In the name of Christ Jesus, dear fellow redeemed people of God,

Are you a legalist? Someone once said that we are all born legalists. But what is a legalist? In terms of Biblical theology, a legalist is someone who misuses the law. It is a misuse of the law to try to get to heaven by works of the law. You cannot get to heaven by good works, and to try to get to heaven by works is legalism. It is also a misuse of the law if people treat man's ideas as if they were God's commands.

The Pharisees were legalists through and through. They added their own ideas to God's law, and tried to get to heaven by obeying their own laws. They had long lists of what was not lawful on a Sabbath Day. God had commanded the Sabbath Day for his Old Testament people, but he had not issued all the laws of the Pharisees. And now that the Sabbath law is no longer in force because Christ fulfilled it, this is God's Word for us, New Testament Christians:

1. He Warned Against Legalism.

The disciples were hungry on a Sabbath day. So, as they walked through grain fields, they picked some of the grain, rolled it in their hands, and ate the kernels. It was a ready snack. They were not stealing. God's Word had specifically said that when you went through your neighbor's grain field, you could pick kernels with your hands, but you could not put a sickle to the grain (Dt 23:25). In other words, you could snack, but not harvest.

The Pharisees claimed that this was wrong, because it was a Sabbath day. But they weren't harvesting the grain, they were having a snack because they were hungry. Jesus pointed to another example. When David was hungry, he ate the special Bread of the Presence. Only the priests were allowed to eat that, but when David was running for his life from King Saul, the priest gave some of this special consecrated bread to David. Matthew records another example our Savior mentioned. The people weren't supposed to work on the Sabbath, but the priests were working in the temple every Sabbath! God never intended to have his Old Testament worship laws interpreted legalistically. The main point had to do with worship and concentrating on God's Word! The Sabbath was not an end to itself. Our Savior explained in verse 27, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." As if that were not enough, consider who the Judge is! Jesus is! Then we read in verse 28, "So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."

Were the disciples snacking or harvesting? Without a doubt, this was just a snack, but the Pharisees had put the worst construction possible on this. They went overboard into legalism. Later, Jesus would tell the legalists, "You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men" (Mk 7:8).

We need to be careful that we don't go overboard into legalism, making up man-made laws as though they were God's law. It's one thing to set up orderly customs in Christian freedom, but it's something else to add to God's law. Consider a few man-made laws. Catholic priests still can't get married because of a man-made rule that is not in the Bible. Many Baptists make rules about Baptism that are not in the Bible too. The Bible does not say that the only valid way to baptize is by immersion or dunking. They also made up the man-made rule about not letting babies be baptized. There are many examples of legalism. They add man-made rules and pretend that it is God's will. We may have opinions, but that doesn't make them God's law. Some claim that it is wrong to dance or to drink alcohol. But the Bible doesn't say that. It is wrong to lust. It is wrong to misuse alcohol. But there is no passage in the Bible that says, "You shall not dance," or "You shall not drink wine." In fact, our Lord's first miracle was turning water into wine! Study the Bible carefully so that you know the difference between man-made rules and God's law.

Once we know the difference, we quickly realize that we have a problem. We have not obeyed God's laws perfectly. We have sinned! And that is a big problem. It would keep us out of heaven if it were not for the redeeming work of Jesus, our Savior. Worship the Lord of the Sabbath.

2. He Obeyed His Law.

Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath! As the Son of God in the flesh, he gave the law! So, it is "His Law." He knew what he meant. He is the Judge. He is the one who decides if we have broken his law or not. And, to be honest, we have broken His Law. We have sinned in thought, word, and deed. Consider just the Third Commandment! The Sabbath Day was a shadow, pointing forward to Christ (Col 2:16-17). Once Jesus had redeemed us by dying on the cross, the Sabbath law was over. The Temple curtain was torn in two, and all of those Old Testament worship laws were done. Here's what the Third Commandment is all about today: "We should fear and love God that we do not despise preaching and his Word, but regard it as holy and gladly hear and learn it." Do we hear and learn God's Word as often as we could? It is a sin to fail to hear God's Word regularly without God pleasing reasons! And if we do hear and learn God's Word regularly, do we always hear and learn it gladly? It is sinful to consider it a drudgery to hear and learn God's Word! And if we are glad to hear and learn God's Word regularly, do we always hear and learn it as attentively as we should? If you let your mind wander away while God's Word is taught, that is sinful too! We have all sinned against the Lord! We deserve to suffer God's punishment forever!

But, our gracious Triune God saved us. God the Father sent his Son. God the Son redeemed us. God the Holy Spirit gave us faith. Jesus Christ obeyed his own law. He gave it. He obeyed it perfectly. Consider just how Jesus kept the Third Commandment for us. He heard God's Word regularly. He had learned it so well by the age of 12 that he astonished the rabbis. He let the Word of God dwell in his heart. He talked about it as he walked along the road. We could go on and on. But Jesus obeyed the law perfectly for us. Then, our Savior went to the cross where he suffered the punishment of all of our sins. He died and was buried instead of us! But he didn't stay dead. He rose from death. And so, hear the gospel of our Lord: "You are forgiven through Christ!" All of your sins are removed from you. Go in peace, and gladly, and thankfully, Worship the Lord of the Sabbath!

3. He Provided True Rest.

The word Sabbath came from the Hebrew word for "rest." Jesus provided rest for our souls and our consciences. Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls" (Mt 11:28?29). Do you know what it's like to have a guilty conscience? It's miserable when you have a guilty conscience, but it's hard to describe. It's kind of like when you were a little child, and you knew that you had done something wrong, and you knew that you were in trouble. That's a terrible feeling. If it leads us to repent, that's a good thing. And we hear that we are forgiven through Christ and find comfort. But, sometimes, our consciences become a little overactive. I think I have a little legalist inside me. Do you have one too? Sometimes my conscience accuses me for breaking one of man's rules, and not necessarily one of God's.

First, we need to begin to approach this problem by identifying whether or not we feel guilty for a sin, or just breaking some man-made law. Some pastors feel guilty if they take a day off. But that's no sin. How many of you work seven days a week, 24 hours a day? In the Old Testament, the people HAD to take the Sabbath day off. And that was good for their bodies and their souls. It does us good - physically, mentally, and spiritually -- to take time off sometimes. Christ did this too! If we more carefully study the Bible, we will read our Savior's words to his disciples when so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat. He said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest" (Mk 6:31). Jesus and the disciples took time off now and then. Why shouldn't we? Nobody denies that there is a physical need for sleep! You have to sleep! In the same way, we do need some rest from time to time. Some of us need to remember this. And some of us need to remember not to be lazy.

There are times when our consciences should bother us because we have sinned against God's law. Maybe we did something wrong. Maybe we failed to do something God commanded us to do. Maybe we failed to gladly hear and learn God's Word. Maybe we had too much to drink. Maybe we were guilty of lust. Maybe we were guilty of gossip. When we sin, we need to repent. If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Remember that the blood of Jesus Christ purifies us from all our sins! You are forgiven through Christ! Go now, and sin no more. Produce fruit, in keeping with repentance! Don't go back to that sin again. Instead, Worship the Lord of the Sabbath, because he provided true rest... rest for our souls. Finally, he will give to us and all believers, the eternal rest of heaven. Meanwhile, let us worship him gladly! We don't need to feel guilty anymore! We are forgiven! Our consciences need not burden us any longer. We can rest, in Jesus. Let us worship him. Amen.