Title: REST—IT’S FOR GOD’S PEOPLE

Focus: God’s rest, foreshadowed in the 4^th commandment, is for God’s people.

Function: To help the people to deepen their biblical understanding of the 4^th commandment and apply it to their daily lives.

Confession: Lord’s Day 38

Text: Matthew 12:1-8

 

INTRODUCTION

            Last week Sunday, after the worship service, one of you gave me a tremendous compliment. That person honored me by expressing her frustrations and struggles in understanding and applying the 4^th commandment in her life. And she did it in a way that demonstrated an eagerness to learn, to understand, and to live graciously and obediently to God’s Word. In my response to her I promised that I would address some of her concerns in my message today. Last week, I emphasized that God’s rest is not about us; it’s about God’s salvation rest in Jesus Christ. Today I want to emphasize that God’s rest, foreshadowed in the 4^th commandment, is for God’s people. We are to receive God’s gift of forgiveness and eternal rest with joy and celebrate those gifts of rest in public worship on the festive day of rest.

 

FRUSTRATIONS AND CONCERNS

            Some Christians get really frustrated with others in the church because they seem to “wiggle” themselves out of God’s clearly expressed will in the 4^th commandment. “What’s so difficult to understand about the 4^th commandment?” they ask. In that commandment God says: “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates.” For some of you this simply means that no one should work on Sundays. And that, in turn, means that you can’t do this or that, and that you should do this and that. 

 

But such an interpretation of the 4^th commandment gets us into all kinds of trouble. For example, most of us will work on Saturdays and think nothing of it. But the 4^th commandment clearly refers to the Sabbath, the 7^th day of the week, the Saturday. That does not seem to bother many who will say (without any biblical texts or rationale) that now Sunday has become the Sabbath. I’ve heard it said that for Jews Saturdays make up Sabbath; for Christians Sundays constitute the Sabbath. Some may live with such “minor” things, overlooking the inconsistencies. But with today’s generation you don’t get away with that, especially when young people and students of the Bible come to you and ask you to give a good, biblical rationale for such an interpretation.

 

I’m very appreciative of the Reformed understanding of the 4^th commandment as expressed by Christians in the Heidelberg Catechism (L.D. 38). But I do have some

frustrations of my own as well. For you see, since the Heidelberg Catechism tells us nothing about what you can do or what you can’t do, I get charged sometimes of failing my duty to tell people what to do on Sundays and what not to do. Some have argued that pastors who don’t emphasize the do’s and don’ts of Sabbath observance are really undermining the practice of worship on Sunday, or are contributing to the problem of “Sabbath desecration,” or are  supporting public policies that call for businesses and shopping malls to be open on Sunday. Really?

           

            For those of us who struggle with a literal interpretation of the 4^th commandment and for those who find it all so confusing, let me give you three keys for understanding the 4^th commandment. The 4^th commandment

 

• Is given in the context of the old covenant. God gave his law to Moses and the O.T. Israelites. By his law, God regulated the civic and worship life of his people in such a way that they would honor and obey God’s rule in their lives, while they received God’s blessings and favor. The old covenant era lasted from the days of Abraham, Moses, the kings and the prophets, all the way to the coming of Jesus, the Savior of the world. When Jesus came the old covenant faded away; the new covenant was introduced. We live today under the new covenant.

Secondly, the 4^th commandment

 

• Is fulfilled in and through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Scripture teaches clearly that the law of God is a taskmaster that leads us to Jesus. Paul says to the churches in Galatians: “…we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.” All that the law promises, all that the law stands for and requires is found in Jesus, is fulfilled by Jesus, and is to be received by faith in Jesus Christ. Followers of the Lord Jesus Christ do not live in the old covenant era, and do not obey the law as Old Testament Israel once was required to do. Something has radically changed. We can’t fulfill the law of God. But Jesus has done it for us. Therefore, we now consider God’s law through the eyes of Jesus and through all his accomplished work on the cross and in the tomb. Thirdly, the 4^th commandment

 

• Functions as our guide to grateful living and doing good works that are pleasing to God. This is the classic understanding of Reformed Christians going back to the Scriptures, and to the early Christian church, including St. Augustine and John Calvin.

 

THE TEXT: MATTHEW 12:1-8

            If you are still frustrated with this commandment, and want to see more biblical evidence of these three keys, consider the story found in Matthew 12. There you find some frustrated Pharisees who feel that Jesus is breaking all the rules of Sabbath observance. Jesus is not living by the established customs so vigorously upheld by the Pharisees.

 

The first thing that we should note is the accusation of the Pharisees. Jesus’ disciples are hungry; they walk through the grainfields on the Sabbath; they pick some heads of grain and eat them. Now, suppose, that you are hungry, and that you therefore walk into the orchard of your neighbor, pick some apples or peaches, and eat them. Is it not true that you could be accused of stealing fruit? The Pharisees, however, do not accuse Jesus’ disciples of theft, but of “doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”

 

The spirit of God’s law is always on the side of mercy and love. God is compassionate, especially to the poor, the hungry and the needy. So, we read that God made special provision for them. In Deut. 23:25 we read that such people may enter their “neighbor’s field of standing grain; they may pick the heads of grain with their hand, but they may not thrust a scythe (or harvesting knife) into their neighbor’s standing grain.” In other words, a hungry person may pick a bit of grain from a farmer’s field to still her hunger. That’s exactly what the disciples did. They acted upon the spirit of God’s law. And Jesus approved of that. But the Pharisees focused on the letter of the Law and applied their rigorous rules of Sabbath observance, accusing Jesus and the disciples of breaking the 4^th commandment.

 

In his response to silence the Pharisees, the Lord Jesus teaches them four lessons: (Hendriksen, comment.)

1. Necessity knows no law. (read vs. 3,4). Here the Lord Jesus draws from Israel’s history and reminds the Pharisees of what David and his companions did when they were fleeing, hungry, and came to the house of God, where they found bread displayed on the altar. That bread was consecrated and could only be eaten by the priests. But mercy required that David and his companions would eat it to sustain them. Thus Jesus points out that it is human need or necessity that comes first. Human necessity knows no law.

 

2. Every rule has its exception (read vs. 5,6). The principle of “necessity knows no law” applies always, Sabbath or no Sabbath. In other words, there is a higher law. No one is supposed to work on the Sabbath, but in order for worship to take place in Israel, the priests must continue to carry out their duties in the temple. A higher law, “demanding that everything be done to make possible the worship of God by the people, modifies and restricts the too literal interpretation of the regulation concerning Sabbath rest. So also today no one in his right mind will blame a minister for preaching and/or administering the sacraments on the Lord’ s Day” (p. 513). Every rule, then, has its exception. Jesus underscores his point even further by pointing out that someone greater than the earthly temple was speaking to the Pharisees: “I tell you that one greater than the temple is here.”

 

3. Showing mercy is always right.Listen: (12:7) “If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” The Pharisees lacked pity. They did not love kindness. The disciples were innocent of doing anything wrong. But not so the Pharisees.

 

4. Jesus is sovereign ruler over all, including the Sabbath. “For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath,” says Jesus. The lordship of Jesus overrules any man-made interpretation of Sabbath observance. In the gospel of Mark we notice that Jesus expands on this thought by pointing out that the Sabbath was made for man, not vice versa. The Sabbath was instituted to be a blessing for people: to keep us healthy, to give us joy in the creating and saving works of God, and to render us holy. People were not created to be the Sabbath’s slave. As Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath, so also in Jesus we find the fulfillment and freedom and joy that comes from Jesus’ rule over the Sabbath.

           

            Jesus teaches that God’s rest, foreshadowed in the 4^th commandment, is for God’s people. That rest is found in Jesus Christ.

 

 

PASTORAL ADVICE

            Moving away from a legalistic approach and embracing the rest of God in Jesus Christ alone, wanting to honor the 4^th commandment as a follower of Jesus Christ, this is what I teach today:

 

1.      If at all possible, abstain from work on Sundays: we need physical rest. We need time to ponder and celebrate God’s provisions, God’s work and God’s care in our lives. God gives to us “even in our sleep.” So, let’s follow the Creator’s pattern of 6 days of work, 1 day of rest.

 

2.      If at all possible, provide your employees with the same opportunity to abstain from work on Sundays.

 

3.      Receive Sundays as God’s gift to you and your family: to celebrate God’s rest in Jesus Christ; to do what the catechism teaches—to attend public worship and give God His due; let Sunday be the primary day of worship for you; and support the church, your worshiping community with your gift of presence. Do not neglect the assembly of God’s people.

 

4.      Teach your children consistently that in your home and family the pattern of rest and worship will be honored. No arguing about that; simply explain that this is the rhythm in your home; they are expected to follow this pattern. Model this pattern to them faithfully.

 

5. Let Sundays be a “festive day of rest:”Enjoy each other’s company; enjoy God’s creation rest; and celebrate God’s salvation rest in Jesus Christ. That rest is for all God’s people and the world.

 

            In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.