by Don Fortner

Gospel: St. Mark 2: 23 - 28

Subject: The Disciples Picking Corn on the Sabbath

Introduction:

Let me make three or four statements before we read our text this evening. I want you to hear me carefully.

• We observe the sabbath of faith, a spiritual sabbath rest in Christ.

• We live in the hope and anticipation of a glorious, eternal sabbath rest with Christ.

• We gather in the house of God and worship on the Lord’s day, and encourage all believers to do the same.

• But there is absolutely no sense in which we keep a legal sabbath day in this age of grace.

Why are we so insistent and dogmatic about this? Because Christ, who is the Lord of the sabbath, is Christ our Sabbath. For us to go back to keeping a sabbath day, as the Jews did in the Old Testament, or for us to put on the yoke of legal religion, is to say that Christ fulfilled nothing! Legalism is, in its essence, a denial of Christ’s finished work as the sinners’ Substitute. That was the reason for Paul’s strong denunciation of Peter’s behavior at Antioch. With those things in mind, I want us now to look at the last paragraph of Mark chapter two together.

Mark 2:23-28 "And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn. (24) And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful? (25) And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him? (26) How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the showered, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him? (27) And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: (28) Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath."

We have before us a remarkable scene in the earthly life and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. It was early in the morning on Saturday, the sabbath day, the appointed day of worship for the Jews in the Old Testament. Our Lord Jesus and his disciples were, in all likelihood, on their way to a place of public worship. As they walked to the place of worship, they passed through a field of corn. As they walked along, the disciples began to pick a few ears. They rubbed it in their hands, I presume, to get the grain out and soften it up a little.

To them, it was a totally insignificant thing. They made no attempt to hide or cover their actions because they never gave the matter a thought. But when the Pharisees saw the Lord’s disciples picking corn on the sabbath day, they jumped on them like a duck on a june-bug. Immediately, they accused them to the Lord, as if they had committed some terribly evil moral offense.

"Why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?" The answer our Master gave to these self-righteous, work mongers is full of wise instruction for our souls. Let us study the passage with care and lay its teachings to heart.

The second thing I want us to see from this passage is the fact that, as believers, WE SHOULD ALWAYS BE ABLE TO DEFEND OUR DOCTRINE AND OUR BEHAVIOR FROM THE WORD OF GOD.

Our Lord’s reply to these carping Pharisees was taken directly from the Word of God. He was so thoroughly familiar with the Holy Scriptures that he had the Word of God at his finger tips. I realize that he is the Author as well as the Subject of this Book. Yet, his example here, as always, is a pattern for us to follow. He defended his disciples and defended them in their behavior from the Word of God.

Mark 2:25-26 "And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungered, he, and they that were with him? (26) How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the showbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him?"

In spiritual and doctrinal matters nothing is so powerful a defense, nothing is so powerful a weapon to stop the mouths of gainsayers as the plain texts of Scripture, where the meaning so obvious that it cannot be mistaken.

In all points of doctrine and behavior, our only authority, our only basis of conduct is the inspired Word of God.

In spiritual matters, we have no right to believe or do anything for which we are not able to point to the Word of God and say, "This is why!" We ought to be able to comfortably show from the Word of God…

• The Reason of Our Hope.

• The Reason for Our Doctrine.

• The Reason for Our Ordinances.

The only way we will be able to use the Word of God this way is by making ourselves personally acquainted with its contents.

Do not be content with secondhand knowledge and secondhand religion. Study the Word of God for yourself. Read it diligently, perseveringly, and prayerfully, carefully comparing scripture with scripture.

John 5:39 "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me."

2 Timothy 2:15 "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."

"There is no royal road to the knowledge of the Bible. It does not come to man by intuition. The book must be studied, pondered, prayed over, searched into, and not left always lying on a shelf, or carelessly looked at now and then." J.C. Ryle

A third thing that may be observed from this passage is the fact that APPARENT DISCREPANCIES IN THE WORD OF GOD ARE EASILY CLEARED HEN THOUGHTFULLY CONSIDERED.

You may or may not have noticed that Mark identifies the High Priest in David’s day as a man named Abiathar, while in the book of 1 Samuel, he is called Alimelech (1 Sam. 21:6). You my have missed, simply because you do not look for discrepancies in this blessed Book. I assure you, others have made much over this. The Jewish theologians and the liberals, which seem to abound in all ages, as well as the skeptics of the world who look for an excuse for their skepticism, point to this text and say, …

"There, you see, Mark goofed up How can you say the Bible is the inspired, inerrant Word of God, when it contains such errors?"

Let me assure you first that these apparent discrepancies in the Word of God are not accidental.

This Book is deliberately written to confuse rebels who will not bow to Christ. For those who are determined to go to hell, who are too smart to live by faith, too sophisticated to trust a crucified Substitute, God has put plenty of stumbling stones in the road to keep them tripped up. When God sends blindness, he sends total blindness.

Yet, that which seems a discrepancy to the infidel is easily cleared for the believer.

There are two very likely reasons why Mark and Samuel may have used different names in their accounts of David going into the house of the High Priest and eating the show bread.

Perhaps there were, as was sometimes the case, two men serving as the High Priest at that time.

2 Samuel 8:17 "And Zadok the son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, were the priests; and Seraiah was the scribe."

If that were the case, both may well have acted together in providing the show bread to David and his men. It would be altogether proper, when describing the matter to use either name.

What is, in my opinion, most likely is that Ahimelech had a second name, by which he was commonly called, Abiathar.

The fourth thing revealed in our text is the fact that CHRIST OUR SAVIOR IS THE LORD OF THE SABBATH.

Mark 2:27-28 "And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: (28) Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath."

There is a great depth of spiritual truth in these two verses, truths that simply must be understood and remembered by us. They are set before us in three, crystal clear, simple statements. I do not doubt that neither the Pharisees nor the Lord’s disciples understood them at the time. But there is no reason for confusion in these matters today. The Holy Spirit has now taken the things of Christ and shown their meaning in the Apostolic Epistles. Let’s look at these three statements, one by one.

"The sabbath was made for man."

Theologians, commentators, and preachers labor, and dig, and study, and work real hard to make that statement seem confusing. It is not confusing at all.

When God established the sabbath day, he established it for the benefit of man. It was made to help, not to hurt, man. God instituted the sabbath observance of the Old Testament for exactly the same reason he instituted the temple, the priesthood, and the sacrifices of that typical age. He did it to portray to man the way of salvation and life by faith in Christ.

Just as a man, in keeping the sabbath, ceased from his own works, trusting God to provide everything he needed, so we come to Christ, ceasing from our own works, trusting him alone for everything. Resting in him, we keep the sabbath of faith!

Matthew 11:28-30 "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (29) Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. (30) For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Hebrews 4:7-10 "Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. (8) For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. (9) There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. (10) For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his."

Note: When our Lord says the sabbath was made for man, we must never imagine that it was made for all men. The Scriptures are explicitly clear in telling us that the sabbath was made for the Jews of the Mosaic dispensation. It was never given to or required of Gentiles.

Exodus 31:16-17 "Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. (17) It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed."

Not only did the ancient Jews never require Gentiles to keep the sabbath, they positively forbade sabbath day observance by Gentiles.

Man was not made for the sabbath.

Though the Lord God himself kept a sabbath of rest after creating the heavens and the earth, he never required it of anyone until the law was given to Moses and the children of Israel at Sinai.

Understand the meaning of this. Men and women worshipped and served God for hundreds, even thousands of years, without being under laws of sabbath keeping, or any other form of law for that matter.

• Enoch walked with God; but he never kept a sabbath day.

• Noah was a righteous man; but he never observed a sabbath.

• Abraham was the friend of God; but he never kept a sabbath day.

Christ is the Lord of the sabbath.

Mark 2:28 "Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath."

The simple, clear, and obvious meaning of this last sentence is that he who is the Christ of God, instituted the sabbath, fulfilled the sabbath, dispensed with the sabbath, and abrogated the sabbath, in exactly the same way and to exactly the same degree as he did all the other carnal ordinances, rituals, and ceremonies of the legal dispensation.

Perhaps you are saying to yourself, "If that is the case, then we ought never keep a legal, ceremonial sabbath day." If so, you are exactly right. Sabbath day observance is expressly and positively forbidden in the New Testament, just as much so as Passover observance.

Galatians 4:10-11 "Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. (11) I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain."

Colossians 2:16-17 "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: (17) Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ."

As we have seen already, sabbath observance was never binding upon Gentiles. "And believers in Christ," wrote John Gill, "be they who they will are by no means obliged to it, nor ought they to observe it. Should it be imposed upon them, they ought to reject it. Should they be judged, censored, and condemned for so doing, they ought not to mind it."

Application:

Christ, who is the Lord of the sabbath is himself our Sabbath. We keep no sabbath but the sabbath of faith. We do so because this is what our God requires of us.

Not only are we free from the law in Christ, it is our responsibility to live as free men and women in him. To do otherwise is to deny his finished work as our Substitute, Redeemer, and Savior.

Romans 10:4 "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth."

Galatians 5:1-4 "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. (2) Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. (3) For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. (4) Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace."