Come Follow Me (Mar 13-19) Matthew 11-12; Luke 11 | The Sabbath Police – powered by Happy Scribe
Wow, this is such a great sermon. Yeah, so insightful. I wish Trudy were here. She really needs to hear this. Well, absolutely. And I can think of a dozen more people this could help. Oh, they’ll be so happy when they repent. Yeah, thank goodness for the scriptures, right? Okay, we’re probably all guilty of wanting to apply the gospel to someone else before ourselves. And of course, it’s great to share what we’ve learned with others. But one of Jesus’s biggest messages in the New Testament is to stop worrying about others and for us to partner with Him to overcome the burden of our own sins. In our hike up.
Mount Mortality.
We tend to load up our pack.
Oh, cares and stuff. My precious crutch. Oh, there’s some really good fears over there. Yes, it is cool. Oh, yeah, real responsibilities and difficulties. And don’t forget the donuts.
Sure, we can try to struggle up by ourselves, or we can partner with the smartest, strongest person in the universe. And he can even help us offload unneeded baggage. Yes, Jesus invites with these beautiful words, Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Okay, but really, how do we let go of cares, stresses, sins, and sorrows? Well, it’s right there in a trust sandwich. First, we need to trust that he is the master of both justice and mercy. Sometimes we think we need to meet an impossible standard. Sometimes we want justice for others and mercy for ourselves. But that’s not really mercy, right? Worrying about all that just weighs us down. But under His yoke, an ironclad commitment to stay together with an infinitely powerful being, we know that we can mentally and spiritually offload our burdens to Him because he’s got this. Study, read, ask questions, think, and change. And while change is scary, we can trust He’s kind and incredibly patient with us.
Yes, this is the heart of his good news and God’s plan. And it works as we reconnect with each day and week to being one with Him. The mighty Son of God came down specifically to shoulder all this tough stuff to make our burdens easier and power us in our journey back home. One Sabbath day, Jesus was going with his disciples to the synagogue or church, and their tummies were a grumbling. So the Apostles ate some grain from a field they were passing through, and suddenly the Sabbath police jumped out. See, some of the Pharisees were obsessed with the law. So anything they perceived as work being done on the sabbath was a huge sin. They accused Jesus of letting his followers harvest grain on the sabbath. But Jesus calmly referred them to the Old Testament story when David and his men took food from the temple, which the Pharaohes had no problem with, though it appeared to be against the letter of the law. The sabbath was made for man and not man for the sabbath. Jesus then teaches the real purpose of the law, which is a blessing for us. Sometimes we can complicate something so much that it can become a burden, even the Gospel.
See, the Pharaohs were so obsessed with their twisted cultural way of thinking that their focus was more on the law than what it was meant for. It became a barrier to the truth, the truth that could set them free. So how can we let the Sabbath help us? Well, any doctor, coach, or trainer would say our body needs rest to be its best. And with so much vying for our attention, our brains need quiet time from the world’s noise. And the Sabbath is perfect for recharging our spiritual force field to be pumped up to face the next week. Yes, by feasting at the spiritual banquet table, we can deepen our connections to God and be filled with his Spirit. Now, with the failure of the Sabbath police, the pharists continue their plot against Jesus. I have a great idea. Let’s get him to work and do a miracle on the sabbath.
Yeah, that will make him look so bad. Boom. Good plan.
So as Jesus comes to the synagogue to worship, the pharisees introduce him to a man with a crippled hand, and the sabbath police are ready to pounce. But once again, Jesus easily teaches in a way that should make sense to them and explains, If any of you had a sheep that fell into a pit on the sabbath, you’d get it out, right?
Yeah, I probably would.
Well, people are more important than sheep, right? Right. Wait.
Bang. Failed again.
Jesus offers the Gospel, not to burden us, but to free us. And so he healed the man. Uneducated, twisted, overcomplicated understandings of the gospel don’t need to get between us and His loving power. We hope you enjoyed this presentation. Now it’s your turn to study the scriptures and the stories behind them as you continue to learn line upon line. think..
Guest Author
dyejo
