WEBVTT 00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:04.799 Today's reading is from Mark chapter two, verses twenty-three to twenty-eight. 00:00:04.959 --> 00:00:12.320 It says, One Sabbath he was going through the grain fields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 00:00:13.119 --> 00:00:18.320 And the Pharisees saying to him, Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath? 00:00:18.879 --> 00:00:24.480 And he said to them, Have you never read what David did when he was in need and was hungry? 00:00:24.719 --> 00:00:37.200 He and those who were with him, how he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him. 00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:42.079 And he said to them, The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 00:00:42.399 --> 00:00:45.679 So the Son of Man is Lord, even of the Sabbath. 00:00:46.000 --> 00:00:47.119 This is the word of the Lord. 00:00:47.280 --> 00:00:48.560 Please be seated. 00:00:50.399 --> 00:00:52.079 Thanks for joining us this morning. 00:00:52.159 --> 00:00:56.960 Uh my name's James Rathman, I'm the pastor here, but you all know that. 00:00:57.200 --> 00:01:07.519 And I can tell because this morning looking out here and the folks that I know are in the overflow room, uh, I realized that uh uh I know all of your names. 00:01:25.760 --> 00:01:27.920 That song I think kind of got me. 00:01:33.280 --> 00:01:42.319 You know, uh my time as as your pastor has had a number of challenges and and it's been a very strange time. 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:56.879 And we're in a season of church as many are where we we're experiencing just like these just COVID sucks, right? 00:02:01.359 --> 00:02:03.920 But there's a sweetness to this. 00:02:05.359 --> 00:02:08.159 Uh there's a sweetness to this season of ministry. 00:02:08.240 --> 00:02:16.400 There's a as as a pastor, uh, we're in a time in our church where I get to know all of you. 00:02:17.599 --> 00:02:21.840 And uh I I I just want you to know that I I savor that. 00:02:27.439 --> 00:02:29.840 All right, let's preach the sermon I wrote. 00:02:36.479 --> 00:02:39.520 This is like one of those nightmares where you're crying on stage. 00:02:43.840 --> 00:02:49.120 Oh, uh regarding that, and maybe if one of you wants to go run grab some tissues out of my office, that'd be fine. 00:02:49.360 --> 00:02:57.280 The uh uh you know, uh uh the shape of the church that we want to have is is one where we are really known. 00:02:57.520 --> 00:03:01.520 We we are a real community that uh gets to know each other. 00:03:01.680 --> 00:03:07.919 I was thinking when I was lighting this candle, which was strange and uncomfortable, uh we're lighting the hope candle today. 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:13.520 And I was lighting it in our Advent wreath, which was made by Danielle Gunter, many of you know. 00:03:14.159 --> 00:03:22.080 Uh we've got a bespoke Advent wreath, uh, just kind of made for love of worship as our community. 00:03:23.199 --> 00:03:32.000 Uh and it like many, they're in a season where in-person attendance is just doesn't seem wise or safe at this time. 00:03:32.240 --> 00:03:34.240 We want to remember those folks. 00:03:34.560 --> 00:03:37.280 Uh that they would be in our prayers. 00:03:37.439 --> 00:03:46.800 And just that the Lord, as we wait for, as we're in a season of Advent and longing, as Zach was saying, part of that longing is that we would be able to come together again. 00:03:48.080 --> 00:03:49.039 Oh, thanks. 00:03:49.199 --> 00:03:50.400 This is John, one of our elders. 00:03:50.479 --> 00:03:53.120 If you're in his parish, expect the same level of service. 00:03:54.879 --> 00:04:03.360 Um parish dinners are something that we're looking forward to launching this next uh uh coming year. 00:04:03.520 --> 00:04:06.719 And what that means is when you're a member of our church, you're a part of a parish. 00:04:06.800 --> 00:04:13.199 And that means an elder is directly connected to you and takes a personal responsibility for you. 00:04:13.280 --> 00:04:18.959 And the one of the main functions of that that we want to have happen is uh what we're calling parish dinners. 00:04:19.120 --> 00:04:25.040 And basically it just means you and the rest of the folks in your parish go eat in each other's homes. 00:04:25.120 --> 00:04:31.360 Uh and and the elder will have you into their home to eat, uh, to learn to feast together and enjoy one another. 00:04:31.519 --> 00:04:40.959 Uh if you'd like to become a member, you can do that just by emailing info at redemption Denver, and we'll reach out to you and connect and uh talk through that process. 00:04:41.279 --> 00:04:43.360 Okay, ready for a sermon? 00:04:43.600 --> 00:04:44.800 Let's pray. 00:04:45.600 --> 00:04:47.120 Holy Father. 00:04:49.839 --> 00:04:52.399 Thank you for your presence, your care. 00:04:53.680 --> 00:04:57.839 Thank you that you did come, that that child was Jesus. 00:04:59.680 --> 00:05:10.800 Lord, I pray that uh today as we look through this text, we would get to see a clear picture of who you are, of who Christ is. 00:05:11.920 --> 00:05:14.319 Lord, let it enliven our hearts. 00:05:16.800 --> 00:05:18.879 Let us up in Jesus' name. 00:05:21.279 --> 00:05:26.720 All right, I've got a pretty clever take on this text today, so get excited. 00:05:27.040 --> 00:05:31.279 Uh there's in Greek mythology, there's this character called Procrustus. 00:05:31.680 --> 00:05:33.360 I don't know if I'm saying that right. 00:05:33.519 --> 00:05:38.240 And Procrustus owned an inn on the way into Athens. 00:05:38.399 --> 00:05:46.879 And Procrustus had uh uh this sort of strange form of hospitality that he would show to the guests in his inn. 00:05:47.040 --> 00:05:48.720 Um he had a bed. 00:05:49.279 --> 00:05:58.160 And Procrustus's bed, he wanted to make sure fit every guest that sat or that slept in the bed precisely. 00:05:58.720 --> 00:06:07.600 And in order to make sure that the bed fit the guest precisely, he wouldn't alter the bed, but he would alter the guest. 00:06:08.160 --> 00:06:13.279 Uh it was a pretty cruel, uh it was a pretty particular form of cruelty. 00:06:13.439 --> 00:06:30.720 Um so uh uh what would happen is if a guest would show up and he would invite him into his inn and and he would lay down in this Procrustian bed, and the bed would uh uh if he was too short for the bed, then he would stretch the guest to make sure that he fit the bed. 00:06:30.800 --> 00:06:42.639 Uh and if he was too tall for the bed, then Procrustus would um hem the guest uh to make sure that he fit precisely in the bed. 00:06:42.879 --> 00:06:54.800 Now, later on, Procrustus meets his match in Theseus, who places Procrustus in his own bed, and as it turns out, Procrustus' head was just a little too large uh for his own bed. 00:06:54.959 --> 00:07:01.040 And so he was likewise hemmed uh by Theseus and died of his own bed. 00:07:01.199 --> 00:07:04.879 Now, the Procristian bed, you've probably seen pictures of the stretcher. 00:07:05.360 --> 00:07:18.480 Uh but what we see in the story today is that uh the Pharisees try and lay Jesus into their own Procristian bed. 00:07:19.839 --> 00:07:26.800 And what Jesus confronts them with is he shows them that he is the one who made the bed. 00:07:27.600 --> 00:07:33.920 And the bed was not made for our destruction, the bed was made for our rest. 00:07:34.959 --> 00:07:41.519 And so Jesus teaches us how to properly relate to the bed that God has given us. 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:45.839 More clearly, that's the law that God has given us. 00:07:46.079 --> 00:07:48.720 So let's go ahead and look at the story, how it unfolds. 00:07:48.879 --> 00:07:51.199 Mark 2, verses 23 to 24. 00:07:51.439 --> 00:07:57.920 One Sabbath he was going through the grain fields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 00:07:58.079 --> 00:08:04.160 And the Pharisees were saying to him, Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath? 00:08:04.560 --> 00:08:06.240 Okay, so it's a simple picture. 00:08:06.480 --> 00:08:19.360 Jesus and his disciples are walking through a grain field, it's the Sabbath day, and some of his disciples grab, you know, a head of grain and they roll off the husk in their hands and they're eating some grain as they walk through the field. 00:08:19.920 --> 00:08:24.240 And Pharisees are looking on and they say, Look, they're harvesting grain. 00:08:24.399 --> 00:08:28.160 That's not lawful to be done on the Sabbath. 00:08:28.560 --> 00:08:34.960 And so they confront Jesus and they say, Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to be done on the Sabbath. 00:08:35.200 --> 00:08:37.759 They're harvesting grain and they're rolling it. 00:08:38.559 --> 00:08:42.000 Now, here's what's wrong with the Pharisees' accusation. 00:08:42.879 --> 00:08:44.799 It's not illegal. 00:08:45.039 --> 00:08:46.960 It's not against the Torah. 00:08:47.120 --> 00:08:57.120 There's no biblical command against grabbing some grain and rolling it in your hand and eating it on the Sabbath. 00:08:57.440 --> 00:09:06.399 There's no command in the Sabbath against any of the normal maintenance of life, against anything like eating or cooking or grabbing a snack. 00:09:06.559 --> 00:09:13.759 There's no command like that in the Torah so that Jesus is not breaking any laws. 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:29.840 Now, around the Sabbath, there developed this huge amount of extra-biblical writing by rabbis at the time who would say, okay, we see the Sabbath law and it commands us to rest, so we've got to make sure that we define clearly what work and what rest is. 00:09:30.159 --> 00:09:36.000 And that extra-biblical writing had taken on a flavor of what the law itself was. 00:09:36.320 --> 00:09:38.399 But it was well beyond the law. 00:09:38.559 --> 00:09:42.000 It was not in line with the intention of the law. 00:09:42.159 --> 00:09:46.480 He said it was something more than what the law required. 00:09:48.000 --> 00:09:55.840 Now Jesus' answer is strange because what Jesus could have simply said was, get out your Bibles. 00:09:56.480 --> 00:09:59.200 Show me where I'm breaking the law. 00:09:59.440 --> 00:10:10.799 Bring me to the Sabbath commandments in Deuteronomy 5 or Exodus 20, and show me where is it that I'm violating any of what God had commanded, or that my disciples are violating any of what God had commanded. 00:10:11.039 --> 00:10:20.960 And the Pharisees would have had to have simply said, Well, I guess according to this, according to the Bible, God's word, you're not violating any of what was commanded. 00:10:21.200 --> 00:10:23.360 Jesus could have said simply that. 00:10:31.120 --> 00:10:33.279 Would have been simple for Jesus to articulate that. 00:10:33.360 --> 00:10:36.159 But instead, he says something much more. 00:10:36.320 --> 00:10:40.720 And he goes to the heart of the matter where he asks a better question. 00:10:41.120 --> 00:10:54.879 I read this morning that uh uh uh in in school, you're uh given questions and then asked to produce the right answers, but in life, uh people more often give you a bunch of answers, and then you need to produce better questions. 00:10:55.039 --> 00:10:56.080 Isn't that true? 00:10:56.320 --> 00:10:57.519 I think that's so true. 00:10:57.759 --> 00:10:59.519 But this is a situation just like that. 00:10:59.759 --> 00:11:04.799 Jesus is presented with an answer, and then he presents a better question to the Pharisees. 00:11:04.879 --> 00:11:15.679 And he's going to break down their understanding of their own relationship to the law, as well as their understanding of Christ's relationship to the law. 00:11:15.919 --> 00:11:18.559 So let's look at the story that Jesus answers with. 00:11:18.799 --> 00:11:20.480 Mark 2, 25 to 26. 00:11:20.799 --> 00:11:28.240 And he said to them, How are you never how have you never read what David did when he was in need and was hungry? 00:11:28.480 --> 00:11:41.679 He and those who were with him, how he entered the house of God in the time of Ebiathar, the high priest, and ate the bread of the presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him. 00:11:42.399 --> 00:11:48.080 Okay, so Jesus tells a story, a story that they should have been familiar with, and this is about David. 00:11:48.399 --> 00:11:54.879 And David is on the run from King Saul, and he's got a group of people that have rallied around him to run with him. 00:11:55.120 --> 00:12:01.600 And they're uh sort of secretly fly in the night, and then they come upon one of the holy places in Israel. 00:12:01.840 --> 00:12:13.039 And it's a sanctuary where uh the altar was, and uh the bread of presence was laid before the altar every day, and then it was consumed later by the priests. 00:12:13.200 --> 00:12:14.960 It was an offering to the Lord. 00:12:15.200 --> 00:12:20.799 Bread of presence is an offering that's meant to signify God's provision for his people. 00:12:21.200 --> 00:12:29.600 Just as uh uh when they were wandering in the desert and God provided them manna from heaven, it's the same God who provides their daily bread. 00:12:29.919 --> 00:12:32.480 That's what the bread of presence symbolizes. 00:12:33.039 --> 00:12:44.000 But the bread of presence has uh these conditions around it, which is that it is only meant to be eaten by the priest and it's meant to be laid out daily, and there's a ceremony, a process that goes along with the bread of presence. 00:12:44.159 --> 00:12:47.120 David shows up with his men, secretly fleeing Saul. 00:12:47.440 --> 00:12:52.240 Saul, they're hungry, and they know that they have a long road ahead of them. 00:12:52.480 --> 00:12:56.559 They're at this temple, and they need food. 00:12:56.799 --> 00:13:02.720 So the priests asks them, uh, who's actually Ahimelech, who is Abyathar's father. 00:13:02.960 --> 00:13:07.440 Jesus references this as Abhiathar's time, because Abyathar was there. 00:13:07.519 --> 00:13:08.799 It's a long story. 00:13:09.039 --> 00:13:18.480 Um and uh Ahimelech says that uh he would provide them with the food so long as that they were clean. 00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:30.559 And he says, Yes, they're my men are ceremonially clean, and this is likely just for the priest to cleanse his own conscience, knowing that he's sharing a holy bread at a time that's outside of its conditions. 00:13:30.639 --> 00:13:33.759 And so the priest's conscience is clean, and then he gives them the bread. 00:13:33.840 --> 00:13:39.840 And David takes the bread and he distributes it to the rest of his men, although it's not lawful to do. 00:13:43.120 --> 00:13:52.159 Notice that David in this he denies the letter of the law regarding the bread of the presence. 00:13:53.279 --> 00:14:00.559 But he honors his role as king, who is meant to distribute the bread to his people. 00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:05.679 He honors where he is going and the trajectory that God has him on. 00:14:06.639 --> 00:14:10.320 This is Jesus' answer to the Pharisees. 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:13.039 Do you remember the story of David? 00:14:13.519 --> 00:14:18.000 Do you remember when he denied this and he fed his own people through this? 00:14:19.360 --> 00:14:25.600 And Jesus gives his own interpretation of this story, because you'll notice he didn't even mention the Sabbath. 00:14:26.240 --> 00:14:32.000 Jesus' answer and the story that he tells has nothing to do with the Sabbath or with Sabbath regulation. 00:14:32.320 --> 00:14:39.600 Instead, it has to do with our relationship to the law and Christ's relationship to the law. 00:14:39.840 --> 00:14:44.159 So, first, here is our relationship to the law in Mark 2, 27. 00:14:44.480 --> 00:14:52.639 He said to them, The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 00:14:53.519 --> 00:15:00.639 Jesus describes there is a sense of priority built into the law. 00:15:01.360 --> 00:15:14.960 There is a depth of meaning that needs to be understood so that we're able to apply the law in line in our current situations with what the intention of the law is. 00:15:15.919 --> 00:15:29.759 And so with the bread of presence, we can see that the bread of presence is meant, the purpose of all of the circumstances around the bread of present presence is to demonstrate God's provision. 00:15:30.480 --> 00:15:41.919 How terrible to take this thing meant to demonstrate God's provision and use it to withhold provision from those in need. 00:15:42.720 --> 00:15:45.360 David was wise enough to understand that. 00:15:45.519 --> 00:15:58.000 And the priest that David was working with, and they would really partner up after this, the priest that David was working with was wise enough to understand that the purpose of the bread of presence is to demonstrate God's provision. 00:15:58.240 --> 00:16:05.759 Why would you take this thing intended for your good and then use it to cause harm to those in need? 00:16:06.159 --> 00:16:07.840 David understood that. 00:16:08.080 --> 00:16:13.039 Jesus is saying, look at what you're doing with the Sabbath. 00:16:13.840 --> 00:16:18.879 You're treating it as though man was made for the Sabbath. 00:16:19.279 --> 00:16:23.600 So the Sabbath was pre-existent and it was for man to come in and actualize. 00:16:23.679 --> 00:16:25.039 But that's not the case. 00:16:25.279 --> 00:16:27.840 The Sabbath was made for man. 00:16:28.480 --> 00:16:38.320 What the Pharisees have done with the Sabbath command is they have taken it and they have turned it into this procrustian bed. 00:16:39.519 --> 00:16:43.600 They have taken the Sabbath command, which was made for man. 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:51.200 They said, instead, what we'll do is we'll use this thing and we'll contort man so that they fit into it. 00:16:51.600 --> 00:16:57.279 When they do not realize that it was made for man's flourishing, not the other way around. 00:16:58.879 --> 00:17:08.000 Sabbath, just as the bread of presence isn't meant to cause starvation, Sabbath is not meant to cause hunger. 00:17:08.559 --> 00:17:14.400 Sabbath is not meant to uh discourage the enjoyment of life. 00:17:14.559 --> 00:17:16.720 In fact, it's precisely the opposite. 00:17:16.880 --> 00:17:18.960 That's why Sabbath is there. 00:17:19.759 --> 00:17:31.920 In Deuteronomy 5, when Moses reintroduces the Sabbath in his final uh in his final sermons before he dies, he reintroduces the Sabbath to his people. 00:17:33.440 --> 00:17:41.440 And he says, remember, uh here's what you need to remember in order to be able to live out the Sabbath well. 00:17:41.519 --> 00:17:43.519 Here's the reason for the Sabbath. 00:17:43.920 --> 00:17:46.079 You were slaves in Egypt. 00:17:47.039 --> 00:17:50.240 And God rescued you out of slavery. 00:17:50.559 --> 00:17:53.279 Therefore, remember the Sabbath day. 00:17:54.160 --> 00:17:55.839 What is the Sabbath day? 00:17:56.160 --> 00:17:57.440 It is freedom. 00:17:58.720 --> 00:18:08.000 No longer are you cursed to work seven days a week, but now six days supports seven days of life. 00:18:08.880 --> 00:18:10.960 How are humans made? 00:18:11.279 --> 00:18:16.000 Humans are made so that we work and we rest. 00:18:16.480 --> 00:18:17.920 What is slavery? 00:18:18.079 --> 00:18:20.960 But having that rest pulled from you. 00:18:21.279 --> 00:18:33.279 And so the intention of the Sabbath day that God gives to his people after he rescues them out of Egypt is to say, look, I'm restoring your humanity with this day. 00:18:33.759 --> 00:18:47.440 This is not something that I'm trying to cram your life into, but I am actually using this to bring restoration to the fullness of the humanity that I intended for you to have at the creation. 00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:50.720 That is the intention of the Sabbath. 00:18:50.960 --> 00:19:07.680 But the Pharisees, instead, rather than seeing the Sabbath as a glorious gift for the flourishing of man, they view it as a procrestian bed, which if you will lay down on it, it will only be by contorting the goodness of your humanity to make it fit. 00:19:08.400 --> 00:19:12.079 They treat it as though man was made for the Sabbath. 00:19:13.279 --> 00:19:16.000 But the Sabbath was made for man. 00:19:18.240 --> 00:19:30.799 Now, we tend to demonstrate in the way that we relate to the law, we often demonstrate a deep concern about living to the left of the law. 00:19:31.759 --> 00:19:37.440 Which means that we'd see, okay, there's the Sabbath day, and we don't do this because we don't take the Sabbath seriously at all. 00:19:37.599 --> 00:19:41.759 And I don't expect you to because I don't, I'm trying to figure out what I think about the Sabbath. 00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:44.720 And I'm your pastor, so good luck. 00:19:47.680 --> 00:19:52.559 But we can imagine with uh something like the Sabbath, it's like, man, we gotta make sure we don't move to the left of the Sabbath. 00:19:52.720 --> 00:19:55.200 We gotta make sure that we uphold it and that we do the Sabbath well. 00:19:55.279 --> 00:20:08.319 And if we do move to the left of the Sabbath into some like total freedom, uh abandonment of any sort of constraint, we think, okay, we know we're doing wrong then, because we aren't living up to the command of the law. 00:20:08.559 --> 00:20:18.160 And so we have deep concern about moving to the left of the law, not fulfilling what God has called us to, being disobedient to God's commands. 00:20:18.400 --> 00:20:34.559 But Jesus demonstrates just as much of a concern about moving to the right of the law, which is to say we will add to the law to make sure that we fulfill the minimum requirement. 00:20:34.720 --> 00:20:45.200 In order to make sure we fulfill the minimum, we're going to add all of these other regulations, all of these other ways of understanding what the law is, and we're gonna make sure we get those perfectly right. 00:20:45.920 --> 00:21:03.119 Jesus views both of those things, to the left of the law or to the right of the law, total freedom, total abandonment of the law on the left, total procrustian bed, I will make the law in the ideal and I will cram my life into it no matter what. 00:21:03.359 --> 00:21:06.720 Both of those are disobedient to God. 00:21:08.160 --> 00:21:09.440 Now here's why. 00:21:09.680 --> 00:21:14.559 It's because they are both representing the same human impulse. 00:21:14.880 --> 00:21:32.720 To the left of the law, we say God is not good, he has not made the law for our flourishing, he is not calling us to obedience for a goodness that he wants to see fulfilled in us, the law is just to curse us, the law is just for him to punish us. 00:21:32.880 --> 00:21:42.880 And therefore, the only way to experience the truth of our humanity is to abandon the law and to live in total freedom that we come up with for ourselves. 00:21:43.599 --> 00:21:49.920 That's a way of saying God is not good, he's not trustworthy, I will be good for myself. 00:21:50.240 --> 00:21:59.200 Moving to the right of the law is saying God did not make the law for our flourishing, God only made the law to test and to prove us. 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:24.880 So I will make sure that God will be so proved with me, uh that I will so prove myself to God, because I will not only fulfill what He has asked, but I will go well beyond it and I will contort my life into this religious ideal, such that God will never be able to question me, and God will always be in my debt. 00:22:26.160 --> 00:22:29.279 So that I will know that God owes me. 00:22:29.519 --> 00:22:33.680 On the one side, we ignore God and we call his goodness bad. 00:22:33.920 --> 00:22:39.759 On the other side, we manipulate God and we call his goodness insufficient. 00:22:40.480 --> 00:22:49.119 Do you see how both of those are ways of saying, God will not be God of me, God will not be the lawgiver of me, I will be God of me. 00:22:49.359 --> 00:22:57.440 And I will either manipulate and control him by going to the right of his law, or I will ignore and debase him by going to the left of his law. 00:22:57.599 --> 00:23:02.960 But certainly God will not be the one that describes to me what flourishing is. 00:23:03.759 --> 00:23:08.319 So often we are just concerned with the left, with disobedience. 00:23:08.559 --> 00:23:17.519 Jesus is equally concerned with the right, with religiosity that seeks to place God in our debt. 00:23:20.880 --> 00:23:23.039 Now, what is that tendency? 00:23:23.759 --> 00:23:33.279 Both ways of us placing God in our debt or ignoring Him or trying to take the seed of God to define flourishing for ourselves. 00:23:33.599 --> 00:23:34.880 It's called sin. 00:23:35.839 --> 00:23:38.640 That's the nature of what sin is. 00:23:39.200 --> 00:23:47.039 And you give a person the law, and it will expose sin in their hearts. 00:23:47.440 --> 00:23:51.119 Oftentimes we we miss it with the religious. 00:23:51.359 --> 00:23:56.240 Because a religious person thinks, you give me the law, finally, I'll just know what to do and then I'll do it. 00:23:56.400 --> 00:24:06.240 No, you give a religious person the law, they will go well beyond it and use it to manipulate God, not as a way of enjoying the flourishing God has given them. 00:24:06.480 --> 00:24:09.680 You give an irreligious person the law, they will rebel against it. 00:24:09.839 --> 00:24:19.359 And in both ways, the law exposes the depth of the rebellion in our hearts against God, our creator. 00:24:20.480 --> 00:24:26.960 In both ways, we say, I'm the one who wants to make myself. 00:24:27.680 --> 00:24:30.319 I will decide what my flourishing is. 00:24:30.480 --> 00:24:39.359 And I will either twist you into giving it to me by obeying, or I will ignore you and get it for myself by disobeying. 00:24:39.599 --> 00:24:42.000 They are the same thing. 00:24:42.400 --> 00:24:46.079 Sin is exposed in our hearts. 00:24:47.440 --> 00:25:08.240 But Jesus, Jesus is able to walk right through the flourishing of the Sabbath, where he goes on a walk with his disciples, and on the Sabbath day, they reach out and they grab a corn stalk, corn stalk, whatever, wheat, whatever. 00:25:08.960 --> 00:25:12.480 And they have a snack. 00:25:13.440 --> 00:25:14.960 Because what is the Sabbath like? 00:25:15.119 --> 00:25:16.799 What is God's law like? 00:25:17.039 --> 00:25:20.400 When it's understood, when it's given to Jesus, not when it's given to us. 00:25:20.559 --> 00:25:22.160 What's God's law like? 00:25:23.920 --> 00:25:25.440 It's like a snack. 00:25:26.799 --> 00:25:28.559 It's like a day of rest. 00:25:29.680 --> 00:25:31.920 It's a good thing that was given to us. 00:25:32.000 --> 00:25:34.400 It's where we find the depth of our flourishing. 00:25:34.640 --> 00:25:40.799 We realize that all these constraints that it puts on our lives, they're actually where we find the greatest freedom that we could have. 00:25:41.440 --> 00:25:44.720 Because we're not the type of things that created ourselves. 00:25:44.880 --> 00:25:46.559 We are created things. 00:25:46.799 --> 00:25:48.880 We were made with all sorts of boundaries. 00:25:48.960 --> 00:25:54.880 We're all stuck in time here together, moving forward at a steady pace of one minute per minute. 00:25:55.279 --> 00:25:57.920 Now, one of you, try and move faster. 00:25:59.839 --> 00:26:03.759 I don't know if I'd be able to tell if any of you are, because I'm only moving at my rate. 00:26:03.920 --> 00:26:06.480 So maybe we all are, and that's a bigger question. 00:26:06.720 --> 00:26:11.440 But the uh but you understand we have real constraints. 00:26:11.519 --> 00:26:20.880 And for God to say, look, these real constraints are given to you from me as a gift for you to find your flourishing. 00:26:21.039 --> 00:26:30.000 Just like I gave the fish that I made water so that they might find their flourishing, so too for you I've given you my law. 00:26:30.160 --> 00:26:33.279 And part of that law is a day of rest. 00:26:33.920 --> 00:26:36.000 And it's meant to be used for rest. 00:26:36.400 --> 00:26:37.839 So have a snack. 00:26:38.480 --> 00:26:40.640 That's what God's law is like. 00:26:42.640 --> 00:26:52.400 In our sin, we call it bad and to be rebelled against, or we call it insufficient and we use it to twist and contort and prove ourselves by it. 00:26:52.799 --> 00:26:56.559 But God gives it to us as a gift to be freely received. 00:26:57.920 --> 00:27:03.680 But how can people like us, sinners like us, possibly be given the law? 00:27:03.920 --> 00:27:05.680 We can't be trusted with it. 00:27:06.079 --> 00:27:09.920 Whenever we're given it, we're just going to use it to prove how wicked we are. 00:27:10.240 --> 00:27:13.680 So how do we even experience this goodness? 00:27:14.000 --> 00:27:18.000 I don't know if you've ever tried to Sabbath or if you've ever tried to have a day of rest. 00:27:18.079 --> 00:27:20.079 I'm a catastrophe at that sort of thing. 00:27:20.240 --> 00:27:34.240 It took me forever to get ski days right with my wife because I would just be stressing the whole time on the lift about this thing that I need to be doing or this person I should be following up with or what this person's thinking of me, and I would be a catastrophe in those days of rest. 00:27:34.480 --> 00:27:37.920 You give it to me, I can't even receive a good thing. 00:27:38.240 --> 00:27:39.920 What has to happen? 00:27:40.960 --> 00:27:49.440 We have to understand that what's important is not just the way that we relate to the law, which is that it was made for us as a good thing to be received. 00:27:50.720 --> 00:27:56.559 We have to see how Jesus relates to the law, which is that it belongs to him. 00:27:57.039 --> 00:27:58.319 He is the Lord of the Sabbath. 00:27:58.640 --> 00:27:59.839 Mark 2, 28. 00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:04.000 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath. 00:28:06.079 --> 00:28:17.119 The Sabbath was created on the seventh day, when God, after creating the world, steps back and he says, On this day he rests. 00:28:18.480 --> 00:28:22.319 And that was the creation of the Sabbath day, when God did it. 00:28:23.039 --> 00:28:28.799 Now, Jesus, who if you were to see him, you'd think there's just another person. 00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:37.759 Now standing in front of the Pharisees and saying, I am Lord of the Sabbath. 00:28:38.880 --> 00:28:43.039 This thing that just God created is mine. 00:28:44.319 --> 00:28:45.599 I created it. 00:28:45.839 --> 00:28:51.440 How do I relate to the Sabbath day as its owner, as the one who made it? 00:28:52.720 --> 00:28:55.920 Jesus is as clear as ever. 00:28:56.400 --> 00:29:02.880 He's saying, the reason that you don't understand the Sabbath is because you, just like everybody else, is covered in sin. 00:29:03.119 --> 00:29:04.720 But me, I'm God. 00:29:05.279 --> 00:29:07.279 And I made this very Sabbath. 00:29:07.599 --> 00:29:10.640 I know precisely how it's meant to be used. 00:29:10.880 --> 00:29:18.960 In fact, if you follow me and if you're one of my disciples and you're walking behind me, then you're gonna get this incredible experience of exactly what the Sabbath is. 00:29:19.119 --> 00:29:22.480 You're gonna go on a walk on the Sabbath and you're gonna say, Man, I'm a little hungry. 00:29:22.559 --> 00:29:25.519 And Jesus is gonna turn around and say, grab something to eat. 00:29:26.000 --> 00:29:30.319 And we'll say, No, look, I know we can't eat on the Sabbath, so thanks for the temptation. 00:29:30.480 --> 00:29:32.000 They'll say, No, this is mine. 00:29:32.160 --> 00:29:33.599 This is my day. 00:29:34.240 --> 00:29:37.440 And I say that if you're hungry on the Sabbath, grab something to eat. 00:29:37.599 --> 00:29:38.559 Enjoy yourself. 00:29:38.720 --> 00:29:40.640 I've made a great place for you all. 00:29:40.880 --> 00:29:41.920 Enjoy it. 00:29:42.720 --> 00:30:07.039 And so you walk behind and you realize, okay, so this is what it's like to walk in the Sabbath when I'm moving right behind Jesus as he walks through the Sabbath, not to the left of it, ignoring it, not to the right of it, where he's contorting people to try and fit into it, but right in line where he says, I made this for your good. 00:30:07.599 --> 00:30:11.359 I designed this law for your good. 00:30:11.680 --> 00:30:19.359 And then he invites them into it so that he might promote their real flourishing in it. 00:30:21.039 --> 00:30:25.200 To miss the Sabbath is to never rest. 00:30:26.000 --> 00:30:29.039 It's the slavery that's back in Egypt. 00:30:31.119 --> 00:30:40.079 We curse against our creator and we plunge ourselves either to the left of it or to the right of it, into this constant restlessness of spirit. 00:30:43.200 --> 00:30:49.200 And we look and we say, if only I could fulfill this law. 00:30:50.720 --> 00:31:00.480 When you see the law and the way that we were created to engage with it, or we see, man, our lives would be set free if we could just live in that way. 00:31:01.440 --> 00:31:04.720 This is a good and glorious thing that was made for us. 00:31:04.960 --> 00:31:07.680 When you say, I just wish I could fulfill that. 00:31:08.799 --> 00:31:10.000 You can't. 00:31:13.440 --> 00:31:23.519 But the good news is, Jesus didn't come just so that we could walk behind him and learn how to execute the Sabbath properly. 00:31:25.039 --> 00:31:33.279 He didn't come just as an example for what it looks like when the Sabbath is appropriately fulfilled. 00:31:34.480 --> 00:32:02.559 Jesus came so that on behalf of sinners, like us, people who, when you give them the law, they call good evil, or they deny the goodness of their Creator, he came so that he would fulfill the law on our behalf. 00:32:03.920 --> 00:32:12.400 So that when he walks before us in the field, he is not just walking to show us the right way that we should walk, but he's walking towards the cross. 00:32:12.880 --> 00:32:28.160 He's walking to show, look, when you live in this type of restlessness, it results in death. 00:32:29.039 --> 00:32:30.880 And so what does Jesus do? 00:32:31.440 --> 00:32:34.480 He takes on the punishment of the law. 00:32:36.160 --> 00:32:48.480 So we see Jesus restless before the cross, fulfilling even the punishment of the law on behalf of us sinners, so that we might rest in him. 00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:51.359 Go to the right of the law. 00:32:51.440 --> 00:32:53.920 I have no need to prove myself to God. 00:32:54.720 --> 00:33:02.799 I can see in Jesus that I am fully accepted and atoned for and made perfect in God's presence. 00:33:02.960 --> 00:33:06.559 I can no longer go to the right of the law in good conscience. 00:33:06.799 --> 00:33:14.240 Instead, I will only try and receive the law as a good and precious gift from the Lord who freely gives it to me. 00:33:14.480 --> 00:33:16.319 Go to the left of the law. 00:33:16.640 --> 00:33:23.039 How could I deny that what God has given me in his constraints is anything but good? 00:33:23.519 --> 00:33:30.400 Because I've seen that he sent his only son to die for me that I might be brought in. 00:33:30.559 --> 00:33:35.200 Of course, whatever constraints he has given to me could only be for my flourishing. 00:33:35.359 --> 00:33:40.400 How else do you explain the depth of love that he's shown towards us in Christ? 00:33:42.880 --> 00:33:55.039 That is the good news that Christ has fulfilled the Sabbath for us, so that we might receive the Sabbath freely. 00:33:56.240 --> 00:34:09.760 Jesus has borne the Procrustian bed and was stretched and cut off so that we might simply sleep in it. 00:34:10.800 --> 00:34:12.239 Find rest in it.