Amen. For millennia, Jewish families anticipated Shabbat, the Sabbath. At sundown, it would start on Friday evening, and preparation occurred all week long. For those families who didn't have as much, they would kind of save their money so that they could eat the finer foods for their Shabbat meal. They cleaned their homes on Thursday evening because after a day of work on Friday, as Sabbath began on Friday evening, get home from work on Friday, they would lay out on their table a white cloth. And they would place on top of that white cloth two loaves of bread. Those two loaves of bread commemorated the double portion of manna that God provided for his children in the wilderness. Friday evening finally rolled around and they would dress in their Friday best. Someone would light a candle and a blessing would be offered Worship began at the synagogue where they would sing some of the psalms, perhaps hear a psalm read in a short, what you and I would call devotional or message if you will. And finally, Shabbat commenced with all those activities and then they would gather around the table and there they would enjoy their Sabbath meal. While all that was going on over the course of time, this group known as the Pharisees, the separatists, the holy ones, if you will, who began in that intertestamental time that is between Malachi and Matthew, kind of rose in prominence. And they chronicled the 39 activities that were banned on the Sabbath. The third activity that was banned on the Sabbath was that of harvesting or reaping. And they took that from Exodus chapter 34, where Moses wrote this, six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest. In plowing time and in harvest, you don't get to keep working on those on Sabbath then, you still have to rest. It's the Sabbath. Jesus and his disciples are walking to their next ministry, their next place of ministry. And as they're traveling, the disciples, they must have been traveling a good distance because the disciples reach out and grab a handful of wheat. They take that wheat and they kind of vigorously rub it between their two hands and the chaff kind of falls away. They did what you and I would do with popcorn or peanuts or Skittles or anything of the sort. It's kind of pop it in and find sustenance. Walking paths through farmlands were normal. Yes, there were normal routes that went from Jerusalem to another major city and from Capernaum to another major city, but to travel from lesser known to lesser known, it was just walking paths. And oftentimes those walking paths would go through farmlands. And so it was normal and even expected to from time to time when you're doing so to grab a handful of weed or perhaps a piece of fruit or something like that to sustain yourself throughout the journey. Pharisees restricted travel on the Sabbath to a half mile. In fact, from the Old Testament, and the reason why they did this was for this thought in the book of Joshua specifically, as the tabernacle was at the center of Israel's worship. And whenever they would encamp, there was the various 12 tribes around the synagogue. And the Pharisees figured out that with the number of people that were there, that probably the tribe that was furthest out traveled about a half mile. And so they took this, command, remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. And they limited the people of Israel's travel to no more than a half mile. And they created loopholes, like pretty cool loopholes, right? Meaning by that, if the day, if you needed to travel beyond a half mile, what would you do? Well, you could do something like this. You could take some food prepared at your house and travel that half mile and somehow place it in an area where it was safe so that when you traveled on the Sabbath day, when you found that food there, well that was considered a temporary dwelling place and so they could eat that little bit and then you could travel another half mile beyond that. We could say the Pharisees were guardians of grace. They were the ones who were protecting the law of God. They determined, they not only interpreted the plain statements of scripture, but they determined binding applications, that the applications were equally as enforceable as the command itself. Now, Lest you think that this is just kind of a first century squabble that doesn't affect us, right? Whenever you hear a preacher talk about Sabbath, what do you think? I think Sabbath schmabeth, right? It's like, it doesn't mean anything to me anymore, right? So lest you think that this first century squabble doesn't affect us, let me just kind of give you a parallel of how theological progressives or theological conservatives can become guardians of grace. That is for, let's say a theological progressive might say something like this, right? If you don't affirm an LGBTQ lifestyle, then you aren't practicing the love of God. Have you ever heard something like that? On the flip side, theological conservatives might insist something like this, if you don't interpret Christ's second coming my way, then you don't take the scriptures seriously enough. And so when we're looking at this passage here this morning, what we're looking at is some principles that God has placed, has embedded into his kingdom. That while Sabbath keeping isn't for today, Mark chapter two is gonna provide two kingdom principles for what it means to be a part of this kingdom that Jesus is offering. In fact, in this passage, Jesus is going to elevate mercy over mechanics, humanity over harshness, and rest over rigidity. And so, as the Pharisees are walking along with Jesus and his disciples, the self-righteous indignation kind of oozes out of every pore of their body, and they ask this question, look, why are your disciples doing what is forbidden on the Sabbath? Just think about this for a moment. It's likely, the text doesn't tell us this, it's likely though that Jesus, the disciples, and the Pharisees are traveling beyond that half mile limit. So the Pharisees, the ones who are imposing the applications of the law, are they themselves breaking the law as grace killers ignore their own law to make sure that you obey their law. Our Savior answers with a familiar story. That familiar story is found in 1 Samuel 21, and I know it's already been read for us, but I want us to read it again. So I'm gonna go back to 1 Samuel 21. Hold your place in Mark 2, because we're coming right back. So the question on the table is, look, your disciples are doing something that is forbidden. Why are they doing that? And Jesus pulls out a random story, or at least to us, it feels random. But in this story that Jesus pulls out, he's teaching us one of the very first kingdom principles. So look at 1 Samuel again, chapter 21, verses one through six. Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech came to meet David, trembling, and said to David, why are you alone and no one with you? And David said to Ahimelech the priest, the king has charged me with a manner and said to me, let no one know anything of the manner about which I send you and with which I have charged you. He says, David continues and says, I've made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place. Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread or whatever is here. There must've been at least four guys with them, right? And the priest answered David, You know, I've got no wonder bread on me, right? I've got no common bread on hand, but there is holy bread. Now, if the young men have kept themselves from women, well, David answered the priest in verse five, truly women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition, the vessels of the young men are holy. Even when it is an ordinary journey, there's like the swords and the shields that they're carrying, they're holy, but how much more today will their vessels be holy? Because you're gonna give us the holy bread. Verse six, so the priest gave him the holy bread, for there was no bread there but the bread of the presence, which is removed from before Yahweh, to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away. This is the bread that David was asking for. Let me show it to you here on the tabernacle. It is, I don't have my pointer with me today, but there's the golden lamb stand inside that tabernacle. You can see the lamb stand, but directly across from the lamb stand, it's what looks like two stacks of, I don't know, kind of narrow pita bread or naan or something like that, right? That's the loaves that David is asking for. This bread was made once a week. It was changed out once a week, too, and part of the compensation, the remuneration for priests was that they would eat, be able to eat of this holy bread. It was called the bread of the presence. Why is it called the bread of the presence? Because it sat there all week long in the presence of God there in the tabernacle. Therefore, it was called holy bread. David here is not being truthful about anything that's going on. In 1 Samuel chapter 20, King Saul has not sent David on a mission at all. In fact, just the opposite. King Saul is seeking David's life to kill him because he knows that David is the next ordained king or the next anointed king. And when David says, I'm sent on a mission, so first of all, he's lying. I've got some guys that I'm gonna meet up with. I've got this secret mission. Oh, by the way, this mission is so secretive, I even forgot my sword. I'm coming here because I know Goliath's sword is here. So what I'm getting at is David, though he is anointed to be king, David is conniving to save his own life from Saul is the point. Jesus uses this illustration as a means by which to say, because David was given holy bread, conniving David was given holy bread, which became his daily bread, Therefore, my disciples can eat, they can take food and eat it on the Sabbath day. So the similarity is not that both of these happened on the Sabbath day. That's not the similarity. The similarity is this, that this bread was designated holy to the Lord and was to be intended to be given to the priests. Over here, the Sabbath that you are so intent on pursuing and making sure that everybody follows to the degree that you so apply that law to. That this food actually shouldn't be withheld because of a law, but actually this food should be given to them because of the law. That's the similarity. That Jesus cites David's violation Not as an excuse, but actually as precedent is the idea. Let me show you this to you. Look again at Mark chapter two, verse 25 and 26. Mark chapter two, Jesus's response is, have you not read what David did when he was in need and was hungry? He and those who were with him, how he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar, the high priest. and he ate the bread of the presence, which is not lawful for any but the priest to eat. And he also gave it to those who were with him. So folks, here's the first kingdom principle that Jesus is attempting to teach the Pharisees and his disciples and all of us who are reading this passage right now. Jesus is modeling the motivation of God's law. And what is the motivation of God's law? It is to bless his people, not to harm them. You follow this. The Sabbath was created by God to bless God's people, not to bind them. Though eating the wheat was not in violation of the law, because the law is for the good of his people. In fact, you see that in verse 27. Look at Mark chapter two, verse 27. Jesus said to them, the Sabbath was made for man. Not the other way around, not man for the Sabbath. You are using the law of God to harm people, to bind people, to constrict people. The law of God was not given for that purpose. The law of God was given to bless God's people. That is, saints, God's laws reflect, could grow out of, come from God's character. These are not arbitrary. You know what arbitrary? Like, you know, I don't like the color, I don't know, I don't like the color pink, right? And so we're not gonna decorate with pink in our house. Something like that's arbitrary. You may love the color pink and you may want it everywhere you go. God's laws are not arbitrary. They flow out of his character, and they are a reflection of his character, and that's why his laws are holy, number one, and good, number two. That is, when obeyed, when the law is obeyed, God's people flourish. Just as when a church embraces God's law, she is healthy. But when a church rejects God's law, that church over time begins to disintegrate because it no longer is reflecting the holiness of her God, the character of her God, the goodness of her God. And when a culture, when a culture embraces God's laws, what happens? They flourish. But when a culture rejects God's law, what happens? That culture begins to fray at the seams and begins to disintegrate. And we see that even in our own culture today. Saints, when I speak of God's law, what exactly am I speaking about? I am speaking of the 10 commandments. The ones that we work through in our catechisms. That God's church has always embraced the commands of God, specifically the Ten Commandments. And how does Jesus summarize the Ten Commandments? He summarizes it with two statements, right? Love God, and what? Love people. Love your neighbor. The law, here's the purpose of the law. Paul says that the law, in Galatians 3, Paul says the law is our schoolmaster. Some translations say the law is our teacher. What is it teaching us? It's teaching us the holiness of God and the expectations that God has for God's people. But here's the and how oftentimes we fall short. But here's the other component of what God is doing by teaching us his law. He is teaching us the Ten Commandments teach us what the good life is like. The good life is right. The good life is not winning lotto, winning the lotto. That's not the good life. The good life is not just the cushy job, but all the perks that come with it. What is the good life for God's people? What is the good life for those who live with the king in the kingdom? The good life are those who are governed by God's laws. And when we obey God's laws, we flourish. So laws like this, right? Don't have any other gods before him. You obeyed that law, your life will begin to flourish. And one of the reasons why we struggle like we do is because what? I've got other idols in my life that I like to worship. Don't make any idols. Right? Honor your father and mother. When a family follows that when a culture follows that, that's the good life for God's people. Don't murder. Don't commit adultery. Don't steal. Don't bear false witness. Don't covet. So Jesus is teaching us what the good life is like. And he says that in my kingdom, we don't use my laws to harm people. We use my laws to help people. Now, here's what I wanna do. I wanna use one of God's laws as an example, as an illustration, an application of how we could use God's laws either to harm people or to help people, right? I'm gonna use the seventh commandment. The seventh commandment says, do not commit adultery. Specifically then, Christian marriage is to reflect God's loyal love. That that command flows out of his heart, of his loyalty to his people, that though his people are disloyal to him, God is always loyal to his people. And he wants Christian marriages to reflect this loyal love. And so he says, don't commit adultery. Now we could use that law, let me go one step further, because in Mark chapter 10, Jesus is actually going to use that law and he's going to address the topic of marriage, divorce, and remarriage. So I know this is a touchy issue, but because it's a touchy issue, I think it's actually a helpful issue to raise about how we can use God's law to help people or harm people, okay? Are you with me so far? There's not one family in this room that hasn't felt, not one family that hasn't felt the pain of divorce, either directly or indirectly. All right, in fact, some of your holidays coming up here and Thanksgiving and Christmas are gonna be really different because someone got remarried or because someone in your family is walking through a very painful marriage situation. And Jesus is gonna address that, right, in Mark 10. And so churches tend to have two different approaches to this topic. I'm talking about marriage, divorce, remarriage, right? So some churches can speak so directly to the topic that if anyone has had a painful marriage in their past, they feel as if they don't belong, right? But hey, brother, we gotta be faithful. The other church, though, out of a desire not to harm and not to hurt an individual or individuals, becomes completely silent on the issue. And saints, that's not helpful either. So what could be an appropriate way? In the name of faithfulness, we can use God's law to inflict hurt, making someone feel like a second class citizen in God's kingdom, as if somehow there's a first class, right? Or, saints, here's the other option of how we can help, right? Or we can faithfully teach God's law to uphold the sacredness and permanency of marriage. And when a brother or sister are in a second marriage, we teach the same principles so that the good life is true for them too. Does that make sense? That God will bless them like those who are in a first marriage, that God will bless their children, that God will use them for the kingdom's sake. You see, same law, radically different application. You follow? So saints, here's the challenge for us as parents. How can I teach the good life, God's laws, in such a way that make God in his gospel beautiful? How can I teach the Ten Commandments to not have any other gods, to not have any idols, right? All these very negative things, right? To not commit adultery, to not murder, to not kill, to not, don't take God's name in vain. How can I teach these in such a way that make God and the gospel beautiful? Well, this is what Jesus is actually showing us before our very eyes, that the law is good. And it's intended to bless his people, not to harm his people, not to constrict them or bind them, but to bless them and to help them. And so the first principle of Christ's kingdom is the law is intended to bless you, not to harm you. And the reason why I'm making this point so much is because what do we do, right? We're like, well, bless God. We're like New Testament Christians. I'm all about grace, right? You got two-thirds of your Bible. You can't do that. But there is a beauty to God's law, specifically the Ten Commandments that is still intended for us to follow as his children. But we use the law, unlike the Pharisees, not to harm and to hurt, but rather to bless so that God's people may flourish. And in God's law is a blessing to obey. Because in God's law, we find God's love, we find God's blessing, and the Pharisees are getting their theological system blown to smithereens, right? And Jesus isn't done yet. He's gonna lob a couple more hand grenades over the wall to their theological system. Look at verse 28. Mark chapter two, verse 28. So, the son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath. There's the second principle in Christ's kingdom. It is this, is that Jesus affirms his rightful reign. As the son of man, he rules the day of rest. Not Pharisees, not their application. As the son of man, I rule this day. That is, in keeping with Mark's gospel, Jesus summarizes his identity. He says, I'm the Son of Man, I'm the Lord of the Sabbath, and I am the giver of good gifts. These are my gifts, not your gifts. These are my gifts to oversee, not yours to legislate. So commentators notice of all the time, of all the titles for Jesus in the New Testament, Son of Man ranks third. I think the first is Christ, second is Lord, and the third title for Jesus is Son of Man. But when Jesus uses a title, when Jesus uses a title, the one that he uses most is this third one, the Son of Man. So this is a big deal for us. Because if you are going to describe yourself with a name or a title, that means something, right? So when Dwayne Johnson calls himself The Rock, right? If you're six foot five and full of muscle, you can call yourself The Rock too, right? You know, if you give yourself the title King of Pop, like Michael Jackson, right? You gotta live up to that title. Well, when Jesus gives himself a name slash title found here in verse 28, he has a very specific scene in his head. That scene is found in Daniel chapter 7, and we'll put it on the screen behind me. Daniel chapter 7, Daniel is writing and he says, I saw in the night visions. What did you see, Daniel? Behold, with the clouds of heaven, there came one like a son of man. The son of man came to the ancient of days and was presented before him. And to the Son of Man was given dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom, one that shall not be destroyed. So the Son of Man is the one who has eternal dominion over everything. So when Jesus says, So the son of man is the Lord of the Sabbath. What Jesus is saying is, I am the one to whom eternal dominion has been delegated to by the ancient of days. So when you hear on YouTube or a TikTok, right? Well, Jesus never claimed to be the son of God. Come on. He just claimed to be not just he just claimed to be God, right? because of his pulling this title for himself. I am the son of man. I am the one to whom the ancient of days has given all dominion for all eternity. So when you hear Jesus never said he was God, don't believe it because of a passage like this. Jesus gives himself another title. He says, I am the Lord of the Sabbath. The Sabbath was instituted at creation by God. All the strictness of the Sabbath is not imposing on God's new covenant people today. I'm not suggesting it is. But the Sabbath was instituted at creation. Only the creator has the authority to institute and to consecrate the Sabbath day. So when the Pharisees come to him and says, hey, you know, what are your disciples doing? Like, you guys eat with sinners and tax collectors, right? We've been keeping track of your steps. You're well over your half mile, Jesus. You stop for a fast break, you know, fast food, ate some wheat, call yourself a rabbi from Nazarene, come on. 12 disciples. Jesus is saying this, you're telling me what I can do on the Sabbath, who do you think made the Sabbath? That he's Lord of the Sabbath. That is, the one who is in flesh, eating wheat, it's all the way back there at the creation. Saints, in these six verses, do you see the beautiful range of our Savior's character? You see that? There's a mountain peak, there's some grand mountain peaks of righteousness and justice. Pharisees, get in your place. And there are some gentle rolling plains. Disciples, you're hungry? I've got daily bread for you. For conniving kings of Israel. And for my disciples who can't quite figure out who I am. For ones that will betray me. And for ones who will fall away. And for ones who will run away. I've got bread for you too. You see the beauty of your Savior on display? You allow your heart to just worship with gratitude at your God? You see his authority that's reflected in giving the law. You see the beauty of how the law is intended to be used. You know, Saints, human authorities, are we talking about God's authority, Christ's authority, human authorities will disappoint. And I hate to say this at times even hurt you. But the answer to bad authority, right, isn't no authority. The answer to bad authority is good authority. One that embraces all the law of God and seeks to live under that. That God's authority is good and holy and is always for our good and for our holiness. that he will always care and provide for his own, that he will provide daily bread for his disciples. You hear a terse response to self-righteous Pharisees. We tend to aim our fire towards other kind of with other conservative Christians, theologically conservative Christians. Jesus aims his fire, not towards others who are theologically Orthodox, but to those who are self-righteous. So you can see the kingdom that Jesus is inviting us into. You can feel, right? You engineers, you can feel this. I know you can. You can feel what the kingdom of God is supposed to be like. And so saints, here's what we pray for. Grace Life, here's what we pray for. We pray for wisdom on how to use the law to bless and not harm. And we pray for courage. We pray for wisdom and we pray for courage. Courage that we would obey the law of God in the face of a culture that openly flaunts and disregards God's ways. We pray for wisdom. That in our families, in our lives, in our church, That we would obey the law of God. Why? That we may flourish according to the King's ways. And may we as God's people seek to follow our Savior's example. And to teach the law of God. Not to control and manipulate. But to bless his people. May God grant that to us. Let's pray. Before I pray, I want to give you just literally just a few seconds. Those of you who are parents and grandparents specifically. It's so easy when we become angry and flustered to tighten down. And it's natural. God has placed us in our home. that we might show the beauty of God's law to our families. To men, to Grace Life men, God is calling you to be the most humble, obedient citizen of the kingdom of God in your home. Not to lord your authority, not to lord your leadership, but to give off the aroma of the gospel. It's not passivity, it's not femininity, but it is a beautiful masculinity. And so like you're single, you're here today, you're a Christian, you're in a dorm. God calls you to be faithful to him by obeying his laws. Because you're gonna live under the set of laws by your king. So from the middle schooler, the high schooler, senior saint who's lost their spouse, may this be true of our lives. I'll give you just a few moments to pray to that end, and then I'll close with some prayer.