Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Lord of Rest

I hope that some of you had a chance to put Sunday's sermon into practice with the Memorial Day Holiday. Sunday's Message, "The Lord of Rest," focussed on Matthew 12:1-14 and tried to explain what Sabbath Rest is all about.

Like the Pharisess, we, too, have perverted the principle of Sabbath Rest, but in a different way. They legalized it, but we've abandoned it completely. We need a Biblical recovery of the principle and practice of Sabbath Rest in our day.

For some reason, this passage was particularly valuable and encouraging for me personally. I think it brought together some important Biblical themes, but at the same time was so practical. Once more, the Gospel of Jesus is right there at the center of it all.

What was the most surprising thing about the message/text for you?

1 comment:

Suzette said...

I remember discussing this passage in our small group before. It was clear to me then that Jesus was explaining his diety in Matthew 12:8 when He said "For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath." But I completely missed the deeper meaning and purpose of Sabbath rest. I was definately thinking of the Sabbath in terms of physical rest. The section does make more sense to me in light of the purpose for Sabbath rest that you outlined. God's goal of spiritual restoration vs the Pharisees goal of using the Sabbath rules to tear down and destroy Jesus and His disciples. That definately paints a vivid picture of what was happening in the Pharisees hearts. It would be so easy to look down on them. Of course not growing up in a Christian home I can see that I do neglect the Sabbath. I will really have to make an effort to be intentional in practicing Sabbath rest. First I may need to spend some time understanding its purpose better. Not having family traditions to look back on I may have to do some research. I pray that our family will be successful in forming some new traditions of our own.