A Messiah Who Is Greater

The patience Jesus manifests in the Gospel of Luke always amazes me. Time and time again, Jesus is harassed and criticized by the religious elite. And time and time again, Jesus patiently responds with a thought-provoking question or with a direct reference to Scripture. In Luke 6, the Pharisees attempted to trap Jesus with a technicality of Sabbath law by accusing His disciples of breaking the law by picking and eating grain on the Sabbath. The irony and absurdity of their accusation would be nearly laughable if it weren’t such a serious matter. Jesus indirectly rebuked them with Scripture by pointing back to David’s consumption of the showbread (1 Sam 21). He then proceeds to make one of the boldest statements regarding His identity—“The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath” (Lk 6:5). Jesus effectively demonstrated that if David was permitted to eat the priest’s bread, then how much more should the Son of Man, who created the Sabbath, be permitted to feed His hungry disciples on the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a creation ordinance established by God in His original work in Genesis 1. As Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus is declaring that He is sovereign over the Sabbath—The Word of God, the second person of the Trinity to whom, for whom, and by whom all things were created (Col 1:16-17). The Sabbath was sanctified in creation, and the only One who had the authority to hallow the Sabbath day in the work of creation was not man but the One and only Creator who instituted and consecrated this holy day of rest. Let this be a rebuke and an encouragement for us today. Rules instituted by man, much like the Pharisees treated the Sabbath rest, must not rule our lives. May we see Jesus and His authoritative Word as the ultimate authority and priority in our lives. Jesus is greater than David, and He is greater than religious norms. Let this Lord’s Day remind you to rest in Him and not your act of worship. –Pastor Nate

Sunday at Liberty

9AM: Joshua Foster–Evangelism Training

10AM: Pastor Nate–A Messiah Who Is Greater–Luke 6:1-19 (sermon notes)

6PM: Evening Gathering at the Martins’