[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 22nd of August, 2021, at Pilgrim Reformed Church. Our YouTube streaming channel is: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg. Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel: http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]
During His short ministry, Jesus was constantly being tested by the Pharisees, the Jewish religious leaders. As Jesus went about the land teaching and healing folks of all manner of illnesses and infirmities, the crowds grew ever larger. His popularity increased to the point that the Pharisees felt threatened in their hold over the people.
So they questioned Him at every opportunity. They wanted to trap Him, to catch Him in a flagrant violation of the their Law, and especially of God’s law as handed down to Moses: the Ten Commandments. Number four on that list is, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.”
Please listen and follow along to the events of one particular Saturday afternoon, as recorded by the Apostle Matthew in chapter 12 of his Gospel account, verses 1 through 15, and I’ll be reading this from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible…
1 At about that time Jesus was walking through some grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, so they began breaking off some heads of grain and eating them. 2 But some Pharisees saw them do it and protested, “Look, Your disciples are breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath.”3 Jesus said to them, “Haven’t you read in the Scriptures what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He went into the house of God, and he and his companions broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests are allowed to eat. 5 And haven’t you read in the law of Moses that the priests on duty in the Temple may work on the Sabbath? 6 I tell you, there is One here who is even greater than the Temple! 7 But you would not have condemned My innocent disciples if you knew the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ 8 For the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!”9 Then Jesus went over to their synagogue, 10 where He noticed a man with a deformed hand. The Pharisees asked Jesus, “Does the law permit a person to work by healing on the Sabbath?” (They were hoping He would say yes, so they could bring charges against Him.)11 And He answered, “If you had a sheep that fell into a well on the Sabbath, wouldn’t you work to pull it out? Of course you would. 12 And how much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Yes, the law permits a person to do good on the Sabbath.”13 Then He said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” So the man held out his hand, and it was restored, just like the other one! 14 Then the Pharisees called a meeting to plot how to kill Jesus.15 But Jesus knew what they were planning. So He left that area, and many people followed Him. He healed all the sick among them.
--Matthew 12:1-15 (NLT)
Let us pray… Father God, thank You for granting Your Son Lordship over all of Your creation. Jesus is Lord over all illnesses, Lord over the Sabbath, Lord over us, Lord over all. Thank You, Father, for choosing us to follow Jesus and to believe in Him and accept Him as our Lord. Please help us truly understand what it means to serve Him. Help us obey Your and His every command. Help us to do as You will and not just whatever it is we want to do. Please keep us strong in our faith and of one purpose in our service to Christ Jesus. Please keep us healthy and safe through these trying times. And Father, please guard us from Satan and those who do his bidding, whether they do so knowingly or not.
Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit and better understand the message You have for us this morning. Remind us that we are Your creation, and You have given us to Your Son Jesus. We are His and He is our Lord. This we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus. Amen.
Richard J. Mouw, in his book Uncommon Decency, recalls that his favorite Abraham Kuyper quotation comes from a speech that Kuyper once gave before a university audience in Amsterdam. He was arguing that scholarship is an important form of Christian discipleship. Since scholarship deals with God's world, it has to be done in such a way that it honors Christ. Kuyper concluded with this ringing proclamation: "There is not one square inch of the entire creation about which Jesus Christ does not cry out, 'This is Mine! This belongs to Me!'"
I can just imagine that thunderous voice from heaven exclaiming, “This is Mine!” I’m not talking about the whiny petulant cry of a small child, but the Lord of all creation leaving no doubt that, “This belongs to Me!”
And oh, by the way, all of “this” in those two declarations includes you and me. We are part of God’s glorious creation, and we belong to His Son because we were given to Him. We belong to Christ Jesus, and we need to make sure everything we do honors Him.
I bet I’m not the only one in here that remembers the Blue Laws that prohibited doing business on Sundays. No one worked, except the preacher, of course. No stores were open – the closest thing to a convenience store back then was the corner grocery and it was always closed on Sundays anyway. The Sunday feast was at home around the dinner table. Folks went to church and then spent time with one another and family, just enjoying the day – kind of like what God intended for the Sabbath.
But then the Blue Laws were relaxed a little, allowing businesses to start up after church hours, and finally they were all revoked, and Sunday became just another day. I have to admit I miss those Blue Laws days.
Of course, even back then, there were some jobs that had to be done, some “business” that had to be conducted. Law enforcement, firefighters, doctors and nurses, hospitals and emergency rooms, all those necessary jobs and businesses had to stay open and doing what they do for our health and well-being.
And this is what Jesus was talking about in His “education” of the Pharisees. If a person is hungry, someone has to do some form of work so that they can be fed. And like our preachers during the Blue Laws days, the priests of old had to work on the Sabbath to keep the Temple open and running so people could worship. Lastly, just as someone would labor on the Sabbath to pull a sheep from a well or a pit, a healer may heal an injured or ill person, for a person is far more valuable than any sheep.
In all of this, Jesus was counteracting the self-righteous attitude of the Pharisees who put the letter of the law ahead of its intent. He quoted to them from their own holy scripture, from the prophet Hosea, who in the 6th verse of the 6th chapter of his book spoke for God, saying…
6 I want you to show mercynot offer sacrifices.I want you to know Memore than I want burnt offerings.
--Hosea 6:6 (NLT)
God wants us to know Him. He isn’t as concerned about the laws that the Pharisees perverted to their own ends as He is about us knowing Him, loving Him, understanding His mercy.
When God said to keep the Sabbath holy, He meant the day to be one of rest for the body and the mind and a time of worship, to spend with Him. He didn’t say not to work if work is necessary, but the Pharisees tried to enforce that on others, even while breaking it themselves by serving in the Temple.
But the main point Jesus was making here, perhaps more for us than for them, is that He can define what the Sabbath means to us because He is Lord over all, even over the Sabbath. Of course, the Pharisees didn’t believe that. They didn’t accept Jesus as Lord over anything, much less of the Sabbath, so they plotted to kill Him, and to put an end to His influence.
Long ago, the people of these united colonies fought a long and brutal war to gain independence from a monarch’s rule, to do away with the concept of noble lords that would rule over us, to make it so we could rule ourselves by representative government. We would bow before no crown. So I’m not sure we truly understand what the word “lord” really entails.
A lord holds the power of life and death over another. A person would have no choice but to do what their lord demanded, that or risk great punishment or death. Even here, in America, we had a period of lords and masters, during our terrible time of legal slavery. But that whole concept of lords and masters runs contrary to our way of thinking now.
So do we really accept Jesus as Lord? Are we sure of what that means? Do we bow to His utter and complete authority? Or do we accept the parts of what He commands us, of what our Bible tells us, those parts that we like and can personally live with, while rejecting and ignoring the rest?
Jesus is our Lord, whether we accept it or not. There is a certain and wonderful reward for truly accepting His Lordship over us, and a certain and horrible punishment for those who won’t.
Along with God and the Holy Spirit, Jesus created all there is. He can look down from His throne upon al creation and truthfully proclaim, “This is Mine!” Jesus is Lord over all. And the Apostle Peter attests to this, when he spoke to the household of Cornelius, as recorded by the Apostle Luke in his Book of the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 10, verses 34 through 43…
34 Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. 35 But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him. 36 The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ — He is Lord of all — 37 that word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. 39 And we are witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree. 40 Him God raised up on the third day, and showed Him openly, 41 not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. 42 And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead. 43 To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive forgiveness of sins.”
--Acts 10:34-43 (NKJV)
Jesus is Lord of all! He will be the judge of all, both living and dead. He holds the power of not just mortal life and death but eternal life and death over us. By Him and Him alone can we be redeemed of our sins and spared everlasting torment. Whoever believes in Him, whoever accepts Him as their Lord, will be saved.
We all have some mortal, human lord, some master to whom we answer. It may not be a life and death situation, but there is someone each of us is responsible to in some way. It may be a boss or a teacher or a spouse. For me, it’s you and our church Consistory.
But our ultimate Lord is Christ Jesus. How He sees us is all that really matters. Since He already is our Lord anyway, let’s go ahead and truly accept Him as such and do what He commands us to do. We will be richly rewarded for that decision. He doesn’t require much of us, just that we love one another and tell everyone we meet all about Him and how good He is to us.
Jesus is Lord over all. Let’s act like it. In the blessed name of Christ Jesus. Amen.
Let us pray… Father God, thank You for giving us to Jesus. We are His, we belong to Him, just as all creation belongs to Him. Thank You for giving us the faith to know Jesus and to accept Him as our Lord. Jesus is Lord over all. Please, Father, help us be good and faithful servants. Sometimes, Father, we let our pride get in our way. Sometimes we get stubborn and think we answer to no one. Please, Father, help us better understand what it means when we proclaim Jesus as Lord. Give us the full conviction of our words. Encourage us and strengthen us as we strive to serve our Lord Jesus. Please keep us strong in our spirit, in our faith, and in our service to You and Jesus.
Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You from our hearts through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more faithful and true, putting all our trust in You and Jesus, and seeking Your help as we do so…
Lord Jesus, You are our Lord! Our Father God gave us to You before the world was even formed. We belong to You and to You alone. Thank You, Jesus, for accepting us, for watching over us, for taking on our sins so that we can be seen as spotless when we stand before God at the last. Lord, we ask You to help us truly be Your servants. Help us do as You command in all aspects of our daily walk through this life. Strengthen our will to do what our Father God wills us to do. Help us to be more loving, more understanding, kinder to all we encounter each day. And please help us as we try to show Your love in a world still stained by hatred and distrust of one another. All this we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior. Amen.
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