* In the OT, the Sabbath was a day.
* It set the stage for people to find their “rest” in God.
* In the NT, the Sabbath is a Man - Jesus.
* In Him, we find our rest.
* The Hebrew word “sabat” means “rest.”
* In Christ, we find our rest.
* The OT Sabbath was a symbol pointing to the upcoming NT Sabbath.
* Honoring the Sabbath “day” prepared you to honor the Sabbath “man.”
* Jesus came to change the way people saw the Sabbath.
* On several occasions, He deliberately broke the Sabbath traditions.
* This ticked the religious leaders off.
* vs 1-2 - “On a Sabbath, while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. 2 But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?”
* Jesus broke the rules to point to a relationship.
* The religious leaders questioned Him for it.
* Notice the two examples He uses in His response:
* vs 3-5 - “And Jesus answered them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?” 5 And he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”
* He talked about David eating the consecrated bread on the Sabbath day "in the temple" and the priests doing their Sabbath duties "in the temple."
* In the OT, the temple was where God's presence was, so being "in the temple" on the Sabbath signified being in God's presence.
* Christ’s disciples were “in His presence” when they did these things.
* Jesus redefined how to honor the Sabbath—if you walk in His presence, you will honor God no matter what you do.
* Christ was more important than the day.
* Being in His presence made everything they did holy.
* Jesus is our Sabbath rest.
* When we live a life of honor to Jesus by doing our work with a heart of gratitude to Him, we will experience His rest.
* When we honor Him with our work, He honors us with His rest.
* This is honoring the Sabbath.