LUKE CHAPTER 6 (Part 1): SACRED REST

Luke, Chapter 6, starts with this -
The Pharisees accusing Jesus,
and his disciples
for working on God’s sacred day of rest.
 
They had been walking through the grain fields
when they stopped to eat what they harvested.
 
This is when
the religious men saw them,
and began to blame them
for breaking the law of the Sabbath.
Jesus said,
“Have you read
the scripture about King David,
when he went into the house of God and broke the law
by eating the loaves of sacred bread? And not only him,
but he also gave some
to his companions!
I tell you, the Son of Man is Lord,
even over the Sabbath.
 
This response had to more than upset these rigid, religious men!
They would not give it a rest.
The religious leaders continued to closely watch and accuse Jesus.
 
On another Sabbath day,
while Jesus was teaching
in the synagogue,
he told a man
with a deformed hand
to come and stand
before everyone,
and the man did just as Jesus commanded.
 
Jesus then looked at his critics
and said,
“Does the law permit me to heal this man’s hand?”
He glared at all of them,
and then told the man
to hold out his hand,
and the man did just as Jesus requested.
Suddenly, his hand was restored,
just as it had been before.
 
Instead of being convicted,
the rigid leaders focused in on the law
that had been broken.
 
Condemnation came out of their mouths,
When, in their minds,
God’s law was disgraced.
Jesus had broken the law,
by working a miracle on the Sabbath day,
God’s day of rest.
 
Oh my Lord, I will have to wait
to share the rest of what is in Luke Chapter 6.
 
This is a good place to rest,
and reflect on what just took place.
 
Since we just saw Jesus
breaking one of God’s commands,
we must look deeper to fully understand.
 
There is a message
in all of this -
it’s the difference between condemnation
and conviction.
 
We need to be sure to get this right,
because if we don’t,
we will continue to fight
for our own lives!
 
The mistake will be
so costly,
it could definitely effect
our eternity!
 
So let me share what I can,
to help you grow and understand.
God has always had a plan
to bring us back home to him!
 
Jesus has always been the way,
to lead us home, after we’ve been astray.
 
 
Everything written
in the Old Testament
is a foreshadowing of our precious Jesus.
 
Everything in the Law of Moses
shows how perfect God is.
These commands are not something
we can achieve on our own.
This is why there had to be blood sacrifices.
The mercy seat,
and day of atonement
is an illustration to show us the purity of Jesus.
 
 
In Matthew 5, verse 17,
Jesus says “do not misunderstand!”
“I did not come to abolish the Law of Moses,
or the words of the Prophets.
No!  I came to accomplish their purpose.
I tell you the truth
until heaven and earth disappear,
not even the smallest detail
of God’s law will disappear,
until it has achieved its purpose.”
 
He then warns us,
and says,
“unless you are more righteous
than the righteousness
of these religious men,
you will surely never enter
the Kingdom of Heaven.”
 
In Matthew Chapter 5,
he gives so many examples
of how we can never achieve,
the righteousness of Christ our King.
 
At the end of Chapter 5,
this is what he says,
“You are to be perfect
even as your father is perfect in heaven.”
 
How is that even possible?
It surely is not,
since the garden,
our pride separated us from God.
Since on our own,
we can never achieve perfection,
does that mean
we should give up,
and throw the towel in?
 
I don’t think that is what Jesus meant.
I think his words were meant to give us
a more clear vision.
 
The Law of Moses was given
to be a mirror -
to show us our own human reflection.
 
The Law shows us how imperfect we are,
to help to see why we need to be redeemed.
 
There is nothing perfect inside of me,
when operating outside of God’s purity.
 
I am supposed to be an imager of him,
and I can only do this by truly reflecting him.
 
How can I be a light to man,
when evil is blocking the pure love of God?
 
Even when I think, I am doing good,
it shows how prideful I truly am.
If people see me, instead of him,
then I’m glorifying myself, and not him.
  
Oh God, we have such a twisted view of man.
We think our morality is void of sin.
 
We have created our own version of right and wrong,
We’ve allowed “Little White Lies” to become our theme song.
 
Even the smallest detour from you, is pure evil from your view.
 
Anything outside of God’s purity
is considered to be evil inside of me.
 
The Law of Moses defines God’s government.
It’s impossible to be followed by man alone.
This is why Jesus had to come,
as fully God, and fully man.
 
There is no way we will ever understand,
the perfect thought that went into God’s redemption plan.
 
This is why Jesus shares the story
of King David with the Pharisees.
 
Everything in the Old Testament
is a foreshadowing King Jesus.
 
Jesus came to bring salvation,
to be the sacred bread
that nourishes the life of man.
 
He came to fulfill the Law,
to be the final sacrifice for us all.
 
If King David and his men, did not die after eating
the sacred loaves of bread,
then surely Jesus would not be condemned
for healing the hand of a deformed man
on the Sabbath day, God’s day of rest.
the day of God’s rest.
 
In Matthew Chapter 11, Verse 27,
Jesus tells us how define God’s day of rest.
 
“My Father God has entrusted everything to me.
No one truly knows the Son
except the Father,
and no one truly knows the Father except the Son
and those to whom the Son
chooses to reveal himself.”
 
This is why I am telling you this,
Jesus has revealed to me exactly who he is!
He is the Son, whom the Father loves,
and it’s only through his blood
that we can be made pure again.
 
We all have a choice to choose him,
and when we do he will reveal himself to us.
 
It may not happen immediately,
but if you have faith,
and trust and believe,
you will see how he can grow
the faith of a mustard seed he put inside your soul!
 
So after reflecting on the Sabbath day,
this is what I’d like to say,
 
Jesus says,
“Come to me, all of you who are weary
and carry heavy burdens,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you.
Let me teach you,
because I am humble and gentle at heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy to bear,
and the burden I give you is light.”
Matthew 11:28-29