Perfect Rest found in HIM
It is right, and it is good to meet for the worship of God on His own day (Spurgeon). The Sabbath belongs to the Lord. We know this to be true because the Bible tells us so.
“For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
(The Gospel According to Matthew 12:8 NASB)
On the day Jesus spoke these words, He had come from the grain field, where He was chastised for working on the Sabbath when His disciples plucked grain to eat to satisfy their hunger. That “work” irritated the religious leaders, who accused Jesus of encouraging His disciples of breaking The Law. They saw the action of keeping and obeying The Law, but Jesus saw His disciples’ hunger and met their need.
From there, Jesus went into the synagogue of the Jewish leaders.
“And a man was there whose hand was withered.
(The Gospel According to Matthew 12:10 NASB)
And they questioned Jesus, asking, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”
—so that they might accuse Him.”
They saw the man as bait, as a way to trap Jesus; however, Jesus saw the man with compassion. Even though the man’s withered hand would not cause him to lose his life, and although Jesus could have waited until the next day to heal the man, the Lord commanded the man to do the impossible—through Him.
Jesus reminded the religious men that they would not leave their animals in danger on the Sabbath but would rescue them from harm. Even so, a man’s life was far more valuable than the life of an animal.
“Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand!”
(The Gospel According to Matthew 12:13 NASB)
He stretched it out, and it was restored to normal, like the other.”
Oftentimes, you may have read this passage, quickly passing over Jesus’ command, thinking the man merely moved his arm forward, stretching it out toward Jesus, but that’s not what occurred. This man had a HAND that was withered, drawn up, dried up, and not useful to him as a man. His appendage merely hung from his wrist—DEAD. The leaders saw the man as a way to accuse Jesus of breaking the Mosaic Law, and Jesus saw this man as a person in need of physical and spiritual healing. Jesus asked the man to do something that was impossible; He asked the man to make his dead hand move, to stretch out his dead fingers, and to TRUST JESUS AT HIS WORD. When the man moved in faith to the command of Jesus, ”it [the man’s DEAD hand] was restored to normal, like the other.”
It is God’s task to watch over each person’s life.
It is man’s task to trust God.
- As you place faith and trust in God, then you experience God’s Providence.
- As you trust Jesus to do the impossible, then you see the miracles of God in your life.
- As you speak your testimony and share your faith with others, then you watch as others come to know Jesus as Lord.
In this biblical narrative, we witness God in the flesh, as He feeds His disciples to fill their hunger and as he performs a miraculous physical healing. God is always “at work” in our lives, and God offers His ultimate SABBATH REST: MIND, SPIRIT, AND BODY.
- Assuredly, the Sabbath was a perfect day for the Lord to set someone free from the bondage he knew because of his withered hand. And
- Most definitely, the Sabbath is a perfect day for the Lord to set a person free from the spiritual bondage and the disease caused by a person’s unforgiven sin.
Both require faith.
Both require effort, for a person must “accept” Jesus is who He says He is, and a person must “believe” in Jesus, and finally, a person must “confess” his sins committed against Holy God. Just as the man did, when a person moves forward in faith—He will be healed.
“For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
(The Gospel According to Matthew 12:8 NASB)