Be a Sabbath Breaker
So Jesus worked on the Sabbath when work was prohibited by the Pharisees because it meant loving people.
Pharisees coerce their children to go to church on Sunday because it’s the family duty, but on Tuesday ignore the very ways of God professed on Sunday. Pharisees ask to join as a church member, but neglect the church’s faith-building activities that nurture the soul. Pharisees repeat the same tried and true prayers before and after every meal, but falter when it comes to opening up to God in heartfelt private moments. Pharisees put church offering envelopes in the plate with crumbs and leftovers tucked inside. Pharisees condemn other religious denominations for bending doctrinal truths while refusing to bend a little to love those in need. Pharisees put on robes and stand in pulpits publicly condemning sins, and then commit those same sins in private.
That’s why Jesus was a Sabbath-breaker. “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath,” he tells the Pharisees and us in Mark chapter 2. God’s purpose is not for us to observe religious rituals for the sake of religious rituals or go to church so that we can mark our calendars that we went to church. No, God’s purpose is for religious rituals and church ceremonies to serve and help us explore, enjoy, and expand the God’s mercy in his words and works.
So Jesus worked on the Sabbath when work was prohibited by the Pharisees because it meant loving people. Jesus healed people on the Sabbath. Jesus picked grain and fed his hungry disciples on the Sabbath. And in his greatest work of love, Jesus lay in the tomb one Sabbath at rest and at the same time accomplishing more for us than any of our works ever could. Jesus broke the Sabbath of the Pharisees and in doing that, he fulfilled the true Sabbath and became the reality of spiritual rest for us. So, “The Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
Jesus didn’t come into the world to condemn people, but to love and save people. To give sinners rest from our worries and fears, from our incompetent strivings to work for our own forgiveness or freedom from guilt, from a burdened conscience and an anxious future. You are the sick-to-death mother who can’t live another day and you meet Jesus on the Sabbath, and he heals you. You are his disciple picking grain on the Sabbath because you love following Jesus, and he defends you. You are the sheep who falls into the pit on the Sabbath, and Jesus rescues you.
Break the Sabbath by breaking free from obeying rules simply because you must, and obey them because you love them and trust the one who gives them, Jesus. Break the Sabbath by adjusting any man-made religious rituals that do not serve the purpose of helping you to explore, enjoy, and expand God’s words and works of mercy. Break the Sabbath by taking a break from the pressures of sin and guilt and giving yourself permission to be happy.
PRAYER: Dear God, I’d ask for rest but I fear that when I make that request my idea of rest is different than yours, than what I truly need. So now I ask, help me understand the kind of rest that I need. Not a lazy, do-nothing, unconcerned rest but a rest that relies so much on you that it dares to love others like Jesus. Give me that rest, O God, rest for my soul that never stops believing, and never stops loving. Amen.