If we don’t have rules, everything will fall apart.
a) Jesus agreed with this, sort of.
b) It’s just that some rules carry a little more weight
than others.
C. Today’s principle can open a can of worms.
1) It makes Christianity a little more complicated.
2) It also makes it dynamic.
II. JESUS CONFRONTS HIS CRITICS ON A WEEKEND.
A. The Sabbath was important.
1) Jews loved the Sabbath.
2) It was a day of rest, and a day of worship.
3) Their strict adherence to Sabbath rules identified them
as a people.
B. But some were stricter than others.
1) Over the years, Sabbath rules had multiplied.
2) Jesus appears to be a little looser than most.
3) When his disciples pluck some grain as they walk, he didn’t
care.
a) By some interpretations, they weren’t actually sinning.
b) But the religious opponents disagreed.
C. Sabbath observance was one of his key conflicts with the Jews.
1) Usually, they took issue with the healings he did on the
Sabbath. Why not do it on another day?
2) Jesus had solid reasons for his behavior, and he gives them.
III. TWO ANALOGIES AND A PRINCIPLE.
A. Jesus makes a point about King David. 1 Samuel 21
1) In the Old Testament episode, David is running for his life.
a) King Saul is out to kill him.
b) His men are starving.
c) So David lies to a priest.
1> Maybe you can justify his stretch by saying his
“king’s business” is really God’s business.
2> At any rate, his men get their bread.
2) But they should not have.
a) Only priests were supposed to eat this holy bread.
b) Why did the priest let them?
1> He recognized David’s authority, so he bent the rules.
B. Jesus makes a point from the Torah.
1) Every Sabbath day, priests must offer sacrifices.
a) This is more “work” than reaping grain, yet they are
not sinning.
b) The law requires them to do this work, for the sake of
the temple worship.
2) Jesus drives it home - the temple supercedes the law,
and Jesus himself supercedes the temple.
a) In both analogies, his point is that rules can be bent
if a greater authority demands it.
b) Jesus himself is now that greater authority.
C. Jesus draws a principle from a prophet.
1) The prophet Hosea famously said, “I desire mercy, not
sacrifice.”
2) Hosea was not against Jewish worship practices, but he knew
they were not an end in themselves.
a) The way we treat people reveals how we are really
treating God.
b) In God’s scale of priorities, showing concern for others
is more important than religious rituals.
1> Life is more important than law.
2> This is why Jesus healed people on the Sabbath.
3> This is why he let his disciples satisfy their
hunger.
IV. WHERE’S THE CONCRETE?
A. If some laws can be bent, the rest can become Jell-O.
1) Situation Ethics is based on the idea that all moral
laws are fluid. Even the Ten Commandments.
a) Does Jesus agree with them?
German theologian Ernst Kasemann tells the story of what
happened one Sabbath day in a remote Dutch village.
The Netherlands’ famed systems of dams and dykes were
failing due to torrential rains.
If the dykes failed, the sea would inundate their town.
Authorities contacted the only figure capable of activating
local citizens to erect a temporary barrier of sandbags
that might stave off the waters --
They called on the local pastor.
The pastor was torn.
Clearly, the Sabbath was to be kept holy, a time when
believers refrained from work.
Putting up a temporary sandbag wall would require the people
of the village to violate that command.
Yet, the need to do something was urgent.
He couldn’t bring himself to make a decision, so he called
a meeting of the villages.
The pious people there were inclined to simply let nature
take its course and to rely on God to do His will.
Almost against his own will, the pastor decided that he
needed, in fairness, to hold up an opposing viewpoint,
one with which he didn’t fully agree himself.
“Good friends,” he said, “isn’t it true that Jesus Himself
allowed the disciples to pluck grain in the open fields
through which they passed one Sabbath Day?
In other words, Jesus allowed the disciples to harvest --
to work -- without criticizing them.”
A silence fell over the assembled group.
Finally, an elderly man spoke up.
“Pastor, I feel I must say something I have never dared to
say before.
It seems to me that sometimes our Lord was a bit of a
liberal.” #1953
2) We fear that allowing a single exception can bring down
the whole house of cards.
a) Think of the old “blue laws.”
In Ocean Grove, NJ, driving cars was forbidden on Sundays.
Many people loved this - it made Sunday a leisurely day.
But a non-religious resident sued the town, and won.
Now Ocean Grove has just as much Sunday traffic as us.
But consider this - no one FORCED the people to drive
on Sunday.
The courts just said you could not forbid others to drive.
I guess people can only be leisurely if you force them
into it.
B. We must be led by the Spirit.
1) We should learn to desire the right thing without the
threat of a law.
a) Those who tithe should do so because it honors God,
not because he may make you lose your job if you don’t.
b) Put a positive spin on coming to church.
2) We should grasp the whole Bible so we can judge which laws
carry more weight than others.
a) Jesus emphasized healing sickness and other physical
needs.
b) Jesus emphasized loving people and saving them from
their sin.
C. Human nature prefers rigidity.
Writer Madeleine L’Engle wrote:
“Freedom is a terrible gift, and the theory behind all
dictatorships is ‘the people’ do not want freedom.”
#19173
1) But as Paul said, “The law kills; the Spirit gives life.”
2 Cor 3:6
V. JESUS IS OUR ULTIMATE AUTHORITY.
A. He is greater than David, greater than the Temple.
1) This is why I have focused a whole sermon series on him.
2) Jesus wants us to live life to the fullest.
B. Don’t rely on rigid rules. Rely on him.
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
# 1953 “Jesus Was Just A Little Too Liberal,” version by Mark Daniels,
http://markdaniels.blogspot.com/2005/08/jesus-radical-ethics-~
getting-to-know.html
#11413 “Things That Are Prohibited,” by Shalom Auslander, The New Yorker
Magazine; article: “Playoffs: Things That Are Prohibited,”
January 15, 2007, p. 38.
#19173 “Freedom Is a Terrible Gift,” by Madeleine L’ Engle, from her book
“Walking on Water.” Quoted in Discipleship Journal #114,
Nov/Dec 1999, p. 60.
These and 30,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
=========================================================================
STUDY NOTES
D.A. Carson, Matthew, EBC
=========================
I. Jews had very detailed laws concerning the Sabbath.
A. Yet it was also a joyful festival.
B. There was a variety of strictness among groups.
II. Disciples’ harvesting of grain.
A. Why they did it:
1) Necessity - Matthew alone mentions their hunger.
a) But it is doubtful they were starving.
2) It is an image of kingdom harvesting (mission work).
a) But then they would have been criticized for exceeding
a Sabbath walk distance.
3) They were making a path for Jesus. (based on Mark’s wording)
a) Paths probably already existed.
b) The right to pluck grain is established in Deut 23:25.
B. Their transgression: not in stealing grain, but doing on Sabbath.
1) Reaping is one of 39 forbidden tasks on Sabbath.
2) Exceptions were granted: temple service and to save life.
3) Later Jewish tradition allowed plucking grain on
Sabbath, but may have been influenced by Christianity.
III. David and consecrated bread. 1 Sam 21:1-6
A. Consecrated bread laws - Exod 25:30, Lev 24:5-9
1) House of God is the tabernacle.
B. Irregularities.
1) David and his men eat what only priests should eat.
2) They lie to the priest about their mission.
a) Jesus doesn’t make an issue of this.
3) Possibly took place on Sabbath, as this was the day the
bread was changed.
a) Jesus doesn’t stress this, either.
b) No matter what day it happened on, only priests should
eat the bread.
C. Common rabbinical form for the argument.
1) Juxtapositon of two apparently contradictory statements to
draw a Halakic conclusion.
a) David ate the bread.
b) It was not lawful for him to eat it.
2) Jesus’ point.
a) More than “rules have exceptions.”
b) Scripture does not condemn David, therefore the rigidity
of the Pharisees’ interpretation of the law goes
against the Scripture.
1> Their approach to the Bible is wrong.
3) Application to Jesus and his disciples.
a) They were not starving or desperate and may not have
even been breaking the law.
b) Jesus is not so much questioning the Pharisees’ view
on the Sabbath as their whole approach to the law.
IV. The second appeal of Jesus.
A. Levitical priests break the Sabbath every week. Num 28:9-10
1) The law explicitly allows them to do so.
B. Jesus uses a “light and heavy” argument.
1) Temple service is greater than the Sabbath regulations.
2) Something else is greater than the temple.
C. What is greater than the temple? Interpretations:
1) The love command.
a) But “is here” is eschatalogical and points to something
new.
2) Jesus himself, or the Kingdom.
a) Best interpretation. (both meld together)
b) He also compares his body to the temple.
D. Jesus’ argument:
1) Sabbath restrictions were superseded by the priests because
their cultic responsibilities took precedence.
a) (The temple was greater than the Sabbath.)
2) Something greater than the temple (Jesus) also takes
precedence over the Sabbath regulations.
a) The law points to Jesus and finds its fulfillment in
him.
b) The Pharisees have mishandled the law and they have
failed to perceive who Jesus is.
c) The authority of the temple laws shielded the priests
from guilt, and the authority of Jesus shields his
disciples from guilt.
1> Jesus’ authority is contrasted with the priests’.
Ronald Youngblood, 1 Samuel, EBC
================================
I. Ahimelech should not have given the bread to David’s men.
A. Jesus’ rationale (F.F. Bruce): human need takes priority over
ceremonial law.
B. It is always lawful on the Sabbath to do good. Mark 3:4
Freedom: When Cows Learn to Fly
===============================
Discipleship Journal, #114, Nov/Dec 1999
Anne Meskey Elhajoui
I. In Christ, we are freed from legalism.
A. Though many Christians are enslaved by it.
II. Does freedom mean we can break the rules?
A. Sometimes, if they are man-made.
1) David and Jesus broke rules.
2) However, it is not an excuse to justify sin.
a) Freedom is not a license to sin. Rom 3:8
B. We must be led by the Spirit.
1) Example of young Christians smoking.
a) It may be permissable, but is it beneficial? Gal 5:13f
b) Instead of indulging the sinful nature, love your
neighbor.
2) We can boldly approach the throne of grace.
C. Being mad cows in spiritual freedom.
1) Plato: divine madness.
R.T. France, The Gospel of Matthew, NICNT
=========================================
I. Jesus had two basic disagreements with the Pharisees:
A. Authority.
1) Who declares what is acceptable on the Sabbath?
2) The Son of Man is the Lord of the Sabbath.
B. The original spirit and intent of God’s law.
1) It is permissable to do good on the Sabbath.
II. Two analogies and an argument.
A. David at tabernacle in Nob.
1) Key to point: David had the authority to override a legal
prescription (not his attitude toward Sabbath).
2) Jesus places his own authority alongside David’s.
B. The law that allows priests to work on the Sabbath.
1) The basis for the exception is who they are, and the
institution (temple) that requires it.
2) It is a matter of priorities.
C. Argument - concern for others takes precedence over ritual.
1) Hosea 6:6.
2) The Pharisees “knew” it, but had not grasped its practical
implications.
