True Rest (Mt. 12:1-8)
“Let us restore true rest.”
[Introduction] When you have true rest and peace, you can influence other people. If you yourselves are captured in fear, anxiety, and worries, how can you exert influence to others? Through today’s passage, I bless all Yewon Church members, especially new believers, to enjoy true rest in Jesus Christ and have the evidence of shaking the heavens, earth, sea and all nations.
1. God’s intention
Verses 1-2 read, “At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, ‘Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.’” When Jesus and the disciples went through the grainfields they were hungry, so they ate some grain. Actually, looking at the cultural customs, this was not a problem at that time. In Deut. 23:25 says, ‘If you enter your neighbor's grainfield, you may pick kernels with your hands, but you must not put a sickle to his standing grain.’ This means to be merciful to those who are hungry.
But when the disciples were eating the grain, the Pharisees suddenly appeared from somewhere. They came to argue with Jesus by saying: your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath. So, they were saying the disciples broke the law of the Sabbath.From the laws made by the Pharisees, there is a law that you must not labor on the Sabbath.And picking grain was considered labor so this became a problem. They insisted that picking grain is like harvesting and threshing grain.
These are not following and keeping God’s Word, but regulations which they themselves made. What you must not lose hold of in your walk of faith is the Word of God. If you cannot discern God’s intention and will within the Word, you will be subjected to such problems.
We must live this Word-centered Christian life.I bless all Yewon Church members in the name of the Lord that you would be able to discern God’s intention through pulpit messages and live a great Christian life to give glory to God.
2. The Restoration of True Rest
Verses 3-4 read, “He answered, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread--which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests.”Jesus fixed the Pharisees’ wrong thinking by using the parable of David, who is adored by all the Israelites.
1 Samuel chapter 21 shows that David and his party were very hungry when they were escaping from King Saul.Then, they met Ahimelech, the priest, and asked for food. However, there was no food around except consecrated bread, which it was only allowed to the priests.So, he had no choice but to let David and his party eat the bread.According to the Pharisees’ law, David obviously broke the Law. But no one judged David on this matter because David was in a serious situation. Jesus is chastising how Pharisees are acting contradictory.
Then, Jesus went on to explain the meaning of true rest. “I tell you that one greater than the temple is here. 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.” (Verses 6-8) Jesus is saying not to make a bunch of rules to create a formal, habitual and meaningless life, but to restore true rest.And He makes clear that the channel of restoration is Jesus Himself.
Only through Jesus Christ can people enjoy true rest, indeed. We must surely grab hold of the meaning of “The Son of the Man is Lord of Sabbath.”The Sabbath should be the time to have peaceful rest. This does not simply mean rest but it should be a time to gain spiritual strength.We come to church on Lord’s Day and receive grace through the Word, enjoy blessings of oneness through fellowship among believers.And we must gain strength in order to conquer the world during the following six days.I bless all Yewon Church members in the name of the Lord that you are restored in spirit through true rest and live a life of shaking the heavens, earth, seas and all nations.
[Conclusion] To enjoy true happiness within Jesus Christ, we need a time to have rest. The time to be gaining and receiving spiritual power is on Lord’s Day which is considered to be the most precious. You will receive many answers only through deeply thinking of ‘What is the message God gives to me?’ and ‘What does He want to do through me?’I bless all Yewon believers in the name of the Lord that you taste true rest in Jesus Christ every week and become field evangelism disciples who have power to shake the heavens, earth, seas and all nations.