Complete Rest Awaits All In Jesus

When you read the Gospels carefully you note that Jesus did some in-your-face things on the Sabbath. For instance, he said nothing when his hungry disciples plucked heads of grain to eat on the Sabbath. But that was work and God had strictly forbidden anyone to work on the Sabbath (Exod. 20:9-12). So the proud fundamentalists, the Pharisees, challenged him and his followers. "Hey! your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath. They're working!"

Jesus' replied,

"Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. And if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath." - Mat 12:3-8 ESV 

The David story comes from that time when David and his men had to flee for their lives from the wrath of King Saul. Being hungry and without food, David begged Abimelech the priest for bread. All Abimelech had to give was the so-called "bread of the Presence." This was 12 loaves of bread baked each week and placed on a special gold-inlayed table in the Temple as an offering and memorial before the LORD (Lev. 24:5-9). Only the priests were allowed to eat it, but Abimelech broke that rule by giving it to David and his men.

Beyond that, Jesus continued, if you really want to talk about people not working on the Sabbath, consider the priests. They work every Sabbath, offering sacrifices and leading the congregation in worship in the temple. And yet they are not condemned. Two things were overlooked and rejected by the Pharisees—and the bulk of Israel's religious leaders.

• Something greater than the temple is here. What is at stake here is an understanding of what all the rules and laws about the temple and the worship of God were all about. These were all summarized by the prophet Hosea when he condemned the hypocricy of the priests and their sacrifices. Speaking for the LORD, Hosea said, "For I desire steadfast love (or mercy) and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings." - Hosea 6:6 ESV

• Some-One greater than the temple is here. Standing before them was the Son of Man, the promised Messiah, sent by the Father in heaven to bring the mercy of God to all men. He is the One who correctly interprets the meaning of God's command about the Sabbath. From the beginning, the Sabbath day with all its demands to rest pointed to that Day when God would bring final rest to all His children. On that Day God will give His people total and complete rest, rest that includes forgiveness of all sins and the fulfilled promise of a new heaven and a new earth—all because of what Jesus was to accomplish by His sacrifice upon the cross of Calvary. 

It is to this that the Hebrews letter points. 

So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. - Hebrews 4:9-11 ESV 

To strive here does not refer to rushing about trying to prove to God that you are such a righteous and holy person. Absolutely not! Instead it refers to humbly confessing your sins and throwing yourself upon the endless mercy of God now revealed in Jesus. And this you may do with utter confidence.

More about our great High Priest and the grace He brings next time.

The Blasphemy Against The Holy Spirit

We've been speaking about praying to the LORD for forgiveness and promising to do the same toward those indebted to us. But is there ever an instance when we must not forgive? Is there any such command in Sacred Scripture? Is there any sin God will not forgive? Listen.

And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. - Mat 12:31-32 ESV

What is this blasphemy against the Spirit?

A man with a withered hand came to a Jewish synagogue on the Sabbath. For unknown reasons his hand was not getting blood to it. Was it gangrene? We don't know. What we do know is that the man desperately wanted to be healed and believed Jesus could do it. But it was the Sabbath and on the Sabbath all true children of Abraham could do no work. And healing a man was work.

Already the Pharisees had condemned Jesus for allowing his disciples to pluck grain heads and eat them. Jesus responded that about a thousand years before King David was given the bread of the Presence or Show-bread (Exod. 25:30; Lev. 24:5-9) by a priest. That sacred bread was to be eaten only by the priests (Exod. 28:32-33). David and his men were fleeing for their lives and in great need of food. So the priest gave them this holy bread, breaking all the rules about it.

Moreover the priests always worked on the Sabbath. In the temple on the Sabbath they had to offer lambs, flour and oil as well as other offerings. And that was surely work. Thus they desecrated the Sabbath and yet were guiltless in God's eyes.

Beyond that, something greater than the temple stood before their eyes. Jesus, the Son of Man to whom the eternal day of rest pointed, the Lord of the Sabbath, stood before them, but they did not see him. They saw only a false prophet. Yet this same Jesus, the true high priest, was to enter into the very presence of God, offering himself as the one, final sacrifice. And so true rest from the guilt of sin and the punishment of death would now be available to all who will receive it in faith.

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. - Hebrews 4:14-16 ESV (consider the entire chapter)

With that response Jesus entered the Synagogue where he was confronted by the man with that withered hand. And the Pharisees were waiting. "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" they demanded.

Jesus responded by pointing out that they fed and rescued their sheep on the Sabbath. "Of how much more value is a man than a sheep!" And with that he restored the man's hand to full health.

This brought a firestorm of anger and hatred from the Pharisees. Jesus had to go. They conspired together on how to kill him. But they could not stop him—yet. He kept right on healing still others, even healing a blind and mute man oppressed by a demon. These further deeds caused them to accuse Jesus of being in the service of Satan himself. All this was, of course, blasphemy. This is why Jesus said what he did.

Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. - Mat 12:30-32 ESV

From this we conclude that some may—for a time—mock Jesus and be forgiven. But finally, if they reject what the Spirit has spoken in God's Word about Jesus as our High Priest, they commit blasphemy. Jesus has presented the one, final sacrifice for sin. The Spirit calls to us in that Good Word, inviting all to accept Jesus' sacrifice and so be eternally rescued from judgment and death. Turn your back upon that Gospel, join the Pharisees to pronounce Jesus as a servant of Satan, blaspheme the very Spirit of God, and you will not and cannot be forgiven. This is the unforgivable sin!

So humbly and with deepest gratitude we pray, "Our Father in heaven, forgive us our debts for the sake of Jesus, even as we promise to forgive those who are indebted to us."