In some countries if you think and act in certain ways, you can land in serious trouble. Various regimes clamp down on people for daring to question or think different. The police who crack down become known as the 'thought police', because you get arrested for what you think. In the time of Jesus the Pharisees seemed to be the same - calling out people who thought or acted in certain ways as ungodly trouble-makers. When Jesus and his disciples were going from A to B, and took some corn as they passed through cornfields for an on-the-go snack, but it happened to be the Sabbath, it was the Pharisees who took issue with them.
Jesus speaks into this - and we see Jesus is someone who flips around important principles like the Sabbath. He notes that his followers were with him on a mission, so of course they will need to snack on the way! He quotes a story of David (see 1 Samuel 21), alluding to another principle: men are holy because of their devotion to God and His cause. Then a crucial line: 'Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath'. We are not made to serve the Sabbath (and God's rules). No, the Sabbath (properly kept) serves us.
Finally Jesus points out that He is even Lord of the Sabbath. He is saying that the Pharisees have got it wrong because they believed it was all about their effort for purity: don't do any work, don't travel ... don't even walk more than a certain number of paces. In other words they exhorted 'Be pure ... be pure ... be even purer'. This mindset says God will only accept us if we make ourselves pure enough.
But we will never be pure enough - we will fail. None of us can do it!
Jesus goes back to first principles. Sabbath comes from creation (see Genesis 1). There were 6 days of creation then God rested - He blessed the 7th day and He made it holy. So Sabbath communicates completion - God taking creation to where He wants it to be. The Sabbath was then built into the Law (command no. 4 of the 10 commandments), but right there referring back to creation (see Exodus 20). In the desert experiences the Israelites were given provision each day, and told don't look for it on the 7th day because you will have enough. Later in Exodus it does get harsher: see someone working and cut them off ... even kill them!
Why is this so harsh? Remember the desert experience is all about forming people to be distinctive Godly people. Maybe that penalty was saying 'What kind of people do you want to be? Living ways that show God provides and takes to completion, or living just like the world that has to strive 24-7?'. For sure you can go down the 24-7 route ... but it will kill you ... and there is no place for it in this community.
Now Mark switches to an episode with Jesus in the synagogue on a Sabbath. There is a man with a shrivelled hand. The point is that Jesus knows what the leaders are thinking - they want to know if Jesus will heal on the Sabbath! So Jesus asks them what is the Sabbath all about? Is it good and life, or is it evil and death? Jesus saw stubborn hearts - hearts locked in a mindset of we can only please God by our own efforts, making ourselves more and more purer, making ourselves slaves to ever tighter purity laws.
Remember: God made the Sabbath holy!
So Jesus commands the hand to outstretch, the man to be healed. He is demonstrating the Kingdom of God, where everything starts lining up with how it should be in God's desire, where blight & twist are transformed and set right, where things are put in their God-ordained order. This demonstrates His Kingdom, this demonstrates Sabbath, where things are taken to their proper completion. That is all possible in Jesus because He is the King of Kings, He is Lord of the Sabbath and therefore of all things being right!
So how do you want to live? Our world is 24-7 and assumes never ending economic growth and activity. Do you want to sign up to that, and try and make yourself 'pure' (good enough for God) in it? Consider our key question:
[IN] Are we letting 'the Jesus Way' transform our ways?
Challenge: Take seriously the sabbath and kingdom principles of Jesus
At Countess Free Church we talk about four habits of discipleship (on top of bed-rock habits of scripture, prayer etc.). The first of these is the Discipline of OFF - operating the Sabbath principle at every level. Start with simply turning your phone notifications off at certain times of day. Take time out ... most importantly don't strive just on your own efforts. Remember God provides and it will be enough. Work out what that means for your life and family. If you are maxing out, cramming, striving and so on then we have to be honest: it will kill you!
Jesus calls us something better than that striving: He calls us to be His Kingdom people - serving Kingdom purposes. That does mean working hard, finding ourselves in difficult & struggle situations, but we do it with His resources which will be enough.
The Discipline of OFF is our way of living that dependence on God and His resources. We can stop because His resources are enough. It is He that will take things to his proper, blessed, and holy completion.
No comments:
Post a Comment