Sabbath rest
Readings: Mark 2. 23 – 3. 6, Deuteronomy 5. 12-15
I wonder if there is anything so counter cultural in our current day as rest?
Having left his Gospel behind somewhat in recent months we now return to Mark. We’re near the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. And you’ll notice that, even though we’re only 2 chapters in, already Jesus is facing opposition from the religious leaders, already by the end of this encounter, they are plotting to get rid of him.
And the context of their complaint in these two sections centres around the Sabbath. Two things distinguished the Jews most clearly from the surrounding nations; circumcision, and their keeping of the Sabbath. It’s a key part of their identity, and it’s a hugely important command. Not only is it rooted in the Law, it’s rooted in the 10 commandments. And not only that, but it’s a creation ordinance, it goes right back to Genesis 1 where God rests on the 7th day. Sabbath observance was a big deal.
Such a big deal in fact that different sects at the time, including the Pharisees, had spent a lot of time producing rulings and guidance on what was and wasn’t acceptable on the Sabbath, ranging from what to do if a building collapses to helping animals in labour. And their motivation here wasn’t about loving rules and regulations so much as wanting to honour God, wanting to keep his commands. But, as Jesus goes on, in this they have started to miss the point, started to lose the reason why this command was given in the first place. What’s at stake here in this discussion isn’t the importance of the Sabbath, that’s a given, it’s who has the authority to correctly interpret how it should be kept.
And Jesus is clear where he’s coming from. To add all these additional rules and regulations to ensure the Sabbath is kept properly misses the point. The Pharisees by seeking to legislate for every possibility had come to the wrong end of the stick. So determined they were to not break the Sabbath, they treated it as just a command and added rules to fence it neatly in. And whilst it certainly is a command, it’s more than that, it’s a gift. The Sabbath, a day of rest and relaxation, a day for downing tools to worship God, is a gift given by God to his people. So to add rules, to legislate it into a neat little box, it misses the gift this is meant to be. It’s not meant to be a yoke around their necks to observe, it’s supposed to be life-giving, a joyful gift. We don’t exist to keep the Sabbath, we weren’t created to keep one day set apart, Holy to the Lord. The Sabbath was created for us, to free us to worship, to rest and to enjoy creation. The Sabbath is a blessing, and yet for these people it’s become a straitjacket.
And how much do we need it, this day of rest, this gift of Sabbath. The infinite God chooses to rest on the 7th day of creation, not because he’s tired, not because he needs to recuperate his strength, but to set us an example, to build this pattern into creation itself. If the God of the Universe who is so much higher, more powerful, more perfect than us, if he rests, so then should we.
We live in a world where rest isn’t just seen as a luxury, it’s seen as almost lazy. With hustle-culture encouraging us to turn our hobbies into ways to make money. Endless streams of activities to keep us occupied. We have an abundance of clubs and groups for kids such that parents end up sprinting from one activity to the next. The world seems to turn faster and faster. We have endless streams of information coming our way through the big screens in our living rooms and the little screens in our pockets. The constant messaging to improve ourselves, get fitter, learn more, earn more, improve ourselves. Study a degree alongside your job. Are you owed compensation?
We do it in the church too, an endless stream of events to attend, jobs that need doing, groups to be part of.
It spins faster and faster and faster. Until it all comes crashing down. Mental health in this country is in the gutter, we’re exhausted. We’re constantly being fed the line that if you’re not being productive, if every moment of your time isn’t getting you something, earning for you or improving you in some way, you’re wasting your time. But it’s a lie.
The Sabbath is given to us by God as a gift and it teaches us two valuable truths. Firstly that we are not God, that no matter how hard we work, how much effort we put in, things still lie outside of our control. Taking a day of rest is the acknowledgement that God holds all things in his hands, it’s not all down to us, he is in control, we can take our hand off the wheel one day a week at least. And secondly it teaches us that our value is not in what we do, how productive we are, how successful, how good at juggling an impossible diary we are. We so easily fall into that trap. But the Sabbath reminds us God loves us for us, he loves us because of who we are, not because of what we achieve for him.
When I was in university a few friends and I from the Christian Union decided we wouldn’t study on Sunday’s. I can’t take credit for the idea, but I joined in. On Sunday’s we went to church then headed to the pub, played games, watched films, even in the midst of finals. In a culture where everyone was cramming so hard, working themselves to the bone to get the grades, we sat around for one day a week, relaxing and enjoying God. Because our value wasn’t in our grades, we weren’t going to burn ourselves out for our degree, we were going to trust God. People kept asking us about it because it seemed mad to them. But we recognised that the Sabbath is a gift, a gift to be celebrated and enjoyed.
The Sabbath was created for man, not man for the Sabbath. This is Jesus’ interpretation of the Sabbath command, and he declares why he can say this with his second saying; that he is Lord, even over the Sabbath. It’s a startling declaration. God is the one who instituted the Sabbath, and yet here Jesus is saying that his authority extends even over the Sabbath, he is preeminent over it. Here he is placing himself firmly in the place of God. This is why he can declare what is meant by the command, he is one person of the Godhead who gave this command and gift.
This whole encounter has been less about the Sabbath itself, and more about who has the authority to interpret these laws and commands. Jesus is telling us here that it is through him that we can understand the Law and Old Testament Scriptures. He is the one through whom we can rightly see what they are telling us. Moreover he is the fulfilment of these Scriptures, the one to whom they point. And this is true even of the Sabbath. For in Jesus we find true and perfect Sabbath rest.
In him we find the end of all striving and straining to prove ourselves. For in him, in the light of his glory we find that we are more broken and sinful than we dare to think, that all our efforts are flawed and hopeless. And yet we also find in him, in his cross, that here is the one who rescues us. Who has paid the price, died our death, done all that is necessary for our salvation. Through faith in him we find that we don’t need to work harder to get God to like us, don’t need to be more effective to earn God’s love. We are already loved, and all that is necessary has been done for us. Through faith in him all this is ours, not because of what have done, but because of what he has done. All we need do is turn from our striving, our sinning and our determination to go our own way. Down tools and go his way, trust in his sacrificial love, trust in his word and his ways.
The Sabbath was given to be lifegiving, to heal and restore. In Jesus we find true life, life in all its fulness. We find true healing for our broken and messy lives. In him we find true restoration, restored relationships both with one another and with God.
Jesus is not just Lord of the Sabbath, he is our Sabbath rest himself. In him we find peace, for he has done it all, there is nothing we can do to add to his perfect and sufficient work on the cross.
In all our strivings, to a world overwrought and frantically working, never stopping, Jesus says; ‘Come to me all you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens and I will give you rest’.
Amen.